Turn with me, please, to Revelation
chapter 4. Revelation chapter 4. This morning I'm going to, if
God will enable me, try to describe for you what John saw concerning
the throne of God. and tonight those things that
he saw around the throne. Revelation chapter 4, after this
I looked and behold a door was opened in heaven. Having seen
that glorious vision of Christ that he described in chapter
1, John then returned to his ordinary state of mind for a
while. We don't really know how long,
but I suspect it would not be possible for a mortal man to
bear what John saw and what John experienced and what John heard
for very long. He must, for a while, return
to his normal, ordinary state of mind. How long it was, we
don't know, but apparently He returned to his ordinary state
of mind long enough to carry on the work which Christ had
given him to do. He wrote down the things that
he saw. He wrote down the letters as Christ had given them to him. And he sent those seven letters
to the churches of Asia Minor according as he had been commanded.
And when that work was done, when he had utilized what the
Lord had given him, then another vision was given. And now, with
wide-eyed wonder and amazement, John beheld a door standing wide
open in heaven. What an astounding thing. I suspect
that John well understood the significance of that door standing
open in heaven, for he was familiar with the prophecy of Ezekiel.
and how that Ezekiel declared when he saw a door standing open
in heaven that he had visions of God. And now, as John sees
that door open, he realizes that he is about to have a revelation
of God's He's about to see God in his glory like no man has
seen him before. He's about to see God in his
majesty as no man had seen him before. While he was looking
at the door in astonishment, he hears a voice. It's a very
familiar voice. He heard it on the earth and
he heard it in the first vision in Revelation 1. It is the voice
of his beloved. the voice of his dear Savior,
like the voice of a trumpet speaking clearly to John and to John alone,
no mistaking this voice. He says, come up hither. The
Son of God called John up into heaven. Oh, blessed be God. There is a way of access to God. There is a door open for sinners. There is a door open unto the
holiest of all. by which you and I may enter
in and find acceptance with the eternal God. That door is Jesus
Christ our Lord. That way is Christ's shed blood
and perfect righteousness. We have access to, we have a
way of approach to, a way of entrance into the holiest of
all by the blood of Christ. You remember in the Old Testament,
in the tabernacle and in the temple, The holiest place, the
holy of holies, was separated from all people with a thick
veil, a thick curtain hanging down to hide that holy place,
lest any man enter in except upon penalty of death. The only
man who might enter in was that high priest once a year. And
he only with the blood of a sacrifice. But when our Lord Jesus Christ
cried, it is finished. The veil in that temple began
to tear. and it ripped the thunder from
top to bottom. The symbolism was now God is
accessible by you. Men like you and I dare to come
before God in his glory with faith, with confidence, without
fear, without trembling. Let me show it to you back in
Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews the fourth chapter. The
Apostle Paul told us that by Christ we have access unto the
Father. He says in Hebrews 4 verse 16. We'll go back up to verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens. He's passed into
the Holy of Holies. He's passed into the presence
of God. Our high priest is Jesus, the
Son of God. Let us hold fast our profession.
For we have not an 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, since we have
this high priest, let us therefore come boldly, the word is freely,
come before him with priesthood. Come before Him without trembling. Come before Him without terror. Come before Him with a conscious
awareness of acceptance through Jesus Christ. Come boldly unto
the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in the time of need. Come. Come seeking mercy through
Jesus Christ the Lord and you shall obtain mercy. Come, come
seeking grace through Jesus Christ the Lord and you shall find grace
for your soul's time of need. Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews the
10th chapter, verse 19. The apostle has told us how that
Christ has put away our sins, how that he has made us perfect
and sanctified by the sacrifice of himself, how that he's fulfilled
the covenant and our iniquities and our sins are blotted out
of the book of God's remembrance. Now he says in verse 10, having
therefore brethren, or verse 19, having therefore brethren
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. How dares
Bob Pontzer approach the living God? How dare you approach? How dare you call upon the name
of God? Dare you expect God to receive
you? He wouldn't even receive Aaron
without a sacrifice. By the blood of Jesus. That's
how. By the blood of Jesus. I dare
come before God offering a sacrifice. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that blood God cannot turn
away. That blood God cannot ignore.
