This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

I want to welcome you back to God's throne room in Revelation chapter 4, day 2
of our look together through this chapter. We're going to focus on verse 3
today. As we're reading through the book of Revelation and thinking of what's
going to happen, what is happening in God's throne room, the truth of the matter
is for many of us, we're also being impacted by the news of the world today.

Whether you're experiencing that news or you just pick it up and you read the
news of some disaster that's happened around the world or some terrorism that's
occurred in the world or something that's fallen apart in somebody's life in the
world, there's a feeling that we often get in the pit of our stomach that's best
expressed by the words, "Why is this happening? Where is this world headed? "
Here's the good news.

We're all headed towards the day when we will stand before this throne. That's
where this world is headed. And John, who's already been there, describes for us
what it's going to be like.

This worship experience that we're all headed for that's going to extend into
all of eternity. What is it like to be in God's presence? John uses words to
describe the almost indescribable.

As we walk through these next few days, we're going to talk about what's on that
throne, what's encircling that throne, what's surrounding that throne, what
comes out from that throne, and we're going to focus on the throne of God. In
doing that, you have to begin with who is on the throne. Revelation chapter 3,
the first part of the verse says, "And the one who sat there had the appearance
of Jasper and Carnelian.

" Now, the Bible tells us that no one has seen God at any time. We could not
take in the full expression of the presence of God. It would kill us as human
beings.

And so this is a manifestation of God given that the human eye can see using
color, using light, using beauty. John said to us in his gospel that God is
light and in him there is no darkness at all. Here he sees that light in a way
that he's never seen it before.

And he describes what it's like. And if you don't understand the Old Testament,
you scratch your head at first. He has the appearance of Jasper and Carnelian.

What does that mean? Well, every Jewish reader who read this would immediately
know what it meant. The first and last stones and the garments on the priest
were Jasper and Carnelian.

You can read about it yourself in Exodus 28, 17 to 20. Exodus 28, 17 says, "Four
rows of gemstones are to be attached to this garment. The first row will contain
a red Carnelian.

" That's where it starts. Then he goes and says, "And then a crystallite, then
an emerald. " Verse 18, "The second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, a white
moonstone.

" Verse 19, "The third row, a jasinth, an agate, and an amethyst. " And in verse
20, "The fourth row will contain a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. All these
stones will be set in gold.

" There they were, the 12 stones that represented the 12 tribes of Israel.
Jasper represented the first son, Reuben. Carnelian represented the last son,
Benjamin.

And in so doing, this represents the entire Jewish nation. And the appearance is
of a God who has reached out to an entire nation and into entire world. The
appearance of Jasper and Carnelian.

But there's also something more here. The color, the appearance of these jewels
that were there said something to John, said something to us about the character
of God, the attributes of God. Jasper is clear like diamond.

And it is an appearance of purity, a crystal like gem that helps you and I to
remember that God's purity is what we hang on to. It portrays for us the purity,
the brilliance of God's holiness. It's a stone that picks up and reflects light
and it calls attention to the fact that God is light.

He is a holy God who reveals, He unmasks the darkness. He shows things to be
what they really are. I can see the clarity of life in my relationship with God.

The first stone was Jasper, the last Carnelian. And Carnelian was red like a
ruby. When you think of the blood of Jesus Christ, a stone that is blood red
that portrays who God really is, is an incredible picture of how God's love
wants to be at work in your life and my life.

The stone of blood red portrays God's wrath but also God's justice. That His
justice was accomplished in His Son Jesus Christ. In the love and the grace of
the Lamb of God who came to take away our sins by giving His life for us on a
cross.

John gets a glimpse, an appearance of the one who sits on that throne and it's a
reminder of the fact that the throne is a place of awe. It expresses all that
God has done in human history but it also expresses all that God has done in
Jesus Christ. It expresses who God is in His holiness but it also expresses who
God is in His love and His forgiveness.

The throne is a place of awe as you begin to experience the character, the
person of God on the throne, one who had the appearance of Jasper and Carnelian.
But here's John, he's describing for us what happened in this worship experience
in heaven and he says there is more on the throne, that is what's there, but
then I look and he says I see around the throne, encircling the throne, there is
a rainbow. In the last part of verse 3 he says a rainbow resembling an emerald
encircled the throne.

Now I love the picture there of encircled, it's really the idea of a full
circle. You and I, we usually get to see half of the circle of a rainbow. Maybe
you've been up in an airplane sometime where if the light is just right you can
see the full circle of a rainbow, it's an incredible sight.

And here around this throne there is this full circle of the rainbow, it's not
only the color, the beauty of it that attracts you, but you remember what a
rainbow represents. You remember that when the flood came and Noah after the
flood was afraid that God might once again destroy the earth, God says I'm going
to put a rainbow in the sky and that rainbow is a symbol of my promise and the
fact that you can depend on my promise. And here, here in this worship
experience in heaven we look and we see the one on the throne, purity, holiness,
forgiveness, love, and then we see encircling the throne this sign of God's
promise, a promise that I can depend on, a promise that I can hold onto.

God's promise is real in your life. Now in any worship service, worship
experience, you and I have to think about how am I going to live this out? This
is almost beyond expression, so how do I take who God is, how do I take the
promise of God and take it into my life today?

Remember the one who is on the throne. Remember God's holiness in your life
today. Remember God's forgiveness in your life today.

As you hold onto both holiness and forgiveness and recognize both of those
truths in your life, it helps you and empowers you to live out the life that
God's given you to live. And then you remember what's encircling that throne.
You remember the promise of God in your life.

I am empowered. You are empowered by God's promises. If I want to have the
strength to live life, it's not based on me pulling myself up by my own
spiritual bootstraps and feeling stronger and stronger because I've got the will
to do it.

No, it's based on God's promise. God has the will to do it, and I'm a part of
His will in doing it. And I may experience disappointments today.

I may experience confusion today. I may not know exactly where God is headed
today in His plan, but that does not take away for one instant the fact that
God's promise will stand in the end. That I can hold on to.

That's a part of this worship experience in heaven. Let's take a few minutes to
talk together to Him. And as you pray, just say, "Jesus Christ, I want to live
out the truth of worship in my life today.

I want to experience who you are, God, your holiness, your forgiveness. I want
to experience who you are in your strength and your power. And not forget, not
be drawn away by all the news around me, by all the relationships that might be
confused in my life.

I don't want to be drawn away and miss who you are today, miss the magnificence
of your power and grace and love for my life. So God, help me to remember who
you are in every experience, every conversation. Just remind me in the back of
my mind that you are there, God of holiness and forgiveness and power and love.

And God, as I walk through the day today, remind me of your promise that it is
true, that whether I can see it or not, whether I'm experiencing it in this
moment like I would want to or not, I can hang on to it because there's nothing
more real than the promise of God. When we get to heaven, we're going to see it
encircling the throne. And right now I can see it encircling my life, trusting
in your promise as I walk day by day.

I can trust in myself. I can trust in the news. I can trust in what somebody
else has said.

Lord, I want to trust in those things. I want to trust your promise today. I
trust it right now.

In Jesus' name, amen. " Join us tomorrow. We're going to take a look together at
what is surrounding this throne and what is coming out from this throne.