Behold, a Throne was Set in Heaven

Perhaps we just commend ourselves to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, we bow in thy holy presence tonight again to just return the thanks for being in the household of faith. We thank thee Father for being part of the family of God and for having salvation and above all we thank thee for our Saviour the Lord Jesus.

And we pray tonight as we meet in this way, perhaps not the way we would wish to meet, but yet we thank thee for this opportunity for so many of thy people to spend this time together around the word of God and as we do so we just ask that thou would help us to take it on board that we might seek to be more like the Lord Jesus and that we might seek to tell others concerning him that in this sad world that has very little hope that some would come to put their trust in Now we just commit this evening to thee and all thy people especially those who are ill and those who are mourning at this time. We pray Father for all who have gathered that something from myself might just build them up and might just help us on our way and cause us to give thanks to thee. We acknowledge thy goodness and offer thy thanks in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen. Thank you to the the saints in Saskatchewan and for Daniel and Caleb for their help and for the opportunity tonight to share something from the word of God. When I saw the subject of our dear brother Marcus Kane for a moment I thought we were going to speak on the same thing but thankfully this just maybe follows on from his meditation on the Psalms we're going to read tonight in the book of Revelation.

We're going to read verses from two chapters Revelation 4 and 5 that I would perhaps believe that if the saviour called us home tonight these would probably be the first things that we would experience in heaven. I believe this is the restarting of the prophetic calendar of God after his people have been removed and here we read in Revelation 4 verse 1 John writing of course says after this I looked and behold the door was opened in heaven and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me which said come up hither and I will show thee things which must be hereafter and immediately I was in the spirit and behold a throne was set in heaven and one sat on the throne and he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone. Now over to chapter 5 please in verse 1 and I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book or a scroll written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof and no man in heaven nor on earth neither under the earth was able to open the book neither to look thereof and I wept much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book neither to look thereon and one of the elders saith unto me weep not behold the lion of the tribe of Judah the root of David have prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof and I beheld and low in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts or living creatures and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of god sent forth into all the earth and he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

Now there then follows three doxologies the first is from the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders we're just going to read the second one it's from well you'll read it as we see in verse 11 and I beheld and I heard a voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts or living creatures and the elders and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing now we know that god blesses the reading of his word there's another doxology that follows where the whole of creation joins in but we'll just read the verses that we've read tonight. I wanted to look at this tonight in the light of the day and age in which we're living in these circumstances round about us I've had a number of friends non-christian friends who've asked me the question do I think that these events that are happening are the judgments of god I've told them that I don't think that they're judgments of god I think that they are the actions of ungodly men unfortunately and this catastrophe that has befallen our world is entirely the work of men and the failure of men and in fact had we read on from where we've read tonight into chapters 6 to 19 of this book we would see that when god acts in judgment there will be no ambiguity and it will be on an altogether different level than even these awful events that many are experiencing just now when I think of these events and what's going on round about us though it is important for us to understand despite the fact that these have perhaps been brought about by the failure of men that there is beyond all of this a god who is still on the throne our dear brother Kane last week was telling us about god's throne is in heaven the very first of these series of meetings I went back and listened to our dear brother Lindsay Parks and he looked at six titles of god at the beginning of a psalm and the very first one he brought to our attention was the name Elion, El Elyon, the most high god now probably that psalm that he brought it to us from was written by David but certainly David uses that title more than anybody else but it is used in other contexts there is one who wanted to make himself like unto the most high god the wicked one the prince of this world but he has to learn that god is over and above and beyond everything if David was perhaps the best of kings in god's eyes Nebuchadnezzar was in many ways the greatest of kings in this world's eyes and he had to be taught the truth that the most high rulers in the affairs of men and it is good for us to get together tonight and to look at this dear man John and I want to say a little bit about him and his circumstances because I don't think in some ways