Leonard Ravenhill emphasizes the significance of spiritual elevation and divine revelation, drawing parallels between biblical figures like Moses and John, who received profound insights while in isolation or adversity. He illustrates how believers, like eagles, are called to rise above worldly concerns and challenges, embracing their identity as children of God destined for heavenly places. Ravenhill encourages the congregation to focus on the eternal and to find strength in God's promises, rather than being consumed by earthly troubles. He concludes with a powerful reminder of the ultimate victory and worship that awaits believers in heaven, where every creature will glorify God.

I suggest to you in that 24th chapter of Exodus, again when he left the millions in Egypt and he took the seventy plus four, and then he left the seventy and there were four, and then he left the seventy, and then he has to leave even his chosen friend, and he goes there on a mountaintop. Have you noticed how often God deals with men on mountaintops? He took Moses on the mountaintop more than once. He took Elijah on Mount Carmel. He gave us a sermon on the mount. The world lives in the valley, the believers live on the mount. And Moses is wrapped in a cloud. And after he'd struggled and come that long journey, God kept him waiting for, for six days because he said he spoke to him on the seventh day. While we would expect that Gabriel would be there with a brass band and, and a red carpet saying, oh you're a hero. You, you left all the people in Israel and you left your wealth and you left security and you left this and, and, and, and God and all the angels were excited to see you. And God kept him, wait, wait upon the Lord and renew your strength. Be still and know that I'm God, we're impatient. And I think wrapped up there in the cloud, God gave him a revelation of something that was going to happen more than a thousand years, because from Moses to Malachi there's at least a thousand years. And Moses sees through the dust and clouds of time, he sees the rise and fall of empires, Babylonian empires and other empires. And he doesn't let them disturb him or get him restless or unmoved or nervous. He says, there, that, there's the plan of God. I think the same thing when God allowed his servant Paul to be caught up into the heavens and he said, I, I can't even tell you what I've seen. Oh boy, I'd like, I'd like to have been in on that deal, wouldn't you? He seeth afar off. Moses could see a millennium ahead. And Paul, I don't know how far ahead he saw, but this I do know, he saw far off. And I'm supposed to have eyes like this. My eyes are not supposed to dwell on the things of earth, but as we think so often, the things of earth have grown strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. We're supposed, well, Bilheimer has a book out right now, it's called Destined for the Throne. Well, that's all right, it's a good book, a good title. But I think if you narrow it down, we're not only destined for it, we're supposed to be sitting on it, aren't we? Doesn't Ephesians say, he has lifted us up together and made us sit together and we're dwelling together with him in high places? What in the world are we worried about a homie this morning? Aetolik, a homie, a homie, a hominia, whatever you're going to call him. They call him all kinds of names, but isn't it amazing this morning that the eyes of the world are not on Jesus Christ? They're on a man there, sitting on his little pile there. They're not on the church, rapturously manifesting power over sin and the enemies of God. We're all shrinking and worried about a little madman that's sitting there. I think the whole reason, there's only one reasonable answer to why he's done this devilish thing is this, that he made so many promises and then after a while his power went down. He wasn't popular, he was sinking and he had to find a way of taking attention from himself to something else. So he engineered this diabolical thing of trapping these guys away in that building. And now he wants all the Islamic forces to stand back behind him. And you know if you keep looking at that kind of stuff and feed on that stuff forever you'll get depressed in your spirit and the stock market's going down and everything else. We're not of the world, the eagle is not of the earth, earthy, it's a heavenly creature. It doesn't feed on garbage, it doesn't bother with other people. It's a defiant bird, it's a dangerous bird, it's a delightful bird, why? Because it soars in areas that no other bird is able to soar in. Oh yes, and another thing about it, it has a wonderful eye, I said. You know when the storm clouds gather and darkness comes, all the birds fly off and hide in holes and get back to their nests and the old owl gets in that rotten old tree and the other birds scattered off, they have an instinct and they flee for safety. Do you know what the eagle does? He says, well hallelujah, I've been waiting for this. Look at that storm coming up, boy am I going to have a time. And he flies right into the eye of the storm, there's no other bird that does that, they always flee for safety. And when he gets there, do you know what he does? He rides on the crest of the storm. He goes higher and higher and the rougher