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The episodes are the weekly sermons from 922 Ministries (St. Peter and The CORE) of Appleton, Wisconsin.
Once again, welcome to our service today into week one of our five week series on the book of revelation, helping us in our life of faith have a better understanding from God's perspective what he wants us to know today, tomorrow, and the end.
And I pray that you'll come back for the next few weeks as we pick chunks out of this book that cover the main topics that we find in revelation that are important for us in our life of faith.
It's not your first fill in the blank, but I want you to fill in one mentally, or maybe write down how you would fill it in in your notes, which are inside of the bulletin. And here it is. When you think of the world in which we live today, how would you finish this statement? The times we live in are what? Like, what word would you choose? What phrase would you pick? The times we live in 2024 are what?
I at least got one answer. Thank you very much. Like, the times we live in are difficult. They're challenging. The times we live in are way different. The times we live in are changing. Like some of you have heard an aunt or an uncle, a mom or a dad, a grandpa or a grandma say to you, as you are raising your littles, I am sure glad I am not raising kids in these times. There are some of you who are of the next generation who haven't had kids who are thinking, I don't know if I want to have kids in these times. Like, I hear that it's real.
Like, what is it about the times that we are living in that are so difficult and challenging that's causing people to have that emotion and feeling? Like, I'm not sure how you filled in the blank, but maybe what you filled in is due to some of the stats, some of the numbers, some of the figures, some of the headlines of the world in which we live today?
Like, if you just consider America for a second, experts would tell you that this one nation that was founded under God, this christian nation, is not too long from being a nation where the majority is not christian. Like, I'm going to see it in my lifetime. It's going to happen in the near future where christians are the minority in our population. Like, spiritually, the times we live in are what?
Or how about emotionally? Like, mental health crisis is a phrase that we have all heard and seen. Headlines on. One out of five adults deals with mental health issues, disorders and all sorts of emotional wellness and resilience that isn't here because of the world in which we live. The struggle and challenge is real due to the times we live in. For many, one in ten kids each and every year has a serious emotional disorder, breakdown or impact on their mental health.
Or how about politically? We live in times that are very polarizing, perhaps the most polarizing in history from a political perspective. The differences of opinions and all that it brings into our world. The times in which we live are challenging hard.
Think about just the reality of the world in which we live. We have two wars going on, not on our land, but overseas. And how many of you aren't thinking about the war that's going on in the Middle east, the war that continues to rage over in Europe? Like all those things are real.
Think of all the protests that are taking place right now on 40 college campuses where there are pro palestinian people pushing back and their disagreement with that war and the support and how it's playing out. Like the times we live in are volatile, confrontational.
And you know what I've even touched on? Like things like sex trafficking, the opioid epidemic, the volume and number of mass shootings that take place in our country, on our streets, in our schools, the times we live in, at the very least, are hard, challenging and difficult, and maybe even more.
And trying to make sense of all of that is even more challenging. And if you're like me, maybe you've wrestled with, is it going to get better? I hope it gets better. Maybe as a Christian, you've asked the question, when is God going to come and end it? Maybe you're going through something right now, or you're feeling something, or you're thinking about people who are going through it in our world and you've questioned and wondered, is it worth it in the end?
Like those questions are real, those feelings are valid. And thankfully, there's a book in the Bible that gives us understanding about facing today, dealing with tomorrow, and learning about the end. It's at the end of the Bible. It's the book called Revelation.
Some of you have never opened it because you're scared. Some of you have dabbled in it, but you don't understand it, so you've never gone back. Some of you know there are things that are in it that might cause you fear. So you sometimes stop going through it, because how does it help me? What understanding does God want me to have?
Our goal within this series is trying to give you all of that and more to help you gain understanding from the book of revelation what it means and why it's so important to understand it, because we believe as pastors, as we unpack it, we're going to dig into it and see that God wants us to have understanding for today, tomorrow, and the end, because he wants us to have a faith that endures to the end.
And we need a strong faith in the face of the world in which we live today and tomorrow. Times have not changed since 2000 years ago. When this book was written, they had the same question. The times we are living in are challenging and difficult, maybe even more so than what we go through as Americans, where we aren't persecuted, literally for our faith, where our life is not in danger specifically for it at this time. And so I pray over the course of the next four weeks, including this one, a total of five, that you are blessed and gain understanding and have a faith that is strengthened as a result.
Now, to really understand the book of Revelation and understand that we're not going to unpack all of it. I need you to be willing to consider going through that reading plan and get the whole book from COVID to cover, to see it all in its context, to see how this all plays together. We'll do our best to connect the dots for you, but we're only doing five weeks on the topic and there's a whole lot more in the book. So today I'm actually going to preach about four sermons in one.
You already got one. Here comes number two. Just a general overview of the book of Revelation. When you read it, all 22 chapters, there are approximately 400 some odd verses in the book of Revelation. Yes, it is mysterious. Yes, there are things that are challenging. Yes, there's. There are a whole lot of numbers. Yes, there has been a whole lot of misinterpretation and misapplication of the book. Our goal is to help you with that over the course of these five weeks and that reading plan.
If you consider the book of Revelation, there are three main chunks. Chapter one, John has a vision of Jesus. Chapters two and three, seven letters to seven churches in Asia Minor. Real christians, real people with real issues, with real struggles today, an uncertain tomorrow, and need to know about the end. And then there's chapters four through 22. That is a cyclical, continuous. The apostle John being revealed different things about the end, what's going to happen today, tomorrow, and the end. And John has that whole cyclical view, and all the visions end with the same truth, the ultimate truth.
All the visions have a very similar truth. And here's the main message of that section, that last of the three sections of revelation, if you want to. Simple summary of revelation. Four points: 1) It's bad. Like today is bad, understanding of tomorrow. 2) It's gonna get worse. Sounds like a great book so far. 3) but don't fear because 4) always happens.
In every cycle of the visions, Jesus wins. Like for today. Understand it's bad. Understand that in tomorrow and before the end, it's going to get worse. Understand that in the midst of it being bad and getting worse, God does not want you to be afraid. He wants you to be blessed by this book because the ultimate blessing is seen at the end of all the visions, at the end of all those cycles, at the end of time, at the end, Jesus wins.
Like if that's the only thing you hear today, you are blessed by the book of Revelation. If you start reading it in our reading series, you're going to hear that over and over and over again. All too often in our world today, christians get bogged down with the trees of revelation.
Tell me about the beast, tell me about the marks. Tell me about all those numbers. Tell me about those visions. Tell me about the seals. We don't have enough time for that. And sometimes that just gets in the way of the point. The forest. Like if you get bogged down with the trees, you're going to miss the forest. Jesus wins. All right, all right.
Now here's the thing. In chapters two and three, Jesus himself is speaking to the churches John records his message. If you unpack chapters two and three, and we did a series on this in 2021, what if Jesus judged? It's a great series, maybe you want to review that as well. We talked about all the different seven letters to the seven churches.
You'll find in all those letters in chapters two and three, commendations and condemnations. Like praise for something good, condemnation for something bad. You'll hear words of encouragement. You'll hear call outs for repentance. After the call out for repentance, you'll hear a promise like all the churches have call out. Most of them have callouts. Some of them only get commendations, but they all at the end have a promise. And right before we get to the last letter, the last letter before this chapter, when the third part of revelation in the next, all the rest of the chapters are going to reveal for us the understanding God wants us to have,
The promise that God makes to his people in that specific city was to the one who is victorious. They will get to sit on my throne with me, Jesus says, just like I get to sit on God the father's throne. Like that's the promise. That's the thing. That's hanging out there. And it's important to have that in mind because it helps you understand where John goes next.
And maybe before I get to my first truth, a takeaway I want you to have, I want you to think about four years ago. Like four years ago at this time. We were in the midst of COVID lockdown in April. We still had a month ago before things opened up. Like, I want you to think about four years ago and now. Like, what you know now and what we know now and what they know now. Would that have changed how we acted then? Like, knowing how it ended and what hasn't completely ended, what has come out on the other side? Would you still make the same decisions? Would you still respond the same way emotionally? Would businesses have made the same decisions? Would you have irrationally stockpiled this, that, or another thing? Like knowing what you know now and where it's gone and where it's at, would you have behaved differently in the today that was four years ago, in the tomorrows that followed the next few months, I would have to venture a guess. If all of us were honest, at least in some way, we would say yes.