That blood is our access to God. He says in verse 20, by a new
and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the
veil, that is to say his flesh. And having a high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. That's how we're
to approach God, with a pure heart. with full assurance, with
true sincerity, we approach God, believing Christ. We dare call
upon God, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. John said, there's
a door open in heaven. And there's a voice that I heard
that said, come up hither. When the Son of God called John
up, he called him into the very presence of the Holy God to see
and to hear things of God. We now draw near to God by faith,
with holy affection. That's what prayer is. We come
into God's presence. I have heard preachers belittle
that kind of language. We are aware that God is everywhere
present. We are aware that God is in heaven
above, upon the earth, in the deep places, that God's everywhere,
he's the omnipresent God, we're aware of that, but what we're
saying is that we dare to come before God in his holiness with
confidence of acceptance by faith, by faith. We don't like Adam
and Eve and like all men naturally do, we don't hide behind our
fig leaves and try to cover ourselves from God, but we come before
God exposing ourselves to him. We draw near into the presence
of God. If you care to use the language,
into the very throne room of God. Into the very throne room
of God, at the throne of grace. We do that. in prayer, in meditation. Oh, God, I hope we do that now,
while we come together in this house of worship. Not that we
have come in this physical place alone, but coming together in
this physical place, oh, that our hearts may gather around
his throne, and God's dear to him. When we leave this world,
our souls will immediately enter into the presence of God. And
when, in the last days, our Lord Jesus Christ comes again, then
our bodies shall be raised and joined again to our souls, and
we shall forever be in the presence of the divine majesty, there
to abide forever. But the only door, the only door
by which we shall enter into God's presence, now or then,
is Jesus Christ. That's the only door. The Lord
said to John, come up hither and I will show thee things which
must be hereafter. That is to say, I will show you
things which must happen in the future. Now, remember, when John
heard this voice, it was nearly 2000 years ago. So perhaps some of what he heard
has already come to pass. and the future is now past. I
say that for this reason. Most people take Revelation chapter
4 and verse 1 and they jump from the here and now to sometime
way out yonder in another future dispensation. Now, these words
do not imply that there is to be any future dispensation of
time. As a matter of fact, the Apostle
John himself And 1 John 2, 18 tells us that this gospel age
in which we now live is the last time. This is the last stroke
of the clock in God's dispensational providence of things, that is,
in the times of God's appointment. God had the time of the old covenant,
and now in this day, the day of light has come, the gospel
day, and this is the last time. When this time is over, time
shall be no more. This age shall end with the glorious
appearance of the great God and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when our Lord tells John
that these future things must come to pass, They must come
to pass because they are ordained, appointed, and decreed by God
in his eternal purpose of predestination. Our Lord says, Come up hither,
and I will show thee things which must be hereafter, things which
must be hereafter, not maybe, not possibly might be, but these
are the things that shall certainly come to pass in the unfolding
of God's providence and the unfolding of God's purpose in this world
of time. And immediately, I was in the
spirits. Again, John's soul was drawn
away from his earthly surroundings and drawn away from his earthly
environment. Drawn away from his earthly carnal
cares, and his heart was fixed on God. His heart was fixed on
the Lord Jesus Christ. His heart was fixed upon the
things of the Spirit of God. He ceased now to see with his
natural eye, and ceased to hear with his natural ear. He ceased
to think with his natural mind, but now he's in the Spirit. He's
carried away in the spirit so that he beholds with his soul's
eyes and hears with his heart's ears and thinks with his heart's
mind and he beholds things yonder in the heavens. It was not some kind of a charismatic
experience. It was a spiritual rapturing
of his soul. His heart was fixed on God. With his soul's eyes he looked
and with his soul's ears he heard. And we read and behold a throne. Behold a throne. Now that's the theme of this
vision. That's the theme of my message
this morning. Behold the throne. Read Revelation
4 and 5 and you will find that word throne used 17 times in
those two chapters. That's what John's talking about.
He said, I want you to see a throne. I want you to see a throne. The
Lord Jesus is saying to John and to us through John, I want
you to see a throne. I want you to have your hearts
and your minds and your affections fixed upon a throne. I want your
souls to be established. Behold a throne. Behold a throne. O child of God, are you downcast? Behold a throne. Are you troubled
with your sin? Behold a throne. Are you fearful
and doubting? Behold a throne. Are you in trouble? Behold a throne. Is your soul
heavy? Behold a throne. a throne fixed,
set in heaven, the throne of your God. No wonder old Horatio Spafford, in the
midst of his anguish and troubled heart, in the midst of that time
of terrible, terrible, horrifying loneliness, when his wife and
children had been lost at sea, He could look to his God with
confidence and say, when peace like a river attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea bellows roll, whatever my lot thou hast
taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. If you
behold the throne, Bobby, it's well. If God will give you an
eye of faith to see his throne, you'll know that all is well.
