The Throne

The Throne in Heaven

4 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” ² At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.

 

As I have previously stated,  in these devotional blogs,  I am just wandering through the prophecy,  like someone would wander through a garden, noticing certain fragrances and flowers and pointing them out to a friend.

 

This is in no way meant to be a theological or contextual exegesis.  There is so much inspiration in here,  and it can so easily be missed because of the bigger picture. I just want to notice some detail for once.

 

But I can't help but see the relevance to our current situation. Revelation was written to encourage and warn the church under some extreme circumstances and trials.

 

And though our post referendum blues could potentially be placed into the camp of first world problems,  as extreme as they seem to us, these words are still a trumpet call to rally the troops,  none the less.

Get these words, 'After this '.

 

After the letters to the churches in their various states of turmoil and persecution.  After the speech of survival and holding on,  and being spat out,

 

After this,  he says,  after this I looked.

 

After we have let the smoke clear and the passion settle,  after this,  where are we looking?

We need to look heavenward.  Not to things on earth,  where treasures perish and people die,  but to heaven,  where we are seated with Christ. Where our hope lies,  and from where our hope comes.

And look.  We see an open door. 
 

Revelation is full of those,  it would seem.
 

Hard times.  In earthly terms; final nails.  But in heavenly perspective;  open doors.

And we have an invitation,  from the voice that first called to us,  to 'come up here'.

How wonderful.  How marvellous.  How inviting.  Come up here.
 

In the spirit,  you are summoned.  Not to dwell on fearful futures.  Not to stare at the storm. But to come up here,  where God is.
 

And the invitation.  "I will show you what must take place after this."
 

There is two senses in which this is relevant right now.
 

Firstly,  that what's takes place in Revelation,  the establishment of God's throne and the new Jesrusalem,  and the coming reign of Christ on earth,  these things forge our hope. 

What better way to bolster yourself to face trials than the thought of the great reward at the end of them.  If they do not stir us,  we have to ask why we are in this faith-life at all.
 

And secondly,  that we seek God,  in as much as possible,  to understand the times we live in and what is God's plan in the midst of them.
 

If your blueprint is coming from any other source,  you're ill equipped indeed.

But if you have a sense of God's hand on and in it all.... Then you can really face the future with hope in your heart.
 

And when we come at his invitation,  and we find ourselves,  out of the trouble and fearful climate of our situation and in the Spirit,  what do we see?
 

Hallelujah.
 

We see a throne.
 

And there is someone in it.
 

Someone is ruling and reigning in the midst of all of this.
 

It is this King we serve.
 

It is this throne we bow before.
 

From this throne comes all authority.  No authority on earth would ever be given over us if it were not first permitted by this throne.

And the one who sits on it?
 

Well, we will look some more at that in other blogs,  but it is sufficient for now to say that he is the King of Love.
 

And he works in all things.  Works them together for the good of those that love him,  and are called according to his purposes.

He has got this.
 

Look.
 

Come up.
 

See the throne.
 

Amen.