Like, in the way I listened to other people and I wouldn't hold such a hard and fast line that they were wrong and I was right. Businesses, I have to imagine, would have made different decisions about how they treated their employees and all the different things they came up with that they've pulled back on now. See, living today in the moment with the unknowns, with the things that are uncertain, makes life hard.
Which is why after the promise to him who's victorious, who slid on the throne, John is going to take you and me to the end. Like, none of you opens a book that you've been looking forward to reading and goes to the last chapter and reads it first. Like, sometimes after you read two or three chapters, you kind of glance ahead because you're like, I'm not sure this is worth it. Knowing how it ends might cause me to do that. Well, God doesn't want you to get perplexed in the middle of what is life in the middle of today.
He didn't want the christians 2000 years ago to experience that. He knew what they were going through. He knew the questions they had. He knew that they were considering. Is it worth it? Should I give up? Should I not endure? He understood that. So you know what he gave them? Knowledge. Understanding.
You see, faith today and tomorrow needs to know how the story ends. If you're filling in blanks, that's the big capture. Maybe of the book of revelation, but especially today, like to have a faith that faces today and its difficulties, its challenges, to have a faith that stands strong in the uncertainty of tomorrow, you know what you need? You need to know how the story ends.
Like when you watch a show and you tell someone that you want them to watch it, you don't give away the ending cause you want them to experience it. Well, here's what God doesn't want his people, 2000 years ago or today, to miss out on the experience of the end. And so he gives you the last chapter. He shows us over and over again the ultimate picture. He doesn't keep it as this ultimate secret that he wants to hold onto, that no one gets to figure out who shot JR. Sorry, that dates me. Like he wants you to know the end. And so that's where he starts. That's where the Holy Spirit goes.
In John chapter four, in revelation chapter four, right after that last promise of to the one who's victorious, he gets to sit on the throne. He takes you to the end and he takes you to the throne. I need you to see the text in context. We're going to do two things today with it. We're going to take it and find a general truth that God wants you to hold onto, to understand today and tomorrow about the end. And then we'll unpack that truth a little bit with some insight. But let's read it all in context:
“After this. I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.” The end. He's taking him to the throne room of God.
“At once I was in the spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and a ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones, and seated on them were 24 elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne, there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center around the throne were four living creatures and they were covered with eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second like an ox. The third had a face like a man. The fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around. Even under its wings, day and night, they never stopped saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.’ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever. The 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and by your will, they were created, and they have their being.’”
I highlighted that word throne on there. You probably caught that. I put it in italics so you wouldn't miss that. Did you know that in the New Testament, there are 48 times where the word throne is used? 75% of those times are found in this book. In the 22 chapters of Revelation, 36 of the 48 times are found in this book, and of those 36, ten, ten, of the times are found in this little section. It is the throniest section in all of the Bible for a reason. The throne. The throne. The throne. The throne.
Like, understanding today, being able to face and understand the uncertainty that happens tomorrow, understanding the end and how it ends is so vital and important for our life of faith. And here is how it ends. John says it ends with God on the throne.
It ends with God on the throne. Like, we live in a world where the visuals of thrones are real and all around us. Like, take your favorite picture, maybe. I think it was within the last year or so that Prince Charles had his coronation as king. Like, he sat there in all these regal outfits. He got a crown put on his head. He was on a throne, a fancy chair.
I don't know what movie series you've watched or what things you have seen over time, but so many different movies and so many different trilogies talk about and have the visuals of thrones. If it's Star Wars is your jam, you can remember the emperor had thrones. You can think of Lord of the Rings and Thrones. You can think of all sorts of different visuals of thrones. I mean, throne rooms are impressive. Throne rooms are there for a reason. The person who sits on the throne has earned the throne.
And that's the big picture that God wants you to have. It's why he goes here first. In a world where they're suffering, where they're christians, we're no doubt wrestling, wondering if it's worth it, wondering if it's ever going to end, wondering if persevering is worthy of their time and their pain and their sorrow. The answer God wants them to see is yes. In the end, God is on the throne.
