Chapter 4 Verse 1

• Notice the verse begins with meta tauta and ends with meta tauta (reference the Divine Outline in Revelation 1:19).  Why?  Why twice?  Because God doesn’t want us to miss it… 
• And thus begins the “things which will take place after this (or meta tauta).”
• After what?  Chapters 2 and 3…the church age…after the church age is complete!  The word “church” appears 19 times in the first three chapters however from chapter 4 on, it never appears!  Why?  Because the church is gone…off the scene!
• The door to heaven has been opened and Jesus has called to His bride….COME UP HERE! 
• And so we enter into the 3^rd and final section of the Book of Revelation…
• Behold, a door standing open in heaven.  And notice the door is open!  So what?  Well remember what He said to the Laodicean church?  I stand at the door and knock, and anyone who hears My voice and opens the door, I will become one with!  And so we see the door opened…the door of heaven that is open to who?  The ones who have opened their hearts to Him!
• This is so cool too because it shows the absolute sufficiency of Christ.  It is Him standing at the door.  Initiating the connection ya know.  It is Him knocking…calling out to us as it were.  He even IS the door to heaven itself according to John 10:9.  He is the single doorway by which all men must come to the Father….
• So what’s my part?  What’s your part?  Simply reach out the hand of your heart and open the door for Him…He will not kick it in!  So simple.  No baptism required.  No tongues required.  No nothing required…but simply to call upon His name!
• The voice I heard was like a trumpet.   So cool because what does the voice as a trumpet say?  “Come up here!”  Boom takes us right back to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 where with the blowing of the trumpet we are indeed taken up into the clouds, raptured out of this mess and forever we’re with Him from then on…

Chapter 4 Verse 2

• Immediately!  Great word!  Or you could say, in the twinkling of an eye…1/1000 of a second…another way that the rapture is described in the Bible…
• You could read it like this…immediately sin fell off of me…dead!  Immediately pain was erased from my vocabulary.  Immediately all that is wrong was set right!  I can’t wait!!!
• And notice, the first things seen clearly…the first things that catches John’s eye…the throne!  Man it is so hard sometimes to see the throne isn’t it?  This problem in the way, this worry…maybe even this idol…but not here…
• And notice, its set!  It’s not moving!  It is firmly in its place!  I love this because the Jews in the Old Testament they would move alters from high place to high place.  Kings would come and go and some would set up altars to false gods and others would destroy them and set up altars to Jehovah.
• David would move the Ark from Obed’s house to a tent and then Solomon would move it to the temple…the altar…the thrones were movable.  Not the throne of the Most High!
• And look the altar’s the thrones of today’s pagan deities are also always moving.  If you’re worshiping the altar of materialism then that altar moves…from this car to that house to that winning stock…its constantly in flux.  And it never lasts…you always need the new…because the alter that’s there today is gone tomorrow.
• Or you’re worshipping at the alter of sensuality…until it doesn’t work anymore and you need a new boyfriend, a new girlfriend…or maybe you’re bowing at the altar of intellectualism and you immerse yourself in knowledge and study…this concept that idea…until you’re grow bored of it…
• Our culture, our media, our commercialism screams “been there, done that, now what?”  Not so with the Lord.  You can walk with Him, seek Him, worship Him, learn of Him your whole life and never will you grow bored.  Your relationship will just keep getting better and better and better and more and more and more…He in inexhaustible and you’ll find great awe as you press in on Him…because His throne…is set!

Chapter 4 Verse 3

• The scene is so beautiful that all John can find to compare it to is beautiful jewels!
• The jasper stone most likely means a diamond and speaks of great light.  The sardius or ruby, a deep and brilliant red.  And then a rainbow…around the emerald throne! 
• And check this out!  There is some awesome, profound symbolism here.  A wondrous pattern!  You see the One who sat upon the throne…as a diamond…the brightest light because He is light…He is not in the dark about your marital problems, your struggle with your flesh…your concerning situation…
• So why doesn’t He do anything about it.  He has!  You see the ruby…the deep rich red…speaks of His blood!  He has taken that burden upon Himself!  And if you simply seek Him…if you place Him first…man everything WILL become holy…sanctified!  The emerald throne, the throne of the King will break forth as a rainbow in your life!  So cool!
• And who is this One!  Well, another pattern.  In Exodus 28 we read that the High Priest wore a breastplate upon which were 12 stones…one for each tribe.  The first was the stone of Reuben and it was a sardius stone.  The ruby, the red stone.  Rueben literally meaning ‘behold’ or ‘behold my son.’
• And the last stone was the jasper for the tribe of Benjamin whose name means ‘son of my right hand.’  Thus the One on the throne is ‘behold, the Son of My right hand!’  It’s Jesus!
• And even the breastplate told the story of man’s redemption…the ruby, the blood…is the way to the jasper…the shikina glory of God the Father!  Man this book is amazing right?

