The Heavenly Throne Room

Coming up next on Renewing Your Mind. We have this glorious scene in heaven. God with redeemed humanity. God with his purpose fulfilled in gathering same side of the Old Testament and out of the new reveille contractor for dazzling description of God seated in splendor.

It's an amazing site with angels and redeemed humanity, giving God the praise he deserves this week on Renewing Your Mind with focusing on the book of Revelation. Dr. Robert Godfrey is our teacher and were jumping into a series and lesson seven as we learn about the remarkable visions of the apostle John will be reminded that God alone is holy and worthy of praise. The last time we concluded our look at the first cycle as I'm calling them in the book of the Revelation I've been arguing that these cycles are seven and shape the whole character of the book shape. Also, the meaning of the book and that the first cycle in certain ways provides a model for us of what we will expect in the other cycle. So in that first cycle we found that there was a long introduction beginning in chapter 1 of the book of the Revelation and then leading in 27 sections and got in the seven cycles will say some have an introduction about for the cycles have thought about for the cycles.

I can be definitive about that for the cycles have introductions and three don't but they all have seven sections in each cycle and that's what we saw in that first cycle.

The seven letters to the seven churches.

Those sections were not explicitly numbered, so we don't really letter one letter to letter three but were tell the group so we can count the letters and say look, there's 123-4567, and each of those letters. Then we said, had a a certain theme or focus letter one on love letter to our life letter three on judgment a letter for on searching letter five on holiness letter six on faithfulness letter 71 reproof so these the letters all have a slightly different focus of slightly different emphasis. In light of the needs of the church and now we come to cycle to which will also follow the pattern that we see in cycle one and cycle to will run from Revelation 4 verse one through eight, verse one. So chapter 4 verse one through chapter 8 verse one and it'll again be very clear. We have the seven seals very explicitly were told when the first seal second seal so forth are open and so here the organization seems very clear, very explicit, but we do have a very long introduction here the longest of the introductions are runs from Revelation 4, verse one through chapter 5, so you have a true chapter introduction to the seven seals and it reminds us that John is not bound has not bound himself to an absolutely strict aesthetic balance in his letters, we might say, well, wouldn't it be more artistically balanced.

If every cycle had an introduction all the introductions were about the same length. We feel better about work were Westerners we like nice balance.

Well John didn't seem to care.

He writes what needs to be written and here is the longest introduction to set the scene, and it's quite important. Seeing that he sets it's a scene that will should stay with us as we consider the book because what is said here is for us the scene of the heavenly temple which is the heavenly throne room so this opens with this majestic scene and the most of the commentators want to suggest especially futurist commentators want to suggest that there is a radical break between chapter 3 and chapter 4 chapter 3 was about real churches in real time. In the first century and now all of a sudden we moved to chapter 4 which are in the history of the church is been where people begin to get excited about Revelation hour getting the good stuff now are getting the stuff that'll tell us all about what's going happen at the end times and so they want to argue for a really sharp break between the sort of grubby earthly churches and this picture now of heaven in the future that's going to unfold before us and I want to begin by arguing. There's really not so much of a break as one might think, because if we compare the introduction to the first cycle with the introduction of the second cycle.

What we see is there's a lot of parallel there. The second half of the introduction. The first cycle was also in heaven. John had a vision of heaven, and he had a vision of a part of the heavenly temple. And what's really happening here in a sense is that the small vision of the heavenly temple that we had in the introduction of the first cycle now is expanded like the camera rolls back and we get a wider view of what's going on. We see more of the temple more is revealed to us and it's intended to amaze us what not to separate us from what was already being set in the first cycle. So in that first cycle already. We were being taught. Heaven is not in the future.

Heaven is not far away. Heaven is right with us, and that's being reiterated here so there's an open door, and heavenly bread about open doors before heavenly. There's several doors in cycle one, and so the very opening of chapter 4 connects us to that first cycle and says were not in a whole new world were just seeing more profoundly the world. We were already introduced to in cycle one.

It's not that heaven is the future to come. Heaven is right now God's reign is right now our citizenship in heaven is right now. So when we read in the chapter 4 verse one after this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven and the first voice which I have heard speaking to me like a trumpet. That's the voice in cycle one, said come up here and I will show you what must take place after this. So this is going to be a revelation of the future as well of.

As of the present at once. I was in the spirit.

