Turn with me in your Bibles to
the book of Revelation this morning. Revelation chapter 4. This book bears the title, The Revelation of Jesus Christ. And that means that it will be
something about the Lord Jesus Christ. Not about beasts, other
symbols, it's about Christ. So John is led by the Spirit
of God to write down these words in chapter 4. He says, After
this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the
first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking
with me, which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee
things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the
Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat
on the throne. 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. 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." And out of the throne proceeded
lightnings, and thunderings, and voices. And there were seven
lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven
spirits of God. And before the throne 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. And the first beast was likened
to a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast
had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying
eagle. 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. And when those
beasts give glory and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the
throne who liveth forever and ever, The four and twenty elders
fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worshipped
Him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before
the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory
and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things and for
thy pleasure they are and were created." It came to my mind this week, especially in seasons like this,
that false religions of which modern Christianity
for the most part is included in that. They do not let the
written word of God hinder them in the least. It does not cause
them to be reserved about doing what they do, They can carry
on their holy days although the Scriptures make no mention of
them, and yet speak even against them. They're not hindered by
what God says, nor do they mind adding to what He says, and counting
it, and believing, and acting upon it just as if It was the
Word of God. And so this week, so many times,
by signs and by people, I've seen things like this. The tomb
is empty. I've read things like this in
brief signs and statements, Christ arose, or Jesus lives. But my question this morning
is this, if He did, and He did, but if
He did, where is He now? That's the title of my message,
Where is the Risen Jesus? Where is He now? And why is He
where He is? And what is He doing? Don't you
think that's a fair question? Where is the Risen Jesus? Furthermore, what does who He
is, and what He did, and where He is now especially, what does
that have to do with me? What does that have to do with
you? What does it have to do with this whole world? He said Himself that all the
prophets had been saying something like this, ought not the Christ
to have suffered and then entered into His glory? What is His glory? You see, in our text, this man
John the Apostle, he's been exiled to an island called Patmos. for preaching the gospel. And
God gives him in this place and at that time this revelation,
a series of revelations, and they all have to do with
the Lord Jesus Christ. They all have to do with the
Son of God. And so it says here that a door
was opened in heaven. John heard something. But not
only did he hear something, he saw something. Or rather, he
saw someone. And the someone that he saw,
stood out above everything else that he saw. He saw the Lord of glory. He saw the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if we do not believe that,
then we have no reason to believe anything else in this book. And if we do not believe this
book, then we have really no reason to believe that there
is even a God. Everything stands or falls on
what is written in this book. And John sees here this risen
Jesus and He is seated on a throne. You go back and you read these
verses and see how many times it speaks of this throne. Do we know what a throne is? A throne is the place where the
highest king, or the highest monarch, or the highest ruler
sits. It's a symbol of his authority. It's a symbol of his ruling and
reigning. This is the same one that Isaiah
saw in chapter 6. He said, I saw the Lord, high
and lifted up, sitting upon a throne. And always associated with the
Messiah, with the Lord Jesus Christ, all throughout this book,
always associated with Him, is this throne. But there's something I want
you to think about this morning. In light of what it says here,
in light of what it says so many other places, where is He now? Where is the
risen Jesus? Well, let me tell you where He's
not. He is not At this moment, a babe
laying in a manger. He is not at this moment a child
in a carpenter shop in a little place called Nazareth. He is not at this moment a man
in sandals walking by the Sea of Galilee. He's not a man walking
the streets of Jerusalem. He's not a man that is seated
at a table with his disciples. He's not a man on trial before
Pilate. He's not a man bearing a cross. I saw just yesterday where someone
was in honor of the holy day carrying a 60-pound cross somewhere. The risen Jesus is not bearing
a cross, and He's not hanging on a cross. He did, but He's
not hanging on a cross this morning. And not only that, He's not in
a tomb. And nor is He simply just alive. I want to say to some who just
say, Jesus is alive. Or the tomb is empty. I just
want to say, so what? So what? What does that mean? And most especially, where is
this risen Jesus now? But these places and these positions
are the very ones that false religion pictures him so as to
disguise and deny where he is now. Why he's there. Where is he now? Right now. Because he is not simply an old
myth or an old figure, an old historical character. Even though
these things may describe how he was, they don't describe how
he now is. He is on The throne. And there are, on this earth,
in very many expressions, various thrones. Some are actually called
thrones. Some are just positions of power
and authority. But there's only really one throne.
