"SEAT OF RECKONING"

September 5, 1999 pm
Michael F. Blume

Ezek 1:26-28 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

We spoke much of the glory of God in the recent services.

Man is God's glory. (1 Cor 11:7).

When the ark of the covenant was taken by the Philistines, Phinehas' wife went into labour for her child's birth when she heard that her husband and her father-in-law dies, and the ark of the covenant was taken.

She called her newborn baby, "Ichabod."
THE GLORY IS DEPARTED (1 Sam. 4:21-22).

So, the Ark depicted God's glory.

But the ark returned after destroying Dagon's idol in three days, and plaguing all Philistia.

Notice what happened when the ark was taken:

Phinehas died (Phinehas means "serpent mouth")
Hophni died (Hophni means "fist fighter")
Eli died, a fat man and an old man.
Dagon was destroyed.

Contrast those events with the following:

Christ was taken by the enemy and crucified.

When he died, my old sinful life died with Him -- the "serpent mouth" sinner I used to be.
I was also carnal when in sin and like a fist-fighter, denying God.
My old man died with Him (Ro. 6:6), and all that fleshliness of ungodliness died.
Jesus destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.

And the Ark returned to Israel just like Jesus resurrected from the grave!

The ark was to be carried royally on the shoulders of priests using poles or staves to uphold it.

And this is another reason indicates why God was upset with David when David had it pushed on an ox-cart.
God smote one of the servants who pushed it, named Uzzah, when the ark slipped and uzzah reached to hold it.
That which indicates something royal is not be pushed on an ox cart!
An additional reason for God's anger is that the ark having been transported back to Israel to later enter the temple indicated Christ resurrected and on His way into the Holiest of Heaven to present His blood. No Human could touch Jesus on His way there. We cannot HELP save ourselves. This work is God's work alone. The human touch must never be considered!

Ezekiel saw a vision of what the ark symbolized, in our opening text that we read.

The ark and the "glory of God" are representative of the same thing.

Ezekiel saw a throne above the heads of living creatures, or cherubims, as the ark was carried on the shoulders of priests.

Royalty.

One sat on the throne dressed with amber and fire.

Jesus is clothed in gold and fiery brass in Revelation 1.

In Ezekiel's visions, the throne of the glory of God was SAPPHIRE stone.

I researched what the Hebrew word for SAPPHIRE is derived from, and found a fascinating truth.

The Hebrew word is CAPPIYR ("sap-peer")
It is derived from the word CAPHAR ("saw-far").
Caphar means "to score with a mark as a tally or a record."
The terms, "count," "number" and "reckon" are translated from the term Caphar.

Keep that in mind as we proceed.

The throne of the chariot of Ezekiel parallels the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant.

Blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat to atone for Israel's sins.
Where the blood was sprinkled on the ark we see a connection with the sapphire throne.
Since Caphar means to RECKON, we see a beautiful picture of salvation here.

The blood that was sprinkled on the ark was foreshadowing the blood Jesus would shed to save mankind from sin.

And this salvation involves our need TO RECKON OURSELVES DEAD WITH CHRIST.

Roma 6:10-11 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Christ is the one seated on the throne of sapphire.

And Paul told us to reckon ourselves dead to sin through Jesus Christ OUR LORD.
He is Our Lord.
King.
And he sits on a throne of reckoning.

He will judge us on the seat of reckoning.

To reckon ourselves dead with Him, means that we must realize that God only saves those who see that Christ died as them.

Not many have ever come to see this in the Gospel, but it is what the Gospel is all about!
Christ died as me.
Therefore I can say I am dead.
I reckon myself dead with Christ.
He died because I HAD TO DIE.
And the only way He could die to deal with the need for my death was to be reckoned as me dying.
That is how God sees it and that is how I must see it.

No wonder sacrificial blood was put on something that represented the SAPPHIRE THRONE!

This death of Christ is our death!

The very foundation of Christ's KINGDOM is a SAPPHIRE THRONE-- reckoning.

The ark was first mentioned in Ezekiel 25:10 when God gave Moses instructions to build it.

But before this, we read:

Exod 24:1 And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.

Exod 24:9-11 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel: and [there was] under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in [his] clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

Moses saw the spiritual realm somehow, and there was a paved work of sapphire stone there!

The very pavement was made of sapphire.

One day we are going to enter that actual place Moses saw.

Heaven.
And the reason Moses saw it as sapphire, is due to the fact that the only people who will enter this glorious realm and walk there are those who reckoned themselves dead with Christ!
Sapphire is derived from the term meaning TO RECKON.
Your good works will not save you.
Your lack of murdering anybody will not save you.
Even your church attendance will not save you.
ONLY BY RECKONING YOURSELF DEAD WITH CHRIST WILL YOU BE SAVED.

Our entire basis for an eternity with God is RECKONING OURSELVES DEAD WITH CHRIST.

We will stand forever BECAUSE OF THIS RECKONING.

Moses saw God and we read they did eat and drink.

Meat and drink refer to the blood and body of Jesus' crucifixion.
Are you feasting tonight?

Let's go ahead in time long past Ezekiel and Moses.

John 19:13-16 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with [him], away with [him], crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led [him] away.

Jesus final judgment was carried out in a place called the PAVEMENT.

That was the place of the final verdict to slay Christ.
God had that in mind as far back as Moses' day, for he had pavement in glory and had it made of sapphire to indicate that when Christ would be tried at THE PAVEMENT, we would be saved by reckoning ourselves condemned and judged in Christ's judgment.

I will never be judged for my sinful life before I found Christ again!

I was already judged and crucified with Christ.
I reckon that to be so.
My faith in that saved me.
When I was baptized into His death, His death became my death.
I reckoned His death to be my own.

Why do we sing how the blood of Jesus is against Satan?

Satan's defeat was foreshadowed by Pharaoh's defeat.
Put yourself in Pharaoh's shoes after the Exodus..
Israel was set free from your kingdom and loosed from their slavery all due to a little lamb's blood on their homes, freeing them from your bondage while your own firstborn died.
And to hear reference to that blood again is the worst nightmare you had being relived again and again.
That is a bit of why the devil hates us to speak of the blood of Jesus.
Satan lost his hold on us and his power when Christ died and we reckoned ourselves dead to sin by Christ's death.
Satan cannot stand to hear of the blood of Christ any more.
That is why the GOOD NEWS FOR MODERN MAN Bible has removed the BLOOD OF JESUS 15 times from its pages.
Satan does not want us reading about the power of the Blood.
Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.

Where the blood was sprinkled we read this:

Exod 25:21-22 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which [are] upon the ark of the testimony, of all [things] which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

THERE GOD WILL MEET WITH US.

Where?
Where the blood was sprinkled between the cherubims.
Where the mercy seat corresponds with the sapphire throne of the Glory of God.
At the place of reckoning.

If you want to see God one day and be with Him for eternity, there's only one way.

Buddha won't get you there.
Hare Krishna won't get you there.
Mohammed won't get you there.
Jesus said, "I AM THE WAY." (Jn. 14:6)
He said, "NO MAN COMETH TO THE FATHER BUT BY ME." (Jn. 14:6)
He said, "ALL THAT CAME BEFORE ME ARE THIEVES AND ROBBERS." (Jn. 10:8)