Now, when we come to chapter 4, we are about to step off into the future.
Chapter 4 and 5 takes us into the very throne room of God, where we can see ourselves and what we will be doing when we get to Heaven.
1) The Judgement Seat of Christ
2) The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
Also, chapter four brings us to the close of the DISPENSATION OF GRACE.
The Bible teaches there are seven DISPENSATIONS of time in how God dealt with mankind in each dispensation. The first dispensation is the dispensation of…
1. Innocence
Man was created innocent, set in an ideal environment (Garden of Eden), and warned of the result of disobedience.
The woman fell through pride; the man, deliberately chose to sin. We read that in 1 Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
Notice, Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
Although God restored the sinning creatures, the dispensation came to an end at the judgment of the expulsion.
Look at Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Next we come to the next dispensation called the dispensation of…
2. Obedience
By an act of disobedience man came to an experiential knowledge of good and evil.
Driven out of Eden and placed under the Adamic covenant, man was accountable to do all known good and to abstain from all known evil and to come before God by sacrifice.
Mankind’s state slowly became a state of degeneration ending in the judgment of the Flood. (Genesis 6-9)
Look at Luke 17:26-27 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
Is this not what we see today?
Life going on, people going about their business for partying, marrying, and in all this leaving God out of their lives!
The next dispensation is the…
3. The Promise
This era went from the call of Abraham (Genesis 12:1) to the giving of the Mosaic law (Exodus 19:8).
This dispensation was under the Abrahamic covenant and was exclusively Israelite. THIS WAS WHEN THE JEWISH RACE BECAME A RACE KNOWN AS GOD’S PEOPLE…THE JEWS!!!
God promised to bless those that serve Him and curse those that refuse to serve him and we can be part of that promise, by being faithful to God’s plan. The next dispensation is the dispensation of the…
4. Law
This era reaches from Sinai to Calvary.
This period was a time of teaching used to bring Israel to Christ and was governed by the Mosaic covenant (Exodus 20:1-31:18).
Under the Mosaic covenant, one must keep all the law to find favor with God. The next dispensation was…
5. God’s Government Vs Human Government
Mankind is responsible to govern the world for God. That responsibility rests upon the whole race, Jew and Gentile.
God intended that Israel be the shining light for the lost world.
However, Israel failed and God placed judgment upon them, thus causing Israel and the human race to be placed under the times of the Gentiles.
God said that Israel’s judgment will be:
• Deut. 28:64 "Then the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known--wood and stone”.
• Luke 21:24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
We can expect to see judgment come, if we fail to govern our affairs according to God’s Plan.
The world is still Gentile-governed, and hence this dispensation overlaps other dispensations and will not strictly come to an end until the second coming of Christ.
The next dispensation is the dispensation under…
6. Grace
This period began with the death and resurrection of Christ until the rapture of the church. (Romans 3:24-26; Romans 4:24-25).
The point of testing is no longer legal obedience to the law as a condition of salvation but acceptance or rejection of Christ with good works as the fruit of salvation (John 1:12-13; John 3:36; 1 John 5:10-12).
The next dispensation is the dispensation of…
7. The Kingdom
The Kingdom Age will start after the rapture of the church.
This is the last of the ordered ages regulating human life on the earth, previous to the eternal state.
• At the end of this world’s history, God will gather believers together in the millennial kingdom, called here the “dispensation of the fullness of the times,” meaning the completion of history (Revelation 20:1–6)
• After that, God will gather everything to Himself in eternity future, and the new heaven and new earth will be created (Revelation 21:1). The new universe will be totally unified under Christ
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
Thus, we see “The Seven Dispensations of God.”
1. Innocence
2. Obedience
3. The Promise
4. Law VS Grace
5. God’s Government VS Human Government
6. Grace
7. The Kingdom
We are now living under the dispensation of “Grace” and the dispensation of “The Kingdom” is soon approaching anytime after the rapture.
WHY DID GOD CREATE THESE DIFFERENT DISPENSATIONS?
In these seven dispensations God dealt with mankind in different ways for a reason.
Illus: For example, before airplanes were invented if you talked to someone and told them that one day airplanes will be flying in the sky and hundreds of people will be on those airplanes going from country to country they would think you were crazy!
