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Peeking into the Portals of Heaven - Revelation 4

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8/25/1996
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Peeking into the Portals of Heaven
Revelation 4
Skip Heitzig
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66 Revelation - History's Last Chapter - 1996

The book of Revelation exalts Jesus Christ as the soon-coming Lord over the earth. Skip Heitzig explains the amazing and mysterious prophecies that form God's final word to mankind.

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I was flying on an airplane the other day looking through one of those airplane magazines and there was an advertisement for a new hotel in Seattle and the advertisement, to catch the attention of busy executives said, 'Great views, great location, great rates.' That's really what people want when it comes to their own home. They want a place that has a nice view, if at all possible, a nice location that is convenient for what they want, but also great rates. So as I was looking at that magazine and I was thinking of what we're covering this morning, I thought let's apply that to our eternal home. Great location--new heaven and new earth. You can't beat it. Great view--the throne of God, the tree of life, the river that flows from the throne of God, pure as crystal. And great rates--it's free. A free gift to those who would follow His Son. What about food? Will there be restaurants? You'll be an honored guest at the marriage supper of the Lamb. We'll read about that later on in this book. You might say, but I have nothing to wear. You'll be given a new garment: a white garment, brilliant and pure. You say, yeah, but what am I going to do in heaven? Well, there are going to be a lot of things you can do. Think about just hanging out with Elijah or Moses or Paul. Paul, I'd like to talk to you about your writings, do you have a couple thousand years? You can go on and on and on. Women, you could have tea with Deborah or Esther, Mary, of course Martha would serve.

There was a Newsweek poll that said 77% of our population believes in heaven. And 76% believe they have a good or excellent chance of getting to heaven. You'd think everybody wants to go to heaven. Not so. There are some people who wouldn't want to go there. I've had people say, heaven? All the fun is going to be in hell. All my friends are going to be there. Well that might true but so what? Ted Turner, the media mogul of CNN and other agencies, at the National Press Club said, "Heaven is perfect. Who wants to go to a place that's perfect? Boring, boring. Where we're going, we'll have a chance to make things better because hell is supposed to be a mess." He has no clue. When the Bible speaks of eternity it does so in the same everyday manner that it would speak about life here upon the earth. Because earth is simply a stopover to an eternal destination. One of two destinations ultimately--heaven or hell. Revelation talks about both of them. It uncovers the destination of two groups of people. Those who would soften their heart toward God; those who would harden their heart against God.

A little boy was taken to the pet shop for his birthday. He was allowed to pick any dog he wanted; that was his birthday present. So they showed him every type of dog and the one he picked was the dog who wagged his tail furiously. And they said, why'd you pick that dog? And he said, because I want the one with the happy ending. Well, when God lays out all of the paths that a person could walk into eternity with, guess what? I'm going to pick the one with the happy ending. And the book of Revelation will show us that happy ending with the new heaven and the new earth. Which would be an incentive to those of us living on the earth today, especially those who would receive the writings of John during the early church who were persecuted Christians. Because it would mean that no matter what I'm going through now, it's only going to get better. As Paul wrote, 'The sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us.'

Chapter four is a short chapter but it's packed full of stuff and we do have a lot of material. Let's read it together: "After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this." Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thundering, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created."

We see in this chapter the entrance that John had to heaven in verse one and then the experience that John had of heaven in the rest of the chapter. Notice first of all his entrance in verses one and two. He sees and open door. A door standing open in heaven, as he puts it. Notice it is not a gate, at which stands St. Peter telling all of those dumb jokes we've heard all of our lives. In fact, Peter will have nothing at all to do with your getting in heaven. Only Jesus is the One who determines eternity. Jesus Himself said, 'I am the door and whoever enters in by Me shall be saved.' John sees a door in heaven. In chapter three, he wrote about another door on earth. He wrote to the church of Philadelphia. Jesus said to that church, 'Look, I have set before you an open door which no man can shut.' We remember that was the door of opportunity on the earth; the door of service on the earth. That's the door on earth, but now he sees a door standing open in heaven. In other words, there will come a time when every opportunity we have here on earth closes. There are no opportunities left anymore and eternity will begin. Which brings up a point. You and I have unparalleled opportunities to serve God now. We can witness for God now. We can suffer persecution for Christ now. There will come a time when we'll never be able to witness. When you're in heaven, you're not going to pass out Four Spiritual Law tracts and say, did you know God loves you? They're all saved--they're in heaven. And so now and now only is our day of opportunity to serve the Lord and to pour out a witness for Jesus Christ. Jesus said, 'I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day, for the night is coming when no one can work.'

