Revelation 4 The Big Guy Upstairs

You are listening to the podcast of Recast Church in Matawan, Michigan. Just a quick announcement and update on our building plans. Some of you are aware, because you attended the family meeting a few weeks ago, that our current property that we own right now requires about $100 ,000, between $100 ,000 and $150 ,000 for fire suppression above and beyond what any other place would require in a building in Matawan.

We do not have a water main out there, so we'd have to supply our own pressure. All of that is details that you don't necessarily need to know. But through the Providence of God, we've identified a new property that is sufficient for our needs within the village of Matawan, and it would save us all of that money, which would actually help us to step up this process and begin the process of building sooner.

It's an exciting thing, and I'm telling this to all of you right now. I'm not sharing all of the details of how much this property costs. All of that is going to be forthcoming within the next week or two.

We're going to be getting that information out in time for us in the church to have a vote on whether or not to buy that property. Also in that is going to be a vote on paying the builders, Nyan Church builders, to actually do blueprints for us.

The amount of money that takes to do the blueprints requires a vote from our church. And so we'll be bringing all of that forward to you with details. It's probably going to come via e-mail. So particularly if you're a member of ReCaster, be paying attention to your e-mails that you get from us because in there is going to actually be one that we're going to highlight.

We're going to put it in bold and we're going to put it in text.

It's not a picture. It's an e-mail.

It is important, and we're going to have a vote on those things. So praise God with me. That's an exciting thing, the idea of us actually getting into our own facility right here.

In Matalon.

It's a great location right on Front Street, close to Matalon Village. So it's a cool location. It's kind of central to where a lot of stuff is going on right now.

It's elementary.

It's going in over there.

It's fabulous. And so, again, we'll share more with you. But with that out of the way, kind of as we jump in this morning, just to clarify my shirt. So you asked me about, and then there's this blank here, and it's really about Compassion International.

It's a Sunday organization that supports and allows us as individuals and families to take on a child in need around the world.

$38 a month.

Is it $38 a month? Sorry.

$38 a month supports, and there are actual cards back there with details about kids who right now are in need around the world. And so if you could do that, they're going to be a video and an announcement about that.

Later as well.

Revelation as the Final Inbreaking of the Kingdom

This morning we're diving back into the Book of Revelation. And it's been a while. And the fact of the matter is, I don't know if you've noticed, but how many of you, when you begin to read the Book of Revelation, you feel like you're writing off more than you've been reading before?

If you've read it, those of you who've read it, raise your hand. You're like, this is a lot. And the Book of Revelation starts off with these seven letters to seven churches. And it's kind of like, you start off and you're like, man, this is easy to understand.

This is good.

This applies to the church. And it's fun. And a lot of preachers love to preach those first three chapters because you can just take those letters to the church when Jesus taught them to the church, and you can apply it, and it's very easy.

And I think that if you've never ridden a roller coaster before, then I think Revelation is a bit like maybe the first time riding a roller coaster. Because what happens at the beginning of a roller coaster is you're kind of like, you don't know what's coming.

And you're like, OK, there's this clicking sound, and I seem to be going up, but it's like, man, this is easy. Roller coasters are easy, man. It's just this clicking sound, and it's kind of moving slow and easy and all that stuff.

And that's kind of like those first three chapters of Revelation. And all these people are all thinking about roller coasters as something fun.

Weird. Click, click, click, click, click.

And then what happens when you get to that first hill, it's like, whoo. And then all of a sudden, you're back at the station, and you're like, what just happened? I've got to do that again, maybe.

Or you're like, bleh.

I don't know which it is, depending on who you are. So that's kind of like the book of Revelation. It's like, hold on tight. Because once you crest the hill of chapter three, chapter four just launches us over that hill of what can be really complex to understand imagery, some of those kinds of things.

So we're going to dig in, and we're going to go over this together and jump down this first hill this morning. A bunch of stuff is going to happen before we arrive at the end of the book of Revelation.

But when it comes to this book, I really think there's two kinds of people, maybe even here in the church, maybe even here in the room. There are those who are excited that I'm preaching through this book because they have in their mind this notion that I'm going to give you a timeline of how everything's going to go in the end.

And so you're like, man, I want to, I remember digging into that back in the 80s or whatever, and it's like, how many of you know that people will come up with timelines of how it's all going to go down, and they've got details, and maybe even suggest who the Antichrist is, and all that kind of stuff.

And there are those who are looking for that kind of precision to know, like, how is this all going to wrap up? And then there are those who wish I wasn't preaching this book because they know how complex and confusing it can possibly be.

But I want to remind us all here at the start that this is indeed God's word. And as much as we have to wrestle to come to understanding it, how much we have to wrestle to come to grips with it, I'm going to recommend to all of you a third way to view this book.

More than just summarizing the entire book with the phrase, and if God only wanted us to know that he wins in the end, then the book would be like, you would open it up and it would be Revelation chapter one, verse one, God wins, end, right, that would be the end of it.

But he wanted us to know some more than that, and so there's more to it than just God wins and then being done with it. I would suggest to you that the book of Revelation is about the final inbreaking of the kingdom.

Of God.

That's why I've titled this series Thy Kingdom Come. That's what we're looking at when we dig into this book. Jesus told us to pray that, right? We should be praying that regularly if we're following the example of Jesus Christ.

Jesus told us to pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And we're going to get glimpses of heaven, we're going to get a chance even today to see what's going on in heaven and saying, thy will be done, thy kingdom come, and let it be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Well, what's it like in heaven? And we're going to get a glimpse of that today and see a bit of what is going on up there. The book of Revelation is all about that kingdom, there, coming down and that final collision of his kingdom and the kingdoms of mankind.