If God will give you an eye of faith ever to behold his throne,
your soul shall ever rest in peace. Those men, those women
who behold his throne fixed in the heaven are men and women
who enjoy comfort and peace deep in their souls, which nothing
in this world can destroy. There is but one thing to be
learned from this picture that's given us. All things are under
the control of our God, who sits upon the throne of universal
dominion. Now let me remind you, it would
seem needless that I should remind you, but because of the ridiculous,
fanciful interpretations of scripture that are given in our day, I
want to remind you that this is a spiritual vision. It is a spiritual vision. The
throne is a symbolic throne. The picture is a symbolic picture. The description of God's being
is a symbolic description. It is not to be taken as a literal
description of heaven or of God or of God's throne, but rather
an instructive allegory, an instructive symbolic picture of things which
John saw. Now, in this fourth chapter of
Revelation, we are given more than merely a picture of heaven.
Here, John gives us a picture of the entire universe from the
viewpoint of heaven. You might want to jot that down. That's important. John is not
giving us just a picture of heaven. He's giving us a picture of the
entire universe from heaven's viewpoint And from heaven's viewpoint
there are only two things important. From heaven's viewpoint there
are only two things important. The throne of God and the people
of God. Only those two things. The throne
of God and the people of God. Now this passage shows us in
beautifully symbolic language that all things are absolutely
and totally governed by the Lord God our Savior. All things. Even our trials and tribulations
are of God, and they shall bring glory to God. In chapter 6 of
Revelation, the apostle is told of the trials and difficulties
which God's saints must endure upon the earth. He's told of
the severe trials that must come upon the people of God in God's
good providence. They must come because this world
is a place of sorrow, because it is a place of sin. They must
come because God's people in this world yet need the sanctifying
influence of the fiery trial to burn up the dross to refine
the silver, to burn up the chaff to separate the wheat from the
chaff. We need the trial. We need the
difficulties. But before you see the trial,
you've got to see the throne. John is here giving us the first
vision. Before Christ showed him the
hard things he must endure, he showed him the throne by which
his strength would come. Before he showed him the trial,
he showed him the throne from which the trials come. Before
he showed him the affliction, the pain, the sorrow, the turmoil,
he showed him the throne and him that sits upon the throne
by whom all things are ruled. all the trials come. We're not
fools who live in this world looking at all things through
rose-colored glasses. We're not mere optimists who
have the persuasion of the power of positive thinking, but we
are optimistic and we do think positively. And we do have a
rose-colored understanding of God's providence because we behold
the throne. We behold him. God's on his throne. Now you tell me why I should
be downcast. God's on his throne. Now you
tell me whom I should fear. God's on his throne. Now you
tell me why I should worry and fret. God's on his throne. You tell me why I should be disturbed. God's on his throne. If I believe
him, you tell me why I shouldn't be at peace. This is the comforting,
consoling, solid foundation of assurance, comfort, and peace.
Behold a throne No trial will be unbearable to me if I can
but realize with assurance that my God is upon his throne. Now this morning I want to tell
you about the throne and the one who sits upon it. Let's read
verses 2, 3, 5, and 6. 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, or a sardiest stone. And there was a rainbow round
about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. Verse 5. 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 there was
a sea of glass, likened to crystal. And in the midst of the throne,
round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes, before
and behind. O Spirit of God, speak through
these lips of clay, and cause these people to behold God If you hear nothing else that
I say to you this morning, hear this. The psalmist recorded,
the Lord reigneth. Let the earth rejoice. Let the
multitude of the isles be glad. The Lord reigneth. Do you believe
that? The God we worship, the God in
whose hands we are, The God who we trust as our savior and deliverer,
the God to whom we look for all things reigns. He reigns. He's in control of things. He's
in control of things. You ever notice how peaceful
things are when people think somebody's in control? Mr. Reagan, for better or for worse—I'm
not promoting Reagan, I'm just illustrating a point—somehow
or another during the first few years of his presidency, kind
of gave the feeling that somebody's in control, and it just permeates
the nation. People are at ease. They feel
good. Don't mind going out and going into debt a little bit.
