Revelation 4:2-4 – The Finish Line – Bible study

Revelation 4:2-4 The Finish Line Two times in the Bible, the Christian life is compared to a race \#1Cor 9:24, Heb 12:1\. The goal of most every race is to cross the finish line. For the Christian, the finish line is heaven. There are, however, some differences in the Christian finish line and the finish line of a race. For example: 1. Every Christian will cross the finish line. There will be no injuries, no penalties, no disqualifications, and no one can quit. The reason for this is because we are not the ones responsible for getting across the finish line. God is and He will not fail. 2. Our goal is not to get across the finish line first but to get across the finish line faithful. The order in which we cross the finish line is not important. Being faithful until we cross the finish line is. 3. Our finish line is not a line. It is a place. The finish line for the believer is heaven. It is that place that I want to preach about this morning. I. Heaven is a changing place. A. Please do not misunderstand me. 1. I know that God is God and He never changes. Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. 2. I also know that heaven will never change when it comes to its character, that is, its purity and nature. a. Heaven will always be eternal. b. Death, sickness, sorrow, and sin will never enter into that place. B. Even so, the Bible teaches us that heaven has, is, and will change. 1. In eternity past, as far as we know, heaven had only one occupant. a. Granted there is some guess work here, but only God is eternal so only God has always been. b. There was a time when there was no people in heaven. c. There was a time when there was no devil around heaven. d. There was a time when there were no angels in heaven. e. And I suppose there was a time when there was even no heaven. f. There was only God. g. But then God began to create things. (1) We do not know when but since time is an earthly creation, it does not matter. (2) I suppose we can guess that the why was because this is the way God wanted heaven to be. (3) But sometime in eternity past, God created angels and the other heavenly beings that now abide in heaven. (4) And that is the way heaven once was, just God and heavenly beings. 2. Then came NOW. a. God created mankind. (1) Of course, God always knew that man was going to sin. (a) In fact, although we do not know the exact time, most assume that Adam and Eve did not go long without sinning, maybe just a few days but probably not longer than a few months. (b) Why? i. Because they had no children before the fall. ii. God told them to be fruitful and to multiply. iii. We would think they would have set to obey God with some measure of speed. (2) Once sin entered the world, God gave Man the hope of salvation by grace and faith. (a) That means that if man would obey God and believe, man would be forgiven of his sin. (b) I believe that Adam and Eve were the first two to believe. I believe we will see them in heaven. (c) But they did not go to heaven in the Old Testament. (d) Instead, the Old Testament saved went to a place referred to as Paradise and the Old Testament unsaved when to hell. (You can read Luke 16:19 to see this in the Bible.) i. It was not until after Jesus rose from the dead that believers began going straight to heaven. ii. \#Luke 23:43\ Even the thief that died on the cross had to go to Paradise. (e) But after the resurrection, Jesus took the Old Testament saints to heaven and ever since then, saints have gone directly to heaven. Php 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: 2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. b. That means that every saint that dies instantly goes to heaven to be with the Lord. (1) There is no soul sleep where the believer just falls asleep until the last trumpet. (2) There is no purgatory when we have to "work off" our sins. (3) There is only blink your eyes closed here and open them there! c. That also means that heaven changes a little every second! (1) With the addition of every believe, heaven changes some. (2) Again, not in character and nature but it does in occupancy and make up. (3) I suspect that some Christians might have more of an impact in heaven than others. 3. But the biggest change is in the future. a. There will come a day when the last believe will be called home. b. At that time, the Bride of Jesus will be complete and we will go from being His Bride to His Wife. (1) That is going to be a BIG change. (2) We will receive our eternal bodies. (3) We will receive our eternal abilities. (4) We will receive our eternal rewards. (5) I suspect that we might also receive our eternal duties. c. During that same time period, God will claim all that Jesus purchased with His blood. (1) For example, this earth. Re 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (2) Israel will also accept Jesus as their Messiah. (3) The devil will be removed. He will first be locked away in a pit for 1,000 years but eventually, he will be cast into hell never to be released. (4) Then the glorified and human believers will live, worship, and work together for at least 1,000 years and maybe forever. II. Heaven has some unique occupants. A. There is God. You and I have never seen anyone like God! Rev 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 1. \#2\ God sits upon a throne. a. Does God need to sit down? b. We must remember that God is infinite and needs nothing. (1) God does not need a body, a place to dwell, or an entourage. (2) It may be that all we are about to read about is something God has done for our benefit. (3) This throne speaks of His position. (a) God is the Almighty that ruleth over all things. (b) The throne helps us to see and easily accept this literally. 