The Lord of
Glory—The Book of
Revelation
Rick Joyner
When the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the
throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,
the
twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and worship Him
who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power;
for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were
created" (Rev. 4:9-11)
Here we see that even the highest authorities in heaven, the twenty-four
elders, cast their crowns before the Lord. Who could presume glory or authority
in His presence? The four living beings and the highest elders all worship Him,
giving Him glory and honor because all things exist by His will: “In
Him we live, and move, and have our being” (see Acts 17:28). Even
those who do not acknowledge Him cannot draw a breath without Him.
Because we were
created for His pleasure, there is nothing more fulfilling or exhilarating than
worshipping Him. Before His throne and glory, it is impossible not to worship
Him. This is meaningful to Him, but it can be even more meaningful when we go
through this life against the opposition of the hordes of hell. We only see Him
by faith, but we still worship Him. Therefore, our worship here in this life
can touch Him more than it can in heaven where we cannot help but bow before
Him. So do not waste your trials, but rather worship, constantly offering the
thanksgiving and praise that He so deserves. When we do this while facing all
that we do here, it becomes a witness, even to principalities and powers that
the Lamb prevailed over.
We are called to
not only see His throne as we obey the voice to “come up here,” but we are also
called to sit with Him on this throne (see Ephesians 2:6 and Revelation 3:21).
This begins with seeing His throne by the Spirit, but how do we go from seeing
to occupying? Seeing the Lord—who He is and where He sits—can bring about the
greatest single change in our life. However, this is not supposed to be a
onetime experience. We are called to “sit” with Him there—to abide in His
authority. This must be real and practical, like all biblical truths that have
become life to us.
Psalm 78 is an
overview of Israel’s history with God, how they experienced His goodness and
yet turned away from Him over and over. In verses 41-42 we are told:
“Again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They did
not remember His power: the day when He redeemed them from the
enemy.”
Consider that
they “limited God.” How could anyone do that? We do it all the time. We do it
the same way Israel did, by not remembering His power.
The Lord is the
Almighty and all powerful. He can do whatever He pleases as far as power is
concerned. He has purposely limited Himself in some ways, requiring that we
have faith in Him before He will move on our behalf. It was said of Jesus that
He could not do many works in His hometown because of their unbelief. So we
limit God when we do not believe in His power, and we release Him to use His
power on our behalf when we believe in His power.
So we should
continually seek to see Him—who He is and where He sits—on His throne that is
above all other powers or authorities. We do this by seeking to see Him in
everything that we’re doing, and including Him in all parts of our life.
When the Lord was asked His name, He said that it is “I Am.” His name was not
“I Was” or “I Will Be,” but “I Am.” It is a good thing to know the history of
the Lord’s dealings with men and how He came as Jesus of Nazareth. But He is no
longer Jesus of Nazareth—He is the Lord of Glory who sits on a throne of
authority above all others. It is a good thing to see Him as the coming King,
but the way we must see Him today is who He is today. That’s why we are exhorted
by the Scriptures, “Today if you hear His voice,” and “now
is the time, and “today is the day of salvation.”
How would our lives be changed if we remembered the Lord’s power when facing
every challenge that comes to us, and prayed with faith for His intervention?
What would happen if we stopped limiting God by not remembering His power, and
started releasing Him and His power into the earth by always seeing Him as He
is now, where He sits now, and even began to sit there with Him? We would begin
to live one of the most extraordinary and powerful lives ever. That is our
calling.