A Glimpse Into Heaven
A Glimpse Into Heaven
Text: Revelation 1-5
The crash of Golfer Payne Stewart's plane was one of the most bizarre incidents I've read about in a long time. In Orlando, the famous golfer, Payne Stewart, boarded a twin-engine, $2.4 million Leer jet along with 5 companions. Left the runway at 9:19 a.m. There were 2 pilots, all seemed fine when they checked with air traffic controllers a few minutes later.
But the pilots apparently lost consciousness shortly before they were to turn west toward Dallas, they couldn't be raised by air traffic controllers, 2 Air Force jets went up to investigate.
No one was at the controls. There was no movement in the cockpit, the windows were fogged, suggesting the cabin had depressurized, became chilled with stratospheric air 45,000 feet above the earth.
One of the Air Force pilots said, "It's a very helpless feeling to pull alongside another aircraft and realize the people inside that aircraft are unconscious or in some other way incapacitated. And there's nothing you can do physically from my aircraft even though I'm 50 feet away."
When one of its two engines finally ran out of fuel, the plane began spiraling through the clouds, plunging toward final, destruction.
One air safety investigator said that airplane depressurization can be "very insidious." He explained the problem could slowly deprive the crew of its ability to know what’s happening. "It could be one of those things where you're feeling good, you're feeling happy, and you don't know what's going on."
Each new year, we are on a runaway, on a collision course, only moments of time remaining. But people are so caught up in themselves, and in the pleasures, and pursuits of this age that they don't know what’s going on as they spiral downward toward final, cataclysmic destruction.
The end of history is approaching, and nowhere is it described more accurately and more vividly than in the final book of the Bible—the book of Revelation.
The book of Revelation begins with these words: The revelation (the unveiling, the information, the mysteries, the truth from God) of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.
That gives us the purpose of this final book of the Bible. It’s given to show us what’s about to happen, and how the future will unfold. Verse 19, we have the divinely given outline for the book of Revelation: Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now, and what will take place later.
John was to write 3 things. The book of Revelation falls into 3 sections.
First, "what you have seen," refers to the opening vision of the glorified Christ, that John had just seen, and had just recorded in chapter 1.
Second, the things that are now. That’s, the truth about current conditions among the 7 churches who were the immediate recipients of this letter in chapters 2 and 3.
Third, and the longest section of the book is the part that tells us "what will take place later." That’s the part that stretches from chapters 4 to 22.
· What you have seen: Ch 1
· What is now: Ch 2 & 3
· What will take place later: Ch 4-22
Today, we look chapters 4 and 5, which give us the scene in heaven around God's throne at the commencement of the Great Tribulation period.
Chapters 6 through 18 give us the scene of earth during the Great Tribulation.
In chapter 19, the return of Christ is described, bringing to an end the Great Tribulation period.
Our Lord's millennial reign and the final judgment is described in chapter 20.
And the last 2 chapters, 21 & 22 of the Bible give us a glimpse at eternity, and at the new heavens and the new earth.
· The scene in heaven at the commencement of the Tribulation: Ch 4-5
· The scene on earth during the Great Tribulation: Ch 6-18
· The return of Christ: Ch 19
· The millennial reign of Christ and the Last Judgment: Ch 20
· The eternal state: The new heavens and the new earth: Ch 21-22
This morning I would like to look at chapters 4 and 5, the scene in heaven at the commencement of the Great Tribulation.
Chapter 4 is very short, 11 verses, so let's read it together:
After then I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white, and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and every. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.
After This
In chapter 1 of Revelation, we have a vision of Jesus Christ walking among his churches on this earth.
In chapter 2 of Revelation, we have our Lord's message to 4 churches on this earth.
In chapter 3, we have his message to 3 additional churches. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 are full of information about the church of Jesus Christ on this earth.
Suddenly, here at the beginning of chapter 4, the church vanishes from this earth. 4:1- After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.
After what? The Greek phrase here is meta tauta. It’s exactly the same terminology as in chapter 1, verse 19: Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now, and what must take place later—meta tauta—after this.
