GOD'S THRONE ROOM

Tonight there is a very special message that we want to share. There is a reason why the Lord wanted us to go into worship before we go into the message. Every time we meet, there is no set pattern and we just flow with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit just wanted us to worship Jesus continuously until we are in that very presence which we are sitting in right now. It’s a different series that we are touching on. We want to talk about the heavenly places. I can assure you it is not possible to share anything in that realm until we have worshipped as we have done tonight. God would have not permitted me to share. With this message, there is a price that we pay to receive it and a price that we pay to hear it and a price that we pay to understand it. God reveals Himself to us in proportion to how much we are willing to come into His presence. Tonight we want to talk about the heavenly places and how walking in the heavenly places and functioning in the heavenly places is like, so that we could understand the realm and the depth that God has for us.

Eph. 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loves us.

Remember that the heavenly places is a position that God gives to us because of His great love with which He loved us. It’s a place that Jesus has always wanted us to be. It is a place that God has always wanted men to be - in His bosom in the heavenly places with Him. Now it’s not just “heavenly places” but it is “heavenly places in Christ.”

Look at verse 5 and 6, Even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It’s not just heavenly places, full stop. It is heavenly places in Christ Jesus. What it says in the Greek is He has raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly in Christ Jesus. There is a heavenly places or a heavenly position that Jesus had. Some of us may think that it means that we are going to take God’s throne. No, not in that sense. No human being created finite and limited by time could be God. But there is a realm which God reserves for us since this world was made. He wants us to be in seated at His right hand and that represents some blessings and some position that He has in store for us all through the ages.

Jn. 17:4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. There is a glory that Jesus had before the world was made. And that’s the glory that Jesus is returning to and He is praying about. Jesus introduced that glory that He had before the world was made.

Then in verse 20 onwards I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us,

Now that phrase “one in Us” has reference to the heavenly places that He has reserved for us. It is not knowledge that we are one in Him. On this earth, we are already one in Him in a sense when we are born again. But there is a heavenly realm of oneness. We are not God but we partake of the nature of God. We are not omnipresent or omnipotent because those are qualities of God. But yet, there is a place reserved in the heavenly places in God’s throne at the right hand of God where there is a divine flow of oneness.

Verse 21 that they all may be one, as You Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me, I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one; I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, ad that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. (There is a place in God where you are one in God and God flows absolutely into you and you flow into God.) Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am. That they may behold My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

Notice He keep mentioning things before the world, like “before the foundation of the world.”

Lets turn back to Eph. 2:6 onwards and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

There is something special that He wants to show to our life. He wants to show us how much He loved us. What we will have from Him by grace through Jesus in the heavenly places is not the result of our righteousness or our own works but rather the result of His love for us. Where exactly is Jesus? Remember He says that where I am they may be with Me. Jesus was talking about what will happen after He was crucified and raised from the dead ascended on high where He is now at the right hand of the God. The gospel stories tell us that when Jesus ascended on high, He was carried away into the heavenly.

What happened in the heavenly the gospel stories tell us in Mk. 16:19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. Where is Jesus? He is at the right hand of God. Jesus said, “Where I am, you may be also.” Whether we realize that, experience that, or partake of that, it’s a different story.

Once in the Old Testament God expressed His desire for all His people. When He brought them out of Egypt and before they did anything wrong, before they fell into transgression in Exodus 19:6 God spoke to the Israelites led by Moses. Aaron hasn’t become the priest yet. The priestly revelation was not given yet. Moses had just led them out and they were fresh and new. God said in Exodus 19:5 Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people, for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. You understand what God is saying here. Every tribe was to be His priest. You shall be a kingdom of priests. God never want to shut anyone out of the Most Holy place. God never want to prevent anyone from coming near Him. It was His will that Adam and Eve walk with Him. God has grieved ever since Adam and Eve fell. Our Father’s heart in heaven was grieved. It was almost like having a child that you can never hug. Think about having children born to you that you can never hold and embrace.