Chapter 4 Verse 4

• So we can’t be sure who these 24 elders are…but we might be able to offer some possibilities according to what the Bible has to say. 
• Some offer that these represent the 24 divisions of the priests, the sons of Aaron and Levi, found in 1 Chronicles 24.  Ok, I’m alright with that.
• But I lean more to the perspective that these 24 elders represent the 12 patriarchs of Israel in the Old Testament and the 12 apostles of the New Testament.  This just seems to fit a bit better for me because we read in Revelation 21 that on each of the 12 gates surrounding the new heaven and the new earth were written the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel and on each of the 12 foundations laid for the new heaven and new earth were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 
• If this is the case, and the reason why I like this idea the most, then the patriarchs represent the OT believers while the apostles represent the NT believers…
• This also works for me because they are clothed in white, or clean robes…reminds me of Zech 3…and upon their heads…a crown of gold.  Gold speaking of divine kingship and being upon their heads speaks to me of the head of the church being Jesus…
• At any rate, what we can’t be sure about who they are but what we can be sure about is what they do.  We see them worshipping the One who sat upon the throne…we see them sitting or resting in the presence of the Most High…we see them comforting John when he weeps that none were found worthy to take the scroll as they point out that the Lamb has overcome!  We see them singing a new song to God in worship…
• So too, if we want to be elders, ministers, servants of the King then we must be found worshipping…sitting, dwelling in His presence, pointing people that are weeping to Jesus man…singing a new song to Him…a song of what He is doing in our lives today, in this hour!!! 

Chapter 4 Verse 5

• Great energy!  Great thunders and lightnings!  And again the seven spirits of God are mentioned which we’ve looked at now a couple of times…this is the third time that John has mentioned them…and these are the seven characteristics of the Holy Spirit found in Isaiah 11:2…remember?
• The Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel, the Spirit of Might, the Spirit of Knowledge, and the fear of the Lord!  And note they burn as lamps…seen before the throne of brightness…in other words they themselves burn quite brilliantly!  I wonder do they in your life?

Chapter 4 Verses 6 - 7

• These four living creatures appear to be the same as described by Ezekiel in Ezekiel Chapter 1 and Chapter 10 however Exekiel describes the face of the calf as an ox and then later as a Cheribim…but really Ezekiel tells us that all four creatures have all four faces…one on each side…perhaps John only saw one…
• A few things to note here as these four living creatures are quite mysterious however it is pretty neat as we think of the Ark of the Covenant…how God told Moses to fashion four cerubs overtop of the Bema Seat there on the Ark with their wings outstretched and touching (which is given to us in Ezekiel)…
• Some believe that these four living creatures represent the four gospels as they describe Jesus Christ. Because you see in the gospels, Christ is described as the Son of man in Luke's gospel. In Mark's gospel He is described as the Lion of the tribe of Judah.  In Matthew's gospel, He is the servant, or the ox, the beast of service. And in John's gospel, the deity, the eagle.
• At any rate, these mysterious wonderful creatures that surround the throne of God in heaven and the seat of God on earth speak of Jesus in that He was and is God, stepped down into the likeness of man to give Himself for us and ultimately to destroy the enemy as a Lion!!

Chapter 4 Verse 8

• They are forever saying there at the throne…something spectacular…proclaiming God and in so doing…by doing it this way, they are forever proclaiming the Triune Oneness of God!  Why not just say “Holy.  God.  Who is forever!”  But they say, “holy, holy holy…Lord…God…Almighty…Who was….who is…and who is to come!”  Three sets of three’s…One God!  So cool!

Chapter 4 Verse 9

• Another perfect three…glory, honor and thanks…

Chapter 4 Verses 10 - 11

• Notice the 24 elders get in on the worship and they cast their crowns before God…another reason why I believe we are looking here at the church represented as a whole in these elders…because it is to the church that God awards crowns…
• And notice…glory, honor and a new thing here…power…understand the power in your walk is in direct proportion to your thankfulness, your gratitude for what has been accomplished for you.  For what Jesus did.  Now that means that your acceptance and brokenness over your own sin is equal to the power of your walk because how can you be thankful for that which you don’t discern is a great and terrible work? 
• And I tell you so many Christians get this idea of crowns so wrong…”oh I’m not working for the crowns…I don’t need a reward, He is reward enough…”  And I get that…but listen the purpose of the crowns is so that you might have something to offer the One who has given His all for you!
• This life, these moments, this short time is the only chance in all of eternity that you have to get them.  What you do with your time, money, energy…your focus will directly determine what you have to offer the Lord throughout all of eternity!!!  The One who is worthy of your time, resources, energy, your focus…because it is even because of Him you were created and even now you continue to exist!