Shattering! Awesome! Breathtaking! God’s magnificent throne suspended over the Earth. This is our picture in Revelation chapter four and it will continue until the Seven Years of the Great Tribulation concludes. Our Great Heavenly Father is not an absent landlord, but the Present Sovereign that is about to reclaim His lost possession. Satan has been the god of this earth for six thousand years, but the time to cast out the usurper is at hand. The entire earth is trembling with earthquakes, volcanoes, and storms. Even the birds and animals are in great consternation and dying like flies.

My friends, it’s almost over! I believe that this overwhelming scene is not up in God’s “Celestial City” but in the open heavens. The judgmental process is both purifying and redemptive and the Father sets His Throne above this earth to direct the proceedings. This heavenly picture will not move back to the Grand Temple until the redemption of this earth is finished; yet, the Pearly White City will be directly above the Father’s Throne and visible from this earth. The great expanse between this earth and heaven will have vanished and the whole earth will be Heaven’s backyard. Satan’s final stand on earth will be seen in contrast to the glory of our God and His Son, Jesus Christ. It will only be by Lucifer’s profound subtlety that multitudes will still follow him to hell. The last contest before the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ will be in full array.

Revelation chapter four is the visible drama that John looks upon in full view. He is in the Spirit or it would not be possible for his flesh to behold. The Throne of God is the central scene and theme. The Throne is named twelve times in this one chapter and thirty-nine times in the entire Book of Revelation. The drama begins like this, “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: 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 shew 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. 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” (Revelation 4:1-3).

Around this throne the next important scene is the raptured saints set on thrones that are called “seats.” The word John used was “thronos,” a seat attributed to kings. The throne for the Father was singular but the word for the saints’ thrones is plural. Only the Father has a rainbow over His head and He — not His throne — “was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone.” In both the scene of the Father and the scene of the Saints, the emphasis is not on the thrones but on those seated on them. Even the saints, now called Elders, are “clothed in white raiment and they had on their heads crowns of gold.”

From this point to the last chapter of Revelation, the Throne is named and visible over and over. In every case it is not the Throne He is seated upon, but the Sovereign Father seated on the Throne is identified by this Revelation. In chapter six after the sixth of the Seven Seals is opened, the wicked have seen enough to start hiding from the scene hovering over the earth. This picture that John saw as he “beheld” or actually saw it like a drama was breathtaking,“And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:14-16).

This wicked crowd is clearly tormented by the holiness in the face of God and the face of Jesus Christ. This future revelation will be the return of the fear of God to this earth. The church world has excused sin until “Christians” are perfectly willing to call themselves “saved sinners.” When the Father becomes visible on His throne above this earth, that kind of religion will vanish like a puff of smoke.

In chapter seven the throne is still central to the scene. Tribulation saints martyred by Satan’s inquisitors will be caught up to stand before the “Throne.” These saints do not sit as elders or as the Bride of Christ but as victors out of the Great Tribulation. John saw them in this unfolding drama presentation. He said, “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands” (Revelation 7:9).

John was privileged to witness the scene of Satan’s last moments in the great expanse of Heaven. With the Throne of God visible for all creation to witness, Satan has a short future. Please keep in mind that John is witnessing this with his own eyes, but, clearly under a great anointing of the Holy Ghost. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:7-9).

The victorious 144,000 chosen of Israel are seen before the Throne of the Father in chapter fourteen. In chapter sixteen an unclean spirit begins to gather the vast army to fight for the Antichrist at Armageddon. Here again, the Father’s Throne comes into view and His voice rings out in triumph. “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done” (Revelation 16:17).

At this moment the Father’s voice is heard, “It is done,”and the Throne of God is apparently located back in the Temple of the “Celestial City.” The Battle of Armegeddon is the mopping up operation of the Seven Years of Great Tribulation.

In chapter nineteen — with the end in view — this great company of Elders is worshipping around the Throne saying, “Amen; Alleluia” (Revelation 19:4b). Then, we see the “Marriage Supper,” Satan cast out into the Bottomless Pit, the One Thousand Year reign of Jesus Christ, and the White Throne Judgment of the wicked dead, where all will hear the Father as He sits on His Throne saying, “Behold, I make all things new. . .” (Revelation 21:5b). I’ve got to be there.