I read a story of how a child was born with a certain sickness. That child had no immune system at all. Just exposure to normal air would have killed the child. From the day it was born, that poor child was kept in a glass shield supplied with pure air germ free. And there were times when the parents would come to the glass case and go as close as they can. They put their faces to the glass case and looked at the child that was born. They would weep and they would cry because they could never hold that child that was theirs.

Man is a special creation. God had His angels before He made man. God has His other beings before He made man. But when He made man, He wanted this creature called man to be close to Him. When Adam and Eve fell, He couldn’t draw them close any more. His heart grieved. Man was in sin and yet God loves man. And He taught man the blood covenant. He loves them so much even though they fell that before He sent them out of the Garden of Eden He took one of His animals, (remember all His animals could talk at that time) and He killed one of those animals. Think about that - God killed because of sin. And He took the skin of the animal while it was dripping with blood and He covered Adam and Eve as a way of saying that they can only come to Him through the blood covenant. Yet, man could not come through the blood covenant to the closeness that He had wanted. The blood of this animal was only a shadow of what was really necessary. It was just enough so that God could at least bless them. The heart of God does not desire to bless us only. The heart of God desires to take us into His bosom and embrace us. When God revealed Himself to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to Joseph, to Moses, and He brought them out of the land of Egypt, He bared His heart to them by saying, “I want you to be a kingdom of priests. I want you to be able to come into the Holy of holies. I want every one of you to be able to approach Me.” All God wanted was for them to love Him, to obey Him, to do all that He wanted them to. That was what He expressed in Exodus 19 that He wants them to be special treasure so that He could bring them close to Him. And that He could draw close to them.

But we know what happened in that story in Exodus. God was revealing to Moses on Mount Sinai all the beautiful plans He had to teach His people and how to come to the Holy of holies. While God had such great plans for every tribe - from the tribe of Judah to the tribe of Benjamin - all the tribes except the tribe of Levites fell into sin. Once again, God’s heart was grieved. He couldn’t have all the twelve tribes. He could only have one tribe. Since the tribe of Levi didn’t transgress and worship the golden calf, God made Aaron a priest and all the Levites to serve under him. Again you can see that God’s perfect plan was set back a little bit by His people. He has to re-organize the whole system.

Time passes and we enter into the New Testament. God has a special plan for the church. Jesus said that He has redeemed the church and He wants the church to come close to Him, to draw near to Him, to discover the place. Finally, God sends Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. And this time He shed His precious blood and He died for you and I. After three days, He was raised from the dead and He ascended on high so that you and I can enter the Most Holy place in heaven. In case you don’t understand in heaven, there is an Outer Court, a Holy place and the Most Holy place. Heaven is not just heaven. Some Christians have no idea of what things are like in heaven. What Moses made was only a shadow and a pattern of what God gave him a peek. Once in a while, there were prophets like Isaiah who had a glimpse of the temple of God in heaven. In heaven, there is a real Outer Court. Of course, it’s much bigger and larger than we can imagine. It accommodates millions. There is a real Holy place and there is a real Holy of holies. When Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He entered the Most Holy place so that you and I don’t have to be in the Outer Court although we can enjoy all the blessings in the Outer Court. We don’t have to be just in the Holy place. We can be in the Most Holy place where He lives. God doesn’t have a house. The whole heaven is His house if you want to consider it.

One of the amazing things that I saw in heaven is that God’s throne was His house. God doesn’t sleep nor does He need to rest nor does He slumber. God permanently, eternally, dwell in the Holy of holies in heaven. In heaven, Jesus prepares a place for us according to spiritual substances we send up and according to our rewards. Some Christians who are greatly rewarded for their work and faithfulness on earth have huge mansions to live in. Other Christians who do not have that great reward may have a terrace house and some may have an apartment.