And that's the throne of God. That's the throne of glory. That's
the throne of overall sovereignty and authority. And He is on this throne of glory,
ruling as this King of glory, But if you remember, it's in
that very office and character that men mocked him when he was
on this earth. They said things like this, we
will not have this man to rule over us. You know what I say
to him now? He always has, and he always
will, and he does right now. When he was crucified, they took
him, and if you remember, they put a robe on him, and they put
a reed in his hand, and crowned him with a crown of thorns, and
they mocked him as a king. Pilate said, are you the king
of the Jews? He said, you've said that. You've rightly said
that. So where we find him is this,
we find him not in some symbolic role or in some mystical way
being this, but he is the man in glory. And he is on the throne. Mark records, "...so then after
the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received up into heaven,
and He sat down on the right hand of God." Do we believe that? He was received up into glory,
and He sat down at the right hand of God. And He's still there. And He's
still ruling as the Lord of lords, He's still ruling as the King
of kings, and He's still ruling as the only potentate or sovereign
of this universe. You cannot escape His rule. You can defy it, but you'll never
do it successfully. You can try to be your own king,
you can try to be your own God, as all men and women do by nature. That's what so-called free will
is all about. But you can't do it successfully. Because his is an unchanging
throne. His is an unchanging sovereignty
and kingship. And so Paul writes to Timothy
and he says this, he says, I give thee charge in the sight of God,
who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before
Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, that thou keep this
commandment without spot, unrebukable until the appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which in His times He shall show." who is the blessed
and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords."
He's going to show that. He's going to show that in those
that He saved, and He's going to show that in those that are
lost. He's going to show who the only
potentate King of kings and Lord of lords ever was and presently
is. And as this sovereign Lord and
King, He's ruling over all. He's doing according to His own
will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
men. And the psalmist declared it.
He says, "...the Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens, and
His kingdom ruleth over all." In other words, He as the God-Man,
He, as that One who is absolutely God and absolutely man in one
glorious Person, is now in that character, in that risen glorified
body, seated on that throne. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
1. Hebrews chapter 1. Listen to
what it says in Hebrews 1. The apostle writes, "...God,
who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by His Son." If you hear from God in mercy
and grace, it's going to be through His Son. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high." Now, how could we ever, how could anybody ever, after
reading just those three verses, imagine that they could ever
have control over God as He is in Christ Jesus in any way? that you could refuse Him, that
you could spurn Him, that you could defy Him successfully,
that you could overrule His counsel, that you could stop His person,
that you could steal His glory, whatever it is, He upholds all
things, that means you and I and everything that pertains to us,
husband, wife, children, mother, father, friends, work, whatever
it is, He upholds all things by the Word of His power. And we'll walk around in this
world thinking we've got it all under control, thinking we've
got everything going. But it's all upheld by the Word
of His power. And it says here that He sat
down. He sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty on High. Look over in Hebrews chapter
4. Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 13. Because all of
Hebrews, just like the Revelation and every other book in this
Bible, is all about Christ. And so, he goes on here in verse
13 of chapter 4, and he says this, "...neither is there any
creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things
are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." So many imagine that they are
going to be neutral. That they're in some kind of
state of neutrality. They're going to choose one way
or the other. They're going to decide this
or that. They're going to make this their way or that their
way. They'll make their own choices. He's the one with whom we have
to do. Whether or not we think that
or not. Whether or not we acknowledge that or not. Whether or not we're
looking forward to that or not, He is the One with whom we'll
have to deal. It's not a matter of equals.
