God as He Is, Seated on His Throne

Transcript

GR 2000
04/23/2017
God as He Is, Seated on His Throne
Revelation 4:1-3. 5-6
Gil Rugh

We're studying the book of Revelation together, and we're ready to move into what we would note as the prophetic portion of the book. So if you would turn in your Bibles to Revelation 4. Revelation 1:19 gave us the basic breakdown of the book, where the resurrected Christ said to John “Therefore write the things which you have seen,” that would be chapter 1, the vision of the resurrected Christ. “And the things which are,“ that would be the letters to the seven churches. “And the things which will take place after these things,” that picks up with chapter 4 and will move us to the end of the book. So obviously the bulk of the book of Revelation is about future things. And when you come over to Revelation 4:1 you'll note it opens us, “After these things.” And it will have that at the end of that verse as well, after these things. That connects it back to what Christ said in Revelation 1:19, “will show you what will take place after these things.” Future things, things that are yet future.

But to put things in proper perspective chapters 4 and 5 will bring us to two of the most amazing chapters in all of the Bible. We are literally given the privilege of being taken into the presence of God in heaven and have that awesome scene described for us. And it is a necessary and fitting preparation for what will take place in chapters 6-19, dealing with awful judgment in the world and then the ultimate demonstration of God's victory as the book of Revelation closes out.

We note when we come to division of heaven there is nothing so important as to have a proper perspective on God and who He is. He is the one and only God, He is the sovereign Lord of all, He is the One to be honored, to be worshiped, to be given glory. And so chapters 4 and 5 are necessary to put things in proper perspective. They do that for us overall as believers. Even as God's people it is easy for us to lower our eyes and lose perspective on God who is sovereign, who is the One who is Lord and Master and ruler of all. We get caught up in the activities that go on from day to day, and we look around sometimes what is going on in the world. It seems confusing, frustrating and even times worrisome. One commentator writing on a different book of the Bible but on that proper perspective of God said, when people are consumed by insurmountable problems and buffeted by the storms of life, they usually do not need another perspective on their problems. What they do need is a new perspective on God as Lord of life and larger than all its difficulties. Humanity in peril needs a sense of the awesome majesty of God. There needs to be an awareness that God is greater than adversity, He is with His people in the midst of their problems.

And that's what chapters 4 and 5 will do for us, it will establish the fact that God is sovereign. Now we as believers, of course we believe God is sovereign, but the practical application of that can test us every day. When trials come, tragedies come, problems come and sometimes we get taken up with our frustrations, our fears, we call them concerns, but they worry us, they keep us awake. We lose perspective.

Revelation is about the sovereignty of God, the book of Revelation. First and foremost it is about the sovereignty of God. We're going to talk about God on His throne. When the Bible talks about God on His throne, it is talking about God being sovereign over everything, in control of everything. The word throne is used 55 times in the Bible. Do you know what? Forty of those times it is used in the book of Revelation, 40 times the throne of God is used in the book of Revelation. But do you know what? It is used 15 times in the rest of the New Testament. That doesn't mean it is not important in the rest of the New Testament, but when it looks like the world is unraveling, when things are truly out of control, people are going crazy, the climate is going crazy, we need to be reminded, God will be in control.

So that's what happens in chapter 4 as we begin, we get a perspective. The world has no perspective, it is constantly grabbing for this and for that, explain what is going on. They try to create their own god or gods in their own minds and think that that gives some kind of comfort. As Romans 1 says, they create their god rather than turning to the one true and living God who is the Creator of all things.

You know we've had such an emphasis on the self, the person, now we can even take selfies. I'm not against them if I'm in them, but the world is about us. And people get upset when it's about us. Now you can be whatever you want to be. We make it ridiculous, it's almost like you live in an Alice-in-Wonderland-fantasy world. But that self-focus is part of innate and fallen man, I will be God, I will control my destiny, I will do it my way. That only leads to added frustration, added confusion and ultimately destruction.

