Revelation #10 The Transition Revelation 4:1 As we continue through the book of Revelation, there will be times that we will move quite quickly, but along the way there are some very important verses that must be understood if we are to understand the whole message of this book, and this is one of those verses. There are twenty-two chapters in the book of Revelation, the firing order of those chapters are one, two, and nineteen. I mean by that, that there are three basic sections of the Revelation, and that these particular chapters hang together. Chapter one is a unit within itself; chapters two and three hold together; and then, chapters four through chapter twenty-two all have to do with the same general subject. I have given to you the outline of the book of Revelation found in Revelation 1:19, Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. In those three statements of our Lord to John, we have the threefold division of the book of Revelation. Chapter one gives us the things that John had seen, or past things. Chapters two and three give us the things which are, or present things, the age of the church, the age of grace. And then, chapter four through chapter 22 gives us prospective things or the things which shall be hereafter. So it is very important for us to have this outline in our mind, as we pursue this latter division of the book of Revelation. There are two words that occur in Revelation 4:1 two times that are very important to our understanding of the book. I want you to correlate Revelation 1:19 and Revelation 4:1. Lets put those two verses together so we will understand where we are. The last word of chapter one verse nineteen is the word translated in the King James Version hereafter. Actually, this word is the translation of two Greek words. They are the words netauh (ne-tah) and towtauh (tow-tah) Netauh which is a preposition, and then towtauh after these things or hereafter. Then, when you look at the fourth chapter verse one, begins with these words, After this. Actually those words translate the same two Greek words that we find back in chapter one verse nineteen. Then you will notice that at the end of the verse the same two Greek words are also translated hereafter. Now these are very important matters. We are going to look at this first verse, because it is absolutely essential to understand this verse if you are going to get the total picture. If you miss the book of Revelation right here in chapter four verse one; you will miss the book of Revelation all the way through. If you miss this verse then you will be wrong all the way through the book. So, I want us to dissect this first verse. I want us to take it apart piece-bypiece, part-by-part, and see what God says to us in this first verse. 1
Number one, I want to talk to you about the significance of this verse. As I have already indicated to you, it is a very significant verse. And it is so, because of two basic reasons. Number one, it is significant because it is a transitional verse. It is a verse that moves us in our thinking from one division of the letter to the latter division. The Lord said to John, You are to write the things which shall be hereafter. In order that we might not miss the transition. In order that we might not miss the fact that we are in a transitional area, two times in this one verse he uses the identical language, after this. Things, which be after this. It is a transitional verse. It is a verse that gives us the things that will take place after what we have just studied in chapters two and three. Now the obvious question is, After what? After these things. After what things? You will notice that the last word of the third chapter is the word churches. Here is the statement, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And so, after this. After the time that has to do with the churches. After the events which have taken place during the church age. After this these things. And so, there is a transition here. And we get the picture of what will take place after the church of the Lord is taken away from this world. When you look at chapters four and five, the church will be in heaven. No longer do we see the churches referred to as churches, but they are given in symbolic language here. The church is referred to as the elders who worship around the throne. And on through chapters four through nineteen the church of the Lord does not appear on the earth. We are in heaven, and we are engaged in the chief occupation of the believers throughout eternity, the worship of God, the worship of the One who is upon the throne. In chapters six through nineteen, we have the events, which will transpire on this earth after the church is taken away. Now the Bible predicts that there will be judgments on this earth. The Scripture says that God is going to judge this world that has rejected His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That will take place after these things. That will take place after the church is taken out of this world. And so, this verse is very significant because it is a transitional verse. Number two; it is also a very significant verse because it is a typical verse. I personally believe that what happened to John in this verse is a representative picture of what will happen to every believer at the end of the age. 2
Now, as we understand it, we are living in the age of the church. We are a part of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we are saved, we are made a part of the church. We meet together as a part of the church to fellowship, to worship, and to study the Bible. We come together as the church to exalt the Person of Christ. We come together to preach the gospel and invite men, in this age of opportunity, to come to the Lord Jesus and be saved. But the Scripture says that one of these days something is going to happen to the church. Something is going to happen to individual believers. The Bible says that believers are going to be caught out of this world, and they will leave this world to be here no more. Now John is a representative picture of that event. John was caught up into heaven in this book of Revelation. And so, he becomes a type, he becomes a picture, he becomes a representation, of an event that we describe as the Rapture, the blessed hope of the believer. It is the catching away of the people of God out of this world. So this verse is a very significant verse. It is a typical verse as well as a transitional verse. Number two; I want us to understand the symbolism of the verse. Now you will notice that there are symbols used in this verse. John says, I looked. And when he looked there was a door opened in heaven. He said, I heard. And when he listened there was a voice that sounded like a trumpet. This is the language of symbolism. Now we need to remember what we said at the first verse of the whole book. You will remember, if you will turn back to Revelation 1:1, where we are specifically told that the book of Revelation was sent and signified by the angel unto the servant John. Now look at that word signified. Remember, we said if you really want to understand the meaning of the word you might pronounce it with the emphasis on the "sign." And the Lord is telling us right there in the outset that the book of Revelation is written in signs. That it is written in symbols. And so, as we read through the revelation we have to keep in mind that He is talking in symbolic language. Now this does not in any way empty the book of its meaning. This in no way destroys the validity or the truthfulness of what is being spoken here. You see, symbols are attempts to depict in language that men can understand, things that are really beyond the ability of language to describe. So 3