they were too dissimilar to maybe how some of us would feel tonight this is an old man in his 90s he's on the isle of Patmos which is not a holiday resort at that time but is a penal colony and in many ways he is in isolation and he is locked down his freedom has been taken away and in his case it's for his faithfulness and for his suffering for the gospel as Peter would put it he's suffering for righteousness sake just like his savior but I've often thought of John our verses tonight in Revelation 4 open with these words after this after this back in the first chapter he was given a little summary of what he was going to write he was to record the things which thou has seen and they're seen in chapter one and the things which are and he tells us of these seven churches these seven letters from the Lord Jesus directly to seven assemblies and that's chapter two and chapter three and now we come to chapter four and we're going to see that these are the things which must be hereafter it says at the end of verse one. John in his gospel while perhaps the last book to be written as far as we have it sitting in our bible gives us the picture and then the first clear teaching of the doctrine of the rapture I would judge that first picture was back in chapter 11 in chapter 11 of his gospel he stands at a graveside he stands just as he performed the first of his signs in that gospel at the behest of two women a bride and his mother I would judge he's now about to perform the seventh of the great signs at the behest of two women Mary and Martha as he stands in that graveside and he teaches Martha she shows great spiritual intelligence she understood that if the Lord had been there her brother would not have died nobody ever died in his presence she understood that he would be raised in the resurrection of the last day and she understood that whatever the Lord Jesus asked God would do it and then he says this to her Martha I am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die and there with a shout Lazarus came forth of course we're told by Paul in first Thessalonians 4 the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and the dead in Christ will rise first there'll also be an angelic voice an archangelic voice and we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air there'll also be the voice of a trumpet and John here in our verse he is the voice of a trumpet talking with me saying come up hither and as Paul taught the Thessalonians I would judge the trumpet corresponds to so shall we ever be with the Lord I think this is a picture the rapture is not really covered in this book of the revelation it's a prophetic book and in a strange sense the rapture is not a prophetic event it is the next event that will take us out of this scene and then the prophetic calendar will recommence and I would judge there's a little picture of it here the Lord Jesus in that gospel of John of course went on to clearly teach about the rapture chapter 14 chapter 17 and indeed his final request was this two things he asked father I would but though those whom thou has given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory and that great request that we may behold his glory I would judge is going to be fulfilled partially in these two chapters if we were taken tonight I think what we would then witness is the great master plan of God the title deeds as we're going to see in a moment to the universe placed in the hands of our saviour and God's man is going to start the calendar rolling again my little exercise tonight is to turn your minds away from earth and for a little while tonight just to turn them up to heaven to remind you there is a throne set in heaven you know John's circumstances were not good personally he was one of that little band of disciples those 11 that were with the Lord Jesus then a 12 added and then of course the apostle Paul in another sense the first of the little band to go was his brother I would judge by the time he's writing now as an old man in his 90s they've all gone almost all of them if not all of them martyred his brother first the holy spirit and the pen of scripture has been silent for nearly 25 years Paul and Peter had written 2nd Timothy and 2nd Peter and both of them had been martyred I think in a sense John could very accurately have said only I am left I often find it strange when I look at two brothers James and John and the first to be taken was James and it appears the very last was John it's not the way I would have done it but it's the way God did it and his ways are perfect John's personal circumstances are not good he's alone he's the last he's on the island of Patmos he's in isolation and he's locked down the circumstances of his nation were not good you'll remember from the gospel that he writes and from the narratives that he was a proud Jew he loved his nation he would be one of those who would ask the Lord Jesus when was he going to restore it all to them when was he going to remove their oppressors well now if he thought the oppression was bad in those days he'd lived to a ripe old age he'd lived through now I would judge he's now living in the days of the 11th Roman emperor he was probably born during the days of Augustus the first one he's seen that first group of five emperors descend to the disaster of Nero and then in a year there have been four emperors chaos in the political world chaos in the powers of this world and the man called Vespasian comes to the throne of Rome and he's got a son called Titus and in AD 70 Titus comes with his armies and he comes to the beloved city of Jerusalem and John finds out that the prophecy that the Lord Jesus had made would be so painfully fulfilled the city would be ransacked and not a stone left in another as the Roman hordes tore them apart to get the molten gold his nation was in turmoil his