Come back to Isaiah before we get to Revelation, Isaiah prophesying hundreds of years before Christ and we'll go to Isaiah 42. And what Israel needed to be reminded is that the God of Israel was sovereign, He alone was God. Israel had gotten turned aside, caught up with the gods of the world and the life of the world. And judgment was coming. And God reminded them of His grace and greatness. Isaiah 42:5, “Thus says God the Lord who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it.” A reminder, I am the Creator, I am the One who gives life, sustains life. Down in verse 8, “I am the Lord, that is My name. I will not give My glory to another nor My praise to graven image.” Graven images can't be worshiped, the gods you create, whether you make them out of literal stone or you create them in your mind and think you can worship yourself, the powers you have within you. God says I am God, there is no other, all glory must be given to Me.

Come over to Isaiah 48, you'll see the connection of this to what is going to take place in the book of Revelation. Again it reminds you this is addressed to Israel, the people that God had called for Himself but they had forgotten. A reminder to us, believers over time and somehow that initial confidence and enthusiasm and thrill for the God Who has saved us, Who is worthy of all of our devotion, all of our trust and we would not fear whatever. And over time we get distracted, we get confused and we get caught up and we say, what is happening to my life? Why? It's where Israel was and the worst was yet to come because God will receive the glory that is due Him.

You'll note this chapter is addressed in Isaiah 48:1, “Hear this, O house of Jacob who are named Israel, who came forth from the loins of Judah who swear by the name of the Lord, invoke the God of Israel but not in truth and righteousness.” He was looking at their hearts and minds, where are they really? They are going through the external motions. Just like we can be here together, sitting physically, but our minds and our hearts are far away, caught up in other things. God says I must have your attention. You come down to verse 9, “For the sake of My name I delay wrath.” I delay My wrath for the sake of My name. We've talked about this in recent studies and that God says He is patient, He is longsuffering, not desiring that any perish but all come to life in Him. But that delay will end, wrath will come. That's what the book of Revelation is about, the delay is over. For Israel there was immediate troubles on the horizon. Assyria would come and conquer them, the northern ten tribes. Then Babylon would come later and conquer the southern two tribes. But God says He delays His wrath for a purpose. Down in verse 11, “For My own sake, for My own sake I will act. How can My name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. Listen to Me O Jacob, even Israel whom I called. I am He, I am the first, I am the last. Surely My hand founded the earth, My right hand spread out the heavens. When I call to them, they stand together.” God demands our attention, He must be listened to, He must be honored.

Come back to Revelation 4. We're going to get a glimpse into the throne room of heaven. Do you know what? The throne room of heaven is about God, honoring Him, worshiping Him, recognizing His sovereignty over all. Important for putting everything into perspective. You know, worship gets corrupted when it becomes about me, I'm looking for what satisfies me, what I would like, what I enjoy. We lose sight of the fact there is a sovereign, awesome God to be worshiped. All attention in on Him. We'll note as we go into the throne room of heaven, no one is there saying, what about me? Don't I get any attention? Don't I get any credit? Does anybody care I'm here? Everyone's attention is directed to one place, to the one God Who is worthy of everything. All attention, all honor. We ought to be careful that we don't lose that perspective as believers. It is the anchor of our lives, the stability of our lives.

But the purpose of Revelation 4 and 5 is not to talk about worship, it's to talk about the preparation for judgment. This sovereign God who is to be worshiped by His creation is going to pour out His wrath on those who are rebellious against Him, His judgment on an unbelieving world. We realize God is sovereign. Puts it in perspective. We are going to see something of the very character and characteristics of God as we see Him revealed here, can understand He is in charge. We remember as the Old Testament prophet said, does calamity happen in a city and I have not done it? We get a perspective of God, merciful and wrathful doing things and we say it's terrible. God says I will bring it to pass.

Let me read you something from Martin Luther before we move into Revelation 4. Martin Luther said that in his day men approached God as if He were a shoe clerk’s apprentice. This is just like He is a common person Who is there for our benefit. We lose perspective on it, and I think sometimes the church does that. We think it is all about me, what I like and what I am looking for. It's all about Him. When it is all said and done, we are slaves in the house of the master and everything is to bring honor to Him.

And so we come to Revelation 4. “After these things,” you'll note how it opens up, “After these things.” That takes us back to Revelation 1:19, we are to the third section of the book, that which is yet future. We have come through the time of the churches and Christ addressing them, the promises to them. Now after these things a door . . . “I looked and behold a door was standing open in heaven.” And this door is to provide access for John to be brought in a vision in his spirit into the very presence of God. Heaven is the place where God manifests most fully His personal presence. God is omnipresent, He is present everywhere, He is present here today. But He manifests His presence in the fullest and clearest possible way in what we call heaven. By the time we get to chapter 22 we find there will come a time when heaven will be literally moved to the new earth. And we will dwell there with God.

