And we come now to our last session,
and I want you to take your Bible and turn with me to the book
of Revelation. I want you to turn to Revelation
chapter 4, and you're going to want to have your Bible open,
and you're going to want to follow along with me. This last message I want to entitle,
A Towering Transcendent Vision of God. And I think it's appropriate
for us to conclude this conference with this message because disciples
of Jesus Christ are those who know God. Jesus said in Matthew
11 and verse 26 that no one knows the Father except the Son, and
those whom the Son wills to reveal the Father. You and I, as disciples
of Jesus Christ, know the Father because God the Son, the only
mediator between God and man, has revealed the Father to us. Jesus Himself is the image of
the invisible God, and when we see Jesus, we see God. Thomas said, show us the Father,
and that is enough, or Philip, and Jesus said, he who has seen
me has seen the Father. So Jesus is the fullest revelation
of the Father to us, and yet Jesus, by His Word and by the
Spirit, has pulled back the veil and enabled us to see more of
the Father. And so in Revelation chapter
4, I want us to see more of the Father. Revelation chapter 5
is about the Son. But Revelation chapter 4 is about
the Father, and I would say that He has become the forgotten member
of the Trinity. Of course, there is great focus
upon God the Son, and in these last years, great focus upon
God the Holy Spirit. And the Father seems to be standing
in the shadows, but as disciples, we must understand that Jesus
has come to reveal the Father to us. And here in Revelation
chapter 4, we have a towering transcendent vision of God the
Father. Beginning in verse 1, I want
to begin by reading this text. After these things I looked,
and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice
which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me,
said, And I will show you what must take place after these things.
Immediately, I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was standing
in heaven, and one sitting on the throne. And he was sitting,
he who was sitting was like a jasper stone, and a sardius in appearance,
and there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in
appearance. around the throne were 24 thrones. And upon the thrones, I saw 24
elders sitting, clothed in white garments and golden crowns on
their heads. Out from the throne came flashes
of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven
lamps of fire burning before the throne. which are the seven
spirits of God. And before the throne, there
was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the center
and around the throne, four living creatures, full of eyes in front
and behind. The first creature was like a
lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature
had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like
a flying eagle. And the four living creatures,
each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within,
and day and night, they do not cease to say, holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and is… who
is to come. And when the four living creatures
give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne,
to Him who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders will fall
down before Him who sits on the throne and will worship Him who
lives forever and ever, and they will 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
because of Your will, they existed and were created." If we are to know God, we must
know Him for who He is. We must not have some low, base,
trivial figment of our imagination of what we think God is like. We cannot have a self-made view
of God as though He is on our level, as though He is one of
us or like us. Rather, we must have a knowledge
of God that is based upon divine revelation, that is so transcendent
and so vertical and so high that it leaves us breathless. We must
have the true knowledge of God if we are to be disciples of
Jesus Christ and follow our Lord. We must have the knowledge of
God that is jaw-dropping. heart-pounding, knee-bending,
eye-popping, awe-inspiring, soul-searching, pride-crushing, faith-building,
life-changing, joy-producing, obedience-generating. What we
need is the personal experiential knowledge of God that will literally
revolutionize our lives. And this is why I'm drawn to
Revelation chapter 4, as we spend our time together, because here
is God. Here is God, not as we want Him
to be, perhaps, but the true God of heaven and earth. And
with this text, we literally step into the heavenly palace,
and we come into the inner sanctum of glory, and we step into the
throne room of God, and we behold our God. And anything less than
this is vain imagination and is really idolatry manufactured
in our minds. This is our God. The chapter
begins in verse 1, after these things. After the Lord Jesus
has given the seven letters to the seven churches, John writes,
I looked and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And it will be