Joseph R. Chambers
jrc@pawcreek.org

An apostate soul is lost forever. There is an abundance of Biblical proof that shows anyone that apostatizes cannot repent – and even stronger – has been given a reprobate mind and will not repent. The Greek word apostasionmeans a divorcement. The apostate person has divorced the truth of God and has been divorced by the Holy Spirit. They are lost forever. There is a multitude in today’s church, which are so captured by the watered down message that they refuse to even believe “plain truths” from the Holy Scripture.

Please consider what is evident in the very term apostate. We are not discussing someone going back into sin or simply ceasing to walk with the Lord. That is backsliding and we see a clear picture of that in the prodigal son in chapter fifteen of Luke. He left the Father’s House and wandered far from home, but he came to himself and returned. I have often said that there is a little of the prodigal in every one of us. We have all had to repent because we failed to be fully obedient. This state of a soul has no real kinship to apostasy.

Apostate people are more religious than the true saints. They have departed from the great principles and established doctrines of the Holy Bible and are committed to guaranteeing that everybody else does the same. Apostasy is a departure from truth while being convinced that they have discovered greater truths. It is the replacement of the eternal truth with religious human imagination. The book, The God Chasers, by Tommy Tenney is an excellent case in point. He states that the Bible is where God has been and the new revelation is where God is now at work. Rick Warren is clearly at the same point. He has replaced the Born Again life by the Holy Ghost with a “purpose driven life” of psychological relativisms.

In the apostate world there are many paths to God, and Jesus Christ is only one of them. The absolute teaching of Jesus Christ about an eternal Hell and eternal Lake of Fire is now to simply lie in the grave and fail to enjoy God forever. The Bible can be pen-knifed by the apostate church and almost every truth can have varied meanings. Separated living is a relic of the past and the Christian is free of all restraints in the Ten Commandments, etc. A ballgame on Sunday night is just as spiritual to this company as a great sermon from God’s eternal truth. Romance music has replaced the music that lifts the spirit of man into the Holy of Holies, where God’s Spirit sanctifies and purifies the soul.

The Holy Bible warned us of this End Time phenomenon. The most powerful Scripture about apostasy is in the great book of Hebrews. This passage has been almost ignored by most Bible teachers because it upsets their weak theology.“And this will we do, if God permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall “Fall Away,” to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:3-6).

Apostle Paul does not just suggest the end results; he proclaims without question that this state of apostasy cannot repent. Please note the words, “fall away,” which identifies the apostate person and states that they were once partakers of the Holy Ghost, were once enlightened, and had tasted the Word of God and the world to come. But, now, they have turned from all of that great life and cannot return to their former spiritual state. The term “fall away”is from a unique Greek word that applies to the person that is part of the “falling away” or “apostasia” we see in II Thessalonians chapter two, verse three.

The prophecy of II Thessalonians is a clear companion to the truth in Hebrews. As the apostle writes about the coming Antichrist and the Day of Christ, he warns us of the “falling away.” “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (II Thessalonians 2:3-4).

Again, we see “falling away” from the two Greek words, apostasia and apostasion. These are very religious persons who have turned to “another gospel.” They did not love the pure word of God and were wise in the flesh to create their own theology. They watered down the truth to draw the crowds into their great fold. And, then, they must keep compromising to keep the crowds.

The Holy Ghost takes the apostle right down to the fine point of what the results will be, “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (II Thessalonians 2:7-12).

God’s omniscient Spirit warns them that He will give them“strong delusion,” and “that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned.” It is not the truth that saves the soul. The world is full of people that know the Bible. Many souls study the Bible just to argue their deception more successfully. It is the “love of the truth” that saves the soul. Now, we are discovering the real heart of apostasy. It is to reject the truth for error and our highly intellectual church world is fulfilling this prophetic design to a tee.

There is clear evidence that this condition of apostasy is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of Truth is absolutely the Holy Ghost. To reject truth, to change truth, to water down truth is to grieve, quench, and blaspheme the Spirit. The whole matter of apostasy is the forsaking of truth. The Holy Ghost inspired every Bible writer and they wrote as “they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (II Peter 1:21). There is no way you can blaspheme Him more readily than when you attack His revelation. From Moses, the writer of the Pentateuch, to John, the writer of the Book of Revelation, the Bible is the pure Word of God.

The final proof of apostasy is found in Revelation chapter twenty-two. The Spirit said, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18-19). When you alter the Bible, you are an apostate person and will be eternally lost.

Joseph R. Chambers
jrc@pawcreek.org