So a door is opened in heaven and he hears a voice. “The first voice which I had heard like the sound of a trumpet speaking to me said.” Now that first voice he heard takes us back again to chapter 1, and in verse 10 John recorded, “I was in the spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet.” As we know as we move through chapter 1 that was the resurrected, glorified Christ. Here He is addressing John again. There may have been a break between chapters 3 and 4 as we have it, with the visions given. Perhaps gave John a chance to write down and record some of that. Now the vision resumes and this loud voice that commands attention, it's with a sound like a trumpet, the sound that demanded that you listen. It had authority in it, power in it. And it said “Come up here and I will show you what must take place after these things.” Come up here, so it is a call for John to come through the open door into heaven itself. And he was immediately in the spirit. I take it he was transported in his spirit. It's like a vision given to him. Not that he bodily was transported to heaven, but he says I was in the spirit immediately in verse 2. So he will be transported up into heaven.

Now we spent some time talking about the rapture of the church and its removal from earth to heaven and that takes place between chapters 3 and 4. I don't think that necessarily means that John is a picture or type of the church, but the fact is that's about the time the rapture of the church will occur. But I don't build the doctrine of the rapture on Revelation 4:1. Doesn't necessarily mean John is a type or prefiguring of the church, but the rapture of the church will occur in a similar way when the church is bodily called into heaven at the coming of Christ.

But he is called to come into heaven and his perspective then is going to see what is going to take place. We are reminded heaven is in control, the God of heaven is sovereign. So in effect you come to the center of control, we are going to unfold to you the future. You'll note, I love the way it is put, it says “I will show you what must take place after these things.” After the church, I am going to show you what must. That's a little three-letter word, we have it in English, just transliterate it d e i, “dei.” If you go to a Greek dictionary, did again this morning briefly look at it, the first thing they say is it denotes something like a divine necessity, a requirement. It is something God has determined must happen. It has a certainty in it. And so here I will show you what must by divine determination, if you will, take place after these things. So keep that in mind because we are going into a time in what we call the tribulation from chapters 6 through 19 that the things happening in the world are going to be more awful, more terrible than anything that has ever happened since the creation. We think of God . . . you know you can talk about the love of God and you can talk about that anywhere. You can go on a news program and talk about the love of God and they say, “yes, we all believe that if you believe in a God you believe He is a God of love.” You say, “let me talk to you about the wrath of God and He can be so angry and He is so angry at sin and sinners that He is going to send people to hell,” and the conversation will probably be over because I don't like to think about that. The quote I did from the prophets, “does calamity happen in a city and I have not done it,” God says. Is there a terrorist activity in the world anywhere that results in the deal of “innocent people” that God hasn't brought about? I don't like to think of God doing that. He is not the cause of sin, but He uses the sinful desires of people to accomplish His purposes. He determined their sinful desires would be used to accomplish that very act.

Important because we are going to see death in Revelation, terrible, awful kinds of death and destruction. Sometimes immediate, sometimes by secondary causes, but God is behind it all. Billions of people dying terrible deaths. Things are out of control. No, things are under control. There will be believers in that period of time, suffer terrible deaths. They'll have to be reminded and remind themselves that God is on the throne. That means He is still sovereign. “I will show you what must take place after these things.”

“Immediately I was in the spirit,” John had mentioned that in Revelation 1:10 as well when he was in the spirit. He is transported, not bodily, but in a prophetic vision, it is just as real. You get a little mini-version, sometimes you will have a dream and that dream is so real when you wake from that dream all of a sudden you look around, and you almost take a little time to adjust because it seems like it is so real. I have to make sure I am still here, that that is not really happening. Well for John it is really happening, God is carrying his spirit, in effect, out of his body in a vision and bringing him into the very courts of heaven.