After what? Well, chapters 2 and 3 are devoted to the era of the church, to the age of grace, to the period in which the church of Jesus Christ will be on this planet. Now, suddenly, at the beginning of chapter 4, I believe the rapture has occurred and now John is going to tell us what is going to take place meta tauta—after this—after the church has been removed from this world at the rapture.
When in the book of Revelation does the rapture occur? I believe it occurs between chapters 3 and 4, or if you prefer at the beginning of chapter 4. In chapters 2 and 3 you have the age of the church. Now, meta tauta—after this, what happens? Look at verse one again:
· A door swings open in heaven
· A trumpet sounds
· A voice shouts, "Come up here!"
In his commentary on the book of Revelation, W. A. Criswell writes: "When John was transported to heaven, he was a type and a picture of the transporting, the rapture, the snatching away, the taking up of God's people into glory. Then, after the door is opened in heaven, after the great call of God to his sainted dead and His sainted living, after the rapture and the transporting of the church, the Holy Spirit writes, 'I will show thee things which must be [meta tauta, the things after the things of the church, the things after the churches are taken away, the things after the people of God are in heaven].' The rest of the Revelation is a description of that awful and terrible period when God has taken His people out of the earth and when He pours upon the world the judgments of the wrath of the Almighty."
Now what will we see when we are raptured? What did John see when he was transported into heaven? He saw several things.
A Throne
First, he saw a Throne. This is clearly the most dominant feature of chapter 4. The idea of the Throne is central to chapter 4, the word occurring 13 times. Sitting on the Throne is God the Father, and look at the way He is described. Verse 3 says: The one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian.
So John describes the appearance of the Throne and Him who sat upon it, using two different jewels. The first was jasper. Now, we don't know exactly what stone this was. In our modern world, jasper is an earth stone that comes in red, brown, green, and yellow, and is found in France, Germany, India, Russia, Venezuela, and the United States. But look at Revelation 21:10: And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious stone, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
So whatever jasper was in John's day, it was brilliant, very precious, and clear as crystal. Today we call such a stone a diamond. Nothing is more beautiful than a diamond, which refracts all the colors of the spectrum and defuses its sparkling brilliance in every direction.
Now the other stone was a carnelian. This was a bright stone, ruby red. So imagine a ruby red stone set within an incredible diamond, enlarged about a thousand times, and sparkling with such light that you couldn't even look at it without hurting your eyes. This was the closest that John could come to describing what he was seeing. Over it all was a rainbow, resembling an emerald. In other words, a cool, emerald-green hue radiated out from the Throne like a halo.
I believe that if only we would use our imagine a little more, if only we would visualize the Throne of God, if only we would picture the beauty and majesty and dominion of God as He is presented to us in the Bible, it would change our perspective on life. No one in the Bible who ever really got a glimpse of God in all of his glory—of the enthroned King of Kings and Lord of Lords—was ever again the same.
Isaiah saw the throne of God in Isaiah, chapter 6, and it changed his life forever. Ezekiel saw the throne of God in Ezekiel, chapter 1. The prophet Daniel saw the throne of God in Daniel 7. It changed their life forever. John saw the throne of God in chapters 1 and 4 of Revelation, and it changed his life forever.
Nothing is more terrifying to the unsaved man nor more reassuring to the Christian than the Throne of God—the sovereignty, rule, power, might, and everlasting dominion of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Someone once said, "Too many Christians worship their work, work at their play, and play at their worship."
Adelaide A. Procter wrote a famous poem (later set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) about a woman who sat down at the organ one autumn day just at twilight and struck a chord that swelled within the instrument with soft majesty. It flowed through the room and filled the whole house with melody. It also thrilled her heart with peace. It was the most beautiful chord in the world.
It quieted pain and sorrow,
Like love overcoming strife;
It seemed the harmonious echo
From our discordant life.
It linked all perplexéd meanings
Into one perfect peace,
And trembled away into silence
As if it were loath to cease.
The woman lifted her fingers from the keys and the sounds faded away. Something broke the spell, and when she tried again, she could not find that beautiful chord. She sought repeatedly to reproduce it, but in vain. It was a lost chord.
