John had to decide that although his freedom was limited in his prison, his spirit and soul were free in Christ.
A look at the sky
Revelation 4:1
1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was open in heaven. The first voice that I heard, like the sound of a trumpet, speaking to me, said: Come up here, and I will show you what will happen hereafter.
The disciple John was exiled to the island of Patmos, where he had to serve a prison sentence, because of the Gospel. His body was imprisoned, but Jean’s spirit was beyond where he was. God saw fit to keep John there until God’s time and purpose had been fulfilled.
I wonder if John would have had the time to draw near to God and in the Spirit in this way, if he had the freedom to preach wherever he wanted? I wonder if we would never have had the revelation of Revelation, and the events to come? Maybe that’s a lesson we all need to learn. God will put us where he wants for his own reasons, which we will not always be able to understand.
I wonder how many times John questioned God? Why, Lord, am I confined to this island while the multitudes die without Christ? Why am I here, what did I do to deserve this punishment. Yes, I’m happy to suffer for the cause of Christ, but could my life be more productive for building God’s Kingdom than sitting on this island? Wouldn’t it have been better if I preached from town to town, establishing churches, training pastors and teachers, or holding revival meetings? Am I only good for this place? But you are God and your will is sovereign. I will trust and adore you no matter my circumstances! I know you are always there.
– Paul and Silas sang the praises of the Lord in the prison. John was in the Spirit of the Lord in the prison. Men had bound them, but could not prevent them from being free in Christ, their bondage could not prevent them from fully experiencing the miracle of God.
– God opened the curtain between heaven and earth and opened a door to heaven for John to hear God’s voice and see things that no one had ever seen before. What an experience that must have been for John, going from a Roman prison to the glorious freedom of the throne of God!
As I watch this event, I am reminded that God always opens this door for those who will turn to Him and listen to His voice. God wants us to be able to see what He has in store for those who love Him. He also wants us to see what is in store for those who reject Him.
The first thing John heard was God saying to him, “Come up here!” If we are ever to experience the glory of God in our lives, we must learn to draw near to God and leave the things of this world behind. God wants us to wait on him. God wants us to rise above illness, poverty, rejection, injustice. He wants us to ride on eagles’ wings to higher places in Him.
God wants every sinner, bound by sin, to be freed from their chains of slavery. Rise above our problems! Rise above our difficulties!
Ephesians 2:6
6 He raised us up together, and seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Let’s understand God’s promise! If only we would open the door of our heart and then look to heaven, we would see that Jesus has opened wide the doors of eternal life giving us free access to come to him.
John was asked to “Come up here.” » There is always a higher realm, a higher experience in the Lord. John was elevated to another plane in the Spirit. He was taken to the throne of God. Here he saw divinity incarnate in the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw myriads of the redeemed from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, worshiping the Lamb who had redeemed them with his blood, called to be kings and priests to God. Somewhere in this vast multitude, John saw you and me.
We have a place reserved for us before the throne. We did not obtain this place by our good works or our merits, nor because of our performance. But obtained for us by the blood of Jesus.
Titus 3:5
5 He has saved us, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, through the baptism of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
We were predestined “to come here” to be conformed to the image of the living Christ and to be before the throne of God eternally with Him.
Romans 8:29
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be like the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers.
We were foreknown before all eternity, before we were conceived in our mother’s womb, to be a partaker of the great feast at the throne of God as one of the redeemed. We were also predestined to be an epistle, known and read by all men who live, as we proclaim the good news of the kingdom.
We are predestined to manifest the presence of the living God in our daily lives and to be an extension of His person and His presence, His heart and His character.
There is a place in Him. “HERE”, the things of the earth fade and lose their importance. Jean has no comfort on the island of Patmos, but that didn’t matter. He had “gone up here” with his Lord. John was no longer aware of the cruel conditions of his imprisonment while in the Spirit. We also strive to enter a higher level in Spirit where our earthly concerns are no longer important, where the things that easily assail us will be considered secondary.
At this higher level we can see that the things of this earth are temporary, they will perish. Therefore, we do not work for the treasures of this world which will perish in the blazing fire, but we work for the eternal things of the kingdom of God.
Matthew 6:25
25 Therefore I say to you, Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Luke 12:30
30 For all these things the heathen of the world seek. Your Father knows you need it.
Matthew 6:33
33 Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to you.
He knows what I need and has promised to provide if I seek His kingdom. He knows my temptations, He knows my weariness, he knows the fragility of my flesh and has made provision for it.