According to the testimony of a Christian who was brought up to heaven for a study tour, he saw many houses of all shapes and sizes belonging to Christians who are still living on earth. In one particular section of heaven, he saw the house of his pastor that kept on growing in size. It was a huge palatial mansion with more than 200 rooms, each room with a different motif and design. There was a huge gallery and many other special rooms as well. The angel revealed to the Christian that because his pastor had been obedient to the Holy Spirit in all matters and was faithful, the Lord loved him very much. Jesus would keep on adding more and more rooms to this pastor’s mansion. When this pastor dies and goes to heaven, he would continue serving God in heaven as a teacher. Pastors from other cities in heaven would also come to his mansion and he would also teach them how to serve God in the right way. The many rooms in his mansion would accommodate these visiting pastors from other cities in heaven. In his mansion, there was also a room that has a computer. This computer has the records of the church members that God entrusted to him. This pastor would be able to check the records of his church members from his computer in his mansion. Christians in heaven at the moment are wondering whose mansion this is, since this mansion is continually growing in size. There is also another room in his mansion where there is a refreshing waterfall and spring. As he soaks himself in this spring, he would be refreshed in a way that God only knows how to refresh. This is the reward for his tireless faithfulness to doing what God demanded of him.

In another account, another Christian taken up in a similar study tour was taken to a place in heaven where many pastors and evangelists stay. They were given a one-room apartment each. Many of them protested to the Holy Spirit that while they lived on earth, they had made many sacrifices to serve God in the ministry. They have given up lucrative careers, material wealth and comforts, luxuries, holidays and many other things to serve God. They said they deserve better than a one-room apartment. The Holy Spirit opened their books of records and revealed their works item by item. By the side of each work they did, there was a remark about their motives for doing that particular work. They checked their own records and were astounded by what they saw – every little tiny and hidden motive was revealed. For example, one had an item that said: Preached at a miracle rally at such-a-such a place at such-a-such a date. Motive: to get more recognition for himself. Another item: accepted the pastorate of a church in this place. Motive: to receive larger love offerings since there were many rich church members here. The angel also revealed that since these pastors and evangelists relied on their own strength and ability and didn’t consult the Holy Spirit, hardly any angels could help them in their ministry. Therefore, in heaven, they will be left to themselves to do things for themselves without the aid of any angels. Other Christians in other places in heaven would have the assistance of angels but not these pastors and evangelists. To quell any more complaints from these pastors and evangelists, the Holy Spirit left their books of records at their apartment so that they can continue checking their records if they are still dissatisfied.

The angel also took this Christian to see the mansion of a healing evangelist who is still serving God on earth. Though his mansion was big, his was not as big as another pastor who was unknown by name and face in this world. The angel took this Christian to the computer room of this healing evangelist to see the files of Christians entrusted to him. The files are normally arranged into two sections. One section would contain the files of Christians who were progressing spiritually as a result of this healing evangelist’s ministry. The other section would contain the files of Christians who were stagnant and willful and whom God will have to deal with many times to perfect them. Under this famous healing evangelist, the files of Christians who needed to be dealt with by God were stacked high. But under the unknown pastor, the files of Christians who needed to be dealt with by God were few. This unknown pastor was faithful in dealing with the church members and under his preaching and teaching, many experienced breakthroughs from strongholds and progressed spiritually. Thus, this unknown pastor was rewarded with more facilities than the more famous evangelist.

On another occasion, this Christian who was on this study tour of heaven met a pastor there who had served under a well-known prophet and evangelist, who is still alive and traveling round the world to conduct his miracle crusades and training programs. This pastor died and went to heaven but he was unhappy to see that his mansion and reward were not up to his expectations. He protested that he had done so much for God. The Holy Spirit opened his file and revealed the reason why his mansion was smaller than what he expected. While on earth, he wrote a few books but the Holy Spirit did not authorize these books. The pastor did not consult the Holy Spirit as to whether he should write the books at all. He merely wrote them because it was the “in-thing” to do so. Every other pastor seems to be writing books and he did not want to be left out. The Holy Spirit revealed that because of this, he suffered some demerits and his reward was reduced accordingly.

