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 Sermon > Lecture Messages |
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Title |
Revelation Lectures(31) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation4:1-3 |
Date |
2007-07-13 |
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Revelation 4:1-3
[1] After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things."
[2] Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.
[3] And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
From Chapter 4 of Revelation is the content of the prophecy of what will take place in the future.
To be more exact, it is the prophecy about the things that will happen after the Lord comes to take the saved children of God and the children are caught up into the air for the Seven Year Banquet.
Therefore, what I'm now going to explain to you about, may not directly concern those of you who will be saved and go to heaven.
Of course, at the end of this book of Revelation are the contents for the saved children of God, such as 'the Seven Year Wedding Banquet,' 'the Millennium Kingdom,' and 'New Jerusalem.'
But the rest of the contents in Revelation is about the Seven Year Great Tribulation that will take place on the earth.
Then, why is it that God allowed these contents, which may not be necessary for children of God to know, to be written in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and to be put at the end of the 66 books of the Bible?
The reason is that it is warning for the children of God; even though they are children of God, they must be awake to live a believing life until the last moment.
Also, this book will become like be the last tie to salvation for those who will experience the 7 Years of Tribulation on this earth.
God is presenting a way for them to reach Gleaning Salvation, the last chance of salvation, by repenting and turning back even at that last moment.
By the way, the most important significance of the Book of Revelation being the last book among the 66 books of the Bible is that it is the conclusion of the entire Bible.
Just as you can grasp the idea of a whole book after you read the conclusion of the book, so only after you finish reading the Book of Revelation, you can completely understand the providence of God's human cultivation.
However, some servants of God say, "When interpreted improperly, Revelation will rather become harmful." They teach as if it were good not to know about Revelation.
But, they say so because they cannot correctly interpret the spiritual meaning contained in Revelation.
It is written in Revelation 22:18-19, "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book."
It is clearly written that they should not take away the words of prophecy in this book.
Therefore, the contents of Revelation are never 'unnecessary'; they are rather definitely need-to-know words in order to come to the tree of life and to enter the Holy City.
Moreover, Exodus 12:9-10 says, "But rather [eat] roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire." We must eat the whole lamb, which is the word of God, the entire 66 books of the Bible.
We must eat it and make bread out of it even until morning, in other words, until the Lord comes back to take us.
As I told you earlier, the contents of Revelation are the "must-know" words. We must eat and make bread out of them in order to be awake to live a believing life in these last days.
I wish that you will listen to this lecture on Revelation carefully, and be awake to live a believing life. I pray in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, that all of you may be caught up into the air together and meet the Lord when He comes back to take us.
Dear brothers and sisters.
The Chapter 4 of Revelation records the scene that will take place around the throne of God.
When the Apostle John wrote Revelation, he wrote the things of heavenly kingdom that would take place 2,000 years later.
Then, how was it possible for the Apostle John to observe and write the details of what would happen in the future, transcending space and time?
Apostle John wrote what his spirit saw. Likewise, the spirit can transcend time and space, foreknow the things of the future, and the things of the past.
I will explain about it in great detail when we get to verse 2 of the text.
Now, verse 1 says, "After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.""
Here, "these things" in the beginning refer to the incidents that are from Apostle John's receiving revelation of the words given to the seven churches.
Apostle John didn't receive the whole revelation at once. He repeated praying and receiving revelation over an extended period of time.
Up until this point, he had received the words that were given to the Seven Churches. And from this point on, he was to receive the prophecy about the things that will take place in the future.
Dear brothers and sisters.
In order to receive revelations, he had to be completely seized by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
To become like that, he had to pile up countless prayers, and go into deep prayers. His heart had to be clean without any speck, blemish, or flaw.
It must also be similar with surrounding physical environment. The more isolated from the world, the better it is. That's why God allowed John to be imprisoned on Patmos Island to receive the words of Revelation.
And when John was receiving revelation, he sometimes heard the voice of the Lord, saw visions, and his spirit itself was taken to the spiritual world and he actually saw it.
What I'm going to unfold from now on is what Apostle John saw and heard after his spirit itself was taken to the spiritual world. By the way, in order for John's spirit to be taken to the spiritual world, his spirit had to pass through the gate to the spiritual world.
In tonight's scripture, there is "a door standing open in heaven." God showed him the door open in heaven that must be passed through to enter the spiritual world.
As I already explained in the Genesis Lectures, there are more heavens than the one we live in; they are the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th heavens.
In the Bible, those who clearly communicated with God also knew that there are more than one heaven, even though they didn't know exactly how many.
Just as written in Nehemiah 9:6, which reads, "You alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You," the bible says not only that there are multiple heavens, but also that there is the higher level of heaven of heavens.
Also, Psalm 68:33 says, "To Him who rides upon the highest heavens, which are from ancient times; Behold, He speaks forth with His voice, a mighty voice."