nation was in chaos they'd been removed the temple was destroyed I think many of us feel tonight that our nations are in turmoil that our western nations have turned their back on Christianity they try to call themselves post-christian societies but more and more they feel like anti-christian societies and then John can turn from not just his personal circumstances not just the national circumstances but he can turn to assembly circumstances they can't help but feel after being the one to record those seven letters that he must have felt a little bit discouraged five of those assemblies had received serious censure from the Lord Jesus two of them the first and the last had even been threatened with complete removal the only two that hadn't been censured the second one and the second last of them it says this one of them was suffering terrible persecution smirk and of the other one at Philadelphia it simply says this they had a little strength maybe I'm talking to somebody tonight and your personal circumstances are not what perhaps what you would want them to be and certainly I think for all of God's people we can say the circumstances in our nations I saw dear saints tonight coming on here from places like Venezuela and in many many nations tonight God's people feel the pain of man's disobedience and even in assembly testimony these are days unfortunately when many like five of those seven churches in Turkey that are written to in Revelation two and three have turned away from the truth of scripture and others in other parts of the world are suffering and even those that are going on sometimes only seem to have a little strength and all of a sudden after this I looked and a door was opened in heaven that's a wonderful prospect isn't it it could be tonight you know this is the man who beheld he does a lot of beholding does john a lot in his gospel and a lot in this book right at the beginning of his gospel he'd heard john the baptist say behold the lamb of God who birthed away the sin of the world and now john beholds he says I heard a word of a trumpet and immediately I was in the spirit and behold behold a throne was set in heaven that's wonderful isn't it in the chaos of earth in a Roman empire that had seen four emperors in AD 69 in a world that had descended to such an extent that the emperor now in his day was Domitian and he was the man who started the very serious persecution of some of the Christians in these very seven churches and the door is opened and a throne is set in heaven he tells us there's one sat on the throne we never read the rest of chapter four and if we had it gives you great detail of the scene round about and the four living creatures and the four and 20 elders and I don't want to go into that tonight I want to focus you more on something that perhaps just lifts our attention to three particular things at the beginning of verse three he gives us a description of the one who sits upon the throne he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone when we go into chapter five he tells us of something that sits in the right hand of him that sits upon the throne and that is a scroll and then he introduces us to somebody who's going to be the great character of the rest of this book he's simply called the lamb and I beheld as it were a lamb I'm going to suggest to you we just want to draw your attention to three things the throne the scroll and the lamb a power a plan and a person it is strange when you look at chapter four we all spend if this was a bible reading my we'd probably spend the whole of our time now debating about these four living creatures and these four and 20 elders and we'd probably lose out and all the wonderful things that are in these passages but it's not a bible reading so I've got the discretion of not even covering that if you want to know what I think you can email me and I'll tell you but you might not agree with me but what is interesting in verse three he gives us a description of the one who sits upon the throne that's very interesting he says he was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone well that's a very strange description isn't it good older brethren used to teach us that one of the ways to look at your bible is to look for a law of first mention and when you come to the jasper and sardine stone if you want to go back and look for the law of first mention you'll find them back in exodus and in chapter 28 and what you've got there is a description of the 12 stones that are on the breastplate of a high priest and the jasper and the sardine are the last and the first of the 12 stones now that's interesting in itself because that immediately opens your mind to how the lord jesus is described in this book he's the alpha and the omega he's the first and the last he's the beginning and the end and this one who sits upon the throne is to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone the last and the first now if those stones are representative of the tribes the way they were born i'm sure most of you are aware that the jasper being the 12th one would represent benjamin being the 12th of jacob's children to be born you'll remember rachel when benjamin was born was suffering in childbirth and sadly she died and she wanted to call the child ben-oni and the scripture tells us what it means the son of my sorrow but jacob intervened and said no he'll be called ben yarman as we would say benjamin the son of my right hand you could have gone all the way back of course to the very first of jacob's children the one represented perhaps by the sardine stone and he has the syllable ben which means son in his name his name was ruben his mother leah felt that she was the unloved wife in those sad domestic circumstances which had departed from god's pattern and she said i'm going to call him ruben behold a son and she thought that that would solve their problems it isn't it interesting if those are the two stones and we'll give you an alternative in a moment behold a son the son of my right hand here's john who tells us in his opening verses of his gospel concerning the lord jesus he says no man has seen god at any time the only begotten who is in the of the father he hath declared him it's paul writing to the colossians who tells us he is the image of the invisible god it's the writer to the hebrews in his opening chapter who tells us this he is the expressed image of his person i would judge if we want to see god we can only see him in the person of the lord jesus you can see him nowhere else even the creation where of course we see god is entirely the work of the lord jesus that's part of the great truth of colossians one and hebrews one and isn't it interesting the description of the one who sits upon the throne is behold the son the son of my right hand but i want to move on from the description of the one who sits upon the throne this is a throne that is set for judgment it's important we realize that and in a moment we're going to see the lord jesus take a scroll because that's the next thing that john observes chapter five and verse one he says in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne there was a book written or a scroll written within and on the back side sealed with seven seals now what is this well i would judge it's a good idea to go for the law of first mention again and go back in your bible and try and find yourself a scroll written within on the back side and sealed now once they had seven seals but you need to go back to the book of jeremiah and you'll need to go to chapter 32 i believe this is very significant that it's in chapter 32 too because what's in chapter 31 of jeremiah is the great truth of the new covenant many people today will try and tell us there is no distinction between the nation of israel and the church i want to tell you jeremiah 31 and 32 to my mind are an indication very clearly that there is you see there's a new covenant and it's going to replace an old covenant but what is it going to replace it's not going to make replace the covenant that was made regarding the land with abraham and it's not going to replace the covenant that was made with david regarding leadership regarding the throne oh no no no no those covenants were one-sided covenants they were entirely of god and they're unmovable and unchangeable that i believe is why the very first verse of the new testament says this the generation of jesus christ the son of david the son of abraham what was going to be replaced and what is jeremiah is prophesying is that the covenant of law sinai is going to be replaced but the covenants that were made with abraham for the land and with david for the throne they are part of the purpose of god and will never change and so in jeremiah 32 a remarkable thing happens jeremiah can hear nebuchadnezzar and his hordes approaching and god says to him jeremiah buy a piece of land now i would have to say if i was jeremiah i think i might have a little bit of peter might have stirred up in me and i might have said just a little minute lord i can hear these fellas and i don't think nebuchadnezzar is going to be interested in entitled deeds and i don't think he's going to have any ifs or buts but jeremiah was obedient and he bought the land from his relative hananiel he bought land in jerusalem land in jerusalem when it was about to be overrun in fact he was the very prophet who had predicted that the catastrophe that was going to happen and it certainly did happen and he bought that land and he took two scrolls and they were written within and on the back side and one scroll was sealed and one scroll was left open and they were placed in a jar and they were buried what were they their title deeds their title deeds because one day jeremiah's land will be possessed one day god's promises to that nation will be fulfilled but beyond that this scroll that we're now looking at is another set of title deeds there's a sealed scroll and i would judge there's an open scroll the open scroll is in front of me and in front of most of you right now and when you read through revelations 6 to 19 you can read the open scroll but there is a sealed scroll these events are held in the hand of the one who sits upon the throne they are the title deeds to the universe and as john sits there in looks a strong angel proclaims who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose the seals thereof and then john tells us in verse 3 there was a search there was a search of heaven you would have thought that was the starting place nobody found in heaven tries earth no one found on earth tries under the earth those that have lived and gone before nobody there not only could nobody open it says the end of verse 3 they couldn't even look upon it they couldn't even look upon it you know if we read chapter 4 that was an awesome scene there were thunderings and lightnings and a sea of glass and an emerald rainbow and these living creatures and these 24 elders and they were on throats and it was an awesome scene nobody could look at the book never mind walk through the midst of that and be exposed to all the scrutiny of the impeccable presence of god and john says i wept much now please remember john is only there in spirit we know from the latter part of this book there'll be no tears in heaven the two of my favorite verses in the bible one in the psalms god has got our tears in a bottle and there's one in this lovely book and he's going to take his finger the finger of the almighty and he's going to remove every individual tear from the eye of his people what a wondrous wondrous truth that is what a wonderful god we have this little series i see these looking for refuge