There's another way to spin this door open in heaven. Now is the day of opportunity, the door of service, and when that door does close, when death closes our door on earth, or the rapture, at that moment there will be another door open in heaven. And we'll be able to hear Jesus say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.' Are you living for that statement? I am. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather hear say, 'Good job,' than Jesus. For Him to put His arm around you and say, 'Well done. You were a good and a faithful servant and now enter in to the joy of your Lord.' So that means that earth is not our goal. Earth is the gateway to heaven. And the Bible speaks about living on the earth in times of a short period of time. The Bible calls us pilgrims, travelers, sojourners. We're on our way to another destination. Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world.' What about your kingdom? Is your kingdom of this world? Is that all you're consumed with is your own little world and your happiness now? The late bishop Richard Lowring said, "While we have one life, we in fact live three times." He had an interesting description of life I'd never thought of before. He said we have one living that is the womb. And the womb, the nine-month gestation period is preparation for this life. And this life is preparation for a final phase of living, the third living. Now that baby growing in the womb, when it's finally delivered, of course doctors, parents, relatives get so excited and they pass cards out, a baby's been born, and it is exciting. But think about it from the baby's perspective. When that baby is born, it must seem like death to that child. Did you ever see a baby come out of the womb smiling? They cry when they come out. It's cold; there are bright lights; there are people spanking and cutting things. That which was warm and moist and familiar gives way to the unfamiliar. But the baby adjusts, the baby grows, and that, though the arena is larger, is only the second phase. There is another phase after this life, after what we call death comes, and eternity in front of us. And that is the third and final culminating phase. That's what we were made for. We were not made for phase one; we were not made only for phase two. We were made ultimately for phase three. It's the ultimate payoff. Jesus said, 'Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.' Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, 'In this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation [our house] which is from heaven.' Then Peter said in 2 Peter 3, 'We, according to His promises, look for a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells.'

Our word 'heaven' that we say in English, heaven, comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word 'heave on'. So you can start walking around saying, 'Are you going to heave-on?' That's the original world. And it simply means to be uplifted or to be lifted up. And the idea was that it would describe a place or a condition above the common condition of the earth. The Bible speaks of heaven three different ways. It was the last, or third, way that John was speaking about it here. The Bible speaks about the terrestrial heavens, our atmosphere. As the rain comes down from heaven, Isaiah said. The birds of the heaven--that's the heaven of the atmosphere. Then there's the celestial heaven the Bible speaks about, where there's the moon and the sun and the stars. Space--the final frontier. But it's not the final frontier. The ultimate heaven is what the Bible calls the third heaven, above the atmosphere, above the stratosphere; it's the heaven of heavens where God dwells. And so we think of the words of the cosmonauts, who years ago went to the moon and came back and said in their atheistic format, 'We've been to space. We've been to the heavens and we've never seen God.' Well figure it out. You didn't go far enough. And I would say if you were to step out of your space suit, you would see God very soon.