The economy's on good track. Don't mind going out and venturing
a little bit here. The nation is building its strength,
and we're not going to have to concern ourselves with being
invaded. The society as a whole just kind of had a call. Now,
it may or may not have been a deceiving call. It may or may not have
been the reality, but people perceived that he was in control. Oh, children of God, if in your
hearts you can but realize this blessed reality, God's on his
throne. God's in control! He's got everything
in his hands. And he rules with absolute serenity. The assurance of this fact ought
to give every believer a calm and peaceful heart. O child of
God, in the midst of your fiery trials which cause your great
heaviness, behold a throne and be comforted. Our God rules. Turn over to Psalm 93. Psalm
93. Listen to this Psalm of David. The Lord Jehovah reigneth. He is clothed with majesty. The
Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself. The world also is established
that it cannot be moved, established by God who reigns. Thy throne is established of
old, thou art from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O
Lord. The floods have lifted up their
voice. The floods lift up their ways.
David says, there sits God on His throne. There are floods
and they're raising up. Their waves are beating against
the shore. Our little vessel is tossed on
the terrible waves of this troubled sea. The floods have lifted up
their waves. The Lord on high is mightier
than the noise of many waters. yea, than the mighty waves of
the sea. He says God's still on his throne.
The waves have lifted up, they haven't toppled God's throne,
haven't even shaken God's throne. Thy testimonies are very sure. Holiness becometh thy house,
O Lord, forever. God's throne, as John beheld
it, is set. It's fixed. permanently established
in heaven. It said, behold, a throne was
set in heaven and one sat upon it. One sat on the throne. The throne is not in earth, but
in heaven. It sits in the Holy of Holies
in the heavenly temple, just as in the Old Testament in the
tabernacle and in the temple, the Ark of the Covenant sat in
the Holy of Holies. In that most holy place, there
was the symbol of God's presence with his people. There the Shekinah
glory was. There God met with men. There
God dealt with men. That was the place from which
the law was given. Everything was handled there.
That was the place that symbolized God's throne. Now we have no
earthly temple, nor do we desire one. We have no earthly tabernacle,
nor do we desire one. Our temple is in the heavens,
and our God is in the heavens, and his throne is in the heavens.
And we gather now to worship around this throne fixed in the
heavens. God is king. He dwells in his
holy temple. He sits upon the throne of sovereign
majesty, ruling over all things. This is the way those men of
the Old Testament beheld him continually. You go back and
read the prophecy of Isaiah, of Jeremiah, of Ezekiel. Ever
the prophets looked and beheld God sitting on his throne. Always
God sitting on his throne. This throne is the symbol of
power, of dominion, and of judgment. God who sits upon the throne
has control, dominion, power, government over all subordinate
thrones. He raises up kings here and he
puts down kings. He raises up little tin horn
dictators and he puts them down. He raises up presidents and senators
and congressmen, and he puts them down. He raises up queens
and princes, and he puts them down. And while he is raising
them up, while they're reigning, and while he puts them down,
he holds them in steady, firm grip of his sovereign hand. Oh, the horror. of the Russians. Oh, the horror
of that mad fellow over in Libya. Oh, the horror of these crazy
Muslims who are attempting to overthrow the world. The horror
of nothing. Pygmies. Pygmies. Less than pygmies. Grasshoppers. Just like you and me. And God
controls this world. God controls this world. I don't
suggest that we should live in this world as though we had our
head in the sand. But I'm going to tell you something.
Men and women who believe what we say we believe, Merle, we
ought to be the most carefree people in this world. I mean
carefree. When I say carefree, I mean not
careless. I mean carefree, so that we have
no undue care for anything. God rules! Ever learned that, you can throw
your tranquilizers away. Don't have to worry about everything
going on under the sun. Oh, but preacher, you don't understand
my situation. I understand that God rules.
You're in that situation, aren't you? God rules. God rules. I hear people talk about being
afraid of this and afraid of that. Scared to death to fly. My soul. My God rules the heavens. Wouldn't bother me a bit to fly
around the world in a space shuttle. God rules this world. He rules. Why? Why ever sin? Why all this turmoil? Why all
this strife and agitation of our hearts? Our God's on His
throne! His throne is the place of power,
dominion, and judgment. Whenever you see the hand of
God sweep across any part of the world, that's the hand of
judgment. I did it. A week ago, a friend of mine
was killed. Driving down the highway, sitting up on top of a precipice,
a huge boulder, then sitting there since God created the world
6,000 years ago, waiting to fall. Hundreds of thousands of cars
passed up down that highway. Here it came. What did that? The police department
said it's an act of God. Yeah, that's what it is. An act
of God. An act of God. If that man had hit his brakes
for a dog crossing the road, he'd have missed the boulder.