Another Christian taken on a similar study tour of heaven was brought by an angel to see a mansion that was prepared for another well known evangelist who is still living on earth at this point of time (April 23, 2001). The angel told him that heaven is expecting him to come up anytime now. When the angel told the Christian the name of the well-known evangelist, he gasped and said, “But how can that be? That evangelist had done so much and won so many souls for heaven.” Then the angel revealed the reason. The time of his ministry was over and God wanted him to spend his remaining years on earth to rest. If he had rested, his mansion would have been very huge. But unfortunately, he didn’t seek the will of God, and he went on working in his ministry even though he is in his 80’s. Because of this, he is still incurring demerits and his mansion is reducing accordingly as long as he continues working in his ministry. He is now suffering from Parkinson’s disease. If he had retired and rested, as God wanted him to, he would not have that disease too. When this particular evangelist stepped out of the will of God, Satan took advantage of this by petitioning to God to afflict him with this disease.

This same Christian also met with another pastor in heaven. This particular pastor was brought up in a particular historic and traditional denomination. He became a pastor because his parents were both pastors. However, when he was serving as a pastor, he didn’t feel right about his ministry. He preached on notes provided by his parents. He carried on the traditions of his denomination because he was told to do so. One day, he switched on the TV and heard Morris Cerullo preach on the Holy Spirit. Something stirred up within him and he began an earnest search for the Holy Spirit. He began to receive revelations about the Holy Spirit and slowly it began to dawn on him that what he was doing in the ministry was wrong and misguided and not according to what the Holy Spirit wanted. He found himself trapped between his love for his parents and the new revelations he received. He knew he couldn’t operate freely in his denomination as the Holy Spirit wanted to as his denomination was too tradition-bound. He cried out to God to take him home early and God answered his prayers. He died not too long after that. When he arrived to heaven, he found that he received a huge reward. He had really thought that since he didn’t do much for God, surely his reward would be small in heaven. But God saw differently – he was rewarded greatly because of his great desire and sacrifice for the truth

These are some accounts of heavenly visits to reveal to us the mind of God concerning what is and what is not acceptable to Him and to take more seriously the fact that we should consult the Holy Spirit at every point of our ministry. Now let us come back to what we were speaking about. There is a paradise in heaven. God wants us to learn how to enter the Most Holy place, which is His house. Even in the New Testament like the Israelites, a lot of Christians come into those depths of God. There is a place in God. Many men and women of God who have gone before us and who walked closely with God have entered the Most Holy place. Some of us feel that it’s only for those who are special. My friend it’s not for those who are special. It’s for those who are washed by the blood of the Lamb. It’s for every one of us who are washed with the precious blood of the Lamb of God. Why do we have to think that some are special? Because we were not aware or have thought that maybe it is because only so few enter the Most Holy place. What a gross misconception after what Jesus had done for us! We are told in the book of Hebrews to come boldly to the throne of grace. I don’t mean to make light about the throne of God. We don’t approach the throne of God without reverence. We don’t approach the throne of God and take it lightly.

The heavenly places are not just in the atmosphere above the earth. It is not just standing in one part of heaven. In heaven, there is a part where you can stand with God’s permission and see what’s going on the earth. There is a stadium in heaven where Christians go and watch the goings-on among Christians on earth. Robert Liardon has reported on this when he went to heaven at the age of eight. You find that mentioned in the book of Hebrews 12 where Paul mentioned we have a cloud of witnesses. There is a place in heaven where you can stand and see what’s happening on earth. God on His throne room can see that. God wants us to come into the Most Holy place and not just to a paradise in heaven. The heavenly places are not just the outskirts of heaven.