And, Jeremiah 10:12 says, "It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens." The Bible clearly speaks of 'heavens'; in the plural form.
Now, in order to move from this heaven to that heaven among these multiple heavens, you must pass through the gate of its respective heaven.
Especially, only the spirit that is separated from the body can enter the spiritual world since the physical body cannot enter the spiritual world.
Likewise, the spirit which is separated from the body that remains in the fleshly world can enter the spiritual world and take a look around.
Of course, there is a way to see the spiritual world without being separated into the spirit. That is through a "vision."
A "Vision" is a gift from God. It is the situation of seeing the spiritual world with spiritual eyes that are opened in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
It is the same case that is written in Acts 5:55-56, which reads, "But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.""
However, this case of seeing the spiritual world with the opened spiritual eyes is not the case that the spirit itself goes to the spiritual world. Since God opens the spiritual world as occasion arises, it is somewhat limited in seeing and understanding.
In other words, it is the case that God shows a special scene at the moment and as the occasion may call.
When someone saw heaven in a vision, chances are that he saw just a part of heaven, instead of the entire heaven.
Therefore, a 'vision' is not that the spirit, by itself, goes to spiritual world to see, hear, and experience. It is rather a work of God when there is a need to open the spiritual space, see the part of it, and understand something.
Contrary to seeing, hearing, and experiencing the spiritual world in part, there is a case that the spirit itself is separated from the body and goes to the spiritual world to see, hear, and completely experience it as a whole.
Here, 'the spirit's being separated' is not the same phenomenon as with the division of the Spirit as God the Trinity. It is the phenomenon of the spirit being separated from a human body.
God the Trinity can divide into countless spirits at the same time, but only one spirit can be separated from a human body, and it can go to only one place.
Apostle John's case is the case that his spirit was separated and saw the spiritual world.
However, even in this case of the spirit being separated and going to the spiritual world, depending on whether he was a man of flesh or a man of spirit, the method is different.
In the case of the one who knows the word of the truth, whose heart is the heart of goodness, and who accomplishes sanctification, in other words, the one whom God can acknowledge, such a person can smoothly separate his spirit from the body in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
And even when his spirit is separated from his body, his body keeps on doing its fleshly operations so that he can feel and recognize the surroundings.
And his spirit can see, hear, feel, and experience the spiritual world at the same time.
Apostle Paul saw Paradise in the 3rd heaven through this kind of his spirit being separate.
Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, "Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak."
Apostle Paul said he didn't know whether he was in the body or out of the body, but God knew.
His spirit was separated, and seeing, hearing, and feeling the beautiful things of Paradise at that moment.
It was as if he himself were in Paradise.
But at the same time, his body, which was on this earth, could still breathe, and feel the surroundings.
That's why he felt as though he was in Paradise or he was staying in this earth.
However, there was a reason Apostle Paul said he didn't know whether he was in the body or out of the body, but God knew.
He said this way not to give a chance of being slandered by those who don't know about the spiritual world but misunderstand it and persecuted others.
It is natural, however, that a man, who doesn't have any spiritual experience, should be confused if he encounters this case without any knowledge about it.
But, after he experiences this situation a couple of times more, he will figure out what situation he is in. He will not be confused or perplexed, but rather his spirit will all the more freely take a look around the spiritual world.
From God's perspective, this is the most proper and desirable way when He wants to show him the spiritual world by having his separated spirit.
But this method is allowed only to those who have cultivated the heart into spirit, and thus who are proper in the sight of God.
Therefore, this is a rare and not-so-easy case.
That's because even though showing just a part through a vision is possible by giving a gift, separating one's spirit in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is beyond the scope of a gift; it's directly related to a matter of sanctification.
As I explained already, however, since only the part can be seen through a vision, God works through the separation of spirit when He wants to show the 'big picture" or "the whole thing".
If a man is not-yet-a-proper man to be recognized in the sight of God, instead of having his spirit separated in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God uses a method, called 'a transformed spirit body.'
Among those who testify that they've been to heaven, there are some who say that they've been to heaven in their transformed spirit body. Actually, it is the work of God who enforced His authority.
When in the transformed spirit body, the physical body is only breathing without recognizing anything.
And sometimes things may go wrong when spirit is separated through a method of the transformed spirit body.
Of course, in the case when God enforces His authority in His special providence, God surely protects the individual. But there still are dangerous factors.
Since he is not sanctified and armed with the truth, chances are that things may go wrong when his separated spirit has contact with evil spirits, or when his spirit heads a wrong direction in the spiritual world.
Also, even though he himself may say that he was in his transformed spirit body, actually he may not have been; chances are that he is talking about what he saw in his thoughts.
Therefore, it is very rare that God accomplishes His work through the method of a transformed spirit body.
This rare case may happen when God must work through a certain man, even though he doesn't know much about the truth, or even though he is far from goodness. In order to accomplish His providence, He enforces His authority through the method of the transformed spirit body.
