Revelation 4:1-3

John described what he saw Revelation 4:1-3 : After the letters had been completed to the seven churches John saw a door opened in heaven. The voice of the Son of God is heard by John and is compared to the sound of a trumpet. Just as the Spirit lifted Ezekiel up so John was called up into heaven to see things concerning God and the church. John was shown things that would come to pass in the church, the world and in the Roman Empire. The things shown to John were things that "must be." John was made again to understand that there is a close connection between how a person lives his life upon earth and what happens to him at the great Judgment Day.

John used the figure of the open door in several senses in the book of Revelation. The "open door" pictured opportunity for sinners to correct their situations. (Revelation 3:8) The door is also used to represent the "human heart." (Revelation 3:20) Now in Revelation four "a door" is a picture of the entrance into heaven itself. The reality of heaven is greater than any description we have of it.

John is focused on the occupied throne. All the other things in the vision are described in relationship to this throne. In the mind of the atheist there is no throne. The humanist says there is a throne, but man is upon it. There is a throne for the Christian and the Almighty sits upon this throne. As the sovereign God, Jehovah has the right to be one the throne in heaven. We will never get it right in life until we understand that God is on the throne and has the right to rule our lives.