you can find no greater refuge my friend if there's somebody on tonight who's not a believer i urge you in the light of the judgment of these chapters that follow from six onwards take refuge in the person of the lord jesus there's a god who gently and lovingly wants to take you and he wants to remove every tear from your eyes and he wants to forgive your sins and he wants to take you one day into his presence ah here is this throne and john weeks much nobody was found worthy to open the book neither to read the book neither to look thereon and then verse five says but one of the elders saith unto me now you can have a little think about that that's one of the 24 i would judge virtually every number in this book should be taken literally a thousand years seven years three and a half years time and times and half a time 1260 days 1290 days i would take every single one of them literally and i would take the four and 20 literally as well i think there's 24 of whatever they are personally i think they're angels you may not agree but one of them one of them saith unto me we know we know and then he starts to introduce us to somebody behold he says behold there's another behold he says behold the lion of the tribe of judah the root of david oh now we're getting familiar verses now aren't we familiar ideas remember what the lord jesus remember that occasion when they they tried to catch him out they thought they could ask him hard questions he started to ask them some questions one of them he said now look at david he says the lord said unto my lord now who comes first david or his lord and now we've got the same idea here's one he's the lion of the tribe of judah he's going to come from judah but he's the root of david well not just david but he's the one who said before abraham was i am well now i want to just take you back to that jasper and that side and stone for another moment you see maybe it is that those 12 stones on the high priest's breastplate were not organized according to their birth maybe they're organized according to their tribes in fact that's the expression that's used and maybe they're organized on that breastplate in the way they camped around the tabernacle in four rows of three rows and columns in the hebrew are just the same and if that is the case the first and the last now well judah is the first to break camp the western the eastern camp rather and judah was the first tribe to break up the last camp to come was the camp of dan on the northern side and the last tribe was the tribe of naftali we'd have to look at rachel again and her naming of children now naftali of course dan and naftali were both born to bilhar rachel's handmaid and when naftali was born she said i'm going to call her naftali it means wrestling and this is what she says i'm going to call them it because i have prevailed now have a little look at what we have in verse five one of the elders sat on to me we'd not behold the lion of the tribe of judah the root of david hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof if you look in your margin like mine you might discover that that word prevailed has been used before in this book it's to overcome and seven times in chapter two and chapter three a promise has been made by the lord jesus to him that overcometh and if the last of those promised he says this even as i have overcome and i've sat down at the right hand of his father even as he had overcome he's prevailed so says the elder to john i want you to see one who's the lion of the tribe of judah he's got the sovereign right to these title deeds but not only has he got the sovereign right he's earned the right he's prevailed to open the book and loose the seals thereof and now we've got another of john's beholds verse six and i beheld when the lord jesus says his desire is that you and i might behold his glory well if as many of my lovely fellow christians believe we're going to go through the tribulation we're not going to behold these events of chapter four and five of the revelation but my judgment is that we're not going to go through the tribulation before the terrible events of chapter 6 to 19 take place we'll be removed i think john is a little picture over here just as lazarus was a little picture away back in john 11 and john beheld and in the midst of the throne the awesomeness and in the midst of these four living creatures these amazing creatures some similarities to eagle but clearly with characteristics that speak of the awesomeness of the one who sits upon the throne and in the midst of these four and twenty he didn't see a lion he saw a lamb and not just a lamb a little lamb the word for the lamb the little victim and the marks of sacrifice are still on this little lamb oh this lamb is going to be a mighty lamb before we get to the end of this book he's a lamb on a horse he's a lamb it's going to rain but the first little glimpse we get of him here he's a lamb as if it had just been slain i can't help but think of thomas who stood and beheld the marks on his blessed savior of what it had cost him to provide his salvation he fell down he cried my lord and my god i don't think it's just hymnology i do suspect that we'll see the marks and we'll behold in a moment in the twinkling of an eye and the only evidence that will ever be left of the works of man will be the horrible marks that they made in our blessed savior and we'll behold as it were a lamb breathlessly he gives us a description i'm not going to go into it but i want to suggest that those seven horns are an indication of he's one who's got absolute perfect power and the idea of seven eyes is perfect perception he's going to rule perfectly our world right now is ripe for a man of sin we could go around the world tonight and we could see that things have were waxed worse and worse that the basest of men in many