through this door that John will be caught up into glory and given
this vision of God. And he says, in the first voice,
which I had heard. This voice is a familiar voice. This voice is a commanding voice. This voice is the voice of the
one who has just spoken to him on the island of Patmos. It is
none other than Jesus Christ Himself. And Christ now summons
John up into heaven, and we read that, the voice was like the
sound of a trumpet speaking with me. And the voice said, come
up here and I will show you what must take place after these things. John needed to see this vision
of God. And you and I need to see this
vision of God because as John received this, the circumstances
down upon the earth were desperate. By the end of the first century,
the church is undergoing severe persecution. Emperor worship
is now set up throughout the empire. John himself has been
confined to solitary confinement on the island of Patmos for his
testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. The other 11 disciples have been
martyred, and John alone is alive. And as John looks around, the
church is in a desperate hour, and John must see on the other
side, up in heaven, what God sees. But he must see first who
God is. And I want us to see who our
God is because we as disciples of Jesus Christ have come to
know the Father, and we must have this understanding and knowledge
of who God is if we are to follow Christ triumphantly. High views
of God lead to high and holy living, and low views of God
lead to low levels of discipleship. And so, we must have this towering
view of God. I agree with A.W. Tozer who said,
the most important thing about you is what comes into your mind
when you think of God because your entire life in one way or
another is a reflection of who you believe God is. So as
we look at this chapter, there are six attributes of God that
I want to set before you that are imperative that we understand
who God is as disciples of Jesus Christ. And beginning in verse
2, the first attribute is God's sovereignty. You'll note in verse
2, immediately, I was in the Spirit. And this would indicate
that John's body was still on the Isle of Patmos, but that
his soul, his spirit, somehow, someway has been caught up as
he is in the Spirit and transported now into the very inner throne
room of God. And behold, a throne. was standing. What first struck
John was not the architecture of heaven. What first struck
John was not the streets of gold or the gates of pearl or who's
here or who's not here. What immediately struck John
was the most dominant feature of heaven and is the very epicenter
of the entire universe. It is the command post of the
entire created order, He saw a throne. The throne is the throne
of God the Father. And it represents His absolute
sovereignty as the Almighty God over all of the works of His
hands. And while on the earth, everything
looks to be chaotic, everything looks to be in disorder, in heaven,
there is a throne. And we read that this throne
is standing. It is fixed. It is bolted to
the floor. It is not on wheels that can
be moved around. It is unshakable. It is unmovable. It is unchanging. It is unswayed
by human leaders and human events. Roman Caesars come and go, but
this throne remains standing. Human history ebbs and flows,
but this throne remains fixed and towering over all of the
events and over all the circumstances of the earth. The entire created
order is under the dominion of this throne. And as R.C. Sproul would say, there is not
a maverick molecule anywhere in the universe. But second, not only is the throne
standing, we note in verse 2, it is occupied. It is not a vacated
throne. Despite the appearances here
upon the earth, in heaven, the throne is occupied. And the one
who is sitting upon the throne is God the Father. And the fact
that the throne is standing and He is sitting on the throne means
that He is presiding. He is in session. He is ruling
even in the church's darkest hour. The throne is occupied,
and the one who is seated upon it is holding sway over all of
the events of human history. He but speaks, and it comes to
pass. He but acts, and it holds fast. He but wills, and it is done.
And the entire chapter of Revelation 4 revolves around the throne. Ten times in this chapter, the
word throne is mentioned. Thrones plural is mentioned twice
for the twenty-four elders, but the throne of God is mentioned
ten times in these eleven verses. And everything in heaven finds
its position by its proximity to the throne. In verse 4, there
are those that are around the throne. In verse 5, we see what
proceeds from the throne. In verse 6, what is before the
throne. And in verse 6, what is in and
around the throne. In verse 9, what goes to the
throne. And in verse 10, what is before
the throne. Everything is defined in heaven
by its location and proximity to the throne, because the throne
is controlling everything. In verse 3, and he who is sitting
was like a jasper stone. A jasper stone is crystal clear.