he gets, the more he enjoys it. He says, why do you think I'm the strongest bird in the sky? Why do you think I live in heavenly places and get nervous because there's a dark cloud? Hmm. A poet says, the clouds may roar without me, my heart may low be laid, but God is round about me and shall I be afraid? Adding to his Isaac once again that says, let mountains from their seats be hurled down to the deeps and buried there. Convulsions shake the solid earth, our faith shall never yield to fear. All the other birds look out, peep and say, oh look at that eagle up there, oh it must be wonderful to be like that, what courage he's got, he's got no nerves, he isn't afraid, oh see that lightning flashing, oh listen to the thunders rolling, oh the earth's breaking up. And the eagle says, well hallelujah, that won't worry me, I don't have my feet on the earth anyhow. I can ride up in the majesty, I'm not made to be a sparrow jumping from roof to roof. I'm not an old owl in a barn, I'm not a beast, I'm not a bird down in a farmyard, I live in the heavenly places and Paul says that's where we're supposed to live, in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He has lifted us up together and made us sit together. And what does Ephesians 2 say? It says he has all things underneath him. And brother you ought to be in the place where you've got everything underneath you, you may not explain it. You can't explain God, you can experience God, but you can't explain him. Finally there's a lovely little word here I like so much in the 4th chapter of Revelation. Revelation 1 and verse, pardon me, Revelation 4 verse 1 says, You see he was looking, where was he looking? On the earth? No. Was he looking at the cruel ruler Domitian who was destroying the Christians and even burning their eyes out? No, sorry, he's not looking round. Where is he looking? Well where was he? If you'd gone to Ephesus that day and said, well I've come a long way to hear your preacher, I believe he's a great expositor. And of course he was one that was with Jesus. And of course the Gospel of John is a masterpiece. It's the most amazing piece of literature ever written. And then of course he gave us 1st epistle, 2nd epistle and 3rd epistle. And I want to hear your preacher. He said, well sorry, he's not at home. Oh, doing evangelistic crusade? No. You see that little peak sticking up in the ocean there? Yes. Well that's the Isle of Patmos. Oh, is he on vacation? No, he's in prison. He's where? He's in prison. The Isle of Patmos was the Alcatraz of the day. They put the scum of the earth there. The thieves and the liars and the incorrigible people. People that the law couldn't tame. And here is a saint of the Most High God in that garbage? Here is a pure man in the midst of all that corruption? And you get somebody to row you over in a boat and when you get there you see this man meditating and you go up and pat him on the back and say, well brother John, nice to see you. I didn't expect to see you in the Isle of Patmos. And he says, I'm not in the Isle of Patmos. He says, where are you? He says, I'm in the Spirit. Well where are you this morning, in the Isle of Patmos or in the Spirit? Huh? Am I a prisoner of circumstances? No sir, I may not understand them all. Would you like some revelations of the Most High God? Well maybe he'll have to get you away and break the nest up and get you away from everything and everybody on which you lean. And then when he gets you there he'll have a chance to talk and he'll have a chance to reveal himself. For that's where he took John, on a stinking, lousy Isle of Patmos with all the corruption of the world in it. And then he says in chapter 4 of verse 1 that after this I looked up and behold a door was opened in heaven. Hallelujah. Wouldn't that be worth going to the Isle of Patmos for? If I could push that door open half an inch this morning you know what? I doubt you'd ever get depressed again. I doubt you'd ever get under the weather. If I could just pull the door of heaven open and say look in there, you see the glory? What does he see? Immediately I was in the Spirit and behold a throne was set on it. Hallelujah forever. Says the hymn writer, so be it Lord, thy throne shall never like earth's proud empires pass away. Thy kingdom stands and grows forever till all thy creatures own thy sway. It's not long since some of us remember a man with his fist up like this and Charlie Chaplin's moustache on his lip and one stripe on his arm and he defied all the 51 nations that signed on the Peace Pact in the League of Nations and he says I will build the Third Reich and it will last a thousand years. Hitler's Third Reich didn't last a thousand weeks. There were other men that used to ride down the Appian Way with their slaves chained to the wheels of their chariot. Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar and Caligula and they thought they had the world beneath their feet and their worlds perished. But thy throne, O God, is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness, is a scepter of thy kingdom. And John is seeing when all of life is over and all the empires have gone and there's no more eggs on and no more gas problems and there's no more world as we know it now. Every human system has crashed. And John says, I'm looking, listen. As the man said, I'm not too worried, I've read the last chapter. Well, you better keep in the last chapter these days when the world's falling apart. Read the 17th of Revelation and the 18th where commercial Babylon goes down and religious Babylon goes down. And when those men are screaming and howling on their feet, on their knees, do you know what it says? That when the men who have lost their billions and trillions of money and they've lost their kingdoms, when they're howling and wailing, do you know what the redeemed are doing across the road? They're shouting, Hallelujah! Because He is going to reign forever and ever as King of kings and Lord of lords. Immediately I was in the Spirit and behold, a throne was set in heaven. And one sat on the throne and he that sat on it would look like Jasper and a sardine stone and there was a rainbow. And then you go right down, there's a rainbow and there's a four and twenty elders. And then at the last it says, the four and twenty elders fell down. Hey, are you going to have a crown? How many crowns are we going to have? Well, there are five in the New Testament. I don't think many of us will get all the five. I'm sure I won't. I know you wouldn't know. One is a martyr's crown. Anybody like to vote for that today? Do you want to make a good lunch for the lions? Would you like to be crucified upside down like Peter? Oh brother, eternity is going to be something, isn't it? Hmm. Revelation talks about Antipas, my faithful martyr. Nobody knows a thing about him. But he's listed with the martyrs. One day we're going to see him. And so we'll have one crown, two, three, four, five. And you know what we're going to do? We're going to strut around heaven and say, Oh, aha, I remember seeing you at Agape. Hmm, you want to make three crowns, eh? Boy, boy, thought you'd have done better than that. Notice I've got four. See this man coming, he's got five. That man's got three. Hmm. He didn't make it too far. Is that what we're going to do? Are we going to be looking and say, Hey, is that a diamond? I can't see so well, the light. Oh, what a diamond, as big as a bucket on top of your head. Is that a ruby in your crown I see over there, red? Yeah. Are we going to Agape and oh, and ooh, and ah? Do you know what we're going to do? What did we sing this morning? Crown Him. I like that hymn. I always feel a divine joy crowning with many crowns. Crown Him the Lord of Spears, the potent. And when I throw the door of heaven open, there He is, those wounds yet visible above. I don't read Jesus will have any diamonds. He's going to have some rubies, where the nails went through His hands and through His feet, and where the thorns pressed on His brow. And when we see Him there in His glory and His majesty, it doesn't matter how many crowns you have. Verse 10 of chapter 4 says, The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and they worship Him that liveth forever and ever, and they cast their crowns before the throne. Won't that be wonderful? Oh, this is for the redeemed. There's going to be another little time before this I can't wait for. And that is when everybody that ever lived is going to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God to the glory of the Father. Boy, won't I watch Hitler kneel down. And the Pope. And I believe it will be like the creation of the beginning when it says, The trees of the field clap their hands. Boy, that'll be pretty noisy. If you're nervous, you better ask for a day off before that. Because you'll get millions of people clapping their hands and everybody with a triumphant voice singing, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Why, if we'd enough glorified bodies, I'd burst at the seams. I nearly burst sometimes when we sing some of the hymns of Zion. But man, up there. When we see the final trophies brought to the feet of Jesus. When we see everything, everything adoring Him. Look, forgive me, about two more minutes here. This next chapter. Oh, pardon me, let's finish chapter four. Thou art worthy, O Lord. This is what they're going to sing. You better rehearse it. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and power and honor and power. For Thou hast created all things and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. Listen, let's be very careful. We give Him some pleasure every day out of our lives. Not wait till the end of the journey for Him to get it. We need to check up every day and say, Lord, have I given you any pleasure today? Not have I given out so many tracts. Not have I preached to some... Have I brought personal pleasure to the heart of God by my obedience, by my submission, by my sacrifice, by the fact that I won't let the world around as in Romans 12, 1 and 2, be not conformed to this world or as Phillips translates it, don't let the world press you into its mold. Say, I'm not of the earth, earthy. I'm made to live in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I'm going to mount up with the wings like the eagle, the wings of faith and hope and trust and joy. The next chapter says that I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals. I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the book and to lose the seals thereof. Listen to this. This is