places have come to power the world is desperate for a man who can solve their problems and one is going to appear and they're going to flock after him they're going to go after him wholesale but while they on earth are going wholesale after the antichrist we will have been removed you know if we read chapter 4 we have read this that the seven spirits of god were before the throne i believe that is an indication that when we are removed god removes the holy spirit completely evil will wax forth on this world on a scale that is beyond our imagination for all restraint second thessalonians 2 has been removed the church and the holy spirit who indwells have been taken out of the scene that's why i think he's described as the seven spirits and now he's going to have to be sent forth again into that tribulation scene he's going to be sent forth and those 144 000 evangelists and an innumerable company sadly i would judge an innumerable company which does not include folks who have rejected the gospel in this day and age but will be those and there are many to whom the gospel will go out to in those awful days you know in luke's gospel chapter 4 the lord jesus opened his scroll he took the scroll from the hand of the attendant in the synagogue in the town of nazareth square in words that are beyond our comprehension the holy spirit says he was brought on he took the scroll and he read from isaiah and he read about the acceptable year of the lord and about the need to present the gospel and he closed the book in the middle of what we would call a verse the second half of the verse says this and the day of vengeance of our god and i would judge that since he opened the book in luke chapter 4 we've been in the acceptable year of the lord what a god we have the day of grace is figuratively spoken of as an acceptable year and the day of judgment is only spoken of as a day but we are on the brink of the day of vengeance of our god and the events that are going to bring it in are going to start when this lamb takes this scroll out of the hand of the one who sits upon the throne and these seven spirits of god are then sent forth into all the earth and it says he came and he took the scroll verse seven out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne and then a great great cascade of praise commences now for the sake of time and i'm glad we did it i've only read one of the three doxologies and we're only going to look at one of them it starts off with a great song in verse eight and in particular that song is from the four and twenty elders i personally think that the pronouns are not correct in our good authorized king james version and they're not singing about themselves they're singing about another company they're singing about us in my view and then when we come to verse 11 they are joined by many angels and by the four living creatures they always seem to be associated by the way with the four living creatures and so now a company of many angels of the four and twenty elders and of the four living creatures a company which numbers at least 104 million times ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands in verses 13 and 14 a third triumphant doxology takes place and every creature in heaven and earth and under the earth join in i think it's a little similar to romans 8 the whole creation groaneth it's waiting and when the lamb takes the scroll out of the hand of the one who sits upon the throne the groans of the creation are turned into an acclamation of praise and worship as the master of the universe takes his rightful place but i just want to look with you at the middle doxology revelation i'm sure you're aware we don't need a voice from liverpool to tell you it was the last book in our new testament and matthew's gospel we've already quoted is the first book in our new testament i was interested just looking at the wonderful contrasts between them but i want you to think particularly with me of this doxology there's a voice of many angels and as we've said along with the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures they're numbered at ten thousand by ten thousand it was mr flanagan from northern ireland who used to tell us that's at least 104 million i stole that little bit from him and verse 12 says this saying with a loud voice worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power riches wisdom strength honor glory and blessing now in our last few minutes i just want you to think of those i want you to go back to matthew's gospel power matthew 26 verse 57 says this they led him away to be crucified didn't appear did it that there was much power there of course there was he could tell pilot you could have no power at all except it was given you but in his case all power was given unto him he saw he chose to exercise his prerogative of restraint and he held it back he could have called those legions of angels just look back at what one angel did in old testament times and think what legions would have done but now the one who was led away is going to have all power in matthew age it says this he said this the foxes of holes the birds of the earth nest the son of man has nowhere to lay his head you think of all the things he had to borrow the place where he was born the coin to pay the taxes the room that he celebrated the passover and the institute of the lord's supper the boat that he preached from the colt the foal of an ass that he rode upon and even the tomb that they laid him in they would all borrow mind you the tomb was given back in exactly the condition that he got it there was no corruption it was still like a new tomb now that one who had nowhere to lay his head is not only going to have all power but all riches we sing don't we he owns the cattle on a thousand hills the wealth and every man oh say these throngs in heaven to him be