It's like a diamond, and it speaks of the absolute purity and holiness
of God, that He is like a flawless stone, glory, refracting in the
light of His holiness, shining through this jasper stone in
a radius, in appearance. deep, rich red, conveying royalty
and splendor and majesty. And there was a rainbow around
the throne like an emerald in appearance, the beauty of His
holiness showcased above His throne. And around the throne
were 24 thrones. These are lesser thrones under
the dominion of the throne. These are appellate thrones.
These are subordinate thrones who receive their direction from
the one who is on the highest throne. And these 24 thrones
have a lesser delegated reign. under the one upon the throne. And upon the thrones, I saw 24
elders. And they are here representing
all the redeemed of all of the ages, perhaps 24 elders representing
Old Testament saints, or excuse me, 12 elders, Old Testament
saints, 12 elders, New Testament saints. And they are clothed in white
garments. representing the perfect righteousness
of Jesus Christ with which they have been clothed and golden
crowns on their head. This signifies a victorious note as they have
triumphed and overcome the world, and they are now recognized in
heaven. Every disciple of Jesus Christ
must be deeply persuaded of the absolute, unrivaled sovereignty
of Almighty God. He or she must know that as they
follow Christ, every step of their life has been ordained
and ordered by the one who is on the throne. every circumstance,
every event, every trial, every difficulty, every step that they
take is a part of a larger master plan that God Himself has designed
from before the foundation of the world, and that we as disciples
of Jesus Christ, we march following Jesus and under this sovereign
throne. If we are to be strong disciples
of Christ, we must understand God's sovereign will is perfect. His sovereign timing is perfect. His sovereign plan will come
to pass, and He has foreordained good works for us to walk in. There is, as we follow Christ
in discipleship, there must be this deep conviction that we
are riding a wave of destiny, that God has gone before us,
and that God is marking out our path as we follow Christ, and
that all of our days were written in His book when as yet there
was not one of them. That this sovereign God has ordained
the day of our birth, and He has already foreordained the
day of our death. And we will not live one day
beyond the time that He has appointed for us, neither will we live
one day less. We are, as George Whitefield
said, we are immortal here upon the earth until our work for
God is done. And every day of our life has
been numbered by God. We as disciples must understand
this and we must know this and we have no time to waste as we
follow Christ. Psalm 90 verse 12 says, teach
us to number our days that we may present to you a heart of
wisdom. And we must have a sense of this
overriding sovereign will and master plan of God the Father
for our lives. That nothing just happens. That
there is no such thing as good luck or bad luck. There is no
such thing as good karma or bad karma. There are no accidents.
There is no mere happenstance. But everything is under the sovereign
rule of the one who is seated upon this throne. Strong disciples
have a grasp on the sovereignty of Almighty God. The second attribute that I want
you to know, not only the sovereignty of God, but in verse 5, we see
the wrath of God because John next sees a gathering storm that
is brewing in heaven and is soon to be unleashed upon the earth
with terrifying fury. Notice in verse 5, out from the
throne. That means proceeding from the
One who is seated on the throne, not coming from the… from the
lesser 24 thrones, not coming from the angelic beings around
the throne, not coming from the worshiping multitude, but actually
from the throne, from God Himself comes flashes of lightning. and sounds and peals of thunder. There is a violent storm that
is brewing and gathering in heaven, and it is proceeding from the
one who sits upon the throne. And this fierce storm of divine
judgment will be unleashed by Jesus Christ in the last days
when He returns. This electrical storm is full
of divine vengeance and fury and divine anger. Hebrews 10,
verse 27 says, a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a
fire which will consume the adversaries. Hebrews 10 verse 31 says, it
is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living
God. And when Jesus returns, it says
in 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 7, that He will come in flaming
fire. dealing out retribution to those
who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of
our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of
eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord, from
