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Text Sermons : Classic Christian Writings : A Heart In Harmony With The Throne Room Of God By Al Whittinghill

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Edited from a message delivered at the "Heart-Cry for Revival" Conference near Asheville, North Carolina, April, 2002

God has two throne rooms: one in the highest heaven and one in the lowliest of hearts. In these lowly, humble hearts God in great mercy has taken out the old, sinful heart and has put within a new heart, a heart that can know God, a heart in which is written the Word of Life and His own laws. In these hearts He is pleased to establish His throne. When Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, it changed his perspective to a heavenly one. It humbled his personality and gave him a holy purpose. When he wrote the words we find in Isaiah 57:15, he wrote directly from the heart of God, giving a revelation to us of the person who has a new heart: "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." The humble dwell with Him in His throne room.

In Isaiah 66:1-2 we see His other throne room: "Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest? [Where is the place that man could ever make for a habitation of God?] For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." When this man hears the word of God, he’s moved on the inside. He’s walking in the fear of God. He respects the Lord. "This is the person," God says, "in whom I will establish My throne room."

In the world system when something is broken, it is set aside. But in the Kingdom of God, He sets aside unbroken things. It is the precious, broken things that He uses to confound the wise and show the world His great glory through vessels of clay.

Our Lord Jesus emptied Himself. He who was the fullness of the Godhead bodily came from heaven, and He was tabernacled or veiled in flesh. Jesus was crucified. His blood was shed for you and me. He was buried, raised, ascended, and enthroned by the Father, and now He sends His Holy Spirit back into the world.

We sing, "Come into my heart, Lord Jesus," but He does not come as some ambiguous spirit. He comes to enthrone Himself in our throne room, to the broken, to the humble, to the contrite, to those who come knowing that they need the cross and that they’re a sinner who has no hope apart from the precious Blood of Jesus. They tear the veil of their flesh, and into their inner man, the spirit man, comes the risen, radiant Lord Jesus Christ. He is enthroned, and the Father’s throne room finds a place in us.

It is the secret place of your life. You have an outer court (a body); you have a soul that is like a holy place (volition, intellect, and aspects of your soul); but in the inner man is the spirit, the lamp of the Lord. In that secret place of the Most High, He wants to live. The Bible says, "You are not your own…you are bought with a price" (1 Cor. 6:19-20). You have the Holy Spirit in you if you’re a Christian and it’s of God’s doing. He’s placed Him in the hidden man of the heart. In your heart He wants to be enthroned in majesty and in power. He wants to establish His Lordship as it says in Romans 14:8-9, that to this end Christ was crucified and buried and revived that He might be the Lord of the dead and the living. He wants to establish "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven." "Forever, O Lord, thy word is established in the heavens" (Psalm 119:89), but we have the privilege of giving it a settling place on earth. When He comes we can "reign in life" (Rom. 5:17), not we reign, but He reigns in us. We reign in life by the Lord Jesus. He wants Christ in me to be the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).

We have to come into an inner agreement—the throne room of our heart with God’s throne room. If you want to know what’s to be in your heart, if you want to know the attitude and atmosphere and what’s supposed to fill your heart, then you need to look at what is going on in the throne room of God. Whatever wouldn’t fit there mustn’t fit here. Whatever is going on there has to fit here. That’s the great key. In any aspect of revival, it is when God’s throne room is felt and known.

Jesus said, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you" (Luke 17:21). He also said, "The Kingdom of Heaven comes not with observation" (Luke 17:20). This means it comes by revelation; it comes as God unveils Himself to the eyes of your heart, and you see Him high and lifted up. You see Him as the song says, "Beyond the sacred page." It’s when you’ve heard something beyond the human ear. Eye hath not seen; ear hath not heard, but God has prepared good things and He shows them to us by His Spirit (1 Cor. 2:9-10). God wants in your heart the same atmosphere, the same attitude, the same adoration, the same attention, the same authority that you see around the throne room of God. This is His will for your life.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts, saith the Lord" (Isa. 55:9). We must have an elevated perspective. There must be a reality shift in us. It’s the upward call of God. I have to be like Paul who said, "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are [temporary] but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18). It’s the secret of the saints of old. They lived in the throne room of God.

It’s walking in His presence. "In thy presence is fullness of joy" (Psa. 16:11). This is not something we strive to attain. This is a pure gift of grace. If you’re a Christian you’re living in the heavenlies, and you’re seated with Christ by faith on the Life-side of the cross. You never forsake the cross, because it is to the broken and the contrite and those who take up the cross that the light shines through. Flesh and blood cannot reveal it to you but the Father which is in heaven (Matt. 16:17).

