Don't miss the pictures of the zoo days. The Lord willing, Creation Creature Features soon.

Review: See the previous sermon notes on the Web -

Every warning, struggle, temptation, promise, strategy, and victory 
in the Revelation can also play out in your life, your family, and your church!  
The choice is yours ................

The Text ("Blue Letter Bible"): Revelation 4-5  
(Strong's numbers, Hebrew-Greek lexicons, cross references, etc., can be accessed from the above link)

Review: Outline of The Revelation:  Key verses = Rev 1:8 & 19

I.  Character of Christ  for His Father's Glory (Who Was) (Things You've Seen) Chapter 1
What about your character, & your family's character, & that of your church?
Can other people see Jesus' goodness, unselfishness, & humility through each one?
  A.  Introduction (1:1-8) Of Jesus to His servants (1:4 Church)  (see also 6:1 Israel)
  B.  Post-Incarnate, glorified Jesus (1:9-18)

II.  Counsel of Christ for the Church (Who Is)  (Things Which Are)  Chapters 2-3
This counsel also applies to you personally, your family, your local church, & all of "Christianity".
  A.  Command to Prophesy (1:19)
  B.  Seven Churches Counseled (1:20) ESP-TS-PL  (Praise before correction!)
  C.  Ephesus (2:1-7)                Loveless
  D.  Smyrna (2:8-11)               Persecuted
  E.  Pergamos (2:12-17)          Compromising
  F.  Thyatira (2:18-29)             Corrupt
  G.  Sardis (3:1-6)                   Dying
  H.  Philadelphia (3:7-13)         Revived
   I.  Laodicea (3:14-22)           Lukewarm (no praise)

III.  Consequences of Christ for the Church, Israel & the World  Chapters 4-22
         (Who is to come again!) (Things which will happen soon!)
Are you ready for your future?  The judgment seat of Christ?
  A. Church In Heaven

1.  The Rapture  (Jesus Rescues His Bride) up to Heaven (4:1)
2.  The King & His Bride prepare for the future. (4:1-5:14) (see also Ch 19)

  B. Tribulation of Israel (Jacob's) Trouble on Earth (6:1-18:24) (Daniel's 70th Week)

1.  Seals (Seven) of Judgments (Rev 6:1-8:2)
2.  Trumpets (Seven) of Judgments (Rev 8:2-11:19)
3.  Players (Seven) on the Tribulation Stage (Rev 12-14)
     * These three chapters are an interlude, zooming in for a personal look at the people.
4.  Bowls (Seven) of Judgments (Rev 15-16)
5.  Babylon's Final Fall (Rev 17-18)

  C.  Christ's Wedding & War (19:1-21)
  D.  Millennial Kingdom (20:1-6)
  E.  Final Futile Rebellion (20:7-10)
  F.  Great White Throne & Second Death (20:11-15)
  G.  New Heaven & Earth Coming (21-22:15)
  H.  Jesus' Promise & Warning for YOU, your family, & your church (22:16-21)

III. A. 2.  The King &Bride Prepare the Future (4:1-5:14)

Rev 1:19  ". . . things which will take place after this" - In chapter 1 we studied the "things which [John had] seen" (the glorious vision of King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Son of God, the Husband of the Church, the Messiah of Israel and the World).

Rev 4:1  ". . . come up here" - In chapters 2-3 we studied what "the things which are" (the state of the church in the age of the church, the time of the Gentiles, culminating in the promise of the bride being rescued Rev 3:10 Philidelphia, then an apostate harlot left behind as a false church, Laodicea.  Then in 4:1 the John is called up in a spiritual type of the rapture, as the vision shifts into heaven where the church, the true bride is now safe in her husband's Father's house (John 14).  

From this vantage point, the rescued bride, is alongside her husband, as He delegates the preparation and implementation of the future for all creation.  This will include the judgment of Israel, the "time of Jacob's trouble", until that nation officially turns from its 2,000 year rejection of Messiah Jesus (Rom 11:26).

