The Revelation is more about present hope than a future calendar 4 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” - Revelation 4:1 Heaven is simultaneously inclusive and exclusive. “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. - 1 Tim. 1:16 Heaven is EXCLUSIVELY for those who belong to Jesus. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. - Revelation 4:2-3 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,” - Ephesians 1:20 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Revelation 4:4-11 “5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. - 1 Peter 2:5 “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. - Revelation 3:21 "...raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” - Ephesians 2:6B “9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” Revelation 4:9-11 What is worship? John Frame: “In one sense, worship is the whole point of everything. It is the purpose of history, the goal of the whole Christian story. Worship is not one segment of the Christian life among others. Worship is the entire Christian life, seen as a priestly offering to God. And when we meet together as a church, our time of worship is not merely a preliminary to something else; rather, it is the whole point of our existence as the body of Christ. WHAT DOES WORSHIP INVOLVE? TRUE WORSHIP INVOLVES REMOVING OURSELVES FROM THE THRONE OF OUR LIFE. The question for all of us this morning is not ‘do you have a throne?’ The question is ‘Who or what is seated on your throne? TRUE WORSHIP INVOLVES ACKNOWLEDGING TO GOD THAT OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NOT OUR OWN. TRUE WORSHIP INVOLVES PRAISING GOD FOR WHO HE IS.