the glory of His power when He comes. We continue to read in verse
5, and there were seven lamps of fire. Hey, here are torches
that are burning with wrath. And it says, in burning before
the throne, here is the infinite, unmitigated, intense anger of
a holy God flashing forth from the throne and fierce blazing
light of fiery torches. And it says, which are the seven
spirits of God. Of course, there's only one Holy
Spirit, but the number seven here speaks of the fullness of
the Holy Spirit and the fullness of the vengeance of the Holy
Spirit upon Christ rejecters that will be unleashed. The Holy
Spirit, the comforter, will become the Holy Spirit, the consumer. And flaming torches in the Bible
were associated with war in Judges 7 and Nahum 2. And John's vision here depicts
God as ready to make war on sinful, rebellious mankind. The Holy Spirit here is the war
torch of God. And God is ready to ignite and
inflame sinners. who reject Jesus Christ. This world is spinning through
space on a collision course with divine judgment. If you would
turn to the end of the book of Revelation, to Revelation 19,
Revelation 19 in verse 11, it would be worth your turning to
it. and even to have a pen and to underline some of the key
words that you see in this passage. But let us remember what it will
look like when this storm is unleashed from heaven, from the
throne of God, when He sends His Son back to be the chief
executor of this wrath. And in Revelation 19, verse 11,
and I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. It is a war horse ready to stampede
to the front lines of battle. And he who sat on it is called
faithful and true. It is the Lord Jesus Christ,
and he will be faithful to execute all of the promises of judgment
that God has given. And in righteousness, he judges
and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire. Coming out of the sockets of
his eyes are fiery laser beams that ignite wherever they look. And on his head are many diadems. This is different than crowns.
Diadems belong on the head of a sovereign. But you'll note
that there are many diadems upon the head of Christ. They're just
stacked up, diadem upon diadem upon diadem. It is unlimited
sovereignty. And then he says, and he has
a name on him which no one knows except himself. meaning no one
knows the full force of the exercise of His unlimited sovereignty
except He Himself. Human words cannot even convey
the exercise of His supreme authority when He comes back to judge.
Verse 13, he is clothed with a robe, dipped in blood. And that's not his blood, for
he goes on to tell us that this is the blood of his enemies,
when he will trample them down in the fierce winepress of his
wrath. And his name is called the Word
of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine
linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses.
There is a stampede that comes bolting out of heaven. But the
difference here is with armies today, the general is behind
in safety and the soldiers go first. But here, it is the King
of kings and the Lord of lords who is out at the tip of the
spear. He is leading the charge and he is merely surrounded by
these armies. And from his mouth comes a sharp
sword. so that it may strike down the nations. Psalm 2 says
that He will inherit the nations and strike them down with a rod
of His anger. And He will rule them with a
rod of iron, and He will crush them like clay pots, and they
will be broken into thousands of pieces. And he treads the
winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. And on his robe and on his thigh,
the thigh is the strongest muscle in the body. And on his thigh,
he has a name written, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in
the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying, To all
the birds which fly in midheaven, come, assemble for the great
supper of the feast, so that you may eat the flesh of kings,
and the flesh of commanders, and the flesh of mighty men."
And verse 20, the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive
into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone. Verse 21,
and the rest were killed with the sword that came from the
mouth of him who sat on the horse. This is the tsunami of wrath
that has been held back by the dam of God's mercy. But in this
last hour, when Christ bursts forth from heaven, all the wrath
of God the Almighty will consume sinners and they will be swept
into the bowels of hell forever. What a terrifying scene this
is. And we as disciples of Jesus
Christ must know this. We must know from what we have
been saved. R.C. Sproul has written a book
entitled, Saved From What? And to listen to most evangelical
preachers today, you would think that we have been saved from
loneliness. We've been saved from our insecurities. We've been saved from a bad job.