And the fact that God is on the throne is important to remember, not only to understand the end, but to be able to deal with the here and now. And so I want you to see that throne for what it is about the end, but also how you can rely on that. What understanding comes from that? So that when you filled in the blank with x, y, or z, the reality of how it ends can help you in the moment. Have a faith that stands strong.
So I'll walk you back through those sections again to find four truths about the throne that matter for you and me right now. Four truths about how it will end, that impact and need to be understood in the here and now, the todays and uncertainties of tomorrow. So let's look again at verses one and two, and then verse four, and we'll take our first truth.
“After this. I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this. At once, I was in the spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven, and someone sitting on it. Surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones. And seated on them were 24 elders.”
Like, you know who gets the throne? The person who either has the power to take it or the backing to get it. Like in almost every movie, the person who gets to sit on the throne had the ability to and took action to seize it. Like, they had to win a victory of some kind. They had to conquer a land of a certain place. They had to get to that position through some means of a victory or someone else's. Like, God wants you to hold on to this picture of the throne. He begins with the end for the todays and tomorrows, because he wants you to see the victory like the throne equals victory.
Like so many people have a picture of Jesus, and it's great to celebrate him as the helpless Babe born in the manger. All of us love the picture of Jesus and knowing what he did on the cross. But those pictures show his humanity. God wants you to see his deity. We need to celebrate and understand that that one who was born and humbly in a major, who willingly died the most brutal of deaths, is the king of kings and the victorious Lord of lords.
Like God wants you to hold onto that in the todays and uncertainties of tomorrows. That that throne and that being how it ends for him matters right now. He won the victory over sin, death, hell and the grave, which gives him the right to sit on the throne. He has seized it, he has taken it. He is worthy of it. And here's the thing about that visual. The throne equals victory. And not just his.
Not sure if I said it before, but there are a lot of numbers in revelation. The numbers in revelation are meaningful, they're significant, and they have a great deal of insight. For us, the number twelve in revelation is the number for the church. So whenever you hear this number twelve or multiples of twelve of some kind or another, it's a reference to the church. And here you get the number 24. And there are not just one throne, the throne of God, but there are 24 other thrones around the throne of God.
Most people believe the number twelve in multiples, when it's a multiple of two references. The Old Testament Church, the twelve tribes of Israel and the New Testament church after the twelve apostles and their teaching. Like the picture of 24 thrones around the thrones are not of those apostles or just of those tribes and their leaders. It's symbolic of the Old Testament Church and all who believed in Jesus coming and the New Testament church and all who believed in his victory. Like the picture of victory is not just Jesus victory, but other thrones. There it means you are victorious.
You sit on thrones, you get the results of the win that Jesus is worthy of and what he accomplished. The throne equals victory for you and me. Don't forget that. In a world where however you filled in the blank is hard. In a world where there is suffering, in a world where you are tempted to doubt, like we all need to hold onto that.
We live in a world that loves victory. We celebrate the victories of our teams, right? We celebrate the victories of our kids, right? I can still remember the victories from when I was 18 years old. Like, how bad is it that I hold on to that state playoff game where we beat that team that no one said we could beat? Or how bad is it that I stole the scorebook from the day when I coached my son in 8th grade and they beat Mount Olive? Sorry. It's a big deal for me.
Like, we love victories. We celebrate victories, brothers and sisters, the victory is yours. The throne reminds you of that. Jesus one day will end up on it. And you will get the results of his victory. Forgiveness. New life. Eternal life. Paradise. The throne equals victory. But there's more.
“The one who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and Ruby” - talking about Jesus, talking about God - “The rainbow that shone aloud like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne where 24 other thrones, and seated on them were 24 elders. They were dressed in white, had crowns of gold on their heads” - white emeralds, rubies, like the rest of revelation.
There's longer chapters on this, but I want you to see this throne room. It's not like the others oftentimes visualed as movies and shows. Like, it's not dark and big, it's not powerful in the seat that it's on. The whole experience, everything about it. Like when you see a rainbow in the sky, how many of you don't stop and pause and try and capture it in your phone? And when you look at it, you go, eh?
But you can't help but look like the rainbow is an ever reminder of God's promise of saving his people. God not ending everything with Noah and his family. And around the throne, that image will be there, the most beautiful ever present permanent rainbow. Like, how beautiful will that be? It'll be beautiful.