“I was in the spirit,” and what is the first thing he saw? “Behold,” listen, “a throne was standing in heaven and One sitting on the throne.” As I mentioned the book of Revelation is the book of the throne, 40 of the 55 times the word throne is used in the New Testament, it is in the book of Revelation. Forty times, that's an average almost of twice a chapter. I think it is going to be used about a dozen times in chapter 4 alone to get us started. There are 11 verses here and 12 times he is going to talk about the throne because we can't get started unless you understand God is sovereign. He is sovereign. Nothing will happen today outside the sovereign control and determination of God who sits on the throne. Sometimes we watch the news, we get caught up in things and we get swept along and we lose our balance, even as believers.

So here we start out, “Behold a throne was standing in heaven,” it is set in heaven. That's where control comes from. And he “saw One sitting on the throne.” This is not Christ. I read some commentators that said this was Christ enthroned in heaven. This is God the Father. One thing we find, in heaven we will see a visible manifestation of all three members of the triune God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I know the Bible says no man can see God and live, behold God the Father. But you do in heaven, we will. And interestingly every time we see God He is manifested with something of a human form. First let's make clear here this is not Christ. You see One sitting on a throne.

Come down to Revelation 5:5. Revelation 5:1 starts out, “I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book.” So you see the One on the throne has a right hand, He is holding a book or a scroll. You come down to verse 5, “One of the elders said to me, stop weeping. Behold the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David,” that's Christ, “has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.” So in verse 7;, “He,” Christ, “came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.” Christ is not the One on the throne here, He is the One who comes before the One on the throne and takes the book.

Come to Revelation 6:16, “And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.” They are distinguished—the One on the throne and the Lamb. You come to Revelation 7:10, “They cry out with a loud voice saying, salvation to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.” So it is God the Father on the throne. John doesn't go into great detail to describe Him. There is description but we find Old and New Testament alike, every time God the Father is seen, He is manifested with something of a human form. Now be careful, I'm not saying God is human, I'm not saying He has a body like we have. It is true He is omnipresent, but just as when Christ walked the earth and He had taken to Himself a true physical body, He did not cease to be the omnipresent God. But He was manifesting His presence in a unique way so that all the fullness of deity dwelt in Him in that physical body, as Colossians 2 says. Now God created us in His image in Genesis 1 and 2. Now for whatever when God the Father as well as God the Son manifest their presence in a visible way, they do it in a form we would associate with a physical form. Like here there is a throne, God is seen sitting on it. There is not just a vapor somehow around that throne or on it that would indicate God's presence, there is actually the form of One sitting there. And it has enough of a human form that it can have a right hand extended with a book in it. So I take it, all that just simply to say when we get to glory I take it, by the grace of God, we will see God the Father manifesting His presence in a way that we can see. We'll see more of that as we move along.

So there is One sitting on the throne, that throne indicates sovereignty, authority, control. He is the One on the throne. We understand that picture even today. He is described. “And He who is sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance,” Revelation 4:3. And the picture here is that the light and the glory of the One on the throne is like shining through precious stones with the glory and the splendor of the color.

Come back to Psalm 104, just note, go back to Psalm 103, note how Psalm 103 begins. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Who forget none of His benefits, He pardons all your iniquities” and so on. Verse 8, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness.” Verse 10, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, He has removed our sins from us.” Verse 19, “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, His sovereignty rules over all. Bless the Lord, His angels; bless the Lord, all His hosts; bless the Lord, all His works; bless the Lord, oh my soul.” Then Psalm 104, “Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Oh Lord my God, you are great, very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a cloak, stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.” So you see that you cover yourself with light, and here it is like the light of the glory of God's presence. It shines through and the glory and the splendor is like the light shining through the jasper and the sardius stone. This is not just light, this is glorious splendor of light.

Now I take it when this description is being given, it is not just an interesting observation but it represents something. And when we talk about the jasper stone, if you go and look in a dictionary or something about the jasper, this jasper stone is not our present jasper stone. Turn over to Revelation 21 where you have the description of the New Jerusalem where the dwelling place of God will be in eternity. So it is where heaven is. Revelation 21:11, “ This city has the glory of God, her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal clear jasper.” Now our modern day stone that we call a jasper is not crystal clear, it is opaque, if you read the description of it. So most understand this to be a reference in John's day to more of a diamond that was known at a jasper at that time. Because it is crystal clear. And you see something of the light shining through the brilliance of that diamond, like it would be through a diamond. We do that, we talk about the brilliance of the diamond and hold it up to the light. And here you have the light of the glory of God's presence shining like that. You have the sardius which is deep, fiery red. I take it, most commentators make the observation that the crystal clear jasper would related to His holiness, what part of His character is being reflected, what is being described here. Not just the beauty but something of the character and person is revealed through this. And that crystal clear jasper reveals something of His holiness. That sardius is a deep, fiery red in color, would speak of His justice, the God of justice Who will bring judgment like we have the red of fire and of the blood that is associated with justice and judgment. So it seems the character of God just exudes here in the brilliance of the light, the colors that reflect His character. A rainbow around the throne. Again I think something of the character of God. And this is not the multi-colored rainbow. So it is a rainbow, but it's a rainbow of emerald green, the very facets of the greens in that rainbow. A rainbow with that green color depicts something of the mercy of God. We see different aspects of God's character.