We've been saved from singleness. No, we have been saved from God
Himself. And there is only one who can
save from God, and that is God Himself. And all true salvation
is a salvation from God by God. We as disciples of Jesus Christ
must know that of which we have been saved. We have been rescued
from eternal ruin. We have been delivered from eternal
destruction. And therefore, we walk in humility
and lowliness of mind with reverence in our heart toward God. If we
had time to look at the beginning of Revelation chapter 19, we
would see that the Hallelujah Chorus is sung because God has
judged the whore of Babylon, and God has smitten and crushed,
and all of heaven breaks forth. Hallelujah to Him who sits on
the throne. As disciples of Jesus Christ,
as we walk through this world, Not only must we know of the
wrath from which we have been saved, But we must be witnesses
for Jesus Christ with a sense of urgency to reach those who
are around us with the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And some of you here today even need to go to other places and
other countries and other parts of the world and carry the gospel
of Christ with you because this final day of divine wrath is
looming on the horizon and it is a fixed date on God's calendar
and that day is coming. Disciples of Christ are sober-minded
and are filled with reverential awe for God, in part because
we understand something of the wrath of God. Do you know something of the
wrath of God? Jonathan Edwards said that he
would meditate upon the wrath of God frequently, that it would
promote within him purity of heart and lowliness of walk. There's a third attribute that
I want you to see. Come back to Revelation chapter
4. As we are being escorted into the throne room of heaven itself
and given a view of God like few places in the entire Bible. And not only does John immediately
see the sovereignty of God and the wrath of God, but beginning
in verse 6, he sees the holiness of God. Notice verse 6, and before
the throne, there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. It's almost as if there is a
moat around the throne. as if there is an enormous sea
or ocean around the throne of crystal that is separating God
from those in heaven. And even those in heaven remain
but creatures who have been redeemed and glorified But in heaven,
the redeemed saints still have some distance from God as this
sea of crystal is before the throne and around the throne,
and it is shining brilliantly and sparkling brightly with dazzling
light refracting and reflecting the light of the glory of God. No one's hopping up into the
lap of God. No one is casually approaching
the throne. In fact, those in heaven are
somewhat kept at their distance because God is separated from
His creatures. That is what the word holiness
means. Haggaios in the New Testament, Kedosh in the Old Testament,
it very simply means this. that there is a separation. There
is a cut and a separation. There is now a distance between. And even in heaven, there will
be this separation of God. He will forever be God Himself
on His own level. And then we read, and in the
center and around the throne, meaning in the center of heaven
and around the throne, four living creatures, literally in the Greek,
four living ones. These are four angelic beings,
and they are like watchmen around the throne. They are guarding
access to the throne of God. No one may break out of the crowd
and rush the throne of God. These angelic beings, according
to Ezekiel, are a cherubim, an exalted order of angels who are
guardians of the glory of God. They were positioned by God at
the end of Genesis 3 to prevent Adam and Eve from returning to
paradise. And Satan himself was once a
cherubim, once the anointed cherub with closest access to the throne
of God. But what we see here is the utter
separation and separateness of God even in heaven. And these
cherubim who are like guards on the four corners around the
throne. It says they're full of eyes
in front and behind. And the idea is they are always
alert, always awake, always in constant vigil. No one is allowed
to approach the throne without their awareness. In verse 7,
the first creature was like a lion, meaning strong. in serving God. And the second creature was like
a calf, very sacrificial in his service of God. And the third
was like that of a man, the face of a man, meaning smart and brilliant
and able to reason. And the fourth creature was like
a flying eagle, swift and ready to fly if necessary to carry
out any assignment that the one on the throne would give to him. And verse 8, and the four living
creatures, each one of them had six wings full of eyes around
and within. And if these cherubim are like
the seraphim in Isaiah 6. With two of these wings, they
would cover their face because of their recognition of their
utter unworthiness to be in the presence of one who is so separated
and so holy. And with two, they would cover
their feet, again signifying their unworthiness to be in the
presence of this God. And with two, they fly ready
to dart like a hummingbird ready to fly at any moment's notice
to carry out the bidding of the one who is upon the throne. And day and night, and we could
add in day and night, and day and night, and day and night,
and day and night, they do not cease to say, holy, holy, holy. is the Lord God, the Almighty. This is a threefold repetition
that is found in Isaiah 6 and verse 3. And to say something
three times in a row is to elevate that word to the superlative
degree. And they are crying out not just
that God is holy, but that He is holier than anyone or anything
else But more than that, He is the holiest being, the most exalted,
transcendent, majestic being in the entire universe. He is
holy, holier, holiest, towering in His holiness. And it speaks
of the moral perfection of all of His ways. All of His words
are perfect. All of His works are perfect.
