Revelation 4 "God's Throne Room"

Sermon on Revelation 4 preached on 5 December 2010. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Father, we thank you again for your wonderful words. And we pray that as we look at a part of it tonight that has some some maybe surprising images or images that need a bit of unpacking, would you help us to see what you are really saying through this passage? And would you help us to apply it to our lives? Amen. Well, we're continuing this evening our sermon series looking at the whole of the book of Revelation. And so far, we've been in what for many people are the relatively familiar waters of the seven letters to the seven churches. And we've now kind of reached the edge of the comfortable, familiar ground of those seven letters, and we're about to set foot into the vast interior of the book, a bit of the book that many people find perplexing and intimidating. But it's also a part of the book where we're going to see some wonderfully exciting and wonderfully helpful things. But before we jump into that, I want to say a little bit about the structure of the book of Revelation as a whole. In most sermons, you get a kind of lump of theology. You're going to get a preacher like me who will kind of tell you a whole load of things you need to believe, and then will say, So what? What does that mean for our lives? And the kind of sermon will end with a bit of application. Well, Revelation works the other way around to that. It starts with the application, and then it moves on to the theology that undergirds that application. The application of the book of Revelation is really the seven letters that we've been looking at over the last few weeks. That is the application of the book, and the rest of the book is the theology that gives rise to that application. Now that doesn't mean that we've got nothing else to learn in terms of application. It doesn't mean it's going to be dry and dull, far from it. But we need to understand kind of how it works. And I'll try and explain that a little bit more. If you remember, there is a repeated refrain in all of those letters that we've been looking at. In all of those letters, the letters end with the words, to him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life. Or he who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. Or to him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manner. Or to him who overcomes, I will give authority over the nations. He who overcomes will be dressed in white. He who overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of God. To him who overcomes, will I give the right to sit with me on my throne? Each letter again and again to him who overcomes. That's the big application of the book of Revelation. Do you see the royal point of those letters? It's to encourage us to persevere, to overcome the trials, the temptations, the challenges, the persecutions, and so on that the faithful church will face. The letters to the churches in Revelation are all saying, keep going. Because if you do, then you will come through these terribly testing times, and there will be something amazing, something wonderful, something perfect, something eternal that will be awaiting you on the other side. If you persevere, you will make it to heaven, and there you will see that it has all been worthwhile. So what's the application of revelation? It's keep going, persevere, overcome. And that isn't just the application of those letters, it's the application of the book as a whole. Well, we've seen then the application. Now we're going to see the great spiritual realities that give rise to that application. You see, the rest of the book is really an answer to the question: how do I know it's going to be okay in the end? How do I know I'll make it? How do I know that my perseverance isn't in vain? You see, it's all very well saying you'll be okay because God's in control, but the reality is that it doesn't really look like God's in control much of the time. Christians in the day that Revelation was being written, as we've seen in some of the letters, were being horribly persecuted. John was writing from exile on Patmos, which was a penal colony. John was being punished for his faith. And Christians in all the churches that John was writing to were having a hard time because of their faith. And it's true today as well. There are parts of the world where churches are being burnt, where Christians are being raped and murdered. And even closer to home, Christians are losing their jobs or at least facing discipline at work because of the way in which they express their faith. Students are meeting opposition from hall wardens and from academic staff. We might get mocked at work or even perhaps at home. And when you put all of that together, if you're honest, it doesn't really make you think that God's in control. It looks just the opposite. And so Revelation is saying, look, keep going. But if it's saying keep going because it will all be right in the end, and the reason that it will all be right in the end is that God is in control, but that it doesn't look like God is in control, it looks like we have big reasons to doubt that God's in control. But if that's the case, then we're not going to be all that sure why we should keep going. Is it worthwhile? Are we sure it really will be alright in the end? Well, Revelation was written to answer exactly those sorts of questions. It was written to show us that God really is in control so that we will have courage to keep going. And the first way it does that is by showing us God as He really is. And that's what this chapter is about tonight. It's showing us God as He really is. Many of you will know that I'm into rugby in a reasonably significant way. And I love watching rugby. And one of the great things is watching New Zealand play, because they always start with the hacker, which is a bizarre Mari war dance that I'm not going to try and demonstrate. But they do it to try and kind of psych out the opposition. They're doing it to try and say, look how strong we are. Look how powerful we are. We're going to crush you. That's what they're trying to do. And sadly it works. They often do crush their opposition. But what we've got in Revelation