Events In Heaven Preceding The Tribulation (Apocalypse Part 2)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts.

Morse Corner is a non -denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist

D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message.

Remember our outline, Revelation 119. John was told to write the things which he saw, that's chapter 1.

And then the things which are, we just looked at that in chapters 2 and 3, contemporary events to John in the first century.

And now we get into the things which will take place after this.

Now look at Revelation chapter 4. So up until this time, everything we've read about, these things basically have already taken place.

Now we see events that will take place in heaven.

Before the tribulation starts on earth, some events have to happen in heaven.

Look at Revelation 4, starting in verse 1. And after these things

I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which

I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.

Well, what takes place after this? It's the opening of the first seal in chapter 6, the beginning of the tribulation.

But before that, John is what? He's caught up into heaven.

Well, that's interesting. Many people have seen this as symbolic for the rapture of the church.

Not only is John taken up to heaven before the tribulation, we also see some similarities between this and 1

Thessalonians 4. Remember in 1 Thessalonians 4, the Lord descends in the clouds, and there is a shout, and there is a trumpet.

Well, when John is taken up, there's a sound, a voice, like what? Like a trumpet.

So what do you see here in Revelation 4? A door opens in heaven.

John hears something like a trumpet, and he's caught up, he's taken up to heaven, presumably in the spirit.

So he's caught up into heaven's throne room where he sees the angels of God, and he sees

God sitting on the throne. More than that, here's the thing to look at.

God's people are already there. The church is already pictured as being in heaven.

Look at verse 4. Around the throne were 24 thrones, and on the thrones

I saw 24 elders sitting, clothed in white robes, and they had crowns of gold on their heads.

Commentators seem to agree that the 24 elders represent the church, or a similar view that it represents all of the redeemed of God.

So how do you get that from this? Look at the number. What's the number? 24.

Well, why the number 24? Well, I think it's pretty simple. Israel had 12 patriarchs, right, the 12 tribes.

Jesus had what? The 12 apostles. 12 plus 12 equals 24.

There's not really any other number or any other time we see the number 24 with any significance.

So 12 plus 12 equals 24. Here's the point. God's people, the church, is already in heaven.

So let's pause for a moment and think about this. What does this mean for the church today?

You say, okay, I hear what you're saying. I see this. What does this mean for you right now?

What's the book called? Revelation. The title's found in its opening words.

Revelation 1 .1 begins the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So Jesus is revealing things. He's revealing these things to the apostle

John. John is instructed to write them down in a book. He then gives them to the messengers of the seven churches, which are most likely the pastors of the seven churches.

And then they bring the message to their congregations. And eventually it trickles down to us today.

And the message goes from Jesus to John. Now it's being brought to the churches.

Now we have it. So what are we going to do with this message? Well, a lot of people, what do they do with the book of Revelation?

It's been my experience. A lot of people do what? They ignore it. They ignore it.

So what did people in the first century do? Well, you know, some listened, of course. Some didn't.

Some received the message and acted accordingly. Others ignored it. And I think that's a tragic thing today, is that too many people, too many churches are ignoring the book of Revelation.

And you have to ask, why? Why are churches ignoring the book of Revelation?

I think for some people, they just don't believe it. They read. Maybe they don't want to believe it. I think that's a big problem.

For others, they believe it, but they find it too disturbing. The book of Revelation is too troubling.

Well, it's the tribulation. It is troubling. That's true. If you think things are bad in the

Middle East right now, you ain't seen nothing yet. So there's all sorts of reasons why people ignore the book of Revelation, but perhaps the main reason, at least among Bible -believing churches,

I think the main reason people ignore Revelation is they say it's just too hard to understand.

We had a men's group, and when we were talking about, what book should we go through next? A bunch of guys, Revelation. We want

Revelation. I remember somebody said, no, any book but that. It's just too hard to understand.

This is a very common sentiment. Think about it, though, for a moment, if you will.

The book is titled The Revelation. It's an unveiling.

Are you telling me the book that Jesus says reveals actually obscures?

Is that what we are to believe? How can that be? The book the Lord gave the church to tell us about future events is so hard that nobody can understand it?

That cannot be true. It absolutely cannot be true. John MacArthur said about the book of Revelation, according to him, he says it's the easiest book in the

New Testament to understand. But there's a key. What's the key?

