A blessing to be here. I just,
I love you. I just love you. And I told someone
the other day, whenever I'm away, I just brag on you. I've got
the church in the Dallas. It's the best church I've ever
attended. Friendliest people in all the world. And I've been
to a number of great churches, but I would never, I'd never
leave this one. I don't want to say that. Lord,
let me stay. I just want to stay. Revelation
chapter four. And as we begin this fourth chapter,
I just I'm so reminded and a labor of love, Brother Jim has
been transcribing all of these. And he's gonna put them in print
form. And he gave me a couple to go over and And I read that
first lesson again, and I said, you know, there's something I
forgot. There's something I forgot. And I keep forgetting it. And
that is, and I brought it up Sunday, you cannot enjoy this
book unless you believe he has all power and all authority.
You know, I brought that up and I just kind of let that slide,
but I wrote it again. It's right there. Now, the reason
he said that was those disciples were in the molly grubs. They
were down. They says some worshiped and
some doubted. They were having problems with
this whole thing. And the way he took care of their
doubt and fears was, all power is given unto me in heaven and
in earth. Now, I don't know about you, but I just got some paper
with regard to some of my investments. And I'm glad that he has all
power and all authority. You know, because some worshiped
and some doubted. He has all power and all authority.
He is king. And that's the glory of this
chapter. Now we've seen in the previous,
particularly the chapters two and chapter three, some of the
humanity in those churches. And we deal with that every day.
The humanity in the Church of the Living God. We're human,
and we are weak and needy creatures. So we looked at that, and those
churches, the Lord spoke to them, and he spoke to them honestly,
and we're just dealing with the humanity of those churches, and
how God is gracious to us. But now, in chapter four, we
are brought up. We are elevated. We are taken
from the mundane. We're taken from the world. We're
taken above this. We're not just asked to look
up, we're brought up. We're not just asked to look
up on high, we're brought into glory in this message that John
was permitted to view and shares with us as he became the secretary
for the Holy Spirit. Now, I'm convinced that all of
those that were used as secretaries to put the Bible together, we're
excited about it, but I think John was just elated. He just
got to see things and hear things and look at things that nobody
had ever seen before and wrote about. Now, Ezekiel, we see some
of that there. But here, it's just much more
open view to us. We see him looking and seeing
and hearing, and we have to just say, well, John had sight. He's given sight to see things
in heaven. And John had hearing because
he got to hear things that are in heaven. So God blessed him
in a very powerful way in just enabling him to see and to hear
what was going on in glory. And that is passed on. He that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
And here we get to go into heaven. We're brought up, we're brought
into, we're brought past all the stuff of this world, and
we're permitted to see the Lord of glory in His glory. That's
what we're going to be seeing. As I mentioned last Wednesday,
I think we're in the stands looking at the victory that's going to
happen. We're not participating, we just
get to see the exalted Savior victorious over all our enemies. He's taken them on. He's done
it at the cross, and he's just picturing that in several different
aspects through this book. This book of Revelation is not
speculation, and it's not men's thoughts about the future. This
book is an open proclamation about the greatness of our Lord
Jesus Christ in every aspect. It is the glory of the Lord.
It's not speculation, and it's not future things. It's now. It's what Christ is now. We will
be permitted to rise above the mundane and world in this book,
and especially with the beginning of chapter four. We're going
to go above. The things that we are tossed
about with, the things that give us care and concern, those things,
we're brought and elevated above this. We're invited to up. Not
to look up, but up. We're invited to up. We're invited
into heaven. We're invited through a door.
We're invited to a throne. We're invited to those who sit
around the throne and the glory that is there. We're invited
to up. Not to just look up, but we're invited up. That is what
this scripture does. It causes us up. Not to look
up, but we're brought up. As John was, we're brought up. Now here in verse one, after
this, I looked and behold, a door was open. Now there's many things
I, I was so blessed this last Sunday with that study of the
door. And I really appreciate that verse that we had about
being in the Valley of Acre and a door was made apparent. Boy,
in the worst of places, the door of the Lord Jesus is our door
out. And here, this door is the same
door that we find mentioned in John. We've been hearing that. I'm the door. It's that same
door. And it's an open door. Just chapter three in verse eight,
I think it is. It says, I know thy works. Behold,
I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. I just love statements like that. You know, as people, they may
get a big crowbar on it, but they're not gonna budget shut.
