Revelation 4:1-6, 8-11

When people discuss the rapture of the church, the talk usually turns to the effects of the church’s absence and God’s judgment on earth. What will the world be like without the church and followers of Christ?

Our curiosity naturally leads us to think about these things, but John directs our attention away from the place from which people are raptured and to the place to which we will be raptured.

John had a vision in which he saw “a door standing open in heaven,” an invitation that only God could have extended. The only things we know about heaven are those God has made known.

John described the first voice he heard as being like a “trumpet talking with me.” John had heard the Lord’s voice before and he described it in a similar way, saying it was “a great voice, as of a trumpet (Rev. 1:10). In the fourth chapter he heard the voice say, “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” Only the Lord could invite John to come up, and only He is able to show the things that must occur in the future.

Being “in the spirit,” John saw this vision as clearly as if he were standing in the middle of each scene. A throne, John said, is in heaven and he saw God sitting on that throne. While he could not describe the One sitting on the throne, John saw the brilliance and glory of the presence of God. There was light that glowed as if it poured through gem stones. There was a rainbow the color of an emerald, and it formed a circle around the throne. Now, we see only the arc of a rainbow, but in heaven everything is complete.

John saw 24 elders clothed in white and wearing crowns of gold seated on thrones. These elders represent the people redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In front of the throne there was a “sea of glass,” representing God’s purity and holiness.

Four beasts, or living creatures, sang day and night. There are many thoughts as to the symbolism presented by these creatures. Matthew Henry said they represent the gospel and the church. I believe we will be so filled with joy that we are going to sing almost constantly.

God so graciously opened heaven’s door that we might see through John’s vision the glory and beauty of heaven. In His wisdom, our Father deemed it best to place a wide gulf between earth and heaven. By faith, we believe heaven is a real place, and why shouldn’t we believe it is a real place? Most of us have never travelled to Europe. A wide gulf separates us from those countries, but we know they lie on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Heaven is real, and it is filled with life. Many people, including our loved ones who have gone before us, are very much alive today. They are living in the presence of God’s glory and they finally know lasting joy and peace.

The apostle Paul said: “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Cor, 13:12).

The Sunday school lesson is written by Ed Wilcox, pastor of Centerville Baptist Church. He can be reached at [email protected].