In Ephesians 2: 6, why do we look at the words “heavenly places” here and we forget the words “in Christ”? The heavenly place he is talking about is the very place where Jesus sits at the right hand of God. Why do we put the heavenly place in the Outer Court? Jesus did not put His throne in the Outer Court in heaven. Why do we put the heavenly place in the middle place called the Holy place? The heavenly place in Christ is in the Holy of holies above where Jesus sits at the right hand of God. That’s where we are welcomed to be. One of the messages that God told me when I was taken to heaven is to tell His people that they are welcomed to God’s throne. I am surprised that people who don’t believe that they could be in God’s throne. It is even scriptural the bible tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace. I just tell you where the people are if they don’t get that revelation. You are welcome to Jesus’ throne where He shares His glory with you. Again, it doesn’t mean that you become God. It means that you taste of His glory. What does it mean when it says that we are heirs and joint heirs with Christ? To what level. Why do people see these scriptures and say that we only partake at the Outer Court? Why do Christians limit themselves and shut themselves out of where God wants them to be? The heavenly places are at the right hand of God and they are a position of grace that Jesus shares with you.

Try to understand what Jesus really came to give you. He didn’t come to just save you from sin. He didn’t come just to bring healing to you. He didn’t come just to bring you to heaven. He actually came to bring you up and share the glories, blessings and all that He has at the right hand of God. Do you know how many people do not appreciate what Jesus came to share? If I come to you because I love you so much, and I said, “Son, you are welcomed to stay in my house. You are welcome to the best things in the house.” If I say, “You are welcome to this special guest room in my house that I have prepared because I love you,” and you come and sleep in the storeroom, you hurt the giver. A lot of people are hurting Jesus not knowing that they look down on what Jesus actually is giving them. You cut corners to what Jesus actually gives. It is just like somebody has given you all his inheritance but you say, “No, I don’t believe it. I think he has left me with just a little second-hand car.” Think about the hurt you are giving to that person. When Jesus gave us His blessing to partake of in heaven, the heavenly places are right in the Most Holy place in heaven. These heavenly places are not just mansions. Mansions are the fringe benefits in the Outer Court of heaven. But this heavenly place is at the right hand of God.

Lets turn to the book or Revelations. In every one of the seven churches except the church of Philadelphia, they were having all the different problems, different temptations and different testing that they were each going through. The good news is that in all the various churches there was a group called the overcomers, he who overcomes. To the group that overcomes, Jesus has a special blessing. Those of you who have studied the seven churches in historical terms realize that the seven churches also represent the seven different church ages. And it places us in the last age the church age the Laodicean age. When Howard Pittman died and went to heaven, God gave him back his life. God told him to bring back five messages, one of which was to tell the church that this is the age of the Laodicean church, and the church must read the book of Revelation pertaining to the Laodicean church. (See Howard Pittman’s account here – Standing at Heaven’s Gate) At the same time, there is a revelation in each church age of something that Jesus is doing in each one of those churches. (For an excellent study of the seven church ages, see Watchman Nee’s article, The Way of the Church.)

Rev. 2:7 To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. That is the first church age from the time of the apostles onward. What they have was a revelation that came from Jesus directly, the tree of life. And they were straight away partaking of that. That was the beginning of the church age. The overcomers would enjoy all the provisions of God the tree of life.

The church went into a persecution period that you read about under the Roman Empire is the Smyrna church. And God reveals something else in verse 10, Do not fear. Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. He gave them the revelation of martyrdom. And is in that time that you have a lot of saints and in those days there were many Christians who consecrated themselves to God wholeheartedly. Some of them were Christian monks. They learned the truth of denying themselves, of giving up physical things in the sense of martyrdom. Some went to the extreme where they literally martyred themselves by practicing severe asceticism.

David Cho Yonggi was sharing about one of his church members who died and went to heaven and how he prayed and that person came back again. He says that in heaven during that time, he met some of the people in the book of Acts, including Stephen the one who was stoned. The church member asked Stephen, “How was it like when you died?” He said there was a gift of martyrdom that took place and he did not feel the pain. All he felt was the presence of God. That was a gift of martyrdom that was operating. Sadhu Sundar Singh has also spoken with saints who had died earlier. Even in the book of Revelation 19, we know that John spoke with some saints who were working as angels. He says, “I am one of the brethren.”