It includes the judgment seat of Christ, the marriage supper of the Lamb, His millennial kingdom, the final rebellion, and the establishment of a New Heaven and a New Earth - all for the glory of God the Father.  (1 Cor 15:1-28)

Many scholars believe that the Judgment Seat of Christ for believers in the Church will take place immediately after the rapture, so that the following verses are visions of what will occur after the Church, the Bride, has been washed by His Word (2 Cor 5:10 "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."  (see also Eph 5:25-26)

Rev 4:2-11 "And behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne . . . ." - In heaven, we see an awesome revelation of the Triune God, centered at first around the pinnacle power above all authority, God the Father.

God the Father - (Ezek 1:28) The Face of our Father, God Almighty is beyond human description.  John struggles to use analogies from the earth to portray what he sees in the Father's presence.  Like as a brilliant, massive jewel radiating and refracting a rainbow of light, the glory of our Father's infinite power, love, and manifold wisdom shine forth from His throne.

Remember Noah's rainbow, folks?
God gave the rainbow as sign to all creatures that He'd never again judge the world with water.
But judgment will come, and next time it will be a judgment of fire, a consuming fire to purify His creation.
Noah, the believer, and his family were rescued, like the rapture, above the judgment that came on the world.
Being "in Christ" is compared in Scripture to being in the Ark, lifted up above the wrath of God's judgment.
(Mat 24:37-38; Heb 11:7; 1 Pet 3, etc....) 
As the fiery judgment of the Wrath of the Lamb is poured out on the world, His bride will be safe by His side.

The Throne - A throne is a center of authority and authority is the administration of power.  This folks, is THE throne, from which all authority and power flow.  Lightnings, thunderings, voices . . . the full power (exousia) of God's being radiates from His Throne. 

The Seven Spirits of God -  "Seven" is the number of fullness, and here John sees a revelation of God the Holy Spirit, whose presence flows from the throne into every point of the created universe.  No one and no thing can escape the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent presence of the one true God.

The 24 Elders on Thrones -  Who are they?  Men?  Angels?  And why are they on thrones?
Many fine scholars disagree as to who these 24 elders are.  The term "elder" is used 12 times in the Revelation (4:4; 4:10; 5:5, 6, 8, 11, 14; 7:11, 13; 11:16; 14:3; 19:4).  At this point in my study of the evidence, I believe along with Dwight Pentecost, MacArthur, and others, that these are men who represent the raptured church, the bride of Christ.  Why?

Men, not Angels:
1.  They sing a song praising God for their own redemption by the blood of Jesus (Rev. 5:9 "us").  Redemption was only provided to men, not angels.
2.  The term "elders" is never used of angels anywhere in Scripture.  Angels don't age or grow to maturity.
3.  The number "24" is often used in the Bible for a group of men who represent a larger group of people.  (For example:  1 Chronicles 24 & 24 show 24 courses of priest, led by one High Priest.  1 Pet 2:5, 9 promise that the church will serve as a holy priesthood, a royal priesthood with Jesus, the Heavenly High Priest.  The OT temple was a picture of God's Heavenly Throne Room.  See also Luke 1:5, 8, 9; Acts 15:2; 20:17)3.  The term "elders" is used in the Revelation in distinction from "angels", as well as the four living beings (zoa).
4.  Angels are never numbered (Heb 12:22), yet these are given the specific numeral of 24.
5.  They wear "crowns" 20:10 (The term used is stephanos = victor crowns rewarded after enduring conflict and struggle.  The monarchial "crown" diadema" is not used here.  They then cast their crowns at the Lords feet, recognizing that they overcame their struggle with sin and death, only by His shed blood, not their own works.  Angels are spirits and never where crowns.  (see also 1 Cor 9:25; 2 Tim 4:8)
6.  The church is promised to sit on thrones with Jesus (Rev 2:26-27; 3:21; 5:10; 20:4; Mat 19:28; Luke 22:30; 1 Cor 6:2-3; 2 Tim 2:12).  Angels, by the way, are serving spirits (Heb 1:14; Mat 18:10) and are never seen on throne, only around thrones, ministering.