And in the end, his kingdom will be established forever and ever and ever. But here in chapter four, we start off right where everything should start, right where we should begin, and we begin with the vision of God himself, with his throne room.

There is a throne in the center of heaven, and it is occupied. It is not vacant, but there is one who sits on this throne, and his kingdom is forever and ever. And I have no problem sharing with you the application here at the beginning, particularly as we're going to come and sing some songs, and I'm going to read this text, and then we'll sing, and that is just simply this.

Here's the application, the primary point of this message. Honor and worship the one who is worthy of all glory, honor, power, and thanks. Worship and honor him. Ascribe him worth. Speak of his surpassing value and surpassing excellence.

So let's open our Bibles to Revelation chapter four, and let's begin this journey together on this rollercoaster of a book. So, again, Revelation four, navigate over there, open your Bibles there. If you don't have a Bible on your lap currently, if you'd just do me a favor and raise your hand, Mark has Bibles here to pass out, but we'd love everybody to have a copy of God's word on their lap so that they can follow along and dig in and see that the things that I'm saying this morning are coming from God's word.

Revelation four, again, recast, I say this often, but this is what God desires for us to hear from him this morning. Powerful. After this, I, that's John speaking, after this I looked and behold, a door standing open in heaven and the first voice which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.

At once I was in the spirit and behold a throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne and he who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and Carnelian and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.

Around the throne were 24 thrones and seated on the thrones were 24 elders clothed in white garments with golden crowns on their head and from the throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire which are the seven spirits of God and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass like crystal and around the throne and on each side of the throne are four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.

The first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings are full of eyes all around and within and day and night they never cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty who was and is and is to come.

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.

They cast their crowns before the throne saying, worthy are you, our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created.

Let's pray.

Father, I come before you and there's this image of a deeper understanding that I even have this morning as I think and have contemplated and just been saturated with this text this week in my own study just to recognize who it is that I'm speaking to right now.

Father, you are glorious, you are majestic and you are worthy of all worship and in your throne room there is nothing but worship of you going on. It is all focused on you, rightfully so, because you are the only one who is worthy.

You are the creator God and all that exists exists from your will. So Father, I pray that you would move us this morning to recognize that this awesome, glorious, beautiful picture, sometimes mysterious, sometimes confusing to us, but this amazing picture of almost concentric circles of worship that's going on and it's ringing out to where we have an opportunity to participate in that this morning.

So Father, I pray that in our voices, in our song, that you would allow our voices to be blended with those who are even now spiritually in heaven around that throne, around your throne singing praises to you.

Father, I pray that we would see you high and exalted and mighty and worthy of all of our sacrifice. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Thanks a lot to Dave and Rob and Linda for leading us in worship this morning. As we're going to see in this text, worship is what it's all about. So we just got an opportunity to actually apply the very thing that we're attempting to study and to think about and contemplate this morning.

I'd encourage you to get comfortable. You can get more coffee or juice or donuts during the message. It really is all about keeping our focus on God's word as much as possible here. So if that's what it takes, if you need to get up and stretch out in the back, please don't sit there in misery.

If your lower back gives you problems, just get up and stretch. You're not going to disrupt me, so do that. But also I'd encourage you to keep your Bibles open to Revelation 4, your app navigated over there, looking at it, seeing the things.

I'm going to walk us through that text, and you're going to see that what we're talking about is coming verse by verse right through this chapter, so Revelation 4. But I want to start off by asking you guys a question.

I think it's going to vary. Your answer varies really from person to person, and that is who is the God that you serve? You might talk about different aspects of him. You might talk about his character.

You might talk about his holiness. You might talk about Christ. You might talk about the Spirit. There's all different kinds of things and aspects and qualities of him that you might highlight in a description.

But I think for a lot of people in our culture, they might think of God as the big guy upstairs, the big guy upstairs who you turn to when times get tough. Some might call him or think of him as the old man of the universe who has a white beard and welcomes everybody.

Everybody just comes sit on his lap like a grandfather figure or something like that, and he's just kind of maybe even a bit senile, maybe just a little bit older and kind of, well, he's just so generous and willing to forgive all of our sins and just let us go.

Maybe he's the lonely God who just needed someone to love, and so he created humanity, and you kind of have that kind of notion or that vision of him. Or maybe for some of us, we've thought of him as the old angry landlord who lives upstairs that is just looking for the opportunity to kick us out, right?

He's just watching, waiting until we are in breach of contract so that he can kick us out and get rid of us. And so there's all different kinds of ways that you might think of God, a variety of different ways, and certainly in our culture, there's a lot of caricatures of him.

The Apostle John wrote down the letters to the seven churches that we studied last fall, and now we're picking back up in chapter 4. And after that, after that experience of God appearing to John and saying, write, I want you to write some stuff down, he wrote that.

And then after that, God began to grant him some visions. Some visions are like maybe a waking dream of sorts where God is inspiring and is moving in John to show him things and reveal things to him, not verbally but in picture phrases.

So what John is going to try to do is he's going to try throughout the book of Revelation in these visions to explain with words the thing he sees with his spiritual eyes, if you will. And so that's going to create some conundrums for us to understand what is it that John is actually seeing and try to picture that, try to put that.

So even in our text this morning, there's going to be some metaphors. Well, it was kind of like this. Have you ever tried to describe things to someone that wasn't there present? And sometimes you have to say, well, it was kind of like that.

Try to describe something that you ate overseas to your spouse when you get home or to somebody else, and it's like try to describe it. Well, you're going to use similes and metaