Revelation 4
Revelation 4:1-11
1 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.”
2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.
3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.
4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads.
5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.
7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.
8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
11 “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”
There is a place that has and will always exist, a throne room, where the Lord is continually being exalted and lifted up in praise and glory. For those who have inclined their heart to know the Father and heed His correction, there is a way made to come up to that place. Though it is far above and made to be accessible by the blood, there will not be entry made by those who have found their satisfaction and fulfillment among temporal things. The rising to that place of glory will coincide with departure from inferior passions. This is that destination that deserves adjustment from any other. To have a heart given to any other will relegate the experience of Him to observance and not actual participation. He may be seen to be great, but there will be no communion with Him in that place from a seat established in the world. The beholding of Him in a realm so far above this world’s will be more than sufficient reward to abandon all for the sake of that call to come upward.
How easy it is to assess the degree of spiritual activity from a passive position in worldly gratification. Wondering when the “real” and “overwhelming” will occur and assessing reasons and causes for its apparent restraint is missing out completely on the responsibility of responding to the call that is right here and now. There is access to His throne room that is but waiting for humble submission to His direction from a heart that has returned to its first love. The heart that is fighting slumber at the doorway to His displayed glory will have little success in passing through that door. He is continually here, knocking, welcoming access to a glory that will completely overwhelm. It is only up to the heart as to its access and encounter. As long as there is judgment administered from a perspective of superior understanding based on some previous encounter there will be little drawing near to that ever-present nearness known only by the humble and fervently passionate.