But since the inventions of airplanes we have no problem with a conversation like that because since then knowledge has increased.
If you had told Abraham we would not being offering up sacrifice when we come to church He would not have understood what you are talking about.
In this day of grace in which we live we have knowledge that those in the old testaments did not have.
Illus: For example, a child in kindergarten has to be dealt with math in a different way from a college student.
We are bless to live in this day of grace but with this blessing to WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN MUCH MORE IS REQUIRED!
After the rapture, our focus will be primarily on the earth until we get to chapters 5 through 21.
What I want you to understand is that Revelation 4:1 is a very special verse.
In fact, if you do not understand this verse, then you cannot understand the rest of the book. If you mess up here, you will be out of step all the way through the rest of this great book.
Illus: Have you ever buttoned your shirt, only to get down to the last button and find you didn’t have a buttonhole to put it in? So, you back up and see what happened and you usually find that your problems begin right at the start. If the right button is not placed in the right button hole, you are in trouble. Things will never turn out right! The same is true with this book.
Since this verse is so vital, I want to take some time and move through it very slowly.
Let’s get into what many call the most exciting chapter of the Bible.
Let us look at…
I. THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS VERSE
Let’s look at Revelation 4:1 After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, a voice as of a trumpet speaking with me, one saying, Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter.
As John looked, to his astonishment (indicated by the exclamation behold) he saw a door standing open in heaven . This is a PERFECT PASSIVE PARTICIPLE, meaning that the door was opened by Deity (PASSIVE VOICE) and remained open (PERFECT TENSE).
Rev. 4:1 is a…
A. Transitional Verse –
Notice that this verse begins with the phrase “after this” and it ends with the word “hereafter”.
In the Greek text, this means these words are exactly the same. Both of these English expressions translate the Greek words “meta tauta”.
Now, this is not the first time that we have come across this phrase in this book.
Look back to Rev. 1:19. “Meta tauta” shows up here too! John is commanded to write three different things: “the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.”
There is our phrase. It is the Greek phrase “meta tauta” that ties these verses together.
What we have in Rev. 1:19 is the basic outline of the book of Revelation.
• “The things which thou hast seen” points to the events of chapter 1.
• “The things which are” points to the events of chapters 2-3, or the letters to the seven churches.
• “The things which shall be hereafter” point to the events that will occur after the age of the church has ended.
• Chapters 4 and 5 find the redeemed saints of God in Heaven, in His presence, worshiping Him there.
• Chapters 6-19 deal with the Tribulation period and with the wrath of God as He judges this sinful world and purifies His people Israel.
Rev. 4:1 is an important verse that must be understood correctly if we are going to stay on track as we move through this book. It is a TRANSITIONAL VERSE in the scriptures.
It is also important because it signals a time of transition for the people of the Lord. After Rev. 4, the church is never mentioned as being on the earth again. NEVER!!!
This verse tells us about that day when we are going to be moving up to gloryland! IT IS A TRANSITIONAL VERSE but also it is…
B. A Typical Verse –
John in Rev. 4:1 is a TYPE of the rapture of the church.
That is, John becomes a representative man of the church. He pictures what will happen to all believers who are living on the earth when Jesus comes back for His people in the Rapture.
When the Rapture occurs, several events will be set into motion like falling dominos.
1) The Bride of Christ will be taken out of this world, 1 Thes. 4:16-18.
2) The Spirit of God will be taken out of this world, 2 Thes. 2:7.
3) This sinful, rebellious world will be plunged into Great Tribulation, Rev. 24:21.
4) The Judgement Seat of Christ will take place during the tribulation period
5) The Marriage Supper will take place in heaven during the tribulation period.
This verse stands as a type, or as a picture, of what will happen when Jesus returns for His children. We have looked at THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS VERSE, but now let us look at…
II. THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF THIS VERSE
The book of Revelation is such an important book in the Bible, it is filled with signs, symbols and illustrations.
In Rev. 1:1, we are told that “He sent and signified it”.
Take that word “signified” and sound it out. If you do, it becomes “sign-i-fied”. In other words, the Lord tells John that He is going to reveal some of the content of this book in signs and symbols.
If you have read the book of Revelation, you know how true this is.
