This is Truth Matters Church, a ministry devoted to the expository study of Scripture. Continuing our study in Revelation, today we'll look more closely at the Apostle John's vision of the throne room in heaven, specifically the majesty that surrounds God the Father. We'll use Scripture with Scripture to interpret what John saw and heard as he was standing in the presence of the Almighty Lord. This is part one of a two-part message titled, The Majestic Throne. Here is Pastor Alex. We are once again picking up our study in the book of Revelation. And we began Revelation chapter four in our last study, and we were able to get and complete through verse four. And today we're going to pick up in Revelation chapter four, beginning in verse five. And I titled this message, The Majestic Throne. I was kind of torn on what the theme is. The majestic throne seemed to be simple enough to encapsulate what we're going to be covering in this portion of text. I considered even the majestic scene in heaven, the majestic scene in and around the throne, but those were a little too long. And where I landed as I pondered and meditated on this very scene, it's the majestic throne. And what we're gonna continue to learn and be given the greatest privilege to see is in the very throne room of our Heavenly Father. There was this, I don't know if you, this short video, how many of us have heard of Harvey, Steve Harvey? African American man, I think he was a comedian at one point, and he's now like a, what do you call it, a talk show host or anything, something along those lines. And there's this video out there, and the premise was if he had the privilege of introducing the Lord Jesus Christ, it was actually pretty impressive. but it was as if he were given that grace to introduce and be the forerunner of introducing Christ. He used a lot of descriptive terms that might, he may have accompanied that. And I say that to say because in this particular study, it's as if little old me has this great privilege of helping us see and introduce the one who sits on the throne. I'm totally not worthy. But yet, as we stay faithful to our journey in the book of Revelation, this comes by default. And for that, I'm thankful. I'm thankful that we've at least made it to this point. And I have the privilege of driving us and leading us to this majestic scene. And I'm going to tell us this right now. Some of it we might be able to grasp. And there's going to be other things we're not going to be able to grasp. And if you don't, it's OK. It's expected. Because we are getting a lens into the unseen world. There is a heaven. Well, there's the heavens and there's the third heaven, heaven, where God is in his full, unmitigated presence. It's there. And this unseen world where there is also angelic beings are all around us. We just can't see them. And anytime we try to talk about the unseen, There's gonna be times we're gonna struggle with it because it just doesn't necessarily make sense with how we understand and have experienced and observed life. So that's gonna be no different as we look into this unseen world. And what the Apostle John does under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he is describing in human words what he sees. He sees this great vision. And in this case, he is taken up to heaven, and now he is riding the indescribable and the inexpressible, as even the Apostle Paul put it when he had his experience into the third heaven. So don't feel bad if you feel lost as we continue in our study, but I do trust that the Spirit that's in you, the Holy Spirit that's in you, the Holy Spirit that's in me, will allow it to resonate in our hearts in its due time. And if I can give us a spoiler, we're gonna be taken before the Father one day. So we're not gonna need John to try to explain to us what he's seen and heard. We're gonna be there. and we're gonna also experience and see and hear what is in this vision. That's one of the many promises that is in this book, and that's in store for those of us in the faith. So without further ado, what we'll do is we'll read all of chapter four, and then we will pick it up in verse five. So are you guys ready? Let's do it. Beginning in verse one, and I'll be reading from the NES. After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things. Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and one sitting on the throne. And he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance. And there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. Around the throne were 24 thrones, and upon the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting, clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads. Out from the throne comes flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne, there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and back, behind. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within, and day and night, They do not cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders will fall down before him who sits on the throne and will worship him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and because of your will. they existed and were created. There we have the majestic scene in heaven. And one of the things I try to do to supplement our material is I try to find images that is as close to as biblically accurate as possible so that we can at least have a picture along with the words to try to have an idea of what John sees in vision. And I came across this one. It took some digging going through a lot of these images. But this image, With out of the throne comes lightning and thunder, and around the throne there's these 24 thrones, and here we have four living creatures with six wings each around the throne. I thought that this picture helped at least give us an idea of what John is describing in this vision. And what I'd like to do in verse five, let's actually look at that one more time and I'll let you know at least what parts of verse five I'd like for us to touch on. Let's read verse five one more time. Out from the throne comes flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And for verse five, I'd like to look at two parts of this particular verse. When John begins and says, out from the throne, I want us to look at that a little more. And then he mentioned seven lamps, and we'll look to scripture to tell us what those seven lamps are. So let's first look at the first part. of this verse, John says, out from the throne comes flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. I can only imagine the majestic scene when John is taken up to heaven and after describing the one sitting on the throne like a jasper and Sardius stone in appearance, he is using stones and its beauty and majesty and glory to describe the one sitting on the throne. And after describing the rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance, he is now describing what is coming out from the throne. The throne is active. And what's coming out from the throne is lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And I think we can at least understand lightning, thunder, or peals of thunder to one degree or another. I think probably, if not all of us, most of us have experienced some severe storms where there's lightning and there's thunder. And there are certain states, at least here in the United States, that tend to have more of this activity. And here are just some lists of them. Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Kansas. And recently, this news station in Florida pegged their state as the number one lightning capital. So if you have any ideas or thoughts of going to Florida, be ready. to experience a lot of storms, lightning, and thunder. And we've had our fair share of lightning and thunder here in California. But what is lightning, and what is thunder? We know what it is as far as us experiencing it, but I thought this would be just a little insightful on what's the difference between lightning and thunder. because they're both part of the experience that John is communicating in this verse. And I came across this article from the National Weather Service that helps us understand lightning and thunder. And I thought it was pretty concise and pretty insightful, so let me read this. Thunder is the sound caused by a nearby flash of lightning, and it can be heard for a distance of about 10 miles from the lightning strike. The sound of thunder should serve as a warning sign that anyone outside, that they are within striking distance of the storm and need to get to a safe place immediately. You think when John heard this, he was trying to find somewhere he doesn't get struck by it? Thunder is created when lightning passes through the air. The lightning discharge heats the air rapidly and causes it to expand, and the temperature of the air in the lightning channel may reach as high as 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. You wanna know how much that is? About five times hotter than the surface of the sun. Immediately after the flash, the air cools and contracts quickly, and that rapid expansion and contraction creates the sound wave that we hear as thunder. Although a lightning discharge usually strikes just one spot on the ground, it travels many miles through the air. When you listen to thunder, you'll first hear the thunder created by that portion of the lightning channel that is nearest you. And as you continue to listen, you hear the sound created from the portions of the channel farther and farther away. Typically, a sharp crack or click will indicate that the lightning channel passed nearby. If the thunder sounds more like a rumble, then the lightning was at least several miles away. The loud boom that you sometimes hear is created by the main lightning channel as it reaches to the ground. Since you see lightning immediately, and it takes the sound of thunder about five seconds to travel one mile, you can calculate the distance between you and the lightning. If you count the number of seconds between the flash of lightning and the sound of thunder, then divided by five, you'll get the distance in miles to lightning. So in other words, if you see the lightning, And if it took five seconds for you to hear it, then you can estimate how far you are from the actual source. Keep in mind that you should be in a safe place while counting. Remember, if you can hear thunder, chances are you are within striking distance of the storm. You don't want to get struck by the next flash of lightning. Pretty insightful. But there's a couple of things I want to draw from this article. This article warned, if you hear thunder, especially if you hear the cracker click, so think about when you light a typical firework and you hear the cracker click. If you hear that, you're really close to the source. You're in danger of getting struck. And lightning could potentially be or get five times hotter than the surface of the sun. So for those who have been struck by lightning and survived, okay, it didn't hit its full capacity. If it did, you'd probably be obliterated if you got the full potential of the impact of the lightning. And what I want us to get from this is the closer the lightning and the thunder are from each other, the closer you are. So if you see lightning and thunder, let's say within a second or a second, it's about a mile away. It's really close. And that lightning can travel 10 miles at least. You're really close to the lightning. And I think for those of us, when we've heard, first of all, when you see lightning, when I hear the thunder, doesn't it just kind of, it kind of captivates you. It's scary. It's a terrifying experience. Well, this is what was coming out of the throne. Lightning, sounds, and peals of thunder. I bet you John's heart was popping out of his chest. But from here, what I like to do, the Israelites had an encounter with lightning and thunder. And they can attest to that experience when God visited them on Mount Sinai. And a common practice that I do when I try to open up the text is I always try to find similar words in a passage or in a verse. So since we're studying thunder and lightning, I go, where else