Come back to Genesis 9, and here we have the first rainbow, following the flood of Noah, the judgment there. And God establishes a covenant with Noah, we call it the Noahic Covenant. Verse 9, “Now behold I Myself do establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you with every living creature that is with you.” Verse 11, “I establish My covenant with you, all flesh will never be cut off by water in the flood.” There won't again be a flood to destroy the earth. “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between you and me and every living creature.” Verse 13, “I set My bow in the cloud, it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.” And when I bring the rainbow, that will remind Me of My covenant. Not that God would forget, but it is for our benefit. So you see that covenant depicts God's mercy and in the future there will never be a destruction of the earth by a flood and there will not be a destruction of all humanity on the earth ever because the redeemed will be brought through. But that's for a future study.

So this rainbow around the throne, so you see the balance—the holiness of God, the justice of God, the mercy of God. We like to pick out the character of God, that portion of His character that we like—His love. And yes, His mercy, that's good. But primarily love. But what about holiness? Well I'm sure God is holy but I primarily like to think of His love. His justice has to be recognized. This is a throne of justice and judgment and yet in that judgment there will be mercy, although at times it will seem like only judgment. Because remember Jesus said in Matthew 24 if He didn't intervene after seven years, there wouldn't be anybody left alive on the fact of the earth. There will be people during that time who will get saved who will have to lay claim to that promise that there is mercy at the throne of God who is sovereign over this, otherwise it looks like nobody is going to survive. But there is mercy even in the worst of times.

Come back to Revelation 4, jump down to verse 5. We are skipping the groups that are around the throne, we'll pick them up at our next study, just to get the description of the throne. Verse 5, “From the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder.” So around the throne, indicating this is a throne of holiness, justice, God's glory and power are coming out in judgment, like at Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19 when God descended. There are lightning flashes, there was thunder, the earth shakes. Keep in mind, in the book of Revelation the bulk of the book is going to be emphasizing judgment. There is a throne from which judgment comes from the God of glory and power.

Then you come down to verse 6, “And before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal.” And looking to see, what would this indicate? And it seems, not of every symbol can we be perfectly sure of what is represented, but it seems that this probably represents God's separateness from His creation. Because this sea of glass is around the throne so no one comes into immediate contact with that throne, indicating God's separateness from His creation. We will see more of this as we progress along. We call it the transcendence of God, theologically. The transcendence of God, it means God is separate from His creation. The other side of that is the immanence of God, that God is involved with His creation. And we must keep the balance. You see the awesomeness here. We've gone through times when the church has thought the goal is to just see our relationship with God as a casual friendship. As Martin Luther said, people treat Him as though He is a shoe clerk's apprentice. How are you doing today? We have a closeness with God, there is immanence. He dwells within us, our body is a temple for God. But we must never lose the perspective, He is a transcendent God, He is separate from us. I sometimes say to you, He is God, we are not. We cannot lose that perspective, and both are true. The Deists, early in our country's history, thought God created things and then just removed Himself. They had a picture of His transcendence, they didn't have a picture of His immanence, but He is the transcendent God. And that is important, that is emphasized in heaven, I take it, with the sea like crystal around the throne. We must never forget that He is God, I am not. I am created to honor Him, to worship Him. And so even though He is immanent, He is with us, He is among us, He has chosen to indwell us, I never reduce that to just a casual friend. And that's important to remember because when we get into the subject of judgment, God is going to be doing things, bringing that kind of misery and destruction on little babies. I can't handle that. There are people who claim to be believers who have given up the doctrine of an eternal hell, not because of anything Scripture says, they just say, I think it is too terrible. Doesn't matter what I think, and I'm not allowed to think apart from God's thoughts in that sense. He is God, I am not; He is sovereign, I am not. I may have to say I don't understand, and people in the tribulation will have to say I don't maybe understand why God would do this, this way. But He is God, He isn't just one of us. We reduce Him to that, then we try to structure our worship accordingly and the more comfortable and the more familiar and the more relaxed, and I'm not talking about external things primarily, my heart, my attitude, my thought as I come to worship Him. We think He ought to be happy we got up and got ready and came out this morning. We begin to think like that and say I have to get ahold of things. Look what it's like in heaven. That's who He is.