Have you seen beyond your church activities? Have you seen that you have the privilege of living without ceasing in the throne room of God and that He is saying, "Come unto Me, and come boldly by the Blood of Jesus to the throne of grace? There you will find that your needs are totally met in Me."

You are a joint-heir with Christ (Rom. 8:17). But you have to have a new heart to appreciate it, and you have to guard that heart because who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who can stand in His holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who guards his heart and doesn’t take liberties (Psa. 24:3,4).

The Harps of Heaven

I’ve been studying about the harp. As I was reading in the Book of Revelation studying heaven’s throne room, I found that above all the sound of the praise and adoration, and above all the glory of it, in Revelation 14 and 15, in those first verses as John is caught up, it says, "I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps and they sang as it were a new song before the throne of God…" In the Old Testament sometimes they would have a thousand harps harping. Harps were identified with worship.

The harp is a picture of the human heart. Have you ever heard anyone say, "That struck a chord in my heart"? The harp is an instrument of praise. That’s why it says we’re to be singing and making melody in our heart to the Lord. He’s given us a new song. There is an instrument of praise in the inner sanctuary that is supposed to match up with what I’m reading in Revelation 15:1: "And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues…; and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb…"—a song of deliverance. Those who see Him most clearly in the universe are singing about His atonement; they‘re singing about His cross. Nowhere else are we told of other activity of the saints in heaven, those who are the redeemed ones washed in the Blood.

I’ve heard that if you take a harp and strike any note or chord on the harp and put a silent harp beside it, very soon the strings of the same note or chord on the silent harp, will begin to vibrate. They call it "sympathetic vibrations." The second harp will pick up the vibrations of the first harp and there will be a resonation. If you have no song in your heart, hold your silent harp up next to the glorious worship sounds in Heaven.

Do You Tune Your Heart?

How do you tune your heart? There are at least three ways that the Bible suggests:

An open Bible in the presence of God. Beyond the sacred page, seek the living Word, the Rhema of God. As you are in the Scriptures and your heart is lifted, you’re brought into a growing agreement with the mind of God, renewed in the spirit of your mind, sanctified by the renewal of your mind. As you learn His thoughts and the mind of Christ shines through the Word of God and you hide that living Word in your heart, your heart is tuned to agree with God. Agreeing with God in a daily, deepening basis, is simply a deepening daily repentance, turning from your old way of thinking. It is an exchanged mind, the mind of Christ instead of the mind of this world and flesh which is all that we’ve ever had.

As more and more every day you come to the Lord with an unveiled face, beholding as in the Word of God the very face of the Lord Jesus, as you worship Him, you are being changed even by the Spirit of God into that same image that you behold in the mirror of the Word. As you see Him in His light you have light.

Secondly, time alone with God in prayer. It is not just reading His Word and having heaven open, but it is hearing His voice. It is trembling at His Word, hearing that holy resonation of the living God opening to us, the Holy Spirit taking the things of Christ and showing them to us. As you are in prayer, being still, holding your heart next to that throne room of God and knowing Him, your heart begins to tremble, and you are changed.

And a third thing: adjustment by godly saints. I need their fellowship and they need me. God will show something of what He is like through other saints, and by His Spirit will adjust my heart to agree with that reality. We see the blending of His heavenly will and the sharing of His heart and sympathy as we gather together in His name. When there is honest communication and a meeting together at the throne of God, the power of His presence is released in our lives corporately. How clearly this is seen in those first chapters of Acts.

I must decrease that Christ might increase. And it’s the old, precious cross taken, not just a cross but the cross. It is no longer I but Christ. The cross as revealed to me—a sinner is pardoned; the cross revealed in me—the saint is purified; the cross revealed through me—the Saviour is proclaimed to a world that has no answers except the one He has put in your heart as a stewardship. You have to have the throne room of the Lamb there.

The Lord wants to raise our perspective to His. He wants us to sing and make melody in our hearts. Too many of us have lost that great wonder and astonishment and the awe that I think is the fear of the Lord, a sensing of who He is in the holiness of His presence. Do words like wonder, and astonishment, and amazement, and admiration, and fascination describe our worship?

