The church at the time of John’s book of Revelation was at a time of crises. The sign miracles like tongues, word of wisdom, word of knowledge were finished or fading. There had been no new word from God, revelation and no more apostles’ writings in over a generation. The Pagan Roman empire and the Jewish religious authorities were arresting and killing the leaders of the churches. And now John, the last apostle, has been arrested, tortured and now exiled to the island prison of Patmos, by a Domitian, the Roman Emperor who called himself, Lord God Almighty and demands that all worship him. He expects John to die far removed from the new sect called Christians that he inspires and leads.

In the midst of this dark, seemingly hopeless, sin filled night, a light, in the form of a letter, arrives by a messenger sent from John. John, now near 100 years old writes and says “I have seen the Lord. He told me to write you this letter and to tell you He is coming back!” The Book of Revelation, the Apocalypse, the Epistle of Jesus was written because Jesus knew his people needed hope and as we read it today, it still has that purpose and that power. To give us hope no matter what is happening, Jesus is coming back!

And now John has been given this vision and the mission to record the scene and send it to the seven churches and finally even to us. So listen as John takes us up with him into the throne room of heaven and remember this vision, remember this place, remember this event because when our world grows dark and our way seems hopeless one day we will stand in heaven’s throne room and see the glory of God seated upon His throne.

Let’s look at Revelation 4 as our focus, like John’s is drawn to the throne and the One who is seated upon it. First notice  …

The Throne Room of Heaven - Revelation 4:1-2

1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
God Summons John

John was summoned by God into the throne room of heaven. And when he heard that summons his spirit went. God called and John went. He says in Revelation 4:2 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

The throne room of heaven is what John sees as he is summoned up from the earth in his vision. Everything in chapters 4 and 5 takes place in the throne room and everything centers on and draws our focus to the throne and especially to the One who sits on the throne. Our eyes and hearts cannot help but be drawn to the glory of the One who sits there. He is God the Father, the Creator, the only true Almighty God. He is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, holy, just and righteous.

God’s glory has been glimpsed and recorded before by Moses in Exodus 33:21-23 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: 22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: 23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.  

by Isaiah in Isaiah 6: 1- 3 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

and by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 1:26-28 26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. 28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

And now in John’s vision here the actual holiest of holies we see the Glory of God revealed as it has never been seen before. In all the Bible, this is the ultimate vision of God and it will not be superseded until we all stand one day, like John in that throne room as we enter eternity.

Summoned In the Rapture

Many see in Revelation 4:1 a symbol for the rapture of the saints. John says, “a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet..; which said, Come up.” The rapture of course is the taking away, the taking up of God’s people from the earth. When God issues that summons, even death itself will not be able to hold us back. When God calls his children home, we will all go home.

Now I know that Revelation 4:1 isn’t definitive in its proof of a pretribulational rapture, but it sure come close. A pretribulational rapture means that God’s people will be taken up before the tribulation of chapters 6 – 19 begins. So even though Revelation 4:1 can’t be used as a proof text but it sure fits the timeline, so very, very nicely.

1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16  For 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 Christ shall rise first: 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. 18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

And while we are here, let me make this point about the view points concerning the rapture. I and most Baptists are pretribulational in the interpretation of the rapture, but there are many good, conscientious, Bible believing, Bible scholars and preachers who are midtribulationalists, meaning the they see the rapture taking place in the middle of the tribulation at the 3 ½ year mark of the 7 year time of Jacobs trouble. They like to call it the  pre-wrath tribulation. And there are some who even believe in a posttribulationist view, that the Christians alive when the tribulation starts will have to go through the entire 7 year time of the most horrific, world-wide suffering that has ever been recorded or even imagined. I really don’t think they are right as I can’t see how they church fits into the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” as the tribulation is called in the Old Testament. But they can believe that and still be okay, not as okay as me, cause I’ve get it right, but they can be okay. What we all must believe is that the Jesus is coming back and this time He will be the lion not just the lamb.

Just as John told those early suffering Christians, we need to believe, “Jesus is coming, in power, glory and victory. And He will reign over all the earth!”

Quote: The Uppertaker

Added to this quote I used last week. “The primitive church thought more about the Second coming of Jesus Christ than about death or about heaven. The early Christians were looking not for a cleft in the ground called a grave but for a cleavage in the sky called Glory. There were watching not for the undertaker but for the uppertaker.” - Alexander MacLaren

And that should be us not looking for the undertaker but for the uppertaker. That’s how we should live every minute of every day, looking for Jesus our uppertaker.