Our prayers, we'll see this in the book of Revelation, are brought up before the throne of God. I want to be sure in my thinking, my attitude within me. This is where Israel lost it. They were still going through external motions, remember, but they had lost the heart. It becomes a lot of trouble, I just get tired of going to church, worshiping, doing that. We had someone who attended here for years told one of our number, it's just easier to get up on Sunday morning, have a cup of coffee and read the paper. I don't doubt that's easier. Is that the way I think of God? Have a cup of coffee and reading the paper means more to me than you do. But of course I think I ought to be able to call on you if I have some needs and trouble. It's like He is a shoe clerk's apprentice, you are just there when I need you, when I call on you, when I say this is what . . . So much of the attitude, what happens to the church as we just get swept along. Then pretty soon we lose any perspective of a God at all, we raise our young people in that kind of environment because that's where we sort of have slid to. We get the idea that the church is a comfortable retirement center for spiritual people and we are in spiritual relaxing and He brings rest to the soul. But we are in a war and we honor the God that we serve. He is a transcendent God.

So there are several passages, I have to take time to take you to some Old Testament passages where God has revealed Himself. And we see how He does it. Start at Exodus 19:16. Here is God coming down on Mt. Sinai. So God's personal presence, in a way brings heaven down. He will manifest His presence among His people on Mt. Sinai on that day. Verse 16, “So it came about on the third day when it was morning there was thunder and lightning flashes.” We saw that in heaven at the throne of God. “A thick cloud upon the mountain, a very loud trumpet sound so that all the people that were in the camp trembled.” Everything together, it's like the thunder that shakes the ground, a blast of the trumpet that goes to your very inner being. Moses brought all the people out of the camp to meet God. What an awesome statement. He is coming down on Mt. Sinai, we're going down to Mt. Sinai to meet God and “they stood at the foot of the mountain, Mt. Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, the whole mountain quaked violently.” We forget He is a God to be feared, to be revered. He is God, we are not. We forget that and think that the more familiarity we can conjure up in our thinking in our mind, and the more casualness. He doesn't try to promote that, this is the only nation on the earth that He is going to manifest Himself to this way. And yet it is not that, “come on in, we'll sit down, relax, have a cup of tea together.” This is a reminder to them who He is. The whole mountain quaked.

Verse 19, “The sound of the trumpet gets louder and louder and the Lord came down.” And they have to keep their distance. Verse 21, you tell them don't cross the line. They get carried away in their emotions, they are going to storm the mountain. They will perish. A reminder here, even the people I have chosen, they are the object of My love, I am the God to be feared, the God to be honored, the God to be given glory, the God to be obeyed, to be worshiped.

Come over to Isaiah 6, it opens up, “In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted.” Isaiah, the greatest of the writing prophets of the Old Testament with his vision of God. I was watching one of those heretical, charismatic men several years ago, might have been on a vacation or something. But he was on TV and he was talking about while he was shaving in the morning God appeared to him and put His arm on his shoulder, and we just started to talk. And I just said this and He said that. Is he greater than Isaiah? Are you greater than Moses? This idea that He just comes as though I am just showing how close I am to God. You were showing how little you knew about the living God and who He is and who you are.

Isaiah 6:1,2 “He is lofty and exalted. Seraphim stood above Him.” And we'll see a similar description when we move along in Revelation in future studies. “They call out to one another, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. The foundations of the threshold trembled, the temple is filling with smoke.” What is Isaiah's response? Good to see you, Lord. No, “I am ruined, I am a sinner, I live among sinners. I have seen the Lord, the Lord of hosts. What can I do but perish?” But God in His grace has provided the redemption for Isaiah.