The Church, not national Israel:
1.  Only the church is pure at this raptured point, and able to be represented as corporately intimate with Jesus, even ruling on thrones with Christ.  Israel prior to the Tribulation is still in rebellion, rejecting Jesus as Messiah, and about to face the wrath of the Lamb. As a corporate nation, Israel has not yet repented and submitted to Jesus (Zech 12; Rom 11:26)
2.  Some interpreters have thought of these 24 as representing two groups of 12 (Church 12, Israel 12), but the # 24 is never seen as subdivided.  They are always pictured as a unit.
3.  These 24 elders could not be the tribulation martyrs, who have responded to the preaching of the Jewish144,000 and the two Jewish witnesses, since these martyrs were not yet resurrected (20:6).
4.   The last use of "elder" in the Revelation is 19:4, where they praise the final judgment that has come upon the false harlot church down on earth (Rev 19:1-3), that had been deceiving and destroying so many people. Then immediately in 19:7-10 we see the marriage supper of the Lamb with His true bride, the real church, which has been in heaven with him during the tribulation.

The Four Beings -  (Gen 3 Guarded the way back to Eden; Isa 6 in the throne room of God; Ezek 10).  Each had six wings and were full of eyes.  Some MSS (manuscripts) use the word "holy" 9 times as they praise the Lord.  
(One with a face like a Lion, one like an Ox, one like a Man, and the fourth like a flying Eagle).  John literally saw these amazingly glorious, created beings and described them just as Ezekiel did.  Many speculations have been given as to the lion, ox, man, eagle descriptions, from their possible rule over these various creature domains, to the arrangement of the tribes of Israel as they camped in four groups.  But the one thing that is clear from the consistent portrayal of these beings throughout Word of God, they are real beings, intimately associated with God the Father, given a very special responsibility of leadership and worship, and that they literally bear the resemblance of the four lower creatures mentioned by John and Ezekiel.  And why shouldn't they?  The same Designer, God, gave similar (homologous) shapes and structures to many of His creatures, both great and small.  Don't forget, folks, a chimpanzee looks a lot like me.  And we look a lot like one of the four cherubim!  I wonder if that cherub/seraph thinks we are as cute as we think chimps are?  I doubt it.  The chimps haven't dishonored the LORD in the gross and deliberate ways you and I have.

As they praise God, the 24 elder "fall down" in SUBMISSIVE Worship to the Lord, who is "worthy to receive" glory, honor, power (authority), because he created all and by His will all things exist.  Apart from God's full and absolute presence to hold all things together, Eden fell into Entropy and decay.  But a day is coming (1 Cor 15:1-28), when God will remove all rebellion and suffering and transform the Earth from Entropy back to Eden.

The sin of a man, Adam, caused the separation from God and the curse under which it has groaned now for 6,000 years (Rom 8).  Only a perfect man, without sin, could be worthy, having earned the right to rule, to cause the restoration of the creation and its Creator.

Rev 5:1-8  Who is Worthy to L.E.A.D. the Restoration
        (of Earth from Entropy back to Eden)

The Scroll -  John sees a double sided scroll, with seven seals.  This was the title deed to the fallen, suffering, groaning earth, the old creation.  Yet no MAN is found worthy to open and loose those seals of judgment.  John weeps in deep grief.  Why?  Because unless a perfect man is found, a second Adam without sin, there can never be a legally just end to the horrible pain and suffering that now saturates God's creation, from the smallest mouse to the loftiest king.

Lion of Tribe of Judah - Gen 49:9; Heb 7:14  A Messianic title proclaiming the prophetic proof of His identity.
Root of David - Isa 11:1 Another Messianic title point backward and reminding the reader of God's sovereign control over all of history (His/story).
Prevailed - earned the right to rule, to take the title deed to the old creation and restore it to its Edenic state.
Lamb as if Slain - Love (Isa 53; Rom 5:5-10)
Seven Horns - All Power and authority (Mat 28:18-20) L.E.A.D.
Seven Eyes - The Word (Heb 4:12; Psalm 139) able to see all and know all and to judge everyone.
Personally took the scroll out of the mighty hand of the Father (1 Pet 5).