The thing that John secondly notices in his entrance to heaven is "a trumpet speaking with me." Now you read that and a bell should go off, a light should go off, you should say, 'That sounds familiar.' A trumpet, a voice saying, 'Come up here,' and instantly he's in the presence of God? It should sound familiar. 1 Thessalonians 4: "The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will raise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air." Chapter four verses one and two are John's own experience in his own words of prophecy of the rapture of the church. He shows us, he illustrates for us, what will happen to God's people at the end of the church age when we are caught up together. Notice the words 'come up here.' John's on the earth writing about the church, suddenly he's in heaven and the rest of the book he writes about things from a birds-eye view, you might say, from a heavenly perspective before the throne of God. The key verse I want you to look at is back in chapter one. Let's turn there. The key verse to the entire book, we mentioned it as we were in this section, chapter one verse nineteen is the outline, the divine outline, of this book. Jesus tells him, "Write the things which you have seen, the things which are, the things which will take place after this," the Greek word means after these things. Here's the outline, John. I want you to write about what you're seeing, which was the vision of Jesus Christ in chapter one. Secondly, write about the things which are. And he writes about the churches in chapters two and three. Then after these things, I want you to continue to write. Write what comes after chapters two and three, the church age, and chapter four opens up with exactly the same Greek wording, "I looked and behold, a door. After these things." After what things? After the things of chapters two and three, the age of the church. For John, this experience was instantaneous. He didn't climb a stairway to heaven. He didn't take an elevator. It wasn't a slow process of many lifetimes. He was instantly in the presence of God and that will be our experience at the rapture. For Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:52, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed."

We should note something. Chapters two and three had a main theme. What was it? The church. And write to the church, and write to this church and that church. The theme of those two chapters was the church. In fact, the word church is mentioned nineteen times in chapters one, two, and three. Beginning in chapter four, there's not even a mention of the church until you get to Revelation 22:16, where we see the mention of the church again after it's all over with. So chapter four is the third division of the book of Revelation. You might say it is act three, scene one. Now somebody might object and say, wait a minute, I hear you talking about the rapture; I've never read that word in the Bible. How can you talk about the rapture--it's not even in the Bible! So what? The word Bible isn't in the Bible. The teaching is there. The teaching of the rapture of the church is all over the New Testament. How did we get that word? The word rapture came from what I just read to you in 1 Thessalonians 4. To be caught up, to meet the Lord in the air. The word harpodzo is used thirteen times in the New Testament. Let me give you a little overview. Four times it's translated 'catch-up,' three times it's translated 'to take by force,' twice it means 'to catch away,' twice 'to pluck,' one time 'to catch' another time 'to pull.' When Jerome translated from Greek into the Latin Vulgate, the word he used for 1 Thessalonians 4 to catch up in the air was the word raptus, to rapture, it's a Latin word. The Kenneth Wiest translation of 1 Thessalonians 4 reads this way: "We shall be snatched away forcibly in masses of saints, having the appearance of clouds for a welcome meeting with the Lord in the lower atmosphere." That's a literal expanded Greek translation. Well that's the same idea that John experienced. Immediately I was in the Spirit.

People confuse two events. I'd like to sort of take away the confusion if at all possible. The two events are the rapture of the church, this catching away, suddenly, instantly, and another event called the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. They are two different events and they are always seen as different. The rapture is when Jesus comes for the church. He does not descend all the way to earth; we ascend to meet Him in the air. That event is sudden, unannounced, and unpredictable. Jesus said, Matthew 24:43, "Therefore you also be ready for the Son of Man is coming in an hour when you do not expect Him." Does that thought ever pop into your head as you live during the day? He could come before this light turns green. He could come before I take the test at school today. Oh, may He do that! The second event is the Second Coming. It is not pictured in Revelation 4, as is the rapture; it is seen in Revelation 19. Again, heaven opens and this time Jesus comes to the earth with, it says, with ten thousands of His saints. This innumerable group of people that comes with Jesus Christ to the earth. Listen to what Jesus said, Matthew 24: "Immediately after the tribulation, those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, the powers of the heavens will be shaken, then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will say the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." That is a predictable event. Now I believe it's going to be seven years after the rapture. I believe there will be the catching away, tribulation period, Second Coming. I know there are different views on this; people have all sorts of different ideas: post, mid, pre-trib. I see it very clearly in the Scripture as this scenario. It doesn't mean you're a heretic if you disagree with me. You're inaccurate but you're not a heretic, that's alright.