Come over to Ezekiel 1, perhaps the most detailed Old Testament description of the appearance of God. And similar to John at the end of Ezekiel 1:1, “The heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” And an awesome scene. Verse 4, “I looked and behold a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually, a bright light around it.” See the similarity, the sardius, the deep red stone, the color reflecting through that, the clarity of the light as with a diamond. You have here the bright light and the fire, you have thunder, glowing metal in the midst of the fire. There are living creatures and they are holding up this sea of glass. We'll talk more about this in our next study. But it depicts that God is separate from His creation. Here you have a similar description as it goes on.

Down in verse 22 you see that scene, “Now over the heads of the living beings there was something like an expanse, like awesome gleam of crystal spread out over their heads and the throne is sitting on that sea of glass”. And they are under it, somewhat supporting it, holding it up. Verse 26, “Now above the expanse that was over their heads something resembling a throne, a lapis lazuli in appearance on that which resembled a throne. High up was a figure with the appearance of a man.” You see God manifesting His presence here had something of an appearance of the human form of a man. And then the picture, the glowing, the fire, a radiance. Verse 28, “The appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell on my face.” This idea that worship is about me, and we come to worship God, but really about what I get out of it, what I think and how much I enjoyed it. Stop. That's talking about going to a concert in a secular venue, going to a movie. When you talk about worship, it is not about you, it's about the God that we come to give glory to. What did He think of me? What did He think about what I said? It's irrelevant. What do they think about God and who He is and the splendor and wonder of His person? He is the One to be worshiped.

We have to go to one more passage, I'm not going to get the summary points that I thought I might. We'll pick those up at the beginning, six summary points, God's character. But come to Daniel, Daniel 7, and you can take these passages and I would encourage you before our next study, read through those Old Testament passages more completely. We just touched on them. Prepare yourself then, read through Revelation 4 and 5 several times, we fix these in our minds. In Daniel 7:9, “I kept looking until thrones were set up,” note, “the Ancient of Days took His seat. His vesture was like snow, the hair of His head like pure wool.” Now again you see when God the Father manifests Himself, He does it with something of a human form. And He has a head, He has hair. Now I'm not saying that God is human like us, but when He created us in His image, there may be a connection as well that He created us in the way that He would manifest His presence to us. “The hair of His head like pure wool, His throne was ablaze with flames. Its wheels were a burning fire, a river of fire was flowing, coming out before Him. Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, myriads upon myriads were standing before Him. The court sat, the books were opened.”

We jump down to verse 13, “I kept looking in the night visions. Behold with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming.” Christ's favorite name for Himself, we've looked at this many times. This is Christ coming before the throne of the Father. “He came up to the Ancient of Days, was presented before Him. To Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom that all the peoples might serve Him” and so on. See here you have Christ coming before the throne of God the Father. So both manifest their presence, and in every case it is an awesome scene, God coming to be present among His people. But even in that awesome presence there is a reminder, He is God and we are not. He is separate and apart, He is transcendent and yet He is immanent, He is here with us. There you are called into His presence but that doesn't mean you are now on His level. He is God, we are there to honor Him, to worship Him, to serve Him, to please Him.

This is where the world has gone amuck, bent on opposing Him, carrying out the desires and intention of the devil. That's why there is a war raging and God lets man pursue as He has turned him over to his own sinful desires, the control of the devil. But there is coming a day of reckoning, this is the day of God's patience in salvation, a day when He calls men and women to repent so that we might come to believe in Him. We who have believed in Him ought to keep our perspective. He is the God to be loved, to be served, to be given glory, to be pleased. And that's what really matters, is to be the burden and concern of our life and ministry together.

Let's pray. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your Word. How gracious You are to have revealed Yourself, to preserve that revelation so that we could have the privilege of studying and examining the revelation You have given of Yourself. You are an awesome God, how awesome it is because of the salvation You have provided in Your Son, we can come before Your throne. We are not driven away, we are not refused access when we come with humility, we come with the desire to honor You, give You glory, give You praise. We bring our requests, Lord we bring them and ask for those things that honor You, that You will respond only to those things that honor You. That we might be consumed with the desire to worship You, to serve You, to please You. May that be true of us today, we pray in Christ's name, amen.