Revelation 4:1 begins, “After these things.” This is exactly the phrase that is used in Revelation 4:19, giving the outline. It refers to a specific time, namely, after the church age. So, after the church age, John says, “I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven.” This reminds us of three very important things. First, Jesus Christ is the door and identifies Himself as such (John 10:7). What kind of a door is He? He’s an open door to heaven. Second, Jesus Christ opened the door. We see that in Luke 23:45, where He cries out in the agony of separation from the Father and says, “the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom,” signifying that the way into God’s presence is now open. The veil symbolized the fact that there was a barrier between God and man which was removed on the cross. Finally, the “door” reminds us that He has opened to us a door for evangelism. Remember, with the Church of Philadelphia, He said that He “would open for them a door that no one could close (Revelation 3:8).” You also see the apostle Paul in 1st Corinthians 6:9 asking the Corinthians to pray for him because he said, “a great door for effective service has been opened to me and there are many, many adversaries.” So, the open door is significant because it all centers around the finished work and victory of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Revelation 4:1 says, “I saw a door open in heaven.” I should point out to you that the verb here is perfect. The door opened in the perfect hands, and means it opened in the past, with the result that it remains opened in the present. Jesus Christ opened the door in the past through the work of the cross, and it remains open to the present time. When John saw the door standing open in heaven, he “heard the first voice that he had heard.” The first voice that he heard was the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, he’s hearing the voice of our Lord speaking with him like the sound of a trumpet. This voice, like the sound of a trumpet, gives him a command, and the command is “COME UP HERE.” Now, it’s significant that at the end of the section dealing with church history, John should hear the command, “Come up here,” and he hears it in a voice of a trumpet. You’ll remember in 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18, we are told that “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ will rise first, and then we are alive and remain will be caught up together in the clouds, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Also, in 1st Corinthians 15:51-58, the Apostle Paul talks about how, “we shall all be changed in a moment. In the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet.” That trumpet, I believe, is the very voice that John hears in Revelation 4:1. And what that voice says, what is said there. When the rapture of the church takes place, believers are going to hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ in the same manner. You might just read through John Chapter 5, because in His explanation of the resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ said, “the hour is coming, and now is when those who are in the grave will hear his voice and they shall arise.” So, I believe that the voice that brings the dead in Christ from the ground and catches up those who are living is the very voice that we hear right here. What this portrays in verse one is the rapture of the church. Let me just point out again that while the term “church” and “churches” has been used 19 times in the Revelation Chapters one to three. You will not see the word “church” occur again until Revelation 22:16. Not until God’s plan is finished. Not until we’re in the eternal state is the church mentioned again. What we find in the interim is symbolic language in Revelation Chapters 4 and 5 in heaven. In Revelation Chapter 6 through 19, the section dealing with the tribulation period, the emphasis is all on Israel. Why? Because that’s annual 70th week. We looked at that last time. That’s the time when God is finishing His work in the nation of Israel.
“After these things” is used twice in Revelation 4:1. This is emphasis and very Hebrew. It’s a very Hebrew thing to speak something twice for the purpose of emphasis and to display perfection.
Believers are going to hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. A voice that brings the dead in Christ from the ground and catches up those who are living. This is the very voice that we will hear, “COME UP HERE.”

Gene Cunningham - June 17, 2022

UGH!

UGH!

Sometimes our doubts and our unbelief may cause Him (God) to groan. John 11:38, "Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone leaning against it. And Jesus said, 'Take away the stone.' Jesus said to her, 'Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?’ Do you see the difference here between our faith then, at the moment of salvation, and our faith now -- the need for faith in what we're going through? Once you and I take that step out of time and into eternity and we enter the Lord's presence, do you know what you're going to be singing about and praising the Lord for the most? Your trials, your tests, your difficulties. Why? Because they humble us. They break our pride. They bring us to our knees. We cry tears that are cleansing, tears as they wash away all our self-centeredness, and our self-indulgence, and our preoccupation with the things of this life. Suddenly, we find ourselves cleansed and purified. The next time you are down, the next time you're in difficulty, the next time you're asking God, “WHY, WHY, WHY?" If you would believe, “you would see the glory of God." Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ And he who had died came out," Interestingly, "bound hand and foot with grave clothes. His face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Lose him and let him go'." What can we learn from Lazarus? First, Lazarus was not a happy man. I want you to think about that. Mary and Martha and others who loved him got what they wanted. Lazarus didn't. Where was Lazarus? Well, we know from Scripture that Lazarus was in a place called Abraham's Bosom. Old Testament Saints went to Abraham's Bosom somewhere in the Earth. Remember, there was a chasm between the place called Torments -- what we call Hell, and Abraham's Bosom. Old Testament Saints went to Abraham's Bosom, waiting for the moment when the cross would be a completed act, when Jesus would say, "It Is Finished!" when He would rise from the dead to usher them into the presence of the Father. You'll remember that he said to the thief on the cross, "Today you'll be with Me in paradise." Guess who else was there? The other Lazarus from Luke Chapter 16, the beggar who died and was in Abraham's Bosom. Abraham's Bosom, also called Paradise, is where those saints went. Jesus went to them after His crucifixion, emptied that place and took it into the third heaven. Paradise is no longer in this earth. How do we know that? In Second Corinthians Chapter 12, Paul says that he was lifted to the third heaven. To what? Paradise. Now it's there (in heaven). And everyone that was there is now in the presence of the Lord. Lazarus was in Paradise, just like Samuel was in Paradise. If you go back and read the story of Saul when he went to the Witch at Endor at the end of the book of First Samuel, you'll remember that the witch was trying to call up a familiar spirit, but who came up instead? Samuel. you remember what Samuel said to Solomon? "Why have you disturbed my rest?" He was not a happy man. I suggest to you that Lazarus was not a happy man. That's one thing we can learn from it. But there's something else we can learn from him. And that is, he's alive again, right? Jesus calls Lazarus, who comes out of the grave, and he comes out bound hand and foot. In those days, they wrapped the body. Can you practically think of how he could get out of that tomb? Jesus had to tell people, "Turn him loose!" Could I suggest that we might have some Lazarus' among us? People who are alive -- people given life by the command of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're still bound -- living but bound -- living, but not at liberty -- not set free. I find it interesting that Jesus told others to turn him loose. That's the task that He's given every one of us. We all have a part to play in liberating those who have come to Christ, liberating them from old habits, liberating them from old attitudes, old ideas. All of us come into the family of God carrying a lot of baggage. The whole goal of our Christian life as we grow in grace and truth and as we study His word and fellowship together, is that we be FREE, that we be liberated! What a marvelous task.

From Series: "The Simplicity of the Gospel"

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 All little children begin the learning process in life the same way. They learn by faith. Because they know that they don’t know, they are humble. They have never seen an elephant, or a whale, but if you show them a picture book, they learn to identify whatever they are shown. If they are told, “This is an elephant,” they don’t argue and say, “No, I think that is a chicken.” They believe what they are told because it is in their child-like nature to trust. Only as we grow do we begin to assume a level of knowledge, based on what we have learned by faith. As adults we turn more and more to reason (rationalism) and science (empiricism), where we learn by trial and error. Gradually, we begin to turn away from the faith we had as little children. Here, Jesus is telling His disciples that they need to “turn around, go back” to being like little children. They need to come to Him in simple, child-like faith if they would enter into His heavenly kingdom. The same point was made on another occasion (Mark 10:13–16). When we return to the simplicity of child-like faith, we come to Jesus through His Word in humility. And Peter, the leader of the disciple band, assures us “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5b). It is time for us to turn back to the simplicity and humility of little children and hear the voice of our heavenly Father!

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