If we have lost touch with the throne room of God, might the Lord tune our hearts by time alone in His Word. Might He open the Scriptures to us. Our hearts will begin to burn as we take the page and He shows to us the Lord Jesus Christ. When was the last time you were totally amazed alone, in the presence of God? You didn’t have any words. All you could do was just be in awe. Has it happened to you recently? We’re supposed to live there. We’re supposed to live in that holy presence. Until we are in the real and permanent throne room of God, we need to get a vision, a revelation like Isaiah, of the Lord Jesus high and lifted up.

The Throne Room Above

John the Beloved knew Jesus as well as anyone on this earth. He saw the miracles Jesus performed; he walked with Him; he knew so much of what we think we know on a tangible level. But when John was on Patmos and he was praying in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, he heard a voice and as he looked around he saw Him who is the High Priest of the throne room of the Kingdom of Heaven. He wilted and he became as a dead man. He saw Him whose eyes were as a flame of fire, whose voice was like many waters, whose hair was white like wool, whose face was brighter than the noonday sun. He who laid his head on Jesus’ chest at the last supper, and could have heard his natural heartbeat in His chest, when he saw Jesus as He is today, with the glory He had with His Father before the foundation of the world, he fell at His feet as a dead man. The Lord Jesus in grace said, "Fear not; I am He that was dead. I am alive forever more. I want to show you something."

The Lord showed Himself to John and showed him the consummation of all things. In the first three chapters of Revelation, Jesus revealed Himself where He loves to live—in His churches. Revelation chapters 4 and 5 are put where they are, I believe, for a purpose. In chapter 6 you see the judgments begin to fall and looking at the judgments, could make your heart wilt. God put chapters 4 and 5 together here, I believe, as an anchor for the soul. There is never panic in the throne room of God. Tune your heart to these awesome things.

In Revelation 4 we read:

" I [John] looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven…" and that is what you have opened before you. The historian Josephus tells us that the veil in the Temple was so heavy it took 3,000 priests to hang it. When the Lord Jesus was crucified, God tore it from top to bottom, saying, "The way into the holiest is now open because the blood of the One prophesied has been shed, and whosoever will, may come to Me."

"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." The Book of Revelation mentions the word "throne" 46 times, more than any other book of the Bible. The word "Lamb" is mentioned in Revelation 28 times, more than in any other book in the New Testament. The word "worship" is used 24 times in Revelation. When one puts these three words together, they find that the stress of the book is "Worship the Lamb on the Throne." That’s what’s happening in the presence of Deity. That’s what’s happening in the hearts and minds of those who have the most intelligent view of Him in all the universe.

John continues writing: "And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone; and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald." We see that the One who sits on this throne is a covenant-keeping God. This is the One that is suggested in Genesis 9 with the covenant rainbow of Noah, that I am the God who never breaks His Word. Heaven and earth will pass away but My promises are sure.

"And round about the throne were…four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white garments; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices…" What an awesome sight it is! "And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind…And the four living creatures each had six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.’ And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down…"

Seven times in the Book of Revelation, when they see Him on His throne, they fall down before Him. When you and I see Him on the throne, we, too, should leave our throne, fall down before Him, and allow Him in everything to have the preeminence.

"And the four living creatures, fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever and they throw their crowns before the throne of God and they say, ‘Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.’" It’s not how much pleasure you are getting, or your wife or your children are getting from your life, but how much pleasure is God getting? Have you seen that the way you let Him get pleasure is to enthrone His very majesty in your life? That’s why we are created.

So in chapter 4 you see God praised as the Sovereign Lord and Creator, and you learn there’s a throne. What is sin? Sin is being away from that throne. The One who made you has a right to reign in your life, and if you’re away from that throne, independent and out of touch, it’s sin. No matter how good a man calls it, it’s sin. The Bible says we’ve all gone our own way. Repentance in its simplest essence is coming back to that throne. Tears without coming back to that throne, is just presumption. It requires coming back to the throne of God, falling and saying, "Thou art a covenant-keeping God. I was made for Your pleasure. I was made for Your glory. Enthrone Yourself." That’s the holiness of God.

Surpassing Praise

But we see something more in chapter 5. The praise even eclipses that of chapter 4. "And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals." This speaks of the kinsman redeemer’s scroll. It was not as one of our books, sealed with seven visible seals, but it was a scroll. A portion of the scroll was written on both sides, rolled and sealed; more was written on both sides, rolled and sealed, and so on, until the remaining portion of the scroll was written, rolled and sealed. Only the person who has the right to redeem can open the scroll. God is looking for the one who can redeem the earth.