All of His judgments are perfect. All of His plans are perfect.
All of His timing is perfect. Everything that God does is absolutely
perfect in His holiness. As we are disciples of Jesus
Christ and walk the dusty trails of this sin-plagued world, We
need to be reminded of this vision of who God is, that He is holy,
holy, holy, and how this should impact and influence our lives
as disciples of Jesus Christ, following Christ, who will never
lead us into sin, and how we must be aware of our
own sin and to be repenters and to confess our sin, to resist
temptation, to flee the devil, to mortify the flesh, to deny
self. We must live every step of our
journey in discipleship as we follow Christ under this awareness
of the holiness of God. But there's more. I want you
to see in the middle of verse 8 the omnipotence of God. John is made privy now to hear
the angelic chorus as they sing, holy, holy, holy. And then he
hears them say, is the Lord almighty? Please note, he doesn't have
just some power. He doesn't have just much power
or most power. He has all the power that there
is. We generate no power. God possesses
all power. There can be no resistance to
anything that God does because He has all power. There can be
no pushback. There can be no opposition that
could ever succeed against our God because He has all the power
that there is in the entire universe. It's not a tug-of-war between
good and evil in which one can barely outpull the other side
in the tug-of-war. No, God has all power. The devil
has no power except what power God chooses to delegate to the
devil. It is a power on loan. and what
little power that you and I have as we live the Christian life.
It has all come from God, but it has not originated from within
ourselves. It is simply God's divine power
manifested in us by the Holy Spirit. But it remains God's
power. We live the Christian life not
in our own power, but in the power of God. And so, as we live
our Christian life and as we follow Christ in discipleship,
we cannot take even one step without the power of God to enable
us to follow Christ. Jesus said in John 15, verse
5, apart from me, you can do what? Nothing. But Paul said, I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me. God has all power to keep His
promises, all power to protect His children, all power to convert
His enemies. He has all power to execute His
plans. God has all power. And God exercised that power
in your stubborn, resistant heart when He brought you to Himself
with saving faith. He overcame the hardness of your
heart, and the power of God conquered your stubborn, prideful heart. And it was God who brought you
low in humility to put you onto the narrow path now to follow
Christ. And as we witness for the Lord
Jesus Christ, he has power to overcome every heart to which
we would witness. He has power to answer every
prayer. Absolutely nothing is hard to God. Finally, I want you to know The
last two attributes that I will combine together, we see them
at the end of verse 8, God's eternality and immutability. for the angelic chorus around
the throne of God day and night without ceasing. And it's probably
an antiphonal effect, one side of heaven crying out, holy, holy,
holy, and the other side of heaven responding, the Lord God, the
Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. And the other
side of heaven, holy, holy, holy, and the other side of heaven
responding, He is the one who was and who is and who is to
come. He is the God who was, this speaks
of eternity past. He is the God who is, this speaks
of the present time. And He is the God who is to come,
speaks of eternity future. From eternity past to eternity
future, He is the same God, never increasing, never decreasing,
never learning, always the same. Psalm 90 verse 2 says, before
the mountains were born or you gave birth to the earth, the
world, and the world even from everlasting to everlasting, you
are God. What a comfort this is to us
as disciples. to know that God, from before
the foundation of the world, has laid out His plans for our
life, and He has determined the time within history when we would
be born, and the steps that we would take, the path that He
would mark out for us all the way to the end, and then to carry
us home to heaven. What eternal security we have
as we follow Christ, knowing for me to live is Christ, to
die is gain. And verse 9, and when the living
creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on
the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever. Verse 10, the
24 elders will fall down before Him. No one can remain standing
in heaven. Everyone is falling like cut
timber before the throne of God that is surrounded by this crystal
sea and these multitudes of multitudes and myriads of myriads, which
means 10,000 times 10,000 are crying out, holy, holy, holy. all of the redeemed of all of
the ages just keep falling down before Him who sits on the throne,
and they worship Him who lives forever and ever. And this word
worship means to kiss toward, expressing our affection and
our love and our devotion for God. It says at the end of verse
10, and we'll cast the crowns before the throne. He will grant
crowns to those who have overcome the world, and we will receive
our crown from the Lord Himself. And as that crown is upon our
head, there will be the realization that all that I am and all that
I have done is by His grace alone. He chose me. He predestined me. He redeemed me. He reconciled
me. He convicted me. He called me.