And if it's open, they may get a big crowbar on it, but they're
not gonna close it. The Lord has said, as he does
right here, no man can shut it, for thou hast a little strength,
and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. I have a
door, it's my door, I am the door. And when I want to reveal
myself, this door, to someone, Nobody will withhold it and the
converse of that is You can't reveal this door to a soul He
is the revealer He opens up the door. He's the one that lets
us see the door, let's see Christ. This is the door. Now, he goes
on to say, here was open in heaven, and the first voice I heard was,
as it were, a trumpet talking with me. And I thought about
that. My goodness, what's a trumpet? Trumpet is powerful and overwhelming. And there's one thing about a
trumpet. If you have a trumpet speaking to you and the voice
of a trumpet, I mean, it's such a clear sound, but it's overwhelming. You are not thinking what you're
going to say next. He is commanding the whole preview
and show. This voice causes us to listen. This voice causes us to hear. This voice is so overwhelming. We're not just sitting there
thinking now, as soon as he gets quiet, I've got something I need
to say. He's not going to be quiet, number one. And we don't
have anything to say because the voice of a trumpet is speaking. Now there's a verse here, several
verses I'd like to look at that have this trumpet, but this verse
is so interesting. Turn with me, if you would, to
1 Corinthians 14. Now this is the same word. But it is so true
when we're studying the book of Revelation, the revelation
of Jesus Christ. And that's one reason that we're
going to spend a little time on this subject of hereafter. And we may not get it done tonight,
but we'd like to spend a little time on that. But first Corinthians
chapter 14. The Apostle Paul, as he was speaking
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the saints, to the brothers
and sisters in Christ at Corinth many, many, many, many years
ago, they're gone from this earth. Those who were Christ are sitting
at the right hand of the Father, and they recognize the fact that
they're part of the gospel. And they had a letter written
to them. Notice here, 1 Corinthians chapter 14 and verse 8, it has
a trumpet, and this trumpet, it says, for if the trumpet give
an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to battle? Now
that's why it's so important that as we go through the book
of Revelation, that we keep Jesus Christ at the forefront. We want
a certain sound. We want, and it's a melody. I
mean, it's clear. It's, well, there's the bells
here. The Lutheran church has bells,
and they go off at noon, and they play a wonderful song once
in a while. First verse goes through fine, and then they try
to change it, change the octave or whatever, and then some of
the bells are half a tone off. And it's an uncertain sound.
It'd be great if they just played that first verse twice. But it's,
oh, first verse is grand, second verse, oh my goodness, this is
just not comfortable, doesn't fit. Well, anyway, this word
comes to us from a trumpet that was used by the army. Get up
in the morning, eat your groceries, we're going to battle, charge,
retreat, and if the trumpeter gives an uncertain sound and
the people are in charge and they're supposed to be in retreat,
they're out there confused. And he says, if the trumpet gives
an uncertain sound, if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who
shall prepare himself to battle? So when we go through the book
of Revelation, we want everything to agree. I found in a science
kit one time, there's a piece of metal that came down like
this and had a handle on it, had no idea what it was, but
you go, bee, tuning fork. You know, and it had a pleasant
tone to it. And you just kept doing it. Pretty
soon the teacher took it away and put it up, you know. But it was pleasant. It was pleasant.
A certain sound. And the gospel has a pleasant
sound about it. And when it is not, it is unpleasant. Have you noticed that? The gospel
is pleasant. It's in agreement. Christ is
always out front over us, sovereign king, and men's salvation is
by grace through faith. And it's just such a pleasant
sound. And when it's turned around,
it becomes a monstrosity. It's a band or a bunch of horns
that are just practicing. And there's no music to it, it's
just, and it's not fun to be around. Now that's that word
trumpet. And as we go through the book
of Revelation, we're gonna find this. It always has a certain
sound. Christ will be exalted. Men will be put in their place. And the only way we get taken
out of that place is Christ lift us out of the horrible pit. That's
all there is. Now, turn with me to Matthew.
Here we have that trumpet. This is a trumpet of the Lord.
Matthew 24, 31. We read about this trumpet. Same
word that's used, and it's kind of like it's used over there.