2. \#3\ God looked like a jasper and sardine stone. Rev 4:3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. a. Why does the Bible compare God to a colored stone? (1) Various stones are mentioned when describing God and His surroundings, not just in Revelation but in other passages. (2) Perhaps Bible writers used these descriptions because the gems were tinted with colors but were also bright and translucentlike light itself. (3) Those who wrote our Bible had never seen any lights other than the natural lights (the sun, moon, stars, fire). (4) They had never seen a beam of light that was, for example, yellow, red, or green. (5) It is possible that the reason they compared what they saw to these clear, colored stones was because they were seeing lights that were bright, colored, and translucent. (6) Indeed, when we look at these gems, we might say that we are looking at "frozen light." (7) This is not to say that God is a light beam, but we should remember that the Father is not flesh but spirit and as such, both He and His abode may look more like light than anything our solid world offers. (8) The Scripture encourages the parallel between God and light numerous times. James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 1John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. b. Jasper is commonly a green, bright, clear stone. (1) The colors may vary or be mixed. (2) Less frequent are red, purple, and yellow. (3) The Hebrew word for "jasper" means "polished" according to Strongs and "glittering" according to Eastons Bible Dictionary. https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/jasper/ c. Sardine is a deep-red colored stone. 3. This was Johns description of Gods physical appearance. a. You and I have never seen anyone like that! b. If you think God looks different from anyone or anything you have ever seen, just wait until we learn about His nature! (1) His holiness (2) His power (3) His glory (4) His purity (5) His brightness (6) His beauty (7) His majesty c. God IS different from anyone or anything we will ever see! B. There is the heavenly host. 1. Just like God created a unique host to inhabit earth so God created a unique host to inhabit heaven. 2. There are angels, archangels, cherubims, and beaststhat we know ofin heaven. a. We have some knowledge of angels because we see them serving God in Scripture. (1) As the word used for angel means, they are the messengers of God. (2) \#Heb 1:14\ also calls them "ministering spirits." (3) Interesting. (a) For the angelsthe messengersto have a purpose, there needed to be someone who could not hear God and needed to be ministered to. (b) If everyone could hear God, there would be no need for messengers and if everyone was self sufficient, there would be no need for ministering spirits. b. Archangels (1) Only one archangel is mentioned in the Bible, Michael, mentioned in \#Jude 1:9\, but it seems likely that there are more. (2) Michael seems to be more than merely a messenger and a minister. (3) The Bible says of Michael that he "contended with the devil," giving the impression that perhaps he is a stronger being than a typical angel. c. Cherubims (1) Cherubims are mentioned 57 times in the Bible, but we do not know very much about them. (2) Most of the mentions are of decorative cherubims as two images of cherubims were placed on the Mercy Seat and others were carved into the walls of the temple. (3) However, the first time a cherubim was mentioned is in Genesis where a cherubim was placed as a guard to keep sinful man away from the tree of life. Ge 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (4) This, as well as all of the other uses, gives me the impression that cherubims are guards of holiness. (5) Of course God needs no guards, but that is the impression I get none-the-less. d. Four Beasts Re 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. Re 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. (1) Since the Bible tells us there are four of them, it would seem that there are only four of them. (2) Exactly what they do, we are not certain, but they stand always in Gods presence both to worship and to serve God. e. The twenty-four elders Re 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. (1) Everything about these elders indicate that they are literal, redeemed human beings. (2) "Elders" is a term used only of men in the Bible. (3) They are clothed in white which symbolizes the righteousness of Christ. (4) They wear crowns which are the rewards of the saints. (5) The number equals the sum of the sons of Jacob and of the apostles added together, and even though Johnwho was seeing the vision would be one of those eldersI think the best guess is that the four and twenty elders are that combined number of leaders, being honored by God with a special place of worship in eternity. III. Heaven has some unique activities. A. The Bible does not reveal everything that goes on in heaven. Heaven is both big and eternal so that the picture we get is nothing more than a single snapshot of heaven at a particular time. B. I believe there will be two activities that will occupy us in heaven. 1. There is going to be worship. Rev 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. 9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, 10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. a. Some can not image worshipping God for eternity as being enjoyable. b. The heart to worship is what God gives to His children. c. If you do not enjoy worshipping God, that might be a telling sign about yourself. 2. There is going to be work.