But what God wants is not through such a method of the transformed spirit body.
If there is a man who is proper in justice, God can work through the normal and proper method of separating spirit in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
And only in the case when such a proper man has his spirit separated, can he see the spiritual world as deep as New Jerusalem in the providence of God.
Right now, Apostle John was able to see the things as deep as the throne of God, through the method of separation of his spirit in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
In order to lead the spirit of Apostle John to the throne of God, the Lord opened the door in heaven, and said to Apostle John, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things."
It means that He would show Apostle John 'what must take place after these things' such as the Seven Year Great Tribulation, the 7 Years of the Wedding Banquet, the Millennium Kingdom, and the Great White Throne Judgment.
The voice of the Lord was as loud as the sound of a trumpet as written in Revelation 1:10.
When the Lord said to Apostle John that his spirit would come up to the spiritual world, just as Apostle John said in the verse 2, "Immediately I was in the Spirit," he was in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and his spirit went to the throne of God.
By the way, what Apostle John saw at this moment was not what was happening in heaven at that moment. It was what would take place in the future.
Apostle John was able to see what would take place in heaven in the future, 2,000 years later.
Now, how in the world is it possible?
It is because the spirit can transcend space and time.
Of course, it is only the spirit of God the Trinity that can transcend time and space.
But if God allows, a man's spirit can also transcend time and space, and go to any place in the future or in the past.
That's why I could explain even the things that took place before the beginning of creation in the Lecture on Genesis.
Since the evil spirits are also spiritual beings, they are, too, able to know the things that transcend space and time. But instead of all, they can only know the things in the past and up to present.
The things which belong to the future are in the providence of God who is the master of all things. So, only God knows the things in the future.
The evil spirits will never be allowed to know the things of the future.
Because the evil spirits have authority to instigate and handle evil men as their slaves, however, the evil spirits can know only a little bit of what will happen to those evil men.
For example, since they can incite or provoke an evil man to deceive others, to some degree they can foresee the result of the things that are related with such a man.
Therefore, those, who read others' fortune or cast spells through the contact with the evil spirits, pretend to foresee the future of others based on what the evil spirits tell them about their past and present situation, and the level of their evilness.
But you should be aware that it is only God the Trinity that knows the things of past, present, and future transcending space and time, and that only when such God works, can the things of the future be clearly explained by a proper man.
Dear brothers and sisters.
From the moment Apostle John said, 'Behold," in the verse 2, he speaks what his spirit saw and heard.
It was the throne of God that was the first place.
In fact, even if some has his spirit separated, it is not easy to come near to the throne of God unless it is permitted in the special providence of God.
It is especially so of the Apostle John when he was seeing not only the throne of God, but also the One sitting on the throne.
He wasn't able to take a look at the face of Father God in detail. But just as Apostle John said in verse 3, "And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance," He precisely saw the throne of God, and the One who is sitting on the throne, and its surroundings.
In order to clearly show the end time of the world through it was the Apostle John who was the most proper man at that time and in God's special providence God was showing him even the deepest spiritual things.
As long as there is a proper man, Father God wants to inform about what must take place in the future through him by all means so that more people can awake and adorn themselves as brides and wait till the Lord comes back.
But in the sight of God, there are few men to whom God can show the things of the future.
God cannot let just anyone know them.
God doesn't let people know about what will take place in the future for that person to do with it as they please.
Since it is strictly accomplished in justice, God can inform those things only when there is someone who meets the proper condition.
If He gives that information to just anyone, it will not be in accordance with justice.
If someone knows about it when he still has evil left in him, and uses it for his personal benefit, he may rather provide a case for accusation for the enemy devil and Satan.
Therefore, God can inform me the flow of world history and prophecies about the future that I am explaining to you from now on, because I have paid the proper price in justice.
Since Apostle John made his vessel proper in justice, and piled up proper prayers in justice, he could open the door of the spiritual world, and withdrew the secret of heaven.
In the next lecture, we will take a look at the throne of God, and the One sitting on it, in other words, the image of God, and the situation of the surroundings
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
In many ways, knowing the future is beneficial for us.
When we know the future, however, depending on how their heart, the result may completely different.
Even though someone knows a trial is coming in the near future, if he never prepares for it at all, it is useless to know it in advance. Likewise, even if someone is informed about the future, and taught how to prepare for it, if he himself doesn't understand it in his heart and prepare it, it's useless.
The same applies to the words contained in the book of Revelation.
No matter how clearly the words in Revelation are explained, those who don't prepare will go the direction they've headed so far.
It is like what Revelation 22:10-12 says; "And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy. Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.""
But there are still chances left. That's why Father God allows the word in the Revelation to be proclaimed again so that those who have ears can open the door of their hearts and listen to what the Holy Spirit is speaking.
May all the Manmin members and those who are listening to this message understand such a burning heart of Father God, wake up completely, and live a proper believing life to adorn yourself as a bride, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
Amen |
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