It's an attention-getting. There is no discussion. You can't compete with a trumpet
when it's going off close to you. You're just in silence. You're brought to a silent state. And here this trumpet is going
to bring us to clear silence. Matthew chapter 24 and there
in verse 31. The scripture says, and he shall
send his angels with a sound, a great sound of a trumpet, and
they shall gather together his elect from the four winds and
one end of heaven to the other. This is an attention. It is going
to be, it's going to be serious. It's gonna be so clear, the sound
will be so clear. And the Lord by the trumpet,
it may be just his voice, like we find over here in Revelation
chapter four and verse one. That's all right. It is a sound
of a trumpet. It is an attention getting, it
is always on tune. It always speaks the truth. It
is always to our great glory, this trumpet, and it never gives
an uncertain sound. And so this trumpet, this time,
as we find here in Matthew 24, 31, it just simply says, he'll
send his angels with the sound of a great trumpet. Now, just
as it is in Revelation 4, 1, it could be just his voice. His
voice, go forth, bring them out. And then along with that, 1 Corinthians
15. In 1 Corinthians 15, we have
these words about a trumpet, and this too could just simply
be a symbol of the Lord's voice as it is there in the book of
Revelation. 1 Corinthians 15 and 52. Now if he wants to use a trumpet,
his people will hear it. If he wants to use his voice
as a trumpet, his people will hear it. There'll be no confusion
by his people. They'll be gathered up. They'll
be taken up. As we read here in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15 and verse 52, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound. Now, it's interesting
that that word last is there. When we get into the fifth and
sixth chapters of the book of Revelation, we're going to have
seven trumps. So why they make this one different
than all of those, I don't know. But at the last trump, for the
trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible
and we shall be changed. Whether this is just the voice
of the Lord or whether he actually uses it, his people will hear
it. And it will be a clear sound.
And those in the grave will be brought to a clear understanding. Get up. And they will. And there won't be any question
about it. The dead will be given hearing again, and they'll be
raised from the grave and meet the Lord in the air. The dead
in Christ shall be raised, and we which are alive and remain
will hear it too. and it won't be thunder, it'll
be a trumpet. It will be clear and the resurrection
shall take place as a result of God calling his people to
himself. And then in First Thessalonians
chapter 4 verse 16, we find clearly again a trumpet is mentioned
here in First Thessalonians. We read these words of encouragement
that the Apostle Paul was given to write to this church at Thessalonica
and we get to get in on the The coattails. We get to enjoy it
just like they got to enjoy it. 1 Thessalonians 4, 16, it says,
for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. So
those that have been in the Job is gonna hear it. Moses is going to hear it. Abel. I mean, they've been gone
for nearly 6,000 years, at the least. And he's going to hear,
they're going to hear. They're like old old Lazarus
in the tomb, but when he gives a certain sound, they're going
to hear it with ears and they'll be raised to newness of life,
their bodies will be raised. How God does that, it's a miracle.
All those saints that were cast to the sea, all those saints
who were buried, those that were destroyed, burnt, whatever, they're
going to have ears to hear. and they're going to hear a trumpet.
They're going to hear the voice of God. They're going to hear
the voice of the Lord Jesus, and they shall be brought out
of the grave. They're going to hear something. So this trumpet
that God has spoken of here now, this in Revelation chapter 1,
verse 10, this is what John heard when he was on the Isle of Patmos. This is where it all starts.
And here's that voice like a trumpet, and this voice speaks to him
in understandable language, and we have the translation of it
here. This is the voice. It says, I was in the Spirit
on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. Now it got his attention. He
quit thinking about what he was thinking about. He quit doing
what he was doing. He quit worrying about worrying.
He turned, and now this is what that trumpet said, saying, I
am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and what thou seest,
write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are
in Asia, unto Ephesus, and unto Samaria, and unto Pergamos, and
unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto
Laodicea. Now, I can't say it loud enough
to be like a trumpet. But the Lord appeared unto John
that day, and he heard the voice of a trumpet. Boy, it got his
attention. Now, that's the same voice that
spoke to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, got his attention. That's the voice that he has
used whenever he's got the attention. of his lost sheep and got the
attention of his found sheep. It's a voice that's unmistakable
and it's clear and the volume is of such that you're not thinking
about anything else. The voice of a trumpet. Clear
tone and it's blown by a professional. The inventor of the trumpet.