is not a show of strength that is trying to psych out the opposition. It's not a show of strength at all. It's not God just trying to look bigger than he really is. But it is an accurate demonstration of who God really is, how powerful he is, how strong he is. Not to psych out the opposition, but to give courage to his side, to show just how mighty he is, to show that if we are on God's side, we will inevitably be on the winning side. The God that revelation introduces us to is not the benevolent but rather ineffectual old man in the clouds that the world around us sometimes portrayed him as. But rather he is the almighty, the all-powerful, the truly awesome God that he really is. So let's dive in at this into this passage, chapter four. I'm going to go through it kind of verse at a time, or reasonably in detail, and just try and unpick some of the images that God uses, that John uses to describe what he sees. So let's start with verse one. After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven, and the voice I had heard at first speaking to me like a trumpet said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this. And at once I was in the spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven, with someone sitting on it. So John has had this wonderful vision that formed chapters two and three, this vision of Jesus Christ amongst the lampstands, amongst the churches, and he's addressing each church in turn. But now he's, in a sense, he's caught up into heaven in this vision so that he can tell us what's going on there and what he sees. And what does he see? Well, it's there in verse 2. He sees a throne with someone sitting on it. So the first thing we're told is that there is a throne in heaven. A throne doesn't just mean a comfy chair, it's a place where a king sits, it's a place where someone rules from. So John is telling us that high above all the thrones on earth, far superior to all human rulers, there is a throne and a king in heaven, ruling not just over an individual nation or even over a vast empire, but ruling over the whole universe. So there is a throne in heaven. The real rule, the real power lies in heaven, not on earth, not with NATO, not with the mighty force that is the American military, not with anything like that, not with intercontinental ballistic missiles, not with nuclear warheads. The real power exists in heaven, where there is a throne with a ruler sat upon it. And what's this ruler like? Well, look at verse three. The one who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and Carnelian, and a rainbow resembling an emerald encircled the throne. So he's got the appearance of Jasper and Carnelian. What on earth does that mean? Well, Jasper may well have been opal or it may be diamond. And carnelian, if you look at the King James version of the Bible, slightly mysteriously, carnelian is translated as sardine. So the one on the throne in heaven looks like a sardine in King James, but that's not what it means. Sardine is an ancient word for a particular sort of jewel. And this is it's a scarlet red jewel. It's not a fish. So the guy on this throne in heaven looks like precious jewels. And then there's this rainbow that looks a bit like an emerald surrounding him. And people have read into that, and they may well be right, but they've read into it a reference to the covenant promised to Noah back in Genesis. You remember the rainbow was a sign of God's covenant. But actually, I think there is something much more simple going on there. He's saying that the one on the throne looks like precious jewels, and there's this rainbow glow of light that surrounds him. Isn't this just trying to describe the most beautiful and the most majestic thing that he's ever seen? It's dazzling brightness. There's color everywhere, it's sparkling, it's glowing, it's shining. It's a picture that is meant to make your jaw just drop in wonder. There is no one else who looks like this. There is no one with the same brilliance, the same beauty, the same glory. Certainly not a sardine. Let's move on, verse four. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and they had crowns of gold on their heads. So around the throne are twenty-four lesser thrones, and on these thrones are twenty-four elders dressed in white, and they've got golden crowns. Who are these guys? Well, some have suggested that these guys are believers who have gone to heaven and who represent all believers, maybe twelve apostles and the twelve tribes of Israel, or something like that. But I actually don't think that's what they really are. It's better to see them as a high order of angels. Okay, these are particularly elevated, particularly senior angels. And I say that for a few reasons. Angels are very common in this sort of literature. We see them lots in Revelation, you see them in other books of the same genre as well, Ezekiel and so on. So there are lots of angels around. Secondly, what these angels are doing or what these elders are doing later on, we'll see, is offering the prayers of God's saints to God. You'll see that when you get to chapter 5, verse 8. They're offering the prayers of God's saints, of God's people to God, and in chapter 8, verse 3, that is a function given to angels. Okay? So in chapter 8, it's angels that offer prayers to God. In chapter 5, the elders are offering prayers to God, and that makes me think the elders are quite possibly angels. But then, perhaps more importantly, when we get to chapter 14, I don't bother turning to it now, but we'll see it in a few weeks' time. Chapter 14, verse 3, it talks about believers singing a song that the elders cannot sing. Now that makes me think that the elders are not just believers who have gone to heaven. They're someone, something different. And then finally, the most, I think the most important thing, when we get to chapter 7, verses 9 to 11, we'll see kind of concentric rings of different categories of people surrounding the throne of God. Right on the outside are the huge numbers of the saved, of believers. Uh huge numbers that you can't count, thousands upon thousands upon thousands, huge numbers of believers, and then inside them are angels, and then inside them are the elders, and then inside them are