Like emerald green is the picture. I love watching golf, especially the masters, like the greens of Augusta and April with the flowers. It's so amazing. Like the greens of heaven will be far more amazing, unimaginable. Like, I need you to see the picture of the throne. The rubies, the emeralds, the rainbow, the white, the crowns. Understand? The throne equals beautiful. Like heaven is beautiful. Like the throne room of God is beautiful because God is beautiful.
And in this world in which we live, it's so important to remember the throne because. Because we will be beaten down. Like those christians John was writing to, there were people in power who were pushing back against them that they didn't know there was a God who was the ultimate victor, God who was the ultimate conqueror.
And we need the picture of beauty because in this world that is so broken, in this world where there is so much sin, there are so many things that aren't beautiful, like cancer and disease is not beautiful. Mass murders are not beautiful. Warfare is not beautiful. Like this broken world is filled with so many things that are not beautiful, but it ends with the most beautiful being in the presence of God, the throne root of God. One could only imagine what it looks like. John just gives us a glimpse of it in this book. Come back, read the rest of the book. You'll see even more. And I believe you will celebrate the throne and understanding that will bless us in today and our uncertainties of tomorrow to make it to the finish line of the end.
Number three. It's not just beautiful. It's not just about victory. “From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumbles, and pearls of thunder. In front of the throne, lamps were blazing. Seven spirits of God. In front of the throne, there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center around the throne were four living creatures. They were covered with eyes. The first living creature was like a lion, second like an ox. Third had the face of a man, fourth, like that of a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around it, even under its wings, eyes to see everything.”
Christopher powers, full of eyes. Pastor Mike uses a lot of their visuals. Maybe this is where he got the image of, like, these living creatures, the significance of all four of them. They're all significant because today and tomorrow in the world, especially then, but still today, they're symbols of power. The ox, the lion, power, human beings power. The eagle, majestic and soars with power and grace. All those images are what surrounds the throne of God.
And there is thunder and there is lightning. Like, understand the one who sits on the throne, that in the end, if that's the point God wants us to hold onto, the one who rules on the throne is powerful. The throne equals power.
Like for the Christians who were under Roman persecution. Now, round two and more was to come. They needed to know that they had a God who said, though all you'll endure suffering at the end of time will sit on the throne, he still has power, and he is in power. And the one in power. Things might not change this side of heaven, but he will work all things out for the eternal good of his people. That's his power.
Like the throne reminds us of that God who he is and the power that he has. And he wants you and me to hold onto that. In a world where sometimes it feels like we're powerless and hopeless. I can't imagine what it was like for those Christians that John was writing to, knowing that the Romans were expanding their persecution, knowing the suffering was going to go from bad to worse. God wanted to remember, at the end, the one who's on the throne has won the victory.
At the end, that victory will be experienced by those who endure. It will be beautiful. Hold on to that visual. And the one who sits there has power. He truly, truly does. Those words are significant and important as that whole picture represents it. And we live in a world that loves power, don't we? We love power in our cars. People love power in their jobs. And people long for and search for power.
The one who's on the throne has the power. And the one on the throne who has the power is able to give you the power and strength to endure to the end. Remember the throne and the one who's in control. Still one more. Not just what the throne equals, but what the throne leads to.
“Day and night, they never stop saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty. He who was and is and is to come. Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say, you are worthy, our Lord and God to receive honor and glory and power. For you created all things, and by your will, they were created and have their being.”
You are powerful. You won the victory. This is beautiful and amazing. You know what the throne leads to, what it can lead to right now for you and me today, what I pray it inspires you to find tomorrow, or in the uncertainty of five years from now and ten years from now, what it will lead to one day when you reach the finish line. The throne leads to awe.
Awe of God, the victorious God, the God of heaven and earth, the God who willingly came down, who prepared a place for you and for me and for all, and promises to take us there one day. Like the throne leads to awe. And you know what happens when we have awe for his power, awe for his victory, awe over the community and the gathering that we will experience in heaven. Awe over the beauty. It leads to endless worship and praise.
That's what is pictured there at the throne. We'll cry, holy, holy, holy. The same song Isaiah heard in the Old Testament, like a song in honor of the triune God who rules and reigns in heaven. Praise and glory and honor and power are yours. Like, that awe that we have leads to endless worship.