It is clear, and it is not uncertain, but it is a certain sound that
God gives, and it penetrates to our heart, a sound that goes
there. Have you ever been around when
these guys go by, these kids, most of them are kids, I think,
go by with these bass in their car that you can feel, you feel
the, The waves hit you. Now, if you can do that mechanically
and electronically, just think how easy it is for the Lord to
do it spiritually. Bing! He sends out the voice
of a trumpet, and everybody else thinks it's thundering, and we
know it is Him calling. It's so clear. So good. Now,
no one else may have paid any attention to it. But it's so
clear to God's people. It is that voice that will be
so clear on that great getting up morning that those who have
been in the grave, in the dust for 6,000 years will hear it. And those who died yesterday
will hear it. And everybody in between will
hear it. And those that are walking the
face of this earth, if it's this generation, Thank God. If not, whatever generation it
is, they will hear it as clearly as those that have been dead
for 6,000 years." That's his voice. Going back to the fourth
chapter there, verse 1, after this, I looked and behold, a
door was opened in heaven. And that door is nothing more
than, well, I hate to use that term, that is Jesus Christ. That
is the Lord. He is the door, and the door,
a door has two sides, and there's a whole bunch of people that
are on the outside of this door, but there are those that get
to be on the inside of this door, and it was opened in heaven,
and the first voice which I heard, aren't you glad? It's the first
voice. First voice I hear. which I heard
was as it were a trumpet talking with me. I haven't got my arms around
that tree yet. The voice of a trumpet talking with me. That's what
John said. How special this was. Now he's
going to get 19 more chapters given to him just like this.
how special this is that he would speak to him, which said, come
up hither. I'm going to take you in the
spirit from the Isle of Patmos. I'm going to take you from above
the seven churches that I've just spoken to you about. I'm
going to take you above all the injustice that you've suffered
for being here. I'm taking you above. Come up
hither. and I will show thee things which
must take place after these things." I found that, I think that's
the NIV or New King James, and it's so much better than having
the word hereafter, because hereafter, we've already been pre-programmed
in religion to what hereafter means. This is future things. Now, this is future to John from
the seven churches of Asia, but it doesn't say that it's future
away from John. Now, there are some things, no
doubt, in this book of Revelation that are yet to be fulfilled.
Christ coming back. But there's so much in here that
tells us about what Christ did to win our salvation. What Christ did to overcome our
enemies. What Christ did to demonstrate
that He is a Savior that saves. What Christ did to demonstrate
that He is a Redeemer that redeems. So we're going to look at those
aspects. take place after these things. Now, I just want to say
a few things about this. John said he was in the spirit
in chapter 1. It's recorded. And here, he is
taken up. Says there, verse 2, and immediately, I was
in the spirit. Now, turn with me, if you would,
to John chapter 4. John chapter 4, what is it to
be in the spirit? What is it to worship? We're told if we're going to
worship God, we must worship him in spirit and in truth. John
chapter 4, verses 23 and 24. Now, we must worship. If we're going
to worship God, now, have you ever tried to worship God and
found out you weren't? Yeah. Now that's when we do it in the
flesh. That's when we try to do it. Now if we're going to
worship, we must be in Christ. If we're going to worship, we
must have Christ's worship of God imputed to us. I know what
it is to try to worship God. And it's just not done in this
side. It's done in Christ. Now notice
this, John chapter four, verse 23. The hour cometh and now is
when true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
For the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit,
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. Now what is it? What is it? Some things you will see if you
are in the Spirit and worshipping God. Some things you will see if you
are in the Spirit and you're worshipping God. Well, you're
going to see an Almighty God. Now, you're not worshipping God
if you don't see Him as Almighty God. You're trying, but it's not happening.
It's in the flesh. Now, if you're worshiping God
as He said it, if it's brought to us to worship God, We're going
to see an almighty God. We're going to see a king. We're
going to see a throne. We're going to see a capital
G, capital O, capital D God. It will not be a lukewarm mamby-pamby
trying to get the job done, God. It will be a Lord God Almighty
if we're worshiping God in the spirit. That's what we're going
to see. We're going to be seeing a throne. And a throne means
a king. We're going to see what John
did. We're going to be in heaven. We're going to be looking at
a king sitting with all things decreed by him. He's in charge. He has a scepter. He has a scepter
and he rules with a rod of iron. He is not going to give in to
the whims of man. Prayer will not change God. If you're worshiping God, a God
that can change due to prayer, then you're not worshiping in
spirit and in truth. We can only worship God as the
Almighty God, Lord God, Almighty Sovereign King. That's the only
way. That's the only worship that
he will accept is worshiping who he is. He's not going to
accept a God that's trying to do something. I just hear God's
trying to do something. Never. He's never tried to do
anything in his eternality. He does things. He moves things. He moves people. He moves places
and he moves things. He's in charge. He's the Lord
God Almighty. He's never defeated or perplexed
or questioning what he's going to do next. Now if that's the
God that people worship, they're not worshiping. The God that
will accept worship and the God that has worship and worship
in the spirit is seeing a God like John saw here in John chapter
four and five and six. God sitting high and lifted up
on his throne and executing his purpose and decrees. That's worship. Lord God almighty worship. This God, not trying, but doing,
not defeated, but victorious. This God is not perplexed, but
he has absolutely his mind made up as to what he's going to do.