Jesus said in Matthew 24: "For as lightning comes from east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." The rapture is He comes for the church. The Second Coming He comes with the church and the whole world, everyone, will see that event. Then after the rapture, after verses one and two, John is caught up into heaven, sees the throne, and the rest of the book shows the wrath that is poured out upon the earth in the tribulation period. But this morning, we get to peek into the portals of heaven. And before all of that wrath is unleashed, we get to see the glory. We get to see the throne. John sees some wild things here and hears some awesome things, as well. As we go through it make mental notes of it. Get used to picturing this because you're going to be there one day. And you don't want to look like a country bumpkin. You want to go, 'Alright, there are the seven lamps, the sea of glass, the throne, the living creatures I read about. Boy, they look even weirder than I thought they would.' You want to look like you have some familiarity, for He wrote us about it. Let's look now at this experience of heaven:

"Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle."

What will heaven be like? We don't know everything of what heaven will be like, even Paul said, 'I was caught up into the third heaven and I heard things that were inexpressible,' or as it says in King Jimmy, 'they were unlawful for a man to utter.' In other words, what I saw and what I heard, if I tried to describe them it would be a crime. We have a sketch of heaven in the Bible. We do not have a full, complete description. I don't think we could handle it. Trying to tell us what we're going to expect in heaven would be maybe like trying to tell a four-year-old that he's going to have a great time on his honeymoon. There's no way he's going to get it. Vance Havner said, "There are a lot of questions the Bible does not answer about the hereafter. One reason could be illustrated by a boy sitting down to a bowl of spinach when there's a chocolate cake at the end of the table. He's going to have a rough time eating the spinach when his eyes are on the cake." So we know there's a cake ahead, probably angel food, but we don't know the full description of it. We just have a sketch.

Notice on the throne is One who sits with a brilliant appearance of two stones. The first thing John notices is not angels playing harps on clouds, not Peter standing at a gate with a register, not gold streets, the first thing he notices is a throne. The word throne is the key word to the chapter. In the book of Revelation the word throne is used 42 times. It is used 12 times in chapter four alone. He's there; he sees real things. Heaven is a real place. It's not a figment of your imagination, it's not a fantasyland. The writer of Hebrews said heaven is the place that has foundations whose builder and maker is God. It's real, it is stable, it is permanent. Also, heaven is huge. If you've traveled the earth, you think this place is big. But heaven is absolutely huge. Not only will you be there and millions of other believers in Christ, not only will there be twenty-four elders and four living creatures buzzing around, but think of all of the people throughout history who have followed God's plan, followed Jesus Christ, and look over at chapter five for just a minute. Peek ahead. Verse eleven of chapter five: "Then I looked and heard a voice of many angels around the throne." Well let's see how many. "The living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." Millions, billions of angels joining in the chorus, the anthems, with the saints of heaven.

It could be that heaven will be a place with many cities in it. Jesus said, 'in my Father's house are many abiding places,' many mansions. We know of one of them at least. In Revelation 21 it is called the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is a tangible, measurable, corporate city that descends from heaven toward the earth. It is measured as a cube. Listen to its dimension: "twelve thousand furlongs," which is 1500 miles. 1500 miles wide, 1500 miles long, 1500 miles high. That would make the base of this city 2,250,000 square miles. Going up, 1500 miles or 780,000 stories. It is large enough that it could comfortably accommodate 100,000 million people--more than all the people who have ever lived in history on planet earth. Can you imagine what that would be like? This huge thing descending out of heaven. If you've ever seen Close Encounters or Independence Day, that's nothing compared to that. That's the New Jerusalem. The Bible often speaks of heaven as being up, that's why often people will pray and they will look up as if God's up there. But then somebody on the other side of the globe is also looking up. In the rapture, we're caught up. John looks up and the voice says, 'Come up here.' So when you think about the earth as being spherical, it could be that heaven is simply encasing and it's well beyond the atmosphere and the stratosphere and the ionosphere. It's just encasing all of it--huge. Whatever it is, it will be beyond our wildest dreams, no doubt. However we piece it together and whatever things we glean out of the chapters of this book, it's still going to be a jaw-dropper when we get there. I'm sure that when a person dies now and takes the first breath into eternity, it's like, 'Wow!' Not like, 'Oh. Cool.' A little girl was looking up at the stars above the mountains and she said, 'Daddy, if heaven looks this good from the wrong side imagine what it must look like on the right side!' It will be truly awesome.

