Temple Baptist Church - 8-9-2020
Revelation 4:1-5
Introduction:
A. Our first glimpse of heaven will also be our God! Many have interpreted these verses as seeing Christ Jesus alone sitting upon His throne, but I believe that the context of chapters 4 and 5 give us a complete look at who is involved with the throne.
B. The throne in heaven is where God sits. God is one God, manifesting Himself in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. These three are co-equal in all power and attributes.
C. A verse that many of the perverted “bibles” leave out or, as in the Scofield Bible, discount as being inserted, is an important verse.
1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. (This one of the greatest verses in the Bible concerning the Trinity of the Godhead.)
D. I have no doubt that the first One that we see is Jesus, because of the description given in verse 3, but I also believe that we see the Trinity at the same time. His description is that of a “jasper and a sardine stone.”
1. Jesus Christ on the Throne - Revelation 4:3 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.
a) The jasper stone was one of a brilliant, transparent light, speaking of the purity and beauty of our glorified Christ. Comparable to a diamond which emanates different colors when reflection the light around it.
b) The sardine stone is a red or blood colored stone, speaking of the sacrifice at Calvary where Christ shed His own blood.
c) In the Old Testament, the order is reversed with the sardius or sardine stone being mentioned first and the jasper stone last on the breastplate of the High Priest.
Exodus 28:17-20 And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. (18) And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. (19) And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. (20) And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings.
d) In the New Testament, prophetically, the Bible looks from Christ in His glory (Jasper) back to Christ in His sacrifice (Sardine).
e) In the Old Testament, the Bible prophetically looks forward to the sacrifice of Christ (Sardius) and then His glorification (Jasper).
f. The Bible is perfectly right in its order.
2. God the Father on the Throne - Revelation 5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. (“Him that sat on the throne had a book in His hand. This is God the Father.)
Mark 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
Luke 22:69 Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.
Acts 7:55-56 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, (56) And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
John 14:6-9 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (7) If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. (8) Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. (9) Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
3. God the Holy Spirit on the Throne - Revelation 5:6-7 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. (7) And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. (In these verses, we find the Lamb, Jesus Christ, and the seven Spirits of God: The Holy Spirit.)
E. God has always been united. In the Old Testament, we find the Trinity. We understand form John, chapter one, that Jesus Christ—the Word of God—is the Creator of all things but we also find the unity of the Trinity there with Him.
1. In the Beginning:
Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (2) And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
“God,” in verse one is in the plural form. Eloheem, used here is the plural form of Eloah, which means God singular. I do not use much Hebrew or Greek because the context normally explains the usage of the word. It does all through the Creation as the Bible clearly speaks of the plurality of God.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Here, we find the plurality of God as well as the plurality of man, made in the image of God. God made Adam both male and female (X and Y chromosomes which determine the sex of their children), and a trichotomy—a trinity (body-world conscious, soul-self-conscious, spirit-God conscious).
Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
2. On Mount Sinai:
Exodus 24:9-11 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: (10) And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. (11) And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink. (“God” – Eloheem: once again, the plural form used.)
3. In Isaiah’s Vision:
Isaiah 6:1-8 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. (2) Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. (3) And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. (4) And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. (5) Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. (6) Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: (7) And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. (8) Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
a) Verse 1 - Isaiah saw the Lord – “Adonoy” – sovereign, Lord, Controller, or Master.
b. Verse 5 – Isaiah saw the LORD – “yeh-ho-vaw” or Jehovah, the Jewish national name of God. Jehovah God is the Word, Jesus Christ before His incarnation. Jehovah is a contraction: Jeh-ho-vaw– the self-existing One; the eternal One; to breathe; the Lord, most vehement One.
4. In Eternity:
Revelation 22:1-5 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. (2) In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (3) And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: (4) And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. (5) And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
f. The Trinity can be explained to some extend with an illustration of an egg. If I hold up an uncracked egg, you only see ONE egg. If I crack and divide that egg, you see the shell—white of the egg—and the yoke. Three separate and distinct parts that make up ONE egg.
1. There were times in the Old Testament when the Trinity was briefly separated in person but remained unified in Spirit: Theophanies-a representation of God, Christophanies-a visual representation of Christ, and Anthropomorphisms-a visual representation of Christ in an inanimate form. The Angel of the Lord, Jacob wrestled with God, the Burning Bush, the Rock of Horeb, etc.
2. There was a time in the New Testament when Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, walked this earth until He ascended back to the Father and His heavenly throne.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
f. Though God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost may be found individually, they are always found in complete agreement with one exception, the cross where our LORD cried:
Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Habakkuk 1:12-13 Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. (13) Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
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