For many Christians and most churches, worship is the missing chord in their experience. It is the one thing that quiets pain and sorrow like love overcoming strife. It is the one thing that makes harmonious echoes form our discordant strife. But for many, it is a lost experience. If only we would take the Throne of God more seriously. The Bible says:
Your Throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.
The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.
Clouds and thick darkness are all around Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
The God of Abraham praise,
Who reigns enthroned above;
Ancient of everlasting days,
And God of love.
Jehovah, great I AM,
By heaven and earth confessed;
I bow and bless the sacred name,
Forever blest.
Herman (pronounced er-man') Nicholas (1611-1691) was a Carmelite mystic, born in France, who was converted at age 18. He became a lay brother of an order of Carmelites in Paris where he worked in the kitchen as a "servant to the servants of God" until his death. He is best known for his little book of sayings, published under the name Brother Lawrence, called The Practice of the Presence of God.
When Brother Lawrence lay on his deathbed, rapidly losing physical strength, he said to those around him" I am not dying. I am just doing what I have been doing for the past 40 years, and doing what I expect to be doing for all eternity!"
"What is that," they asked.
"I am worshipping the God I love!"
A. W. Tozer once said: I would rather worship God than do any other thing I know of in all this wide world.
What about you? Do you respect and reverence the rule and reign of God over your life? Are you willing to surrender yourself to Him? Are your eyes on His throne?
O that with yonder sacred throng
We at his feet may fall,
We'll join the everlasting song,
And crown Him Lord of all.
The Twenty Four Elders
So the first thing John saw was a Throne and one sitting upon it, like a burning red carnelian stone encased in a diamond and emitting a hue like an emerald rainbow. The second thing he noticed were 24 smaller thrones, and seated upon them were 24 elders. Look at verse 4: Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
Who are these 24 elders? I used to think they were angels, and that is still a popular opinion and a possible interpretation. But as I've studied this more, I've moved toward another position on this matter. I believe these 24 elders represent the saints of all the ages who have just been raptured. There are several reasons for this as a viable interpretation.
First the rapture, remember, has just occurred at the beginning of chapter 4. Where is the church now? Where are the Old and New Testament saints? The door to heaven has been opened for them, the trumpet has sounded, the Lord has called "Come up here!" And they are in heaven.
Second, they are seated on thrones on either side of the Divine throne. The book of Ephesians says God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ. Do you remember the request of James and John, that they might sit alongside Christ on his throne? 2 Timothy 2:12 says, If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.
Third, these elders were wearing crowns. There is nothing in the Bible about angels wearing crowns, but over and over again we are told that various rewards and crowns will be given to the saints. Now, there are two kinds of crowns mentioned in the Bible. There is the Greek word diadema, which means the supreme crown of the King.
My wife and I visited London several years ago, and in the Tower of London we saw the Crown Jewels of England. There, sparkling with gold and diamonds and every kind of precious jewels were the crowns of the British monarchs, symbols of their headship over the British Empire.
But the other Greek word is stephanos, from which we get our English name Stephen. A stephanos was the crown of a victor. It was often woven out of garland. Last year my wife and daughters and I visited Olympia, Greece, where the first Olympics were held in antiquity. The ancient, earthen stadium is still there where the footrace was held. The guide asked if there were volunteers who wanted to run that ancient footrace again across that hallowed ground, and I volunteered along with a young man. It was a stretch of ground of about 125 or 150 yards—and I let him win the race. Our guide took a piece of green foliage, twisted it into a crown, and put it on his head and we had our pictures made.
That was a stephanos—the kind of crown mentioned here in Revelation 4. Later in this chapter, the 24 elders took of their crowns and cast them at the feet of Him who sat upon the Throne.
Fourth, there are 24 of these thrones—representing the 12 patriarchs of Israel and the 12 apostles of the Lamb. Later on in Revelation, we see the walls of the New Jerusalem, the Holy City of God, are likewise. There are twelve foundations to the wall and twelve gates in the wall. On the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and on the foundation stones are written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Fifth, they are dressed in white garments. In the Bible that represents the purity of those whose lives have been washed in the blood of the Lamb.