When Constantine was converted the church entered the Pergamos period. Christianity became the acceptable religion. But instead, corruption came. Rev. 2:17 To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.

God moved His work towards places that were away from the public. Christians who shut themselves up in monasteries during that period were the ones having the real revelation of God. It was like a hidden manna. Later on, the Catholic Church grew in political stature and territorial expansion and the papacy became one of the centers of power in the world.

It was the age of Thyatira. During that time there was a different revelation in verse 26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give powers over the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron; he shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels, as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star. During that time, there were many who were also sincere and knew the Lord. And during that time, there were a lot of evangelism taking place in different forms. We are so far from true spirituality today that in church history some of these outstanding Christians are legendary compared to our generation of Christians. Some of these saints were true and godly men of God who occupied positions of authority and who did great things for God. Unfortunately, there were also some popes and bishops who were corrupted and they abused their authority over the nations. It was a right authority abused. God gave the church authority over nations. It could influence countries. They could remove kings yet at times they were involved with political intrigue and manipulation. But there was a group who went off into the monasteries and during that time influenced for good. That was the revelation in those days.
In chapter 3 the age of Sardis the dead church. Historically it’s the same period as the dark ages. At first things started O.K. then it reached a period then it completely lost the bible. There were a few people read the bible. Verse 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. These are those who walked in purity and you notice it ties back to martyrdom too. You find that Jesus was looking for righteousness. In the midst of corruption, He looks for purity and these were the people whom His eyes were on. God raised up many powerful reform-minded monks like Savaranola and Francis of Assisi in the dark ages just before Martin Luther came to the scene.

When Martin Luther came, it was the time of the Philadelphia church. The Philadelphia church is where the reformation started. And it lasted right up to our time. Somewhere mid-way in the 19th century there was a changeover and into the 20th century in the time of the reformation until the end of the19th century. It says in verse 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God.

Some of these blessings are blessings in heaven but if you see its application while on this earth, you will find till today that some of the denominations still carry on the works of Jesus. They may have their limitations but people who knew God started these denominations. When John Wesley started preaching, he never intended to start a Methodist Church. But the Methodist Church still carries in a sense the name of John Wesley. Right up to the 20th century, we are still feeling the effects of some of the founders of this church. The effects of their ministry have lasted right to our time.

Then comes the Laodicean age. Do you know that we have the final and the depths of revelations that God has reserved because we are getting ready for the second coming of Jesus? In verse 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me. It first starts by knowing God’s presence in your daily life, in your prayer life, in your worship life, in your bible reading, in your devotion, and in all aspect of your professional life. You start learning the presence of God. But after some time those things don’t satisfy you any more and you want more of God. In verse 21, as you overcome the Laodiceans around you, To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. Ultimately all the churches of Jesus Christ will partake of those blessings. We cannot fully comprehend some of these things. But it’s possible in the spiritual realm since the spiritual realm is not limited to geographical territory like we limit it. God has reserved the depths of the presence of God to those who overcomes. When you tie it back to Eph. 2, you realize that there is an aspect of the presence of God that we enter into in the heavenly places n Christ Jesus who is at the right hand of God.

I want to touch two things that are peculiar in that realm so that you could flow into that realm and understand how we pray from that realm. No. 1 in that realm of the heavenly place all things have been completed. There is nothing that is not finished. When you leave that realm, it is when you experience things that are not completed yet. But in that realm, everything is completed. To God our future and the future of all that is to be done is past tense. When Jesus intercedes for us at the right hand of God He is interceding that plan for us as completed. He is interceding not because it has not been completed. He sees it as completed and He intercedes for us to enter that realm. It’s a powerful realm.

