The Way Home
THE THRONE OF GOD
Story 20 - Revelation 19:20; 4:1 to 5:14
A car door closed and Judy said, “Daddy’s home.” The setting sun was now coming through little portions of the gray clouds. The thunder and lightening had gone and only a light rain continued. As dad came into the living room, he asked, “What have you two been up to?” Then he noticed the open Bible and said, “What have you been reading about?” “The Way Home,” Judy replied. “Mom and I are on The Way Home together. Want to come with us?” Dad smiled and nodded yes. He put some logs on the fire and as he sat down by Judy, mom said, “We’ve just finished talking about Paul’s friends in Rome. Why don’t you and Judy talk about The Way Home for a while, and I’ll make dinner.” Judy snuggled up close to dad and eagerly waited for him to begin. He opened the Bible to the book of Revelation and said:
Do you remember the apostle John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved?” (Judy nodded yes) When John was an old man, a cruel emperor of Rome put him in prison on a little island called “the isle of Patmos,” which is in the Asian Sea, not far from Ephesus. While John was prisoner on this island, the Lord Jesus Christ came to him and showed him some things which were to come to pass.
It was on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, that John suddenly heard a loud voice behind him. The voice he heard was as loud as the sound of a trumpet. He turned to see where the voice was coming from. Then he saw seven golden candlesticks standing and among them One whom John knew at once as his Lord, Jesus Christ. Yet Christ, as he saw Him, was far more glorious than He had been while living as a man on earth. He was dressed in a long white garment, with a sash of gold around His chest; His hair and face were shining so much that they seemed as white as snow; His eyes
flashed like fire; His feet were like polished brass, glowing like a furnace; and His voice sounded like the rushing of a mighty torrent of waters. In His right hand He held seven stars; and a glory came from Him that was brighter than the sun.
When John saw his Lord in such mighty splendor, he was afraid and fell at His feet. Then he felt the right hand of Christ, he heard the Lord’s voice, saying: “Fear not; I am the first and the last and the Living One. I was dead and now I am alive for evermore. Write the things which you have seen and other things which I will show you, and send them to the seven churches in Asia. The seven stars which you see in My hand are the ministers of the seven churches; and the seven candlesticks standing around Me are the seven churches.”
Then the Lord gave John the words of a letter which He commanded John to write to the seven churches in that part of Asia, of which Ephesus was first. To each church was to be sent a different letter, the word of the Lord Jesus to that church, praising it for some things and rebuking it for others. When these words had been given to the churches, John saw a door opened in heaven; and he heard a voice like the sound of a trumpet, saying to him, “Come up to this place and I will show you things that shall come to pass.”
Then at once John was taken up to heaven and he saw the throne of God and One sitting upon it whom he could scarcely see for the dazzling glory around Him. And over the throne was a rainbow of many colors. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones and upon them sat twenty-four old men, the elders of the church, dressed in white, with crowns of gold on their heads. Out of the throne came lightning and thunder and the sound of voices. Before the throne was a sea of glass like crystal, and beside the throne were four strange living creatures, each with six wings. And these living ones were saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, which was and which is and which is to come.”
And then the elders would fall down and worship Him who sits on the throne and lay their crowns at His feet and say, “You are worthy, O God, our Lord, to have the honor and the glory and the power; for You created and made all things.”
Then John saw in the right hand of the One sitting on the throne a book in the form of a roll, written on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And a mighty angel called out with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to loose its seals?”
And no one in all the heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to loosen its seals. Then John began to weep, because no one was found worthy to open the book or even to look upon it. But one of the twenty-four elders spoke to John, saying, “Weep not; see, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, He who came from David, has won the right to open the book and its seven seals.”
Then before the throne and among the elders and the four living creatures, John saw Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, standing. He had the wounds of the cross upon Him, in His hands and feet and side. He came and took the book from the right hand of the One who was sitting on the throne. And as He took the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders all fell down before the throne. Each held a harp and a golden bowl full of incense, such as was used in the Temple, as a sign of the prayers of God’s people. And they all sang a new song, with the words: “Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain to have the power and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing.”