Oh, if we could only see that. He said, you thought, you think
that I'm altogether one such as yourself, because I don't
just deal with you in severity, knock you down every time you
rebel against me. You think that you're dealing
with one like yourself." But he says, there'll come a time
when I'll laugh at your calamities. What an awful thing it would
be, just in this life alone, to be involved in one of these
calamities of life that come to every one of us. and to know
that God had turned His back on us, laughed at us because
of our disregard for Him. He's the One with whom we have
to do. And He reigns as the righteous
Judge over all the earth, and this throne is a throne of judgment
and wrath to His enemies. In Acts 17 we read, "...because
He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness
by that Man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance
unto all men, in that He raised Him from the dead." There is
a throne of judgment. And you and I can say we believe
what we want to, but God has borne a witness in the fact that
He raised the righteous judge from the dead and seated him
on the throne, that there will be judgment. The psalmist said, but the Lord
shall endure forever, and He hath prepared His throne for
judgment. You see, the throne is just like
the gospel itself. It's life to some, And it's death
to others. You see, the throne of this King
is set. You see that in verse 3 of Revelation
4? This throne is set in heaven.
That means it's fixed in heaven. Ordained by God. Appointed by
God. It's established. It's eternal. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
He says, thy throne is established of old. Thou art from everlasting. And the most of mankind. the majority of Adam's race,
they're going to find this throne to be a throne of judgment, a
throne of final sentencing. This throne is a throne of grace
and mercy to the Lord's people. You see, all the symbolism concerning
this One who sits upon the throne, all these precious stones that
are spoken of, this rainbow that is spoken of, they all just speak
of the many-faceted glories of the Lord Jesus Christ. They speak
of His preciousness, of His sinlessness, of His righteousness, of His
holiness, and of the riches of His grace. But this is the most important
question. Why is Christ on this throne? That's where He is. But why is He there? Why is He
right now at the right hand of the Majesty on high? That's where
He's at. But why is He there? It's simply because of this.
He did all the Father's will. He accomplished everything that
He was sent to accomplish according to God's own purpose and grace
which was given to His people before the world began. And this
is the evidence of it. He's seated in the place of honor. He's seated in the place where
the victor sits. Where the one who was successful
in all these things that he was appointed to. He's sitting there
as the one who has accomplished something and he reigns for a
reason which is to be glorified forever. You don't see the failure on
a throne. You don't see someone who's not
finished their work on the throne of glory. When you go back and
you look in the Old Testament, in the tabernacle, as far as
those earthly priests are concerned, there was no chair for them to
sit down. There was a table, there was
a showbread, there were all these things, but there was no chair
there because their work was never finished. But he reigns for two reasons
mainly. Because of the work he's accomplished. Because of the redemption that
he has successfully accomplished, and also in order to apply the
benefits of that redemption. How many men and women have worked
their whole lives saved and gathered and done this and that and the
other, made out of will, made plans that this was to be for
this one or that one, this grandchild or this son, whatever it is,
only after they died to have somebody, some lawyer or something
come along and change all that. And they couldn't stop it. And
the reason they couldn't stop it is because they were dead.
That's not the case here. Christ is there because He's
successfully accomplished the work of salvation for this people. And He is there also as the One
who rules and reigns and assures that every benefit of that salvation,
every benefit of that work, every one of these He's redeemed by
His precious blood, they'll everyone be saved, and He rules the world
to make sure that they receive every benefit. When He's on the earth, He said,
Father, of all those You've given Me, I've lost none. And when
time is done and eternity has gone on for a million years and
another million years, it will still be the same thing. Father,
of all those You gave to Me, I've not lost one of them. Turn over to Philippians. Chapter
2. Philippians chapter 2, the Apostle
Paul writing in this second chapter and speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ there in verse 5, he says in verse 6, "...who being in
the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. But he made himself of no reputation,
and He took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in
the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, He
humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross." Well, that would be grounds for marking Him a
failure, wouldn't it? His death? No, no. You see, that's what He came
to do, to die for His people. That's what He came to do, sin
of the Father, to pay somebody's sin debt. That's why He's here
on this earth, and that's especially why He's hanging on that cross. He's giving Himself a ransom
for many. But look at verse 9. You see
that first word? Wherefore, this is going to be
what the consequence of that is. Wherefore, for this reason,
God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven, of things in earth, and things