If he'd have sneezed and had to stop and blow his nose, he'd
have missed the boulder. If his speedometer had been off
just a little, You'd have missed the boulder. But God rules. Do you understand what I'm talking
about? Everything in this world is ordered of God. His throne
is the seat of power. His throne is the seat of dominion. His throne is the seat of judgment.
It's the seat of judgment. That day, my friend, met God's
judgment. Notice that John, as he describes
God's throne, tells us that it is set, it's fixed in the heavens. As God has ruled, he is ruling
and he shall rule forever. His throne is immutably secure. The power and dominion of God's
throne reaches to all the ends of the earth. His dominion is
everlasting and universal. that extends to all things, all
events, all people, all creatures. Everything's under his hand.
Everything's under his hand. You hear what so-and-so is gonna
do? That's alright. He's God's messenger. He's God's servant. He's God's
vassal. He's God's valet. He's God's
butler. He's God's slave. Oh, but he's
got a gun and he's coming. He's God's. He's God's. Precious, do you really believe
that? Muddy Darty, I believe that. I believe it. I don't believe
any man in heaven, in hell, or in the earth. bats his eye or
thinks about batting his eye without God's decree, God's power,
and God's permission. And I mean it. I mean it. And
that God by whose decree, power, and permission men do what they
do is my Father. And I trust Him. I trust Him. I trust Him to lead me. to protect
me, to care for me, to clothe me, to do for me what's good
for me and his kingdom and his glory and I want no more. I want
no more. You mean to tell me that you
believe a man can just cast himself on the arms of God? I believe
you can do it. I believe you can do it. And
do it safely. Do it safely. Don't you think
you've got to make some plans and preparations and got to take
care of yourself? I quit taking care of myself
20 years ago. I give that job over to the hands
of God and he does a heapsite better job than I do. God rules
this world. God rules this world and he rules
it for me. He rules it for me. The power
and dominion of God's throne reaches to all the earth. And
John tells us about that one who sits upon the throne and
describes him as our God. And one sat on the throne. Tell me who's in control of the
universe. I worship him. I hear these buffoons
preaching, read what they write. They talk about Satan being in
control and the power of Satan and the dominion of Satan and
Satan controls this and Satan controls that. If Satan controls
anything except what God gives him by way of simply delegating
to him the control of it. If Satan has anything he holds
out of God's control, worship the devil. worship the devil. That's right. Whoever's boss, he's God. Whoever's
in control, he's God. Whoever has dominion, he's God. Now if God Almighty, as we read
of him in this book, is not in absolute dominion of all things,
he's not God. He's not God. Our God is in control. He sits
on his throne. He sits. He said. Easy. Easy. Nothing bothers you. You know
what? There's nothing in danger. Nothing
in danger. Oh, Satan laid a little revolt.
Took a third of the heavenly angels out of heaven. Lifted
himself up against God's throne. didn't even shake the pedestal.
Adam shoved his fist in God's face and said, I'm taking over.
Didn't shake a thing. Didn't shake a thing. The Pope
of Rome, with his persecutions and the darkness and the delusion
of pagan religion, hesitated to engulf God's church and God's
throne. He said, He sits on his throne. I see these, the influx of these
Armenian free will religious cults. They're flat taken over,
looks like it. No, they're not. No, they're
not. God sits on his throne. God sits
on his throne. Nothing's in danger. He's God. He's God. Oh, I wish we could
believe that. I wish we could believe that. Oh, if God would give us
grace to behold his throne, our hearts are set to be at peace. Our God will never lose his right
to rule, and he'll never give up his right to rule. and none
can ever overthrow or even impede his rule. He plods along with
perfect, exact accuracy in all things, accomplishing his will
exactly when he will, where he will, as he will, and nobody
slaps his hand until he stands still. Nobody. The glory and majesty and perfections
of God's being are here set forth like a jasper stone. Look at
it. John said he was to look upon
like a jasper and a sardine stone. Now you'll notice that John does
not give us an image of God. He does not use any human feature
to describe him because that would be contrary to God's own
law. God can't be described. But John
rather tells us that his glory is majestic to look upon. He's glorious, full of majesty,
indescribably glorious. According to Matthew Henry, the
Jasper is a transparent stone, which yet offers to the eye a
variety of most vivid colors, signifying the glorious perfections
of God. We're told in Revelation 21,
11 that it's crystal clear, representing the perfect holiness of God.