Like, so many people think about the end and they minimize how amazing and beautiful it is. There are people, sometimes even christians, who go, I'm not so sure it sounds that great. Like, it sounds kind of boring. Oh, brothers and sisters, like, you know what Jesus described this as oftentimes in his parables, in a lot of his teachings, what heaven is like. It's like the ultimate wedding banquet, the ultimate wedding feast. I've been blessed to marry off two of my kids, and I have no more to marry off.
After each one of those weddings, when it was all said and done, when my wife and I got back to our hotel room, she started crying. I'm like, oh, no. She wasn't crying because they were gone. She wasn't crying because of who they married. She may have been crying because of the bill. In her tears, she said, I don't want it to end. It was so amazing. Many times since then. She said, can we do it again? I'm like, as long as we don't have to pay.
And here's the thing about heaven. If it's a picture of a wedding banquet, it's not that all good things must come to an end. God wants you to understand, that's the party, that's the celebration, because he's victorious. It is a parade for your team every day. And tomorrow you wake up, and it's another celebration, the same celebration of the same victorious God. Like, that cannot be bad. And that does not sound mundane.
I think of worship night here at the core. If you were here, you heard singing. That was crazy. Over the top. We had to jack the sound system up, and that's just a glimpse of how amazing heaven will be.
Like the throne. We need to understand how things end, because for today and tomorrow, we need to be filled with awe for God. Look forward to the endless worship that we'll be a part of. Like the point of the story, the truth God wants us to take before we get to the rest of the book. The end reveals to us that God is on the throne. But also, at the same time, the rest of revelation gives us this picture around that throne of God. Revelation, chapter seven.
“After this, John said, I looked, and there before me was a great multitude no one could count.” Like, I can't even imagine it. “From every tribe, nation, and people and language standing before the throne and before the lamb. And they were wearing white robes holding palm branches, and they cried out, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.”
Brothers and sisters, it ends with God on the throne. But today and tomorrow, until your life ends, remember this truth. It ends not only with God on the throne, but us around the throne, victorious. In the place that is more beautiful than we could imagine, celebrating the power of our God that is beyond our comprehension, with endless worship that flows from awe that my ears could only begin to imagine. Which is actually exactly what I want you to do right now.
Like, close your eyes, visualize the throne, the beauty, the power, the victory. Because we could only imagine.
Song:
“I can only imagine what it will be like when I walk by your side. I can only imagine what my eyes will see when your face is before me. I can only imagine.
“Surrounded by your glory. What will my heart feel? Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in all of you? Be still. Will I stand in your presence or to my knees, will I fall? Will I sing Hallelujah? Will I be able to speak, speak at all? I can only imagine.
“I can only imagine. I can only imagine when that day comes and I find myself standing in the sun. Imagine when all I would do is forever, forever worship you. I can only imagine. I can only imagine.”
I don't know what you imagined. Maybe I'll look like that. Did you imagine the picture of Jesus greeting you, welcoming you, putting his arm around you and telling you to open your eyes to see the throne and the beauty? Did you imagine the singing of the angels? The beauty of the place? Or were you overwhelmed with considering the one who was on the throne?
I could only imagine. John got to see it. A glimpse of it. God started with the end in mind. Cause he does not want you or me to miss out on the end and the throne room of God.
And I want you to hold onto that. Remember all that the throne is. But I want you to also remember this. Imagining what it will be like is not the only thing God wants you to remember for the today and tomorrow's until we get there. The Bible says this in Psalm 47: “God reigns over the nations. He's seated on his holy throne.”
It's not just about the end. They're right here and right now. That powerful God, that victorious God, is on the throne. He is lord of the church, and he is in charge. He's a God who loves and tells you and me that as we imagine what it'll look like, the celebration of amazing grace and mercy of God that won the victory. Right now, we can approach that throne of God, that throne of grace, with confidence.
So whatever it is that's going on in your life, when you look at the world and say, the world is blank right now, take it to God, knowing that in him you'll find mercy and grace. And his offer to you right now is to help you in your time of need.
See faith today and tomorrow. And the end is found in God's throne. The victory, the power and the glory, they are his. And to that, all of God's people can say, amen.