under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Confess that he's what? Confess
that he is Lord. Confess that he's the King, that
he's the Ruler, that he's the only one in authority. And because Paul says there in
Hebrews 1 and verse 3, the reason is that he sits down at the right
hand of the Majesty on high is because God raised him from the
dead, and the reason why he was raised from the dead is the evidence
that God accepted What he did. What did he do? He by himself
purged or washed or cleansed away all the sins of his people. That's what he was doing. He
did it by himself. He did it with himself. By his
own blood, it says. By his own body. As an offering
and a sacrifice for sins. You think men and women don't
know that's what's required. You look back over the history
of this world. You go back and you look at the
archaeological remains that men and women are discovering every
day, and there is so much evidence that men and women in their consciences,
in their true knowledge, they know that God is angry with them
because of sin. They know that He must be appeased
by a sacrifice, and therefore they've offered up all these
foolish sacrifices year after year, civilization after civilization. But not one of them has put away
one sin. Nothing I do, nothing I could
offer, if I could offer the whole world, if I could offer ten billion
just like myself as sacrifices, it would not atone for not one
sin. And all those blood-shed sacrifices
in the Old Testament, they never put away sin. But God ordained
them to show the one way that sin is put away. The one sacrifice
for sins forever. The one who was coming into this
world and who would die a death for the sins of His people. The
Lord having laid on Him the iniquity of us all. And so sure and successful
was that sacrifice. So just as satisfying was His
bloodshed that God raised Him up. But it didn't just raise
him up. He raised him to the throne of
majesty. Can you even begin to think about
what that majesty is like? The majesty of the thrice holy
God. Men and women will look and gaze
at the ritual and the ceremony and the pomp and the circumstance
of idolatrous Catholicism and all these religions that are
trying to be just like them. Oh, they're in awe of it. Oh, we had such a beautiful service
today. Oh, we had all those crosses
up, and we had this, and we had that, none of which pertains
to Jesus Christ, where He is right now, and why He's there. As a matter of fact, those things
are done to conceal the truth. You say, well, I find that hard
to believe. Let me tell you, it's not hard
for you to believe. It's impossible for you to believe. But for the
grace of God. I had a family member told somebody
years ago, they said, I just find it hard to believe that
all these people are wrong, and he's right. But let me tell you
something. All of Adam's race is wrong,
and Christ is the only one right. There is one Mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. There is one salvation. There
is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and it all is in and through
and by Christ and Him crucified. And that cross was the way to
that throne. It was the way to the throne.
You see, He reigns on this throne as the God-man mediator over
His people especially. And His kingdom is a kingdom
of righteousness. And He reigns the King of grace
and peace to this people because His grace reigns in righteousness. That's what the Bible says. It says sin reigned unto death. Oh, but where sin abounded, grace
did the much more abound, and the grace of God in Christ Jesus
reigns in righteousness." It reigns. It reigns. It reigns in His righteousness. The psalmist said, "...justice
and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne. Mercy and truth
shall go before Thy face." Mercy and truth. What do they do? They
kiss. Where? In Christ crucified. You see, this throne has to do
with where the holy God meets and dwells with sinners in mercy
and grace. Did you know there was a throne
in the tabernacle? You know that tent that Israel
packed up, carried from place to place, set up, slew the animals,
sprinkled the blood. There was a throne in that tabernacle. And that throne in the tabernacle
is called the perpetuatory or the mercy seat. And that was that Ark of the
Covenant in the Holy of Holies. That was the throne of God in
the midst of this sinful people. The blood was sprinkled on it. But this is what He said in Exodus
25. He said, "...and there I will
meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy
seat, from between the two cherubims, which are upon the ark of the
testimony of all things which I will give thee in commandment
unto the children of Israel." That was a symbol of God's throne. A throne of mercy and grace through
that blood sprinkled on it, which was a picture of Christ's blood,
Christ's sacrifice. And that high priest would go
in every year, once a year, into the Holy of Holies with that
blood, that blood from that sacrifice, and he'd sprinkle it on that
mercy seat. On that perpetuatory. And God's
merciful to sinners that way. But it was always a throne. He
says, "...the Lord reigneth, let the people tremble. He sitteth
between the cherubims, let the earth be moved." You see, the
throne is always associated with God. It's always associated with
the grace of God. Because His grace is not only
sovereign grace, His grace is omnipotent grace. That means
all-powerful, almighty grace. Christ is the King-Priest of
His church. In Hebrews 8, He says, Now of
the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such
a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the
majesty in the heavens." You'd like to have maybe a friend
that could go before the President and put in a good word for you.