is thunder and lightning used together? There's only one time that thunder and lightning, at least in the same verse, was used together. And it was the account when God visited his people, visited Moses and visited his people when God descended onto Mount Sinai. So what I'd like for us to do is read that account, because I think that'll also be insightful to help understand the experience that John was experiencing. So for that, I'd like for us to turn to Exodus 19, but you can see this picture here. That was probably what it looked like. when God appeared in a dark cloud and there was lightning and thunder. It must have been a terrifying experience as well. But I'd like for us to read this account to get introduced to this experience. So in Exodus 19, and so this is three months after the Exodus, and this was during their wilderness wanderings, and this is before God, through Moses, gave the Ten Commandments. We'll pick it up in verse one. In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness, and there Israel camped in front of the mountain. Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken we will do. And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever. Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. The Lord also said to Moses, go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments, and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be surely put to death. "'No hand shall touch him, "'but he shall surely be stoned or shot through. "'Whether beast or man, he shall not live. "'When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, "'they shall come up to the mountain.' "'So Moses went down from the mountain "'to the people and consecrated the people, "'and he washed their garments. "'He said to the people, "'Be ready for the third day. "'Do not go near a woman.' "'So it came about on the third day when it was morning, that there was thunder and lightning flashes, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was in all smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, go down and warn the people so that they do not break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. And let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, or else the Lord will break out against them. Moses said to the Lord, the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai for you warned us saying, set the bounds about the mountain and consecrate it. Then the Lord said to him, go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you, but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord or he will break forth upon them. So Moses went down to the people and told them. Now this is another majestic scene. The only difference is this is here on earth at that time. And what I'd like for us to take away from this account, I wanna draw attention to verses 16 and 18. And let me reread that to us. So it came about on the third day when it was morning, that there was thunder, and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound. So that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Remember I was talking earlier, I think for those of us who've experienced some lightning and thunder, some of us trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was in all smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and the smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. And here's what I want us to draw our attention to from this passage, and then we're gonna tie it in to our verse. When God descended from heaven to earth to meet his people on Mount Sinai, it could be felt, it could be seen, and it could be heard. And there was a visible manifestation of thunder, lightning, a thick cloud, a loud trumpet, and an earthquake. And the more and more we are continuing in this study and in this journey, and when I hear that what's associated with the visitation of God is a loud trumpet sound, I can't think about some of the monarchies even today. If there was going to be royalty or a king, there usually is a procession that comes before them playing whatever it is, whatever instrument. So I'm getting this picture that someone is introducing that God is coming and it's getting louder and louder the closer and closer he gets. He is royalty. And there is at least one angel, there could be a host of them, who will be blowing the trumpet and letting others know that Yahweh is coming. But what I want for us here in this passage, I wanna ask us a question. God descended from heaven to meet his people, and he descended onto Mount Sinai. Which person of the Trinity came down? Don't peek. God the Father, the Lord Yahweh. Now, can I support that with scripture? That this was in fact God the Father that descended on Mount Sinai and not the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, there are many ways I can support that. But in the interest of time, because I want us to get through this chapter, I'm gonna use just one. And it's been our go-to passage throughout this study. And that's in Daniel's vision into heaven and the Ancient of Days. So let's reread that, it's been a while. We'll pick it up in Daniel 7 verse 9. I kept looking until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took a seat. His vesture was like white snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames. Its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing, and coming out from before him, thousands upon thousands were attending him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before him. The court sat, and the books were opened. From this vision of Daniel, and we've learned this, the Ancient of Days is God the Father. How do we know that? Because also in this vision, he sees the Son of Man coming up before the Ancient of Days. And we know that the Son of Man is God the Son. In this vision, it was God the Father who took his seat. What did he sit on? His throne. In this same vision, Daniel mentions a small but impactful detail. He says, it's wheels. were a burning fire. The throne's wheels were a burning fire. And I've made this comment, call it a joke. Did you know that the throne in heaven is mobile? It's a heaven Uber? It has wheels. And I'm saying this to say what is clear in the Old Testament is that the Lord, thankfully for our translations, when we translate in our English Yahweh as capital L-O-R-D, thankful for those translations, it helps keep us in focus on which person of the Trinity is being spoken of here. Lord or Yahweh is speaking of God the Father. and the Ancient of Days who sat on the throne and presided. And here's another kind of case in point. Wait, what do you mean capital L-O-R-D, Yahweh, and let's say lowercase L-O-R-D, Kurios, typically refers, even though that's the father's title when they're used together, it differentiates the father and the son. We'll just go to what David said and what our Lord quoted. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand. And that's in Psalm 10, 1. The Lord, Yahweh, said to my Lord, Kyrios, sit at my right hand. So who is Yahweh? When David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was saying, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool. Who's the Lord, the capital L-O-R-D? God the Father. Said to my Lord, David's Lord, David's Messiah, Kyrios, which is his father's title, sit at my right hand. The father's talking to the son and saying, sit at my right hand until I make my enemies a footstool to your feet. So right there, even in that verse, we can see that Yahweh is the Father. So in Exodus 19, God the Father was the one who paid a visit to His people on Mount Sinai. I like to say, look at it this way. Remember I told you the throne was mobile? He put that sucker in drive and came down with this procession before Him. It was the Father who visited His people on Mount Sinai. Who appeared to Moses in the burning bush? It was God the Father. And I'm not gonna get into it, and we've learned this from the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, that there is a covenant between the people of Israel, and there's also a covenant with the church that the Lord instituted during the Last Supper. And I don't wanna confuse us, but even in the covenants that God made with his people, There's a new covenant for them that's distinct from the church. When he says, the time will come when he will write the laws into their hearts. And no longer will they tell one another, come to know God, for they will all know me. And he says, this is the covenant that I'll make with the house of Israel in those days, in the house of Israel. So there's these covenants between God and his people, and then there's also a covenant that the Lord Jesus made with the church. in which we observe whenever we participate in communion. But sometimes what we do is we muck up these covenants, and we lose into the richness. But just generally speaking, the covenants between God and his people, the Father is driving the whole thing. But he established the throne of David, and he said, son, I'm gonna make my enemies a footstool to your feet. come sit on my right hand, but I have some work to do. If for one moment you thought that the Father is just chilling in heaven this whole time, what did our Lord say? My Father and I are always working. When it comes to the people of Israel and the covenants, it's between the Father and his people, and the Father's Christ, who will rule over them. It's all the Father, but the Father is also given to his Son, not only the kingdom and throne of David, but he's given him what the Bible calls us as his bride, and our Lord made a covenant with the church. At the end, this will all be brought together under Christ, and at the end, Christ will present it back to the Father. But here, it was the Father. He paid a visit on earth, here in Mount Sinai. And how do we know that? They saw, heard, and felt. And when you continue to read the account, when God spoke, what did they hear? Thunder. I don't know if you've thought of this now. When you hear thunder, God might be talking. But we hear thunder. And if it's loud, either he's ticked, or you're just close. But when he spoke, they heard thunder and they were terrified. And the people told Moses, enough, we will listen, but we'll talk to you. Please don't have them talk to us anymore. So if you ever say, Lord, speak to me, are you sure? You kind of get where I'm coming from. Now back to our key verse. When John says, out from the throne comes flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder, John was describing what he felt, what he seen, what he heard, and that the lightning and sounds and peals of thunder were all a visible manifestation that accompanied the glory of the one sitting on the throne. In other words, you know, John experienced what the Israelites experienced back in Exodus 19. It was just John was in heaven, and in this case, the Israelites were on earth. But another thing too, if you read the account, I mean, the father was very specific and he had some grave warnings. Tell the people, don't come close, don't touch the border or they will die, and I will break out against them. So here, when John is taken up to heaven, he was permitted to by the heavenly father, saying, John, or the father could have gave the direction to one of the angels, hey, come up here, or giving it to his son, son, bring John up here. And here now, John is up here, and he is describing what he is seeing. But he felt it, he saw it, he heard it, he was in the very presence of him who sits on the throne. Do you think John had an adrenaline rush? I would think so. I'm sure it beat any thrill ride that he's ever experienced to be in the presence of that power. Thank you so much for joining us today at Truth Matters Church. And be sure to check back soon for part two and the conclusion of this message titled, The Majestic Throne. We also encourage you to check out our website for hundreds of hours of expository teaching, truthmatterschurch.org. And you can also find information on joining our study, both online and in person. Again, our website is truthmatterschurch.org. Contending for the faith, one verse at a time. This is Truth Matters Church.