Sermon Tone Analysis

Praise & Prayer

The Throne Room of Heaven - April 13th

Last week we looked at the rapture and the end of the church age, as the letters to the churches ended, and John was taken up to heaven.

John is writing the Book of Revelation as a prisoner on the lonely island of Patmos.

He had just been instructed to write to the church of Laodicea at the end of their letter in Revelation 3:20-21

As John was recording these words to the Laodiceans, a door was suddenly opened into heaven, and he was taken into the presence of God.

I. What a Heavenly Scene?

What we are seeing is a heavenly scene, and John is in the third heaven.

According to Scripture, there are three heavens, in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, Paul states that he knows a man who was caught up to the third heaven.

So what are the three heavens?

The first heaven is the shy - that is our atmosphere and clouds.

The second heaven is outer space - all that lies beyond earth, which includes the stars, the sun, moon, planets, and the galaxies.

The third heaven is the dwelling place of God Himself.

In the early years of space exploration, there was a Russian astronaut that had went into space, who looked out the window and reported to say, he didn’t see God.

Well that is because he was in the second heavens, not the third.

If he had taken off his space suit for just a moment, he would have seen God face to face.

So where is the third heaven, if the first heaven is all around us, and the second is outer space, where lies the third heaven, where God dwells.

Is it beyond the galaxies?

If so, can we develop a telescope to see it, no, because physical distance is not the problem.

I think the third heaven is may be closer than we realize.

I believe it is all around us, just unseen.

Let me explain, and back that up with Scripture.

See there is a story that I love about Elisha and his servant had fled the king of Aram, because God gave Elisha the knowledge of where Arameans would be camped, and Elisha sent word to the King of Israel so that they could stay clear of the camp.

Well Elisha and his servant fled to Dothan, and that is not Dothan, Alabama Tom.

We see this story in 2 Kings 6:15-17

Elisha then asked God to blind the Aramean soldiers and Elisha lead them to Samaria where the Samarians captured them.

Through this story we see that God’s dwelling place, the third heaven could very well be around us, it can be wherever God desires it to be.

Whatever it is or wherever it is, the third heaven is the dwelling place of God Himself.

And John found himself caught up into that glorious scene.

II.

Who is in the Storm?

These are all symbols of judgment in the Scriptures.

From the safety of Heaven, John can see that a storm is brewing on Earth.

That storm will be unfolding in the Great Tribulation, but believers will be safe in God’s arms, in the sanctuary of Heaven.

Didn’t Jesus promise that?

Remember what He said to the church at Philadelphia in Revelation 3:10

Revelation 3:10 (CSB)

10 Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

The church, the bride of Jesus Christ, will not go through the Great Tribulation.

We will have tribulations, yes, and Jesus told us that.

But we will not be on Earth to face the outpouring of God’s wrath on a world that has rejected His Son.

We will see the Tribulation storm on Earth from the vantage point of Heaven, or to some extent we will have a perspective of what is happening on earth.

As there is some Scriptures which we will get into in other times that describes that we have some perspective of things going on still on Earth, but for the most part we are more concerned with God.

I believe we will know more in heaven in our glorified state than we know on earth.

I think we will have memories and be aware of earthly doings, but with God’s perspective on it all.

III.

When in Heaven?

We have seen what a heavenly scene that John seen, then we seen who was or who was not in the storm, now we are going to look at when in heaven?

Awestruck, John watched what was going on around him in heaven, trying to take it all in.

He saw magnificent angelic creatures worshiping.

He saw the twenty-four elders falling down in worship.

He heard their worship cries and songs and wrote down the lyrics.

Heaven will be all about worship.

And why not?

Why shouldn’t we engage in unbridled worship?

We will know all things.

All of our questions will be answered.

All of our pain will be removed.

All of our tears will be dried.

So we will be worshiping.

For some that sounds a little boring - as through heaven were one long church service.

Not at all.

Yes, we will be worshipping, but we will be doing much more than that.

We also will be busy doing God’s work, moving through the new heavens and the new earth.

Heaven is also a place of rest, but I do not know about you, but I can only rest for so long.

Some people say they can’t wait to retire.

You ask what are you going to do?

They say, golf, fish, sleep in, travel.

Roger our Gideon told me, he said, he retired and moved up here a few years ago to catch red fish, he said, he dreamed of the day he could retire and fish every day and catch red fish all day.

Well, he said it did not take him long to realize that after a few weeks of fishing every day, that you need something else to do from time to time, that fishing can get old too.

Then God called him to be a Gideon, praise God for that.

See he started using his free time for the Lord.

He volunteers as a Gideon, doing something good for other people.

Sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to others.

You and I have been put on this earth to glorify God, not to just please ourselves.

Heaven will be a place of rest, certainly.

But it will be far from boring.

We can’t even begin to conceive of the activities and opportunities the Lord has lined up for us.

Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 2:9

IV.

Why Walk with God?

Both the Bible and events in our contemporary world point to a soon return of Jesus Christ for His own.

So what are we supposed to do until then?

When a California pastor predicted the day of Jesus’ return, people did some pretty crazy things.

Some divorced their mates.

Others ran up huge credit card bills, believing they would never have to pay them.

But that’s not how God wants us to respond.

Remember Enoch?

What did he do?

He walked with God.

What does it mean to walk with God? Walking speaks of effort, regular motion, and consistency.

The Bible doesn’t say that Enoch sprinted with God.

They simply walked together through life, one step at a time.

And the Bible says that we are to do the same.

The apostle Paul said in Galatians 5:16

He also said in Colossians 2:6-7

Enoch walked with God, and that is my goal in life too.

In the Old Testament book of Amos, we read, Amos 3:3

In other words, if we are going to walk together, then let’s walk together.

I usually walk fast, which presents a problem when I walk with my wife, because her pace is slower.