"And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy…’ [who is the kinsman redeemer?] ‘to open the book and to loose the seals thereof?’" It’s a challenge to the whole universe. "And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much," John says, because he loved the Lord and he wanted everlasting righteousness to come, the Kingdom to come in power.

"And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David"—which suggests strength and permanency—"hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." He has overcome to open the book and to loose the seven seals. These are the majestic qualities of Messiah and so John looks to see this One who has overcome.

"And behold…"—a term of astonishment—"in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain"— this suffering Lamb with the marks of death is a standing Lamb— "having seven horns" —that signifies all power in the language of Scripture—"and seven eyes"—that’s omniscience in the language of Scripture—and "the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth"—that’s omnipresence in the language of the Scriptures.

And this is the unique word for "Lamb." It means "gentle lamb" whereas when you see the word "lamb" in other Scriptures, it is more a middle-aged lamb, grown mature. But this is a gentle baby lamb, a frolicking lamb. On the throne is a tender, gentle, compassionate One who is a Lamb, and He is an all-powerful Lamb as well. "And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne." "I’m the One to open the book," He’s saying.

"And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials…which are the prayers of saints. And they sang a new song." With their harps and their hearts singing, they sing this song, eclipsing the praise of chapter 4:

"Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." We shall reign on the earth—this is going on right now, friends. See Romans 5:17.

"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the 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,"—listen to the harp that’s in harmony with heaven: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." That’s the throne room’s heartbeat—praise to the Lamb of God!

"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen! And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever."

You see in Revelation, chapter 4, the power and the eternality and the sovereignty of the throne of God. You see Him as the sovereign Lord. But in chapter 5 you behold something that enhances what all that means to you. You behold the Lamb! Whereas in chapter 4 the praise is offered up to the sovereign Lord, the praise in chapter 5 eclipses that in chapter 4. Why is that? In chapter 4 as sovereign creator, all He had to do to create was speak. But in chapter 5, as the Lamb of God, He had to shed His Blood. He’s the suffering Lamb. They are praising Him around the throne at this moment as the Lamb of God, our Redeemer who shed His Blood.

The big lesson is this: In chapter 4 you see the dominion and the power of the throne. This brings me back to Him. In chapter 5 you see the person who is on the throne. It is the Lamb of God on the throne, and that makes all the difference to me when I come to that throne and seek to be right. It is the Lamb that wants to reign on the throne of my heart. "Fear not, little flock; it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). When you are saved, your name is written in the Lamb’s book of Life (Rev. 21:27).

Jesus said, "I send you forth as lambs among wolves" (Luke 10:3). That’s the picture that God has chosen to relate to us what He is like. He’s as a lamb on the throne. When I come back to the throne and say, "Lord, establish my heart in harmony with Your throne," if I’m going to be in harmony with the throne of God, I’m going to have to be in harmony with the Lamb of God. "Can two walk together except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3).

Jesus says, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden [if you’re weary and broken and contrite] and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you… [that is not the yoke that suggests a bull, for He says,] I am meek and lowly in heart" (Matt. 11:28-29). That’s a Lamb talking. His yoke is the cross. That is where you will find rest. As you lose your own life, you’ll find His enthroned. If you don’t lose your own life and your own reign, and choose instead your own throne room with you occupying it, you will miss the life of God, the Lamb of God.

Our theology must become doxology, and the way to that is kneeology. Time alone with God in the Word of God. As He quickens us, He’ll open the Scriptures and our hearts will burn. And if our heart is set on fire, if our bones have radiance from the throne room, if that is in our bones where the blood is made, then we’ll have hot blood and it will course throughout our whole being. And it will affect everybody else. The Lamb is to reign on the throne of our hearts.

So I ask you, are you in harmony with the throne room of God? Is there a Lamb on the throne of your heart? If you’re walking with Jesus as He wants you to walk, there’ll be a Lamb on the throne, and He will send you as He was sent—not in the same activity, but in the same character. This is our passion, to live in His throne room and to let that great throne room fill up this throne room of our heart. Friend, is the Lamb on the throne room of your heart? You must let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. You must bow your will and your knee day by day. Take His yoke daily and walk in the beauty of His holiness. This is the way He will send us out—praising Him, in the Word, open heavens, open heart, open Bible. The veil is gone. We abide in Him and He abides in us!





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