Or maybe before the General and put in a good word for you. Or
maybe some influential person and put in a good word for you.
Paul says, you remember this, our priest, our priest, we have
such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne
of the majesty in the heavens. That's our priest. That's our
king. He sat down because He finished
this work and He obtained by the sacrifice of Himself this
salvation. And His priestly work and His
kingly work, they can't be separated. Can't be separated. As a matter
of fact, that third verse of Hebrews 1 sets it all there together. who He is. He's the Son. But He's the Priest. He's the
Prophet. God has spoken to us by Him.
And He's the King. He sits down at the right hand
of the Majesty on High. And He has, by one offering,
perfected forever His people. If He didn't do that to him,
he couldn't have sat down on that throne. If there was anything
left for you to do or me to do, He could not have said, it is
finished, and sat down, ceasing from His work. But it's from that throne that
He presently intercedes for us. Paul says in Romans 8, "...he
that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Do you think you can go before
God? Do you think there's anything that you, based on yourself,
who you are, what you've done, what you've not done, that you
could ever get help from God? That He'd ever stand before the
Father on your behalf, based on what We do. It will never happen. He makes intercession for His
people based on who He is and what He's done. He's not a helping
hand in salvation. He is salvation. The Bible says
here that John heard a trumpet. In the year of Jubilee, in that
fiftieth year when it came, which would bring about the end of
all the slavery and all the bondage and all the debts and everything
among the people of Israel, in that fiftieth year, there would
be a trumpet sounded. It was actually a ram's horn. A ram's horn being the representation
of a finished sacrifice and work. So now there'll be a good news
heralded by it. The trumpet would be sounded.
And he says, blessed is everyone who hears that trumpet. John
said, I heard a trumpet. And that's simply the grace and
gospel of God. He heard a trumpet. He saw some
things. He heard some things. And they
all had to do with Christ. They all had to do with His people.
They were all there as represented by that 24 elders. He was the center of it. He was
being worshipped by them, praised by them. He's made that throne, listen
to me, He's made that throne to be a throne of grace to His
people. Look back over in Hebrews chapter
4. Hebrews chapter 4. In verse 14,
He says, "...seeing then that we have a great High Priest,
that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us
hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, Come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need." You see, this is who believers
come to. They come to the Christ. who
through His sacrifice, through His death, He's made the throne
of God a throne of grace to them. And they're found to be a needy
people in the matter of their soul, in the matter of their
sin. They come to Him in need. They find everything. But they're
needy all their days. That 16th verse I've thought
about so many times lately. Let us therefore come boldly
into the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. I'm in a time of need. My wife's
in a time of need. We need mercy. And we need grace. And we're going to get it. Mercy
and grace may not be how we think it is. But however, the One who
sits on that throne deals with us. Because we've come to Him
for everything. Everything. We're going to find
grace. And we're going to obtain mercy.
You see, His people are always a needy people. He's gone into
heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities
and powers being made subject unto Him. Paul to the Colossians,
if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sits on the right hand of God. And we run this race looking
to Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." You won't find grace. You won't find mercy. You won't find salvation. in
any of those things that religion pictures him in at this hour. But if you find grace and mercy
and salvation, it will be at the throne. Because the risen
Jesus is alive on the throne, a total success and totally ruling
all things. And you're either flying in His
face And you won't be successful or you're about at His feet and
have everything. That's where the risen Jesus
is. Let them put up their crosses.
Let them do their little ceremonies. Let them have their pictures
and their figures and their symbols and all this other stuff. But
the true Christ is on the throne. It's called the throne of majesty.
Throne of glory. Thank God in Him it's the throne
of grace. Look to Him. Bow at His feet. Own His authority. He has much
better for His people than they could ever have for themselves.
Father, we thank You this morning that this is the case. not because we say it, but because
you say it, calls us to come to this throne of grace for mercy,
for help, for salvation, for everything, because we have so
many needs. We thank you and we pray that
we might know Him more fully, trust Him more completely, Rest
in Him. We ask all things in His name. Amen.