But again, this is a phrase that connects us to cycle one dozen into the introduction because in Revelation 1 verse 10 John was in the spirit so these are not you know completely opposed separate vastly different images that are coming to John, but this is all connected and so John in the spirit is now in the heavenly temple just as he was in cycle one, but now we see more. Now he's seeing more and at once I was in the spirit of behold the throne stood in heaven and one seated on the throne and he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald around the throne were 24 throne seated on the thrones were 24 elders clothed in white garments with golden crowns on their heads from the throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder before the throne were burning seven tortures of fire which are the seven spirits of God and before the throne there was as it were, a sea of glass like Crystal. So here's this remarkable majestic vision of the heavenly temple with God and throne at the center of it and it's interesting how the description of God is presented is, God is presented almost entirely in terms of colors, what John seems to see is color, not an image there's nothing sort of physical to describe what he seems to be trying to describe his glory, the glory of emeralds and rainbows and jasper and carnelian so again, just as in a sense we saw with the description of Jesus in the first chapter in the heavenly temple. It's an image that can't be painted it would really be possible to try to paint this because it's just trying to communicate to us how glorious it, but God is a spirit, of course, there's no form and so it's an effort to get somewhere into describing the glory, the beauty of God and the power of God so that from this throne comes lightning settled rumblings and peals of thunder, and now I live in California we don't have much thunder and lightning California little bit so you all in Florida would be much better able to talk about what a real thunder and lightning storm looks like and it's impressive and that's what's being communicated here.

This is a awe-inspiring scene, and it's a scene in which God is not alone. There is a round of the throne fathers.

Now that's important to remember that part of the character of our God is that she rejoices in relationships with others on our city is a great theologian would remind us. God doesn't need relationships with others. He's sufficient in himself. That's part of the meaning of the doctrine of the Trinity.

He's not alone in himself. His father, son and Holy Spirit in himself, but nonetheless he has been pleased to create and relate to his creation. And that's what we see here in this image of the heavenly temple around the throne are 24 thrones, and seated on the 24th thrones are 24 elders clothed in white garments with golden crowns on their heads.

Now again all of this is symbolic is the white garments are purity. These are those who are pure before the Lord, the golden crowns .2 conquering the very thing that have been talked about in the first cycle.

What are we called to us Christians were called to faithfulness to overcoming to conquering and these on the 24th thrones are those who have conquered the rain now with God and glory because they have conquered and because they have life.

So who are these 24 well like a lot of the symbolism in the book of Revelation. It's really not that hard taught that hard children who are the 24 old. How do you get 24 from the Bible.

It's pretty easy as 12 tribes and 12 apostles 12 tribes and 12 apostles. So what we see here in heaven we see the Old Testament saints in the New Testament saints, not separated, not segregated but united around the throne.

I think as revelation often does were not left just to speculate about that are just about that when we turned Revelation 21 and see the wall and the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem come down to earth what we find we find the names of the 12 tribes and the names of the 12 apostles. So that's the revelation itself talking about what the symbolism means and so we have this glorious scene in heaven. God with redeemed humanity. God with his purpose fulfilled in gathering saints out of the Old Testament and out of the new gathered around his throne in them before the throne or sell 50. We have the burning seven tortures of fire which are the seven spirits of God.

Now that's worth pausing just briefly over, not because it's so hard to understand but because here we have a symbol of a symbol.

Remember we talked about how the seven spirits of God are a symbol of the one Holy Spirit in his fullness in his particular power for each of the seven churches. But now we have seven tortures representing the seven spirits which represent the one spirit and soul and reminds us in this book are going to be layers upon layers of meaning as we go along and do we have to keep our eyes open and are ears attentive and around the throne on each side of the throne are four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man in the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight and the four living creatures, each of them with six wings are full of eyes all around and within and day and night they never cease to say holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty was and who is and who is to come. So we have in addition to the 24 elders representing all of humanity.

Four living creatures. So who were the four living creatures.

This is imagery drawn from the book of Ezekiel as the book of Ezekiel opens in chapter 1 it to describes four living creatures around the throne of God and the probably when we compare Ezekiel 1 and in Revelation 4 we probably should conclude that this is not some completely separate order of being.

But probably the four living creatures represent the angels in heaven all the ranks and orders of heaven justice 24 elders represent all of redeemed humanity so the four living creatures represent all of the holy angels in heaven. If you want a lot more on the holy angels. You can read Thomas Aquinas RC would be glad to have Thomas recommended Thomas was known and always the angelic Dr. and he was called the angelic Dr. not because he had such a nice personality.

I think he did have nice personality but I didn't actually need them, but he's called the angelic Dr. because he writes so much about the Angels.

Thomas was fascinated with the angels wrote a great deal about the angels. He probably talks a lot about four living creatures, but I think what's going on here is that as the humanity created redeemed humanity as described around the throne, so to the Angels are described around throne and here's a wonderful picture of the glory that awaits the people of God with the Angels now there are some interesting tidbits here that should cause us to pause just a little bit and observed that Ezekiel's four living creatures had four wings and John's four living creatures have six wings each. So what are we to make of that. And I pause over that because it again relates to this question.