• Jesus is pictured as a “Lamb”.
• The picture of the “twenty-four elders”.
• The New Jerusalem is pictured as a “bride”.
• The Antichrist is called “the beast”.
• The picture of the Dragon
• The picture of the first Beast
• The picture of the second Beast
• The picture of the Seven heads
• Ten Horns
Harlot Babylon
• The Woman
• The Male-child
There are many other examples that could be given.
The use of symbols in no way changes what God says; everything He says will come to pass as a literal event.
• He merely uses the language of symbolism to describe actual events.
• He uses symbols so that people of all generations will be able to understand what He means.
There are two symbols or illustrations given to encourage us in this verse. Let’s look at them today.
(1) Involved The Eyes –
John says that he saw a “door opened in Heaven”.
This phrase literally means that there was a door “standing open” in Heaven.
This is the third door we have encountered in the Revelation thus far.
Let’s review the doors we have seen.
A. The Door Of Service –
Rev. 3:8 – The church in Philadelphia is told, “Behold, I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it.”
This is the door of Gospel opportunity and service. A church who is walking after the will of the Lord, He will set before it an open door of ministry. He is doing that with our church in these days!
B. The Door Of Salvation – Rev. 3:20 – Those in Laodicea are invited to open the doors of their hearts to let Jesus enter.
In our text, the door in Heaven is shown to be “standing open”. The tense of the verb means that this door has been opened and it continues to stand open for all who desire to enter.
God is a God that allows WHOSOEVER WHO CALL UPON HIM SHALL BE ALLOWED INTO HIS HEAVEN.
Now, we know Who the door is.
In John 10:9, Jesus identified Himself as “the Door”. He is the only way to Heaven!
He is the One Who died; the One Who rose again; the One Who paid the price for our salvation.
He is the only way to God, John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Today, that door stands wide open. It will allow “whosoever will” to enter and find peace, rest, salvation and Heaven. But, when the Lord calls His people home to Heaven the dispensation of grace will be closed.
People will still be saved after the Rapture, but only those who have never heard the Gospel will have that opportunity.
Those who have heard the gospel over and over the Bible tells us 2 Thessalonians 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.
C.The Door Of Summons – Rev. 4:1 – This open door in Heaven becomes a door of summons. Those who are saved will one day be called up to go through the open door into Heaven.
This door that is open involves our eyes. But also it involves…
(2)Involved The Ears –
Not only did John see a door; John heard a trumpet!
This is the language of symbolism. He said n verse 4, “the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me”.
What John heard was not an actual trumpet, but a noise like that of a trumpet: piercing, loud and demanding attention.
Look at 1 Thes. 4:16. This verse shows us that there will be a trumpet that will sound signaling the Rapture. Look at 1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Also speaks of a trumpet’s sound in connection with the Rapture. 1 Corinthians 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Do you see the connection?
It appears that God will use a trumpet sound to signal His people when it is time to depart.
The lost world will not hear it, but we were implanted with a special listening device the moment we were saved.
Illus: When you're chatting with your best friend, you're probably speaking in a range between 1,000 and 5,000 Hz, the frequency range humans hear best, though people can hear as high as 20,000 Hz. Animals vary widely in their hearing ability and range. Nature has taken care that each species hears what it needs to hear.
God has taken care of the saints of God when the trumpet sounds every child will hear God the Father calling for us to come home.
Illus: D.L. Moody, evangelist and pastor, said of heaven, “We talk about heaven being so far away. It is within speaking distance to those who belong there. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people”
Illus: For example, animals and insects can hear things we mortals can not hear. And when the Lord speaks as a trumpet demanding our attention we will hear it.
One of these days, a trumpet blast will sound and the saints will leave this world behind forever!
John says that this trumpet was “a voice”.
I wonder if this is not the voice of the Lord calling for His people in 1 Thes. 4:16, we are told that “the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout…”
When Jesus comes:
1) That trumpet will call the living up,
2) But it is His shout that will call the dead.
Look at the New Testament, every time Jesus shouted in the Bible, there was a resurrection!
• He shouted at the tomb of Lazarus and he got up – John 11:43.
• He shouted on Calvary and many of the dead saints arose – John 19:30; Matt. 27:50-53.