I love that passage of scripture with regard to the Lord Jesus
found in the book of Isaiah. He set his face as a flint toward
Jerusalem from his conception. from his pre-incarnate state,
from his, before the foundation of the world state, he set his
face as a flint towards the crucifixion, towards the sacrifice of himself
on the cross. He did that. And he had a mind
and a purpose to do that. So to worship God, as we look
over here, we find the apostle John, He said, uh, immediately
I was in the spirit and behold, a throne was set in heaven and
one sat on the throne. Now that's worship. That's worship. That's worship in God. That's
worship. Now I'd like to back up just
a little bit to that, uh, that word there hereafter somewhere. and I wish I could find it. I
read about what King James told those translators when they begin
their translation. He gave them some instructions.
And there were some instructions to preserve. Now, James was just
a little bit this side of King Henry. And King Henry broke with
the Catholic Church because he wanted to marry another woman,
divorce one and marry another to raise up an heir. And he broke
with the Catholic Church. And a few, let's see, that was
in the 1600s, King James come to the throne, and he's the head
of the English Church, the Church of England. And there became
a cry for a new translation. Now King James gave some instructions
with regard to this translation. And number one, you cannot translate
the word baptizo. Now we get our word baptized
from that, and it's not a translation. It's a transliteration. It's
taken from one language into another language. It's just,
it's like translating the word water into Spanish and saying
it's watera. you know, instead of agua. Now,
if we're going to translate water into Spanish, we're going to
use the word agua. That's what the word is. Well, King James
said, we are not going to translate that word into this Bible, because
if we do, we're going to unbaptize every Church of England. Because Church of England believed
in sprinkling, and the word baptize, baptizo, does not mean sprinkling. It means to plunge. It means
to dip. And that means immerse and they're
all sprinkled. So he says, you can't do that.
And they did something else. If you'll look in the book of
Acts chapter 12, Acts chapter 12, 28 times, this particular
word is translated Passover until Acts chapter 12 and verse four. Now, I think the King James is
an excellent translation, but it is prejudiced. It has a prejudice. If you cannot translate, if you
are told you cannot translate words, then it's a prejudiced
translation. You cannot translate baptizo
because it will unbaptize the King of England and every other
person that's in England. All right, now notice here in
Acts chapter 12 and verse 4, the scriptures tell us this.
And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered
him to four quantarians of soldiers to keep him, intending after
Easter to bring him forth to the people. 28 times this particular
word is translated Passover and one time it is Translated Easter
now where in the world did they get that the Church of England? It was dyed in the wool in the
Church of England and the Church of Rome by this time that Easter
is the day we're going to set aside for the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. And Easter, if you look at the,
just look it up on the internet, Easter is after a Esther, which
is a pagan goddess. Now, I love Easter time. Every
Sunday is Resurrection Sunday. We don't have a specific date
set aside. We just do it every day. Now,
when it comes around to Easter, you'll notice that I bring a
sermon on the resurrection of Christ, because it's just good
to do. But if you look at the background,
now, this is dyed-in-the-wool Roman Catholicism and Church
of England that brought this Easter into our King James Bible.
It should have been Passover. Now there's an office in the
Church of England that is very important. It allows people who
have given extra money to be given a position, and it's the
office of deacon. Now turn with me, if you would,
to the book of Acts chapter six. Acts chapter six. Now this is,
there's about 40 times this word is used in the New Testament,
and it's translated most of the time having something to do with
minister or serve. And that's the word dekinos.
Acts chapter six, verse two. Then the 12 called the multitude
of the disciples unto them and said, it is not reason that we
should leave the word of God and serve tables. That's the word deaconess. Serve. Most of the time it is translated
serve or minister or serve or ministered unto something like
that, which means to serve. to be a servant, to be a servant
of the Lord, to serve. And the disciples are saying
it's not right that we should have to stop studying the word
of God to serve tables. So let's look out seven men of
honest report and fill those positions. Well, the church of
England had a position. It was called the office of a
deacon. Now I want you to turn with me to two places in first
Timothy, first Timothy chapter three and verse 10. Now, we don't have an office
of a deacon here because everybody is a deaconess. We have deacons
and deaconesses. Everybody that is saved is a
servant of God. We are all deaconesses. And this
has got into all kinds of church groups. This is a position that
is held for someone who is of high, not necessarily moral standards,
but of, they have, they have, position in the community usually
and if you look over in Acts chapter 6, it says Full of the
Holy Spirit honest report. Well, if we just followed that
a whole bunch of well enough said first Timothy chapter 3
in verse 10 it says First Timothy chapter three,
verse 10. And let these also first be proved,
then let them use the office of a deacon being found blameless.