four living creatures, which we'll come to in a moment, and then there is the throne. So the angels are not lumped with the believers, but are closer in. So the elders are not lumped with the believers, but are closer in. So these 24 elders on the 24 thrones, I am fairly convinced, are very senior angelic figures. Each of them has this senior angel on it, and why are we told about them? What's the importance of them being there? Well, partly they're there to praise God, and we'll see that when we get to verse 10. So this God who has already been described in such wonderful terms has these beings around him, they're continually praising him, they're continually singing how wonderful he is, but they're also there to remind us how unapproachable this incredible God is. If you were to come and knock on the vicarage door, it will probably be Kate or me that answer it, and we'll probably invite you in. Um, we might offer you a cup of tea, slice of cake if you're lucky, uh, or if we're very busy, we might try and find a subtle and tactful way of telling you to get lost. Uh, but most likely it will be us that meets you and we will welcome you in. But if you go and knock on the door of Buckingham Palace, you're not going to expect the Queen to answer and say, oh, hello, do you come in? Should I have cup of tea? Have you met my husband? Uh reasonably unlikely to happen like that, isn't it? You have to get through layer and layer and layer of security and butlers and footmen and all that sort of people. You see, the more important a person is, the more minions they have surrounding them. Kate and I, we're not very important, so we've got no one, just a dog, okay? But Barack Obama, watch where he goes anywhere. He needs a whole jumbo jet to take all his staff with him. There are vast numbers of people who go everywhere with him. Well, God is surrounded by these 24 elders, these exalted angels, and they're there to point to the holiness, the majesty, the glory of the one who sits on the highest throne. They're there to remind us that we don't just saunter into God's presence. God is the most important being in the universe. He is surrounded not just by security and by footmen and so on, but he is surrounded by these 24 elders, some of the highest beings that this universe can know. So they're there to praise God, but they're also there to make us realize how majestic, how wonderful, how awesome, how unapproachable this God is. And let's continue, verse 5. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. So there's this thunderstorm that's going on on the throne. Now, what's that meant to point to? You might think it makes the seat a little uncomfortable. Well, just think about it. A real thunderstorm, if you ever witness a proper one up close, I don't mean these delightfully restrained British ones. You know, the British do everything in polite moderation, don't we? Even thunderstorms. But if you go to America, you go to Africa, and you see a thunderstorm, you really know about it. Incredible noise that shakes your house. Light that illuminates the country for miles around. Wind. All sorts of things that are just incredibly powerful. This is pointing to the power of God. A thunderstorm is one of the most dramatic displays of the powers of nature. Powers of nature that humankind can't come close to controlling or stopping or limiting or protecting us from. We can build big harbor walls, but the power of the sea can still smash them. We can build any number of things, but if nature really gets going, it can utterly destroy them. And a thunderstorm, I think, is meant to be there as one of the most powerful events of nature. And here is God seated upon it. God is sat upon this almighty thunderstorm. This is pointing to the power of God. And then in front of this throne, there are the seven lamps who now we're told are the seven spirits of God. Or actually, if you remember how I explained that when we looked at it in chapter one, I said it's probably better translated as the sevenfold spirit of God. One spirit, but described seven ways. Seven being the number of perfection and completeness in Jewish literature. So do you see what this is all getting at? This is piling up one image after another to show us how truly awesome this God on the throne is. He has the beauty and the glory of all the jewels and the precious stones. He's surrounded by this dazzling rainbow of lights like an emerald. He's surrounded by the 24 elders and by the Spirit of God blazing like seven lamps, and there's this thunderstorm going on where he is. This is all meant to say he is a truly powerful and awesomely majestic being. Verse 6, first bit of 6. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. People sometimes take that to be talking about almost a transparent window in heaven looking down on the earth. But I don't think that's what it really means. Sea in Jewish thought was a place of chaos and evil. It was a symbol of a world out of control and in rebellion against God. And that's the significance when we get to chapter 1, where chapter 21, sorry, where we're told that there will be no more sea. Means there will be no more evil, no more rebellion against God. But what's the sea doing here before the throne of God? Well, it's there because it is evil. It is the whole broken order of the world that separates us from God on his throne. For us to come to God, there needs to be found a way across this great gulf of sin, this sea before the throne. And we'll find that way across next week in chapter five. But let's keep going. Second half of verse six. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes in front and behind. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings, and day and night they never stopped saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. Around the throne, then are these four living creatures. And these are an order of angels even higher than the twenty-four elders. And they're described in wonderfully symbol-laden ways. They're covered in eyes. That is a standard image in this sort of literature to mean omniscient, all-knowing. They see everything that happens. Nothing is hidden from them. And then one looks like a lion. Lions were symbols of royalty. Okay, the lion of Judah and so on. It's a symbol of a king. One is like an ox. An ox was a symbol of strength. One looked like a man. This may surprise you, but man is a symbol of intelligence. And then one looks like an eagle. And this is interesting. You may think of eagles as denoting speed. You know, they look pretty swift, pretty sleek, pretty aerodynamic, pretty cool. But actually, if you want a picture that means speed in the Bible, uh, it's normally gazelle, deer, that sort of antelope, fast-moving thing. Rather, I think what eagles are pointing to is how they work in much of the Old Testament where God talks to Israel about how he has borne them up on wings like eagles. Uh you're probably very glad to have human parents, okay? Uh, if you had to choose a species to be your parents, an eagle would be a bad choice. Because the way in which they teach their young to fly is they just kind of say, Right, son, you look ready, and they throw you out the nest. And you're in this nest that's built up on this cliff and you're in free fall, and you're going, oh, thanks, Dad. Um, you're plummeting into Earth. Now, hopefully, you say, Well, I'll stick my wings out and I'll flap a bit and we'll see what happens. And if you're lucky, then up you come and you can say, Woohoo, I can fly. Uh but if it doesn't work like that, if your wings don't quite work, or you haven't quite got the hang of how to deploy them, then dad will come swooping down after you and he will catch you before you hit the deck, and he will bear you up, he'll carry you back to the nest, and you think, oh, phew, thank goodness that's over. But sadly it's not over because he lobs you out again, and eventually you get the lesson and he doesn't have to pick you up anymore. That is how eagles teach their young to fly. And when the Old Testament talks about God bearing up Israel on eagle's wings, that's what he means. God picks us up when we fall. God is watching over us. An eagle is a symbol of God's watchful care of his people. So look, closest to the throne of God, perhaps even supporting the throne, are these four highest of all angels. They know all, they are royal, they're strong, they're intelligent, and they're protecting. And I hope the picture is becoming clearer in your head. This is a God of unimaginable splendor. He's utterly unapproachable, he's terrifyingly powerful, he's incredibly beautiful. And do you see how all that starts to answer the question that we started with? We started with the question: how do we know it will all be okay in the end? How do we know that God is really in control? Well, we know it will be okay in the end because this is the sort of God we're dealing with. This is the being who is in control. There is none like him. You see the attributes of him that are described here. He's beautiful, he's powerful, he's majestic, he's glorious, he's awesome in every sense of the word. The God on this throne is not weak, he's not ineffectual, he's quite the opposite, and so Christians have no reason to fear. And that's the first big application of this passage. We should not fear. What are the things that you're worried about right now? What are the things on your mind right now? Well, hold them up against this God. How do they measure up? Which is bigger? Do you think God might cope? Do you think that this one who will bear you up on wings like eagles might just about be able to see you through? A clearer picture of God is the best antidote to fear that there could ever be. When you are afraid, when something really bothers you, turn to Revelation 4 and gaze on the awesomeness of the Lord Most High. Just gaze at this passage. Can this God cope? Might this God be a little bit bigger than the things we're up against? Well, those are the characters that we meet in heaven. The one on the throne, the elders, the living creatures, and so on. But let's close by seeing what they're all up to. What are these characters in heaven up to? I'm going to read from the second half of verse eight. Day and night they never stop saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and they worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne, and they say, You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and by your will they were created, and have their being. The four living creatures who look like a lion and an ox and a man and an eagle, they never stop praising God. They're there, they're continually saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. That's 24-7 prayer for you, isn't it? They never stop. This goes on. This song never ends. And whenever the living creatures do that, the 24 elders bow down and worship. And the living creatures are doing it all the time, so the elders are doing it all the time. There is an unending song of praise to God going on in heaven. And there are some wonderful insights to what worship really looks like there. When the elders worship, they climb off their thrones, they fall down before God, and they lay their crowns before Him. They relinquish all that status, all that glory before the one who is worthy of all praise. They know that they are nothing compared to the one on the throne. Do we do that in our worship? Do we surrender all that we are, knowing that really we're nothing before the one we are worshiping? Because that is part of what worship is. It's surrendering our everything, our crowns, our throne to the one true King. And then look at their song, look at verse 11. You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. True worship recognizes that not only are we nothing before God, but also that we owe our very existence, our coming into being, our staying in being. We owe all of that to Him. We are nothing without Him. So look, what is the fitting response to this incredible, awesome, majestic, glorious God that we've been shown here? What is the fitting response? It is to get off our throne, to lay our crown before Him, and to acknowledge that He is everything. It is complete submission to Him in humble and reverent worship. Because of who God is, we have nothing to fear. We have every reason to be confident that things will turn out right in the end. And because of who God is, our whole lives should be laid down in worship before Him.