• He will shout at the Rapture and all the redeemed will hear His voice and come out of their graves – I Thes. 4:13-18.
I do not know what Jesus will say when He comes.
• He may say “Come up hither!”
• He may say, “Come forth!”
• He may say “Come home!”
Whatever He says on that day, His voice will cause gravity to lose its hold on these bodies, we will be changed into His likeness, and we will fly away to our heavenly home.
We have looked at…
I. THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS VERSE,
II. THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF THIS VERSE
But now we need to look at…
III. THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS VERSE
There is a river of glory running through this precious verse. Let’s not miss the implications of this verse for our lives.
A. It Speaks Of A Deliverance –
John is told that he is going to see “things which must be hereafter.” He is referring to future things.
When we come to chapter 6, we are going to witness a vivid description of the events of the Tribulation Period.
There are three teachings when the rapture will take place.
(1) The rapture will take place before the tribulation period is known as the PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE
(2) The rapture will take place in the middle of the tribulation period which is as known as MID-TRIBULATION RAPTURE
(3) The rapture will take place at the end of the tribulation period is known as the POST TRIBULATION RAPTURE.
It is significant that John is caught up into Heaven before the Tribulation Period begins. As I mentioned, John is a representative man. He pictures the church and its removal from this world before the horrors of the Tribulation Period begin to unfold.
That is exactly what the Rapture of the church is. It is a rescue mission!
Look at 1 Thes. 4:17. Paul uses the words “caught up” to describe what we call the Rapture.
In fact, the word Rapture does not appear in the Bible. Now, don’t let that throw you, because the word “grandfather” does not appear either.
The word “rapture” is a Latin translation of the Greek word “harpazo”, which is the word translated “caught up” in 1 Thes. 4:17.
The word “harpazo” literally means “to seize; to carry off by force”.
Illus: If you saw your child about to be hit by a car and you ran out and snatched that child out of the path of the oncoming vehicle, saving its life, then you have the meaning of this word. It has the idea of rescue from danger.
1) There is a terrible time of danger coming on this earth.
2) God is going to pull His people out
3) He is going to pull His Spirit out too.
4) He is going to break off diplomatic relations with this world.
5) Then, He is going to declare war on sin and sinners.
6) He is going to take His church out before that time comes.
One other proof is found that the Holy Spirit and Christians will not be here during the tribublation period.
In these verses, Jesus uses these words, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
• Four churches in Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29;
• Three churches in Rev. 3:6, 13, 22.
Now look at Matt. 13:9, 43, here Jesus says, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
No mention of the “Spirit” or of the “churches”. Of course, this was before the church was formed and before the Spirit was given.
But look at Rev. 13:9. This was when the church and the Holy Spirit has been raptured, “If any man have an ear, let him hear.”
Do you see the difference? Jesus does not mention either the Spirit or the churches, why?
Because they have both were removed at the Rapture.
Praise God, we will not be here for the Tribulation!
Let me make one more point before I close.
Most modern-day people who claim to have had visions of heaven tend to emphasize the trivial and the bizarre. But John’s vision in verse 2 focused on the glorious throne of God and the overwhelming majesty of the One who sits on it. John was amazed and astounded by what he saw, causing him to exclaim behold. Look at Revelation 4:2-3 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
We know the beauty of this earth, but we have never seen the beauty of heaven.
To help us to understand the Word of God describe the beauty of God by using these precious colors and stones. It was the only way John could describe to us God greatness and majesty.
Conclusion:
Jim Hill got it right when he put his pen to his paper and wrote these words:
What A Day That Will Be
There is coming a day when no heartaches will come
No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye.
All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore
What a day, glorious day that will be.
CHORUS:
What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see
And I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace.
When He takes me by the hand and leads me through the Promised Land.
What a day, glorious day that will be.
There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear
No more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there.
And forever I will be with the One who died for me
What a day, glorious day that will be.
There are some exciting days ahead for the church! We are about to leave this world behind forever.
We are beginning to see what Revelation 1:3 promise us Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
In this chapter dealing with Rev. 4:1 we have dealt with…
I. The Importance Of This Verse
II. The Illustration Of This Verse
III. The Implication Of This Verse