He regenerated me. He indwelt me. He sealed me.
He adopted me. He preserved me. He sanctified
me. He glorified me. This crown cannot
remain on my head. I must cast it back before His
throne across the crystal sea, signifying that from Him and
through Him and to Him are all things. To God be the glory forever
and ever. Amen. And there will be this
realization in heaven that will be intensified to the nth degree
that it is by the grace of God that I have made it to heaven
and I will cast this crown back before Him. And then all of heaven
joins in this chorus in verse 11, worthy are you. Worship is
declaring the worth-ship of God. Worthy are you, our Lord and
our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created
all things and because of your will they existed. and were created. As disciples of Jesus Christ,
we must have this sense of the eternality and immutability of
God. that though my life is continually
changing, God never changes. And though the culture around
me is changing, and the world in which I find myself is changing,
God never changes, and His Word never changes, and what is right
never changes, and what is wrong never changes. And as we follow Christ, We realize
that it is a march that will lead us through time into eternity
future where we will spend the ages to come before the throne
of God and declaring the greatness of our God. All of this is to
be woven into what it is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. And as I bring this to conclusion,
I want to ask you this question, are you going to heaven? Heaven is a real place and hell
is a real place. And everyone in this large convention
center, after you die, within five seconds, you will be in
one of two places. You will either be in heaven
with God or you will be in the lake of fire that burns with
brimstone forever. And there is only one way to
go to heaven. There is only one way to be right
with God. There is only one way to find
acceptance with this infinitely holy, all-powerful, sovereign
God, and it is to come through the Lord Jesus Christ, who came,
who was born of a virgin, who lived a sinless and perfect life,
who was lifted up on a cross and died for the sins of all
those who will call upon Him. He was raised from the dead,
He has ascended back to heaven, and He is now seated at the right
hand of God the Father. And all authority in heaven and
earth has been entrusted to Him by the Father. You must believe
in Jesus Christ. You must come to the end of yourself.
You must cast yourself upon the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. You must commit your life to
Him. You must surrender to the King
of kings. And you must submit to his lordship.
And you must take that decisive step of faith and leave the world
behind and enter through the narrow gate and enter into the
kingdom of heaven by faith alone. If you have never believed upon
Jesus Christ, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him
while he is near. And he says, whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Come to Christ
this very moment within your heart, within your soul. Take
the step of faith and entrust your life to Jesus Christ who
is seated at the right hand of the Father. And one day when
you die, he will escort you into the very presence of the Father
where you will find acceptance with Him forever and ever. So if you've never believed upon
Christ, do so this very moment. And him who comes unto me, Jesus
says, I will in no wise cast out. He is the friend of sinners.
He has come as a physician, not for those who are well, but for
those who are sick. He has not come for those who
are righteous, but for those who are unrighteous. Come to
Him in the sickness of your sin. Come to Him in the unrighteousness
of your filthy rags, and He will receive you to Himself, and He
will clothe you with His own perfect rags of righteousness.
and he will wash away all of your sin, and he will adopt you
into the family of God, and you will become a joint heir of Christ,
and you will begin this exciting walk of discipleship, of following
Christ through this world. And it is a journey that one
day will take you to the very throne of God above. If you've never believed upon
Christ, behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, today is the day
of salvation. Let us pray.