This God who is sovereign, is sovereign in his holiness. And
then the sardine stone, or the sardine stone, is blood red,
It represents the justice of God, the severe justice of God,
the unbending and flexible justice of God. For God will never give
up his holiness. He will never give up his justice.
He will never give up his truth. He's gloriously just in his government
of the world, both in his saving grace in Christ and in his fearful
judgments by Christ. God is just, both in pardoning
sin and in punishing sin, both in salvation and in damnation. Oh, what horror, what terror! There yonder is the sovereign
God, and he's holy and he's just. But wait a minute. John said, and there was a rainbow
round about the throne. You don't need me to tell you
about that, do you? There was a rainbow round about the throne. What does that mean? An emerald
green rainbow. Well, it means that the storm
is over for God's children. For God made a covenant And he
swore by that covenant that he'd save a people. And he sent his
son into this world to die in the place of sinners as the sinner's
substitute. And the Lord Jesus Christ, having
put away our sins, having satisfied the wrath and the justice and
the holiness of this great God, now has ascended back into glory. And he's the God who's on the
throne. is a rainbow. And he says, I
will not forget my covenant. Oh, but what if his people sin? I will not forget my covenant. But what if his people transgress?
I will not forget my covenant. His bow is our security. I saw a phenomenal thing the
other night. just before Christmas, please
don't take it to be any kind of a superstitious sign. Some
of you saw it. Shelby Faith and I were coming
in late one evening, clear night, and I looked up and completely
circling the moon was a rainbow. Completely circling. I'd never
seen that before. I'd never seen it before. I've seen the bow in the sky
after a rainstorm, you know, the sun casting its light. I've
seen that. But here's a bow completely circling
the moon. And I thought to myself, this
is the bow of his covenant. He set a bow in the sky. He'll
not destroy his own. Protected by that covenant, sealed
in that covenant, obtaining the mercy of God in that covenant.
Our God will never lift his omnipotent arm in anger against his covenant
people, but he ever lifts his arm in mercy for his covenant
people. And out of the throne proceeded
lightnings and thunderings and voices. Proceeding from the throne
of the great God, we have seen the lightning bolts of divine
wrath, the thunderous terror of his holy law, and the sweet,
tender voices of love, mercy, and grace in the gospel. And
there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which
are the seven spirits of God. They symbolize the eternal wise,
all seeing spirit of God in the perfections of his glory and
in the perfections of his gifts. He is ever full of fire burning
to consume his enemies and ever full of fire burning to refine
his people. And John saw before the throne
a sea of glass like unto crystal in verse six. You remember in the tabernacle
in the temple of the Old Testament There was a brazen labor. In which the priest would come
and wash themselves before ministering in the holy place. That's the picture you have here.
What does it represent? Why it represents the blood of
Christ, the fountain in which we wash and must be washed before
we can approach unto God on the throne. Behold a throne. Do you see it? Our God sits on his throne. Our God rules the universe according
to his own will. Our God rules all things according
to the purpose of his grace in the everlasting covenant. Behold a throne. All is well. All is well. I believe that. I believe that. I bow to this God. and to none
other. I worship this God and none other. I trust this God. I implicitly trust him and none
other. I trust him for my redemption,
my pardon, my salvation, according to his word, believing his son. I trust him for my daily provision
every day. Give us this day our daily bread. I quite candidly and honestly
am not the least bit fearful of tomorrow. It does not matter
whether tomorrow comes or not. It does not matter whether tomorrow
comes or not. It does not matter if I have
a nickel in the bank to get me a stick to hold some candy on
tomorrow. It doesn't matter. If tomorrow
comes, God will provide for tomorrow. If it doesn't come, what good
will do you to provide for it? I am not the least bit concerned
about what's going to happen in this world. God's on his throne. God's on his throne. I'm not concerned about my family
when I'm gone. I don't fret about them. I don't
lay awake at night and worry about them. I really don't. I
trust God. I just flat do trust him, really
do. That's nothing at all. I don't
trust him like he ought to be trusted. He's worthy of trust. I trust
him. for time and eternity. I trust Him. How about you? Have you seen God on His throne? Do you trust the living God who
rules, who rules in holiness and in justice and in complete
consistency with His covenant? for Christ's sake. Amen.