the most awesome thing, I think, in eternity. No man in heaven or earth or under the earth was able to open the book and look thereof. Do you realize what that says? No man in heaven. Hey, Joshua, will you open the book? No. Isaiah, open the book. No, I can't. Jeremiah, open the book. No. Well, John Baptist, open it. No, Paul, open it. No man, no man in the heaven above or the earth beneath or the seas beneath is worthy to open the book. And he says, I wept much. And that word wept only occurs once in the Old Testament apart from this. And that's when Jesus wept over Jerusalem. This is not somebody weeping because he's not the skin off his finger or broken his finger. It's somebody weeping with a broken heart because you see the book there, the book there is the title deeds of the universe. Who can take the title deeds of the universe? Nobody. And he says, I wept much. It's the weeping with groaning and sorrow and anguish. I wept much that no one was able. And then he says, weep not. The lion of the tribe of Judah. Isn't it beautiful that here we have the mystery of the lamb and the mastery of the lion? And to climax it, it says, he said, weep not. And the lamb came and took the book out of him that sat on the throne. And when he took the book out, verse 7, out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne, and verse 8, when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of orders which were the prayers of the saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou worthy to take the book, for Thou hast redeemed us unto God by Thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people. And then verse 12, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and glory and honor and blessing. Now every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and under the sea. Hey, that's a crowd, isn't it? You know, when you say, hey, get out of it, you dirty little mosquito trying to bite my ear. Do you know that little mosquito is going to sing Hallelujah one day? That's what it says. I didn't make it up. You talk about fairy stories. This isn't fantasy. This is reality. This is history written beforehand. God made everything not to be cursed but to be a blessing and to bring honor and glory and majesty to His name and everything that hath breath. Boy, I can't wait for that. You hear something booming over there, glory, glory, glory. You know, it'll be about 10 million elephants. They can't sing in a higher key, but they're going to sing glory, glory, glory. Oh, there's Brother Barry at the back. Barry, are you going to tune your harp up for that day? What a day that's going to be. There's going to be no guitars in heaven. A guitar is a backslidden harp. In heaven it says they're going to have harps and vials. Won't that be wonderful? Hallelujah. Don't you feel it's great? Then in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing thy power to save when this poor, lisping, stammering tongue shouts, Look at all the martyrs coming. Look at all the heroes of faith. Look at all the missionaries. Look at all the secret people that have prayed and fasted and wept. And their voices are going to be raised in a doxology the world has never heard. It'll rock the universe. And everything that hath breath, every mosquito, every fish under the water and every bird in the air, even the eagle will be changed for it can't sing, but it's going to sing that day. Because it says that everything that hath breath will praise the Lord. You know what? There's a thing, I don't like too many of the modern songs, I'll admit that, but there's one that I do like. It will be worth it all when we see Jesus. Five minutes inside of heaven we'll all wish we'd been more spiritual. We'll all wish we'd sacrificed more. We'd all wish we'd lived so much in the heavenlies instead of on the earth with all its garbage and uncleanness and its gossip and its sensuality. We see so much of it and feed ourselves on TV on it. Oh, come on. The eagle is the royal bird of heaven. Let's live like royalty. Because that's what Peter says, we're a royal priesthood and we're a holy nation. The last thing, there's no bird or creature in the world can intimidate the eagle. He's the master. And God intended you should have the world and the flesh and the devil under your feet and say, listen, I'm the Lord of this situation. Not in my courage or willpower but by His divine strength. And very soon it's all going to be over. We're going to see the saints of all the ages. A multitude which no man, everything's numbered in the book of the Revelation except the multitude which no man can number. And they're coming out of every kindred and nation and people and tongue. I think we ought to get up in the morning and look in the mirror and say to yourself, I look at the mirror and say, well Len, it's a great day for you. Remember this, you're a royal priesthood and a holy nation. Remember this, you've got for you, against you the world, the flesh and the devil and human weakness but this is what you've got for you, the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, oh, a third of the heavenly host that fell and here you have for you the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, two thirds of the heavenly host and all the promises of God. Hallelujah.