You have to take it literally. You have to believe it and take it at face value.

Oh, sure. If you would try to interpret it another way, that everything in the book has already happened.

This is the preterist view. They say it's all in the past or the people who say, well, the book, it's true, but it's all symbolic.

This is the idealist interpretation or the spiritual view. Or then you have the historicist view of the book that all of the judgments align with things that happen throughout world history.

We just have to find out what's what. Yeah. If you take one of those viewpoints, it's going to be really confusing.

I heard one person try to claim. Have any of you heard this? One person tried to claim that the

French Revolution can be found in the book of Revelation. Has anyone ever heard this before?

Okay. One or two. I've read the book of Revelation more times than I can count.

I've never seen it in there. Okay. I know some people are beheaded in Revelation. Oh, there it is.

That's a stretch. That's an awful stretch. So, you take

Revelation like any other book of the Bible. You take it at face value. You believe it.

You take it literally. Are there things in the book that are symbolic? Of course.

We speak metaphorically. You open your newspaper. You see symbolism. Of course, we understand that, but we take it literally.

So, if everything's symbolic and it's just a matter of us trying to figure out what it's symbolic for, yeah, it's going to be really hard to interpret.

Actually, let me correct that. It's not going to be hard to understand. It's going to be near impossible to understand if nothing actually means what it says.

Beloved, we always have to take the Bible literally. Otherwise, who knows what it means?

So, look at chapter 4, verse 3. Just to this point that there is figurative language and we can figure that out.

Chapter 4, verse 3. And he, this is God, he who sat there was like a jasper.

He was like a sardis stone in appearance. So, John doesn't look at God on the throne and say

God is a gemstone. What is he saying? He's like. John's seeing all these colors. It's like a sardis.

It's like a jasper. So, if we look closely at what's being said, we can spot symbolism a mile away.

In chapter 13, there's the beast rising up out of the sea. Do we take that literally?

Well, John literally saw that. But that doesn't mean that one day a huge monster is going to rise up out of the sea.

It's obviously symbolic for something. I would say this.

A little common sense goes a long way. Obviously, I didn't come up with that. But it applies.

It applies to interpreting the Bible. It really does. When we read a newspaper article, we recognize symbolism.

So, while the Bible, in some ways, is unlike any other book, we, in some ways, we read it like it's any other book.

We can understand it. The words are plain. All right. Now, let's look at chapter 5 and we will close with this.

So, John is seeing this vision of heaven's throne room. Preparation is being made in heaven for these end time events.

But somebody has to judge the earth. Mankind has been rebelling against God ever since the

Garden of Eden. God has warned mankind. He has sent prophets.

He has sent some judgments already. But there is that final judgment. But who is worthy?

Who is worthy to judge the earth? Well, this is what we see in Revelation 5.

God the Father is seated on the throne. In his hand, he holds a scroll which has been best described as the title deed for the earth.

Who owns the earth? Who has authority in heaven and on earth?

I think we know the answer. Let's start reading in Revelation 5, starting in verse 1. And I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?

And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it.

So, this is John speaking. So I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it.

But one of the elders said to me, Do not weep. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.

What's happening? Jesus is about to take back dominion.

Adam, it was given to him. Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. He lost it. Mankind has lost dominion.

This world is under the control right now of Satan. But Jesus is about to take that dominion back.

He is about to open the seven seals. The wrath of the

Lamb is about to begin. Let's close. Heavenly Father, we end this way because it's a point of anticipation.

Of what's coming upon the earth. And it's been nearly 2 ,000 years.

And Peter warns of this. How in the last days, scoffers will come walking according to their own lusts.

Saying, Where is the promise of his coming? We've been hearing about this all these years. It's never happened.

It's never going to happen. The Lord, the

Bible says, your word says. When they say peace and safety, that's when sudden destruction comes upon them.

Lord, we know these events are imminent. They could happen tomorrow. Lord, we may have days left.

We may have weeks left, months, years. The Lord, you can take us to heaven tonight.

We have to ask ourselves, are we ready? If there's anyone listening who has never placed their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Lord, we pray they would do it now. And not put it off. We do not want them to go through the great tribulation.

We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for listening.

I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message. Or if you'd like more information about the ministry.

Visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.