Lets take note of some things that were mentioned to give you an idea of what that realm is. In the book of Revelations 5 when no one could open that seal. In verse 5 One of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. In verse 6 the Lamb came as though it has been slain having seven horns, seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out to all the earth. So when the Lamb of God opens the seals all those things and the revelations were released. Have you notice that some of those things took place in chapter 6,chapter 7 etc. are in that seal. And a lot of those things have not taken place yet. It was in a book and that book has already completed. It was not written at the time when Jesus the Lamb opens the seals. It was in a book. It was past tense. Its future to us, future to John the apostle, but it was past tense. It was even written down. But its not opened to release it to take place on this earth. I want you to consider the fact that in that realm the heavenly place at the right hand of God at the throne of Jesus everything is completed. There is nothing that has not been completed. It’s a different realm that operates at the throne of God.

Lets turn to Eph. 1:4 Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. You and I were not even created yet but God has already seen us at His throne. I pray that you open your eyes to understand what the throne room of God is like. Everything of existence or creation is past tense. When it says that He was, He is and He is to come, that in God past, present and future are in Him, what does it mean? Everything is past to Him. Everything is completed. It’s all in one book. You have a book that has recorded your life sometime ago and therefore which is past tense to you. It’s completed in God before there was even an idea of your existence. Before Adam and Eve were created, you were already in the mind of God.

Rev. 13:8 now you began to have an idea of why Jesus talked about His glory up there in heaven before the foundation of the world. There is something in that realm that is peculiar to our finite mind on this earth. Rev. 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him (that is the anti-Christ), whose names has not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Who can be slain from the foundation of the world? We know that Jesus died on the cross of Calvary around A.D. 27 to A.D. 30. How was He slain before the foundation of the world? He was not slain physically yet but He was already slain before the foundation of the world because in the mind of God in the throne room it’s all done, all completed. That is the first thing that we need to understand.

Why do I share this? Because if you are praying and you cannot see what you are praying for has already been completed, you haven’t entered the throne room yet. How can you know that you are in the throne room when you don’t know what the throne is like? How can you say that you have been downtown if you didn’t see the cars, the people, the traffic lights, the shopping malls, the post office, the hotels and restaurants? When you go downtown and see such places, then you know that you are in that place. It is possible to enter the throne room based on Eph. 2:6, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus and based on Hebrews 4: 16, Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. How do you know spiritually you are functioning from the throne room, when you haven’t seen the finished work from the point of view of the throne room? When you don’t know what is like in the throne room, you have not entered the throne room yet. Remember this if you really prayed through, you would have entered the throne room and seen the end results in the spiritual realm.

We are so used to living on this planet earth that our consciousness of time is linear, that future means future, the present means present and the past is past. But in heaven all present, past and future is past. That is why in Eph. 1 when he introduces the subject he says He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places - not will but has. Whatever you are praying for, if it’s in the will of God but you can’t see the end result and can’t see what it will be like, you are not in the throne room yet. You are still somewhere in the Outer Court. But when you reached the throne room, it’s done. I don’t mean that when you are in throne room that in the physical sense it’s done. But you can see it done. Then when you pray you can feel it is done. Then it may take sometime before physically it is manifested and done.

Let me make this statement: all prayers that never gain access to the throne room will never be answered. Because Christians don’t understand what the throne room is like and how to bring their petitions to God, they are always struggling in the Outer Court and they can never have the picture in them that it’s being done. And all the time they are out there, they are always struggling. Every prayer must be directed to the throne room. That is why Jesus teaches us to pray to the Father in His name by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus does not want us to pray to the Holy Spirit or pray to Him. He wants us to direct our petitions right to the Father God’s throne.