God uses the symbolisms, that are simply pictorial representations of literal, actual fact. So there are two basic symbols that we find in this verse. There is, first of all, a symbol of sight. He says, "I looked" - a symbol of sight. Secondly, there is the symbol of sound. He says, "I heard" - the symbol of sound. Now lets look at the two symbols. First of all, look at the symbol of sight. He says, "I looked, and behold a door was opened in heaven." This is the third time a door is mentioned in the book of Revelation. Back in 3:8 we are told that the Lord said to the church at Philadelphia, "I have set before thee an open door." Now that was the door of opportunity. That was the door of gospel witness. That was the door that gave the Philadelphian believers the opportunity to preach the gospel and to tell people about the Lord Jesus Christ. The second door is in 3:20 where Jesus is pictured as standing before the church at Laodicea, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." There is the door of the church. There is the door of the human heart. God knocks at the hearts of men. God knocks at the door of the individual. Now listen carefully, Jesus Christ wants to save you more than any thing else in all the world, but Jesus will not circumvent your will, and He gives you the right to say "yes" or "no" to Him. Jesus has given you the ability of choice. You can close the door of your heart and refuse to be saved, or you can make the decision to open the door of your heart and invite Him in and be saved. And I believe that Jesus is knocking at the heart's doors of many of you who are reading this material. But there is a third door mentioned in the book of Revelation, and it is "a door opened in heaven." The Greek reads something like this, "a door is standing opened in heaven." It is a perfect passive participle, and it means, "the door has already been opened." Now here is the picture of an open door in heaven. Here is the picture of an opportunity for men to enter heaven. Now Jesus very specifically told us in John 10:9 that He is the door, "I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved." There is only one way to get to heaven and that is Jesus. There is only one way that you can enter in and that is through the Lord Jesus. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me." So, in this age of grace, the door stands open. The opportunity for all men to be saved is open and wide. But did you know the Bible says that there will come a time when that door will close? Jesus told a parable about that door in Matthew 25. Jesus begins Matthew 25 by giving a parable of the ten virgins: five of them were wise, and five 4
of them were foolish. Now the wise represents those who had received Christ as their Savior. They accept His invitation of forgiveness. They accept Him and bring Him into their hearts, and invite Him in. But five were foolish. They wasted their time. They squandered their opportunities. And then the Scripture says there came a "midnight cry" that the Bridegroom was coming, "go out to meet him." But the foolish had no oil in their lamps, there was no salvation in their lives. And verse 10 tells us that they came to the door, "And while they went to buy (oil), the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut." You see, there came a time when the door was shut. And when the five foolish came, they sought entrance, and they said in verse 11, "Lord, Lord, open to us." But, you see, it was too late, the day of grace was over. The opportunity to be saved had passed. The door was shut! My friend, the door of salvation is open to you. The door of heaven is standing wide open for you. So, John has a vision of the symbol of a door in heaven. A door opened. A door standing opened, for all who would to come in. So there is the symbol of sight. But, number two, there is also the symbol of sound. John not only saw something, but he heard something. He said, "I heard as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither." Now that is the language of symbolism. It is a voice that sounded like a trumpet. It is a voice that had symbolic meaning. There are two other places in the New Testament that are very significant when they use the word trumpet. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 we are given the picture of the Return of Jesus, when Jesus will come again. You see He is coming back! The Lord who came to this earth 2000 years ago to be the Savior, and is now gone back to heaven and at the right hand of God praying for us, is going to return again. So 1 Thessalonians 4:16 says, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first." There is the mention of the trumpet of God. The voice of the Lord like the voice of a trumpet. Now turn to 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and notice what it says, "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep (that is, we shall not all die), but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 5
Did you notice that both of these verses of scripture corresponds to what John tells us in Revelation 4:1? He sees a door opened in heaven. He hears a voice like a trumpet. And the trumpet voice says to John, "Come up hither." And what we have here is a picture of what will take place one of these days, when the Lord Jesus comes again! In the corner of my Bible I have written this word, "Rapture." T h e door standing open in heaven in this verse represents the Rapture. It represents the time when the Lord will come with the voice of a trumpet, and believers will be called up to meet the Lord in air. Now the second time the door is mentioned as being opened in heaven is in Revelation 19:11, "And I saw heaven opened (literally "standing wide open"), and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war." In the margin of your bible write this word, "revelation." So, two times we see the door of heaven standing open. The first time "Rapture" - calling believers up to the Lord. The second time "revelation" - the Lord coming out of heaven to conquer, and to rule, and to reign. And Jesus said, "Come up hither." I have often wondered if these will be the words that Jesus will use to call His church to Himself. And my mind goes back to the time when he stood before the tomb of Lazarus. And the Bible tells us in John 11:35 that "Jesus wept." Jesus stood before that tomb, symbolic of everything that sin could do to men. He stood before that tomb, which epitomized what sin does in the human experience. There Jesus stood, and literally it means, "He wept uncontrollably." He shed tears in front of that tomb. And He said, "Take away the stone." And they rolled away the stone. And Jesus, with the voice of authority, the voice of command, said, "Lazarus, come forth." Listen to these words found in John 5:25-29, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; and they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." I wonder when Jesus descends from heaven with a shout, if He will simply speak with the voice of authority and say, "Come up hither." 6
My friend, if you have never been saved, Jesus is quietly and lovingly standing at your heart's door knocking and wanting to come in. Will you take this great opportunity to open the door and invited Him in? As you read these words, and you know beyond any shadow of doubt that you are saved, let me remind you that Jesus is coming again, and we need to be about the Father's business. If you know someone who is lost without Jesus as their personal Savior, pray that their spiritual eyes might be opened to see their need to be saved before it is too late? 7