power and riches wisdom do you know what they said to him in matthew 12 he has a devil and he's mad but not now the myriads on high proclaim his wisdom they think of his strength matthew 21 isn't it their king comes meek and lowly sitting on it and asked the colt the foal of an ass oh not in this gospel in revelation 19 he's on a white charger this one now who seemingly in weakness meekness of course is not weakness but the meek one is now coming in strength and honor in matthew 27 and verse 39 it says this as they took him and they crucified him they reviled him you think of the mockery and the jibes of men if you be the christ come down from the cross save yourself and us said the two felons although one of them repented thankfully now he's not going to be reviled the throng say honor and glory well in matthew 27 they gave him a crown it was a crown of thorns they put a reed in his hand they took a piece and held it to his mouth like a king's cup and they did it all in mockery but now he's going to have many diadems he's going to have power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and as i close i just want you to think of the last one blessing blessing matthew 27 verse 35 says this they crucified him the scripture says cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree paul tells us he was made a curse for us and now it's blessing there are beautiful pictures and patterns in our bible our bible starts with a tree in a garden and our bible finishes with a tree in a garden in genesis it's a tree of knowledge of good and evil and they're banished before ever they partake of the tree of life in revelation it is the tree of life it's for the healing or perhaps better the preserving of the nations i once looked up the words in the bible for a tree the new testament words they're very interesting if you're talking about a living organism Zacchaeus of that sycamore tree the scripture speaks of the fig tree it speaks of the olive tree they are all the word for a living organism a tree that is in the ground planted has life and is growing but then there's another word he bore our sins in his own body on the tree that's the word that the lord jesus uses when he says if these things be done in a green tree it's been cut off it's no longer a living organism it's no longer a tree with life it's a stump they came to take him with staves that's the same word it's the word that's used of the cross but most interestingly when you look up the word for the tree of life in the book of the revelation now you would automatically think surely it has to be the word for the living organism the word that's used of the sycamore tree and of the the fig tree and of the olive tree and all of the other trees but it's not it's the greek use word that's used for the stone for the tree for the cross for their own jew that our savior was crucified on i think it's to remind us that every blessing that we have a bible that started with the tree in a garden and man's terrible failure a first man in perfect conditions who failed miserably a second man in far from perfect conditions who never failed once and it all finishes with the tree in a garden but it reminds us of a stomp outside a city wall where he took the handwriting of ordinances that were against us and he nailed them to his cross tonight my friend whatever your circumstances are dear brother dear sister and they might be like john's they might not be great and they might not be great personally and they might not be great nationally and they might not even be great assembly wise you might have great disappointments i want you just to turn your eyes tonight and remember this at any moment you might hear the voice of a trumpet saying come up and there'll be a throne set in heaven and there'll be one who sits upon it and the title deeds to a universal in a hand and your savior the lamb who bears the marks of calvary will take those title deeds out of hand of the one who sits upon the throne and the plan of god will roll into action again oh what a wonderful thing for the child of god but what an awesome thing for those who are outside of christ i appeal tonight anybody listening maybe family's listening and you're not saved put your trust in the savior and those of you who had look for his coming in a moment in the twinkling of an eye we trust that god may bless his word to each and every one of us shall we pray father we praise thee again tonight for the blessed person of the lord jesus the scripture says he's a gift beyond description the gift of the son of thy lord he's an unspeakable gift now god in our own little feeble way tonight we've tried to say something of him we pray father that all of us like people would think well of him we pray father that as some of us go into a day it will be a day when we have thoughts of him as some of us are at the end of a day and would hope to lie in our beds tonight it would be with thoughts of him we pray father that in this sad world we might declare something of him the men and women and boys and girls round about us and that before he takes that scroll out of the hand of the one who sits upon the throne there might still be many who would be gathered in in salvation we ask these things tonight father remembering the saints who are with us and thanking before them remembering saints who would love to be with us have not been able to thinking of those who are laid aside thinking of those who mourn tonight we ask father that thou will bring them the comfort that the god who shall wipe away all tears is able to bring we commit thy people to thee wherever they may be across this globe tonight we ask for thy blessing upon them we commit a sad world and pray that thy salvation might come to many we ask these things then and return they our thanksgivings in the precious name of the lord jesus christ amen