Again, the throne is the central piece of furniture here. All of these creatures and elders are perched around the throne; it's the first thing John sees. Why is the throne so important? Why is it the main attraction? Because God's on it, that's why. Not because it's a beautiful piece of architecture and it won an award, but because God sits on the throne. And what I want to leave you this morning with is what makes heaven; heaven is not that there are angels there or streets of gold there. It's not that we're reunited with loved ones, though we will be, and all that stuff is true. But what really makes heaven, heaven is the God that you love and serve will be there for you. You'll see Him in person. And it's something we've longed for, hasn't it? We get homesick. Moses, who had experiences like none of us have had, God speaking to him audibly, great signs and wonders, he said, 'Oh, Lord. Show me Your glory.' Show me Your glory. God said, 'If I show you My glory, you'll die. No man can see Me and live.' And every time we worship and sing songs and we have that great experience of the anointing of the Holy Spirit drawing us into worship and fellowship, it only whets our appetite for more. I'm never satisfied. I've never been satisfied at any church worship service in my life. If I was satisfied, I'd never go back. But every time I have a great experience of worship, its like, Lord, I want to get closer. And so worship is never meant to satisfy but to whet our appetite for being in the presence of God. David said I'll be satisfied when I am in Your presence and I awake in Your likeness.

We'll see God in His glory. Dwight L. Moody said, "It's not the jeweled walls and the pearly gates that are going to make heaven attractive. It's being with God." Heaven is sort of like your own home in the sense that it's not the things that you have in your house that make it so precious, it's the people that you have in your house. It's not what; it's whom that makes heaven so attractive. Now John describes God in terms of brilliant stones. A jasper, which is a clear, diamond-like stone, very, very brilliant. It would be equivalent to our diamond. And I think whatever you think on this earth is cool and hip and you've saved up for to have will pale in comparison to His beauty. But not only is He seen as a brilliant stone but as this sardius stone is mentioned. That is a stone like a ruby, it has a reddish hue. So he looks at the throne and there's this brilliant white with sardius red hue, perhaps reminding all of the inhabitants of heaven of the blood that was shed on the cross. The crimson stain that the Savior left to buy salvation. But it's interesting that God is described in terms of stones. It only shows me that you really can't describe to humans the essence of God. For us to try to grasp all that God is is like trying to pour the Pacific Ocean or the Atlantic Ocean in a coffee cup. You can't do it. We have such small, finite ability and we're trying to comprehend infinity. And so, simply in comparison, these bright stones are used.

Let's look around the throne. In verses three and four, there's a rainbow around the throne first of all. Where do we first see the rainbow? Noah. God judged the earth and after the judgment, He put a rainbow in the sky to remind Noah of His promises. Here's a rainbow that is seen not after the storm of judgment, but before the storm of judgment. As if to remind John that God is a God who keeps His promises and only when God's promises are pushed aside will God judge. And even after the judgment, you can be rest assured, that rainbow, that promise will still be there of eternity to come. You've got promises of God. In fact, you ought to see every experience in your life that there's a rainbow around it. You still have the promise of God. There was a Chinese Christian. His name was Lo, his Chinese given name. And he got awfully excited when he read for the first time in English Jesus' promise in Matthew 28:20. "Lo, I am with you always." And he read that and took it very personally. Look, He's writing about me! And you know we smile at the simplicity of that, but I think we ought to look at the promise of Jesus to us with our name in it. I am with you always, even to the end of the age. It's a reminder before judgment.

Then we see elders and living creatures. You will not be alone in heaven. These creatures, these people, will be hanging out with you. Who are the elders? There are twenty-four of them. In the Old Testament, there were twenty-four, and it's the only other time in the Bible we see that number in the same context as this, there are twenty-four courses of priests that served in the throne, the temple in Jerusalem. And those twenty-four courses of priests represented the entire nation before God. And I think that the twenty-four elders are the representatives of the church before God. And we'll see more about them as this book goes on. We now see that something is coming out from the throne. It says, "Out of the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices." So John's caught up into heaven, sees a throne, these creatures flying around, the elders. But he hears something and he sees lightning and he hears thunder, which is simply a preview of coming attractions. God will judge the earth. The first time we read about thundering and lightning and voices is in Exodus at Mount Sinai. And you're going to see four different times in the book of Revelation that there's thundering and lightning and voices and each time they come from the throne of God. Here's my point. God's throne has been a throne of grace for many, many years. There will come a time when God prepares His throne for judgment. As if to say, I love the earth, I've been patient, I've given My Son, I've sent My Christian witnesses throughout the earth, and now I'm fed up. And you know what folks? Judgment is a divine necessity. Do you ever get sick of reading the newspaper and all the things that happen? All the bad news that they cover? All the wars, all the famines, all the murders, all the rapes? Multiply that millions of times over for cities around this globe, then count over 365 days a year, and years and years that God has been seeing all that. He's been patient. But then, finally, God will judge.