When some people say, “I have entered into the throne room,” what they mean is they have experienced the presence of God. But there are other side manifestations beside the presence of God. Sometimes the feeling of the presence of God is subjective. If you are regular in a spirit-filled church and you have got used to the presence of God, you may not feel the difference. But visitors that come in and worship the Lord in the same church, immediately the hairs on their hands would stand up; they would cry from the beginning to the end of the service because the presence is too strong. But if you are constantly in the presence, you may be so used and acclimatized to that presence, you may not feel the difference. Or if it’s a manifestation that you have never experienced before and you enter into that realm where the manifestation is going on you will feel the difference and have a sense of the presence of God but it’s a subjective feeling. See our ability to feel the presence of God is subjective and it is developed by our private devotional life. The presence of God is always there.

Sometimes I can feel the presence of God when people don’t feel anything. If you go to any church service and start criticizing and having hurt feelings, you would never feel the presence of God in any place even though the presence of God is there. Our attitudes can affect us in the presence of God. Or in our plain laziness, we have taken things of God for granted and it affects our feeling of the presence of God. I am saying that one of our senses is to feel the presence of God when we enter the throne of God. But strong feeling is subjective. When you live in the presence of God you are used to a certain level of presence all the time.

But there are some other manifestations where you see those things that have been done in the past, even though they would only take place in the future. In the book “Angels on Assignment,” it was written that when Roland Buck went to heaven, God showed him many specific things that would come to pass, among which was the election of Karol Wyotila as Pope John Paul II. Before that event took place, Roland Buck had already seen it happening. This is an example of what it means when you see some things that have been done in the past but will occur in the future. When this happens, you know you have entered that realm. Whatever you are praying about as long as you can’t see it, you are not there yet. You got to pray until you see it, which is a journey from the Outer Court into the Holy place and into the Most Holy place. That journey may mean that you got to give thanksgiving and observe the other principles of prayer. Then you got to pray after you see it until you feel it. And you know on your inside you have prayed through. You have released something about those things to God. Sometimes it takes more than one release. Then it will come by itself into the physical manifestation.

I need to give the second point because it balances up the first point. Nothing except what is the perfect will of God can exist in the throne room. This means that if you have your own plans, your own ideas that you want God to fulfill you can never enter into the throne room. The throne room is not a place where we come to God just to bless our plan. The throne room is a place where you come to God and ask Him for His plan for you in that area. So, in our first point we say when you pray you need to see it. But in the second point, it checks you. You cannot simply come with your covetousness, with your own personal desire that may be out of line with God’s will, and try what I call visualizing because in the throne room is no more visualizing you go beyond that point. Visualizing is exercising your spirit man. But in that realm you die to any of your own vision, you die to all your desires, and you ask God to show you His will and how He sees your present situation from His point. All you have is yieldedness to Him. And you pray until you see not what you want to see and what you want to visualize but what He can see. That is the second important point. No one can make a plan better than God made. All the plans of God on this planet earth until Jesus comes again are in the books of God. He knows all the details of your life, whom you will meet, whom you will marry, what you will do, who your parents are and what name they will give to you, all the faults, all the temptations in your life, all the mistakes you made, and many other things are in that book. It is amazing to know that God has all the knowledge about us. As we go into God’s throne, let us seek His knowledge not bringing our knowledge and ask Him to reveal what He really sees in that situation.

Tonight as we go into prayer, I want you to very carefully meditate on these truths that are shared. Here is a marvelous thing. He doesn’t allow you to know everything. But as you seek His face and pray He may be in His good pleasure reveal some of those things to your life. Maybe you have many prayer requests and some desires in your life that God could enable you to know what He has written in His book. When you pray from the throne room it is a matter of more yielding first. That is why I never believe in the supermarket request form. I don’t believe in just getting a form and filling it and saying, “God this is what I want.” If you want to pray in the throne room you get into the throne room first not with a prayer request but with thanksgiving and worship. Then when you are in His presence you began to ask God, “Lord, what is your mind in this area?” Help me to pray. Only the Holy Spirit knows and helps us to pray what is in the mind and the will of God. Praying in tongues helps because when we are praying in tongues the Spirit knows what we ought to pray.