Rev 5:8-14  SUBMISSIVE praise sweeps through heaven, and even through time itself, as John sees not only the immediate response of the elders, but also a future time when all creation will worship, and the knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth (Isa 11; 65; Rom 8; Rev 22).  All rebellion, pain, fear, tears, and suffering will be removed from His presence (1 Cor 15:1-28; Philip 2).  
Absolute entropy, the Lake of Fire will consume even Death and Hades, and peace will reign forever and ever. 
(Rev 20-22)

Now, folks, that is worth singing and shouting about!  Amen?  Yes !!
Are you ready?  Where are you going? 
What evidence is there in your life that proves you'll be their with Him?
Examine yourselves, folks, before it's too late.  

       or   

                      
Pulling from one another, things, and activities
to try and feel loved, esteemed, and satisfied.
A 50% - 50 % relationship:
"I'll do my part if you do yours.  But if you don't, then I won't"
(Isaiah 53:6; 2 Tim 3-4)

Now that you understand the basics of the doctrine of the rapture, we can study chapters 4-5 and see what the church will be doing in heaven, during the time of Jacob's Trouble on the earth.

Remember, every warning, struggle, temptation, promise, strategy, and victory in the Revelation can also play out in your life, your family, and your church!  The choice is yours ................
What do you need to change?

(The final question to ask God, whenever you study God's Word)
Lord, how am I doing on your conflict meter, for your glory?
Giving Up < < < < Standing Firm > > > > Blowing Up

Remember there are only two modes for a believer:
* Marching forward with the gospel.
* Standing firm when conflict arises!

Return to related articles from "The Bible:  One Bite at a Time" -

Biblical Prophecy:  A Jigsaw Puzzle with Pieces Throughout the Bible
How to Interpret Prophetic Passages: Four Different Views with Important Consequences
Why "Normal" Interpretation is the Key to Prophetic & Apocalyptic Passages
Daniel's 70 Weeks: The Heart of God's Prophetic Puzzle 
      (Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, Mat 24, 2 Th 2)
Introduction & Outline of The Revelation
 . . . . . . . 

For further study on the Rapture:

Soulcare's Recommended Materials on Prophecy (books, audios, videos, etc.)
http://www.soulcare.org/Resources_Biblical_Authority.htm#Prophecy
Booklet:  The Rapture, by Thomas Ice & Timothy Demy
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565073924/qid%3D980349983/104-6768955-3395119
John MacArthur, D.D., The Second Coming of Jesus: Signs of Christ's Return & the End of the Age.
     - Book: This text is an excellent overview, placing the puzzle pieces together until the picture is clear.
   *- Audio Set (9 tapes): This tape set is the best I've heard yet. Nothing beats the spoken word for clarity.
J. Vernon McGee, B.D., M.Th., Th.D., Thru the Bible Commentary Series, Revelation.  Dr. McGee's commentaries are probably the simplest, most practical, yet thorough and biblical that are available on the Bible.
_______, Reveling Through Revelation.
Chuck Missler, Revelation Commentary in MP3 on CD.  Chuck's commentaries on Daniel, The Revelation, etc., on CD not only contain extensive study notes, but also many hours of audio teaching.
Dwight Pentecost, Ph.D., Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology. This is a 600 pp encyclopedic reference to all of the major passages, topics, and issues involved.
_________ Thy Kingdom Come:  Tracing God's Kingdom Program & Covenant Promises Throughout History.  1995.
Randall Price, Ph.D. Jerusalem in Prophecy (Th.M. graduate of   Dallas Theological Seminary and holds a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of  Texas at Austin. He has done graduate study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and  conducted archeological excavation in Israel with the University of  Texas in conjunction with the   teaching of courses in biblical archaeology and the history and culture of modern Israel.)
Renald Showers, Th.D., Maranatha, Our Lord, Come! A Definitive Study of the Rapture of the Church.  [Dr. Showers, a graduate of Grace Theological Seminary, serves with Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, as well as the Institute of Biblical Studies.]

Audio Message: "The Rapture: The Great Escape", John Ankerberg
http://www.khouse.org/media/conferences/steeling/stmankerberg98.html
Article:  "The Great Snatch", by Chuck Missler
http://www.khouse.org/articles/prophetic/19950101-35.html
Article:  Byzantine Text Discovery & the Rapture
http://www.khouse.org/articles/biblestudy/19950601-39.html