Sixth, these people are called elders—presbuteros. This is a term that is never used of angels in the Bible, but it is used of human beings. It is sometimes used in the Bible to mean an older person. It is sometimes used in the Bible to refer to a Jewish ruling elder, to a member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. It is sometimes used in the Bible to refer to the leaders of the church. But it is never elsewhere used to describe angels.
So for all these reasons, I believe these 24 elders represent the redeemed of all humanity. Where are they in chapter 4 at the beginning of the Great Tribulation period? They are in heaven, with God, surrounding His throne.
Seven Lamps
So John the Apostle, snatched up into heaven with the shout, with the trumpet call of God, sees a Throne, then he sees 24 elders. And third, he sees seven lamps. Look at verse 5: From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.
This may be a picture of a seven-branched candlestand like the one that resided in the tabernacle—the menorah. When you visit Israel today, you will see outside of the Israeli Parliament building a huge menorah, a seven branched candlestand, that reaches upward. It represents the menorah that once stood in the tabernacle and in the ancient temple.
Or this could mean that there were seven torches lighting the chambers of heaven. The Greek word here is lampas, from which we get our word lamp, and it literally means a torch or light. In any case, it represents the Holy Spirit, the seven-fold Spirit, the perfect Holy Spirit of God--God the Holy Spirit.
The Sea of Glass
The next thing John notices is the sea of glass in verse 6: Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. This doesn't mean sea as in ocean, but it refers to a pavement—the expanse of pavement on front of and beneath the throne. The crystal pavement that serves as the floor of God's throne stretches out like a great, glistening sea.
Now in Bible times, most glass was primitive and smoky. Only the very wealthiest people—only kings and caesars—could afford utterly pure glass. In my studies, I have read of a Jewish tradition, that when the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, his throne was set upon a pavement of glass so clear that she lifted her garments from her ankles, thinking she was walking across water in approaching him.
The Four Living Creatures
The fifth thing that John noticed were the four living creatures, described in verses 6-8: Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had the face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings.
These are angelic beings that were called cherubim or were very similar to cherubim. How do I know? Turn with me to Ezekiel, chapter 1. Here the prophet Ezekiel is given the opportunity to peer into heaven and to see the throne of God in a vision that is remarkably similar to that of John's in Revelation 4. Ezekiel 1:4ff. says: I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north--an immense cloud of flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man. All four of them had faces and wings, and their wings touched one another…. As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces….
Now turn over to Ezekiel 10: I looked, and I saw the likeness of a throne of sapphire above the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim. The Lord said to the man clothed in linen, "Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.
Now look at Ezekiel 10:20: These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River, and I realized that they were cherubim. Each had four faces and four wings and under their wings was what looked like the hands of a man. Their faces had the same appearance as those I had seen by the Kebar River. Each one went straight ahead.
The description of the four living creatures in Ezekiel and the four living creatures in Revelation are not identical, but are striking similar. So these four living creatures are certainly angels, and are either cherubim or something very like cherubim.
Worship
The final thing that John saw in Revelation 4 was the rendering of worship by the 24 elders and the four living creatures to Him who was seated upon the throne. Look at Revelation 4:8ff:
Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and every. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.
The best definition of worship ever composed by a human being (outside the pages of the Bible) is this one by William Temple, archbishop of Canterbury: The world can be saved by one thing and that is worship. For to worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.
A survey was done some years ago asking people why they no longer went to church, and one of the most prominent answers was that church was boring. Boring? R. C. Sproul, the Calvinistic pastor and theologian, wrote: "We see throughout the Bible that when someone in antiquity encountered the holy God, the experience was almost uniform. To a person they stood quaking in terror, trembling before the Most High God. They were frightened; they were humbled; they were disintegrated; but they were certainly never bored. How is it possible then that people say church is boring?"
As we come to worship the Lord day by day in our personal devotions—and week by week in our church services, let's focus our attention of Him who sits on the throne. Let's ask Him to help us see His majesty, His sovereignty, His holiness, and His reign. Let's cast our crowns at His feet. Let's sing with the assembled throngs from all the ages:
Holy, holy, holy,
All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns
Around the glassy sea.
Cherubim and seraphim
Falling down before Thee,
Which wert and art and evermore shall be.