What's the literal reading of the text. Well if you're going to have a wooden literalism you would sort of have to say. Well, Ezekiel's four living creatures are not John's four living creatures because Ezekiel's only have four wings and John's have six wings so they can't be the same right if you're going to be strictly literal or you could suggest that so over the centuries, the Angels moved to more wings why you reacted correctly. That's kinda silly. As a note or we could suggest Ezekiel got it wrong. What's even sillier. We don't believe that. I think again this is an exercise in thinking with the biblical writers what their meaning. I think John is simply say you know it's even more glorious than what Ezekiel saw Ezekiel saw true late. Ezekiel saw glory to glory is even greater. It's even greater. It's so hard to describe the glory of heaven, because angels to our spirit beings right so angels don't literally have wings that symbolic of their ability to move just as they're having a bias in front and in back is a sense of their vast knowledge. You know there will was used to joke about maybe this is a joke that mainly get stolen seminaries, but but we always used to joke about the medieval question how many angels can dance on the head of the pin. But you see that's a serious theological question and the serious dimension of that question is do angels have any physicality which would mean they occupy space in some sense, and if they occupy space in some sense that only a small number can dance on the head of a pin of the same time. Now there's a bad question because we know that the angels are all doctrine forms of the Dutch one.

Don't dance at all so but nonetheless the right answer to this question is that an infinite number can dance on the head of the pin because I don't occupy any space so this is symbolic language to describe these creatures.

They don't literally have wings, they don't literally have eyes all over them, which would make them look like bugs would be a little creepy. This is a description that points to their spiritual reality and we always want to keep that very much in mind. And here they are, then singing to the Lord, holy, holy, holy is a song we've heard before is heaven, where that's the song of the angels in the in the heavenly temple in the Isaiah chapter 6, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty punch across towards the record ruler and judge of all things, who was in his dentist, so here's this praise being offered to God, just as in Revelation 1 we heard praise being offered to God now are hearing it again with the bigger vision of the heavenly temple and the creatures offering the prayers and then in verse nine and whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him seated on the throne, who lives for never and never the 24 elders fall down before him who was seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.

They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. So here we have a song of creation. The human created beings. The angelic created beings all join in chorus to celebrate our creator to acknowledge that they have their life and their being from him and from him alone and so here is a kind of foundation. In the book of the Revelation. God is creator.

He brought all into being all power assumes all glory is his whole honor belongs to him and I hear she is song and prayer used in the first place is creator doesn't rush to redemption will get to redemption, but we don't want to forget that the beginning and the foundation is God the Creator. It's interesting, as will move on to chapter 5 that love the song of redemption that is sung in the heavenly temple is called the new song and that's a phrase taken from the Psalter several times in the Psalms particular Psalms in the 90s we have reference to the new song and what we see as the new song is the song of redemption and that reminds us that although the Scripture never says this explicitly, that the song of creation is the old song so there's a first song. The song of creation.

And then there's a second song.

The song of redemption and that's what is being presented to us here as we go along. Worthy are you, Lord our God.

So here is this scene. The scene of divine glory and beauty. The scene of praise and worship humanity and angelic beings are joined together and then chapter 5 we have the first inkling of an issue of problem attention that I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne of school written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals so here's the question now, here's the moment God has a scroll in his hand. It's a densely written over he can see it's written on the front and on the back both sides so you roll it up, but if you unroll it you have to read both sides, but it can't be unrolled at that moment because there are seven seals ceiling at shot and the question is who can open it, and thus the question will come back to next time as this glorious vision in the heavenly temple begins on hold with explanation that not only inspires the believers in John's time on but it's going to help them understand what history you know when we study the book of Revelation that we get a glimpse of what is to come gives us hope that all will be made right someday with God on his throne, and the host of heaven praising him. Dr. Robert Gottfried is our teacher this week on Renewing Your Mind as we focus on his series blessed hope. The book of Revelation. The final book of the Bible is full of mysterious images and amazing visions in his series. Dr. Godfrey's goal is to explain some of those mysteries and provide practical insights.

We hope you'll contact us today and request all 24 messages we be happy to send you the three DVDs that when you give a donation of any amount to leader ministries. You can find us online@renewingyourmind.org or you can call us to make you requested. 800-435-4343. Another tool to help you grow in your understanding of God's word in the hope we have as believers is looking your connect private online classrooms allow you to invite friends to take any course in our library together there more than 1100 lessons from Dr. Godfrey and other trusted teachers from locator including of course Dr. RC Sproul, you can begin a course at any time by going to connect.woodier.org well.

The book of Revelation is where we read worthy is the Lamb.

This is one of the most powerful pictures I think in the whole book of the Revelation that the lion is the Lamb. The conquest is death, and that that's the path the Savior walked and implicitly. It's the path the church us to walk as well. Until the day of final award will continue our study in the book of Revelation. Tomorrow here on Renewing Your Mind.

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