Before the throne, in verses five and six, he sees seven lamps of fire and a sea of glass. Let me sort of sum up some ideas here so we don't have to cover everything. The writer of Hebrews says very plainly that the tabernacle, that big tent-like temple in the wilderness, was a model of heaven. He says that twice in the book. So that when you look at the tabernacle, it gives you some indication of the set-up of heaven. Hebrews 9:23. You can look it up later. And so think about some elements in the tabernacle. There was a seven-branched candlestick. Here in heaven we see seven lamps of fire. In the tabernacle, there was cherubim with two wings apiece, four wings over the mercy seat. Here we see four living creatures around the throne. In the tabernacle, there was a bronze bull, a laver with water in it. The priest would dip his hands and wash before the sacrifice. Here we see this huge sea of crystal--glass. It's solid now. You say, that's interesting, why is it solid and not fluid? Because there's no need for cleansing anymore. Cleansing is over. Jesus died on the cross, paid the price, and we're standing on the finished work of Jesus Christ there in heaven. Question: do you live like that now? Do you believe in that now or are you still feeling guilty trying to earn your way to God? Saying, God, look, I've been good today, You owe me a little favor here. Or do you stand on a completed work that you can't add to? A man came to an evangelist named Alexander Wooten and said, "I need to get salvation." Wooten said, "It's too late." He said, "What do you mean it's too late? I need to get salvation." Wooten said, "It's too late, it's already been done." You can't get it on your own--it's been gotten for you. It's a finished work that you must receive and trust in the merits of Christ.

Finally, and we'll close with this, verses eight through eleven, we see that there's worship unto the throne of God. The song "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come" and as that is sung, the elders cast their crowns down and there's this huge anthem in heaven, verse eleven: "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created." You're going to notice something as we go through this book, that there's lots of worship going on in heaven. The throne room of God is filled with praise and worship and you know what? There's something else that's interesting. Not one of those songs in this book is a solo. It's all corporate. It's not everybody looking at one person singing; it's everybody singing together the anthems of eternity. Worship.

Since heaven will be filled with worship, why not get in practice now? Why not get ready for it now? How important is worship to you--really? Some of you, it's very important. You can't wait to sing; you're chomping at the bit when those songs come up on the screen. But there are others, and the ushers and pastors have told me, who love to come late on purpose, to miss the music, get the message, and split. Could it be that you'll be bored in heaven? There will be worship going on for all of eternity. Let's work on it now. Heaven: good views, good location, great rates. You want to go there? Some don't and you know people like that. They say, I'm not the religious sort; I'm not into the God thing, man. God's cool but I don't want Him to introduce in my life. Well God will honor your choice. And do you think God would be so cruel, if you try to push Him out of your life all of the time on earth that He'd force you to spend eternity with Him? I mean, here you've lived your life and said, I want nothing to do with God. Fine. Why would God force you to spend eternity with Him? He won't; He'll honor your choice if you don't want God in your life. Who are you following today? You're following somebody. You say, no, I follow my own design, I've got it all marked out, I don't follow anybody. Yes you do. You're influenced by some star or some role model that you've had, some philosophy, some system, some ideology. But ask yourself, where will they end up? When you're following them, where will it take you? There's a tombstone in a cemetery in England with a clever little poem on it: "Pause stranger as you pass me by, as you are now so once was I, as I am now so you will be, so prepare for death and follow me." Somebody saw that tombstone and wrote in chalk these words: "To follow you I'm not content, until I know which way you went." Consider the path that you are following this morning and consider that there is a door now that is open and He is Jesus. And that door of Jesus Christ is the only door and He will lead you to a place of a great location, great views, and great rates.