Now, let them use the office of a deacon. All of those words
are translated from the one word deaconos, which we found over
there, which means to serve. Now, how they could come up with
this, office, You have to have a preconceived idea before and
then you translate it in a position like this to an office. You've
got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 words in a line that are translated
from the word that we found in one place which meant to serve.
All these are our servants. We're all servants. And one other
time, 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 13, it says there, for
they that have used the office of a deacon well purchased to
themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith which
is in Jesus Christ. And that is from they, right
after the word for, down to the word deacon. They that have used
the office of a deacon is translated from one word, which means serve,
and that's how it's translated most of the time. So what I want
to share with you is that if you have a preconceived idea,
when you go to translating scriptures, it's going to rub off. And I'm
convinced that those who translated the scriptures, had a preconceived
idea about eschatology. And it was very convenient. If
you find that 30, 28, 35 times the word is translated with and
five times you have to translate it hereafter, then it's not balanced. So it could have been, might
have been, rather translated over there in the Revelation
chapter 4 and verse 1, I will show thee things which must take
place after these things. What is that? Chronological order. We've got the seven churches
of Asia taken care of. Now we're going to show you the
things that are going to follow those things. We use the word
hereafter. We usually have a preconceived
idea about what that means, and now we're going to get in to
eschatology, and we're going to have to bring out the chart.
Well, thank God Almighty, we don't have to have a chart, we
have the compass, the word of God. And it's just gonna open
up to the throne of God, and there's gonna be 24 elders and four living creatures,
and their whole life is spent worshiping Jesus Christ. And that is ongoing. The old
church, this era's church, worships Jesus Christ. And the Gospels
worship Jesus Christ. And the Bible dictates worship
of Jesus Christ. And if we're going to worship
Jesus Christ, we're going to see one high and lifted up on
his throne. That's what Isaiah saw. The year King Uzziah died, I
saw the Lord high and lifted up, and His train filled the
temple. I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord. And I have yet to find someone
that has truly believed on Jesus Christ as they've been led by
the Holy Spirit that didn't see Jesus Christ as high and lifted
up. And once they start telling me about a Jesus that's trying
to get something done, they just have not seen. They haven't seen
yet. They haven't seen. John saw,
and what did he see? A throne and a king. He heard, and what did he hear?
A trumpet speak to him. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the ending. I am King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. So we're going to go on that
premise. It contradicts the rest of the
scriptures to put an eschological word there saying, now we're
going to see what's going to happen hereafter. Now, before
we close, I have just a moment. Turn with me to the 12th chapter
of the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 12, verse
1. Now tell me when this took place.
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with
the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown
of twelve stars. And she, being with child, cried,
travailing in birth and paying to be delivered. And there appeared
another wonder in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon, having
seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head, and
a tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did
cast them to the earth, And the dragon stood before the woman
which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon
as it was born. Boy, it doesn't take us very
long to go back in the book of Matthew and Luke to find out
what's going on here. Herod is a picture here, a great
red dragon. What was his purpose? Get rid
of Christ. That's what he wanted to do.
Kill this one that they say, we come to see the king, we come
to see the king. Then it goes on to tell us here,
and she brought forth a man-child who was to rule all nations with
a rod of iron, and her child was caught up into God and to
his throne. Now, when did that take place? Before Revelation chapter 4 and
verse 1, That's the birth of Christ. That's
the church being used as a type. to bring forth the Christ child. His mama was a member of the
Church of Jesus Christ. She's in the bride. She was a
believer in Christ Jesus, pictured here as the church. And that
great red dragon, man, oh, Herod would have done anything he could
have possibly done to have slain that child, just like there were
many attempts on his life, but it was not yet his time. Now
that took place before Revelation 1.1. We're just, this is not future.
This is present, ongoing, rule of Christ over the world. What's
it say? Rules with a rod of iron. Where
is he now? It says there, he's caught up
to God and to his throne. That great ascension morning,
his disciples saw him ascend back to the Father. What's the
scripture say? Sat down at the right hand of the Father, making
intercession for us. Wow, I love it. It's just so
grand. He's so successful. We're so
used to failure, but he's so used to victory and passes it
on. We enjoy his victory.