Additional Messages in this Series

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6/9/1996
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Good News from a Bad Place
Revelation 1:1-8
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6/16/1996
completed
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Catapulted into the Future
Revelation 1:9-20
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6/23/1996
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When Love Grows Cold
Revelation 2:1-7
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6/30/1996
completed
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Postcard to Those in Pain
Revelation 2:8-11
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7/7/1996
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The Curse of Compromise
Revelation 2:12-17
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7/14/1996
completed
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Corruption without Discernment
Revelation 2:18-29
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7/21/1996
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Church of the Living Dead
Revelation 3:1-6
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7/28/1996
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Body Building - God's Way
Revelation 3:7-13
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The human body has become the obsession of our modern culture. Much like the ancient Greeks, people are madly trying to fit the contemporary ideal of what is an acceptable shape and size. The church is metaphorically called the "Body of Christ" and His desire is to see it built up spiritually. The church of Philadelphia is a good model of a healthy, faithful church. Their example provides for us a template to follow in building up the Body - God's Way!
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8/19/1996
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Taking Your Spiritual Temperature
Revelation 3:14-22
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Ever since we were kids our moms stuck thermometers in our mouths whenever she suspected that we were sick. If our body temperature of 98.6 had climbed up just a few notches, it was always a good indication that an unhealthy condition was present. There is also a spiritual temperature that reveals the condition of our souls, and when the thermometer reads Lukewarm it indicates that something is wrong; it indicates the presence of danger. Let's see how Jesus, the Great Physician, treats his patient with this malady.
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9/1/1996
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History's Greatest Real Estate Deal
Revelation 5:1-7
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9/8/1996
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Worship His Majesty - Part 1
Revelation 5:8-10
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In heaven there won’t be just three services in the morning and one at night with a midweek tacked on. There will be no need to be sensitive to time so we can go to lunch. Words will not have to be printed nor projected. Worship leaders will have no need prompting people to sing. It will be an all-consuming experience that will involve our total cooperation and enthusiasm.
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9/15/1996
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Worship His Majesty - Part 2
Revelation 5:11-14
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9/29/1996
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Four Riders with Bad News
Revelation 6:1-8
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10/6/1996
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The Cries of Heaven and Earth
Revelation 6:9-17
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10/13/1996
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A Blessed Interruption in a Tough Time
Revelation 7
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10/20/1996
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Trumpets of Doom
Revelation 8
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10/27/1996
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When All Hell Breaks Loose
Revelation 9:1-12
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11/3/1996
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Angels of Mass Destruction
Revelation 9:13-21
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11/10/1996
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A Big Angel with a Little Book
Revelation 10
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11/17/1996
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Two Powerful Preachers
Revelation 11:1-14
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11/24/1996
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Light at the End of the Tunnel
Revelation 11:15-19
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12/1/1996
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The Panorama of Spiritual Warfare - Part 1
Revelation 12:1-6
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12/8/1996
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The Panorama of Spiritual Warfare - Part 2
Revelation 12:7-17
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There aren't many people who like to fight. Confrontation is something most would like to avoid. But in the spiritual realm it's unavoidable. The question isn't, "Will I engage in spiritual warfare?" Rather, the question is, "How well will I fight?" As we saw last week, the war in the heavens makes its way to the theater of the earth. Let's see what else it entails.
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12/15/1996
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The Coming Global Leader
Revelation 13:1-10
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12/22/1996
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Evil's Right-Hand-Man
Revelation 13:11-18
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12/29/1996
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The Lamb Who Shepherds His People
Revelation 14:1-5
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After all that john has seen in his apocalyptic vision, seeing the docility of a lamb standing with his overcoming sheep is a welcomed sight. Although the dragon pursues god's people relentlessly, although the beasts are bent on ruling the earth, the ultimate winner will be the lamb and his followers.
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1/5/1997
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Angels Set The Record Straight
Revelation 14:6-13
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1/12/1997
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It's Harvest Time!
Revelation 14:14-20
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One of the most common ways to make a living in ancient times was to "work the land." The early rains of October/November and the soft latter rains produced the wheat and barley harvest later on. Also, when vintage season began, almost the whole village could be found in the fields harvesting the crop. Such images would also provide a poignant way of depicting the final judgment of the earth, as in this section.
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1/17/1997
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Getting Ready for the Grand Finale
Revelation 15:1-8
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1/26/1997
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What's in the Bowl? - Part 1
Revelation 16:1-11
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We now come to the "seven last plagues" of God in the Great Tribulation that is coming upon planet earth. These judgments come in the form of "bowls" being poured out swiftly and completely-the judgment will be swift and thorough. Yet through all the mercy as Well as wrath of this awesome era, people will persist in having a hardened heart. Open your heart 'right now to these truths.
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2/2/1997
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What's in the Bowl? - Part 2
Revelation 16:12-21
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What will the end of the world be like? What are the final events just before Jesus returns and takes over to set up His millennial reign? That's what this section tells us. There will be increased warfare activity in the Middle East, massive deception, and unheard of destructive cataclysms on earth. In the midst of foretelling these events, Jesus has a word of encouragement.
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2/9/1997
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The Coming World Religion
Revelation 17
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It was Karl Marx who stated, no doubt cynically, that religion was the opiate of the masses. The fact is, he was right-it is! People are driven to worship something or someone. This desire will be exploited to the hilt in the Tribulation period and will be under the umbrella of the world dictator-the Antichrist. What are its roots and how does it end?
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2/16/1997
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Get out of Babylon!
Revelation 18
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Someone once said, "Money can't buy you friends but your enemies treat you a little better." Though meant to be tongue-in­cheek, that won't happen when the entire world economy collapses. God's shakedown of the earth will include everything that the Antichrist's kingdom will embody, from the sacred to the secular.
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3/2/1997
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Marriage Made in Heaven
Revelation 19:1-10
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3/9/1997
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The Return of Jesus Christ - Part 1
Revelation 19
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Even in the dome of our capitol in Washington there is an inscription which seems to point to the return of Jesus Christ. It says: "One far-off divine event toward which the whole creation moves." It is that event which we will be studying in the next two weeks. This is what all Christians of all ages have looked forward to - His return and reign of His creation.
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3/16/1997
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The Return of Jesus Christ - Part 2
Revelation 19
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Even in the dome of the capitol in Washington there is an inscription which seems to point to the return of Jesus Christ. It says: "one far-off divine event toward which the whole creation moves." it is that event, that Christians of all ages have looked forward to-his return and reign of his creation. We will conclude our study of the return of Jesus Christ, today.
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4/6/1997
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Paradise Regained
Revelation 20:1-3
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4/13/1997
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The Devil's Last Stand
Revelation 20:1-10
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A typical question is, "Will evil ever get its reward?" What ever happened to ethics and justice? Well, we see here that God will not turn His back on this issue. He will deal with the source of all evil (the devil himself) and then judge those who revel in it. This section gives tremendous hope to anyone concerned about injustice in our world.
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4/20/1997
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Life, Death, and Resurrection
Revelation 20:5-6; 20:11-15
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5/4/1997
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All Things New - Part 1
Revelation 21:1-3
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5/11/1997
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All Things New - Part 2
Revelation 21:4-8
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"It's like nothing you've ever seen or experienced before." That's how John describes the emotional experience of heaven. So that we can relate, he tells us that all of the pain, sorrow, and moaning we've endured here won't be there. By the way, only those who want to go there will go there. Heaven is not a destination by default, reservations are made here and now!
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5/18/1997
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The City of the Future
Revelation 21:9-22:5
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There is no architect or builder like God himself. Even the patriarch Abraham "was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." (Heb. 11:10) he didn't find it in his lifetime. "You won't find you're "happily ever after" here either, but the New Jerusalem will be God's answer for man's longing to live in a perpetually peaceful stare.
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5/25/1997
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He's Coming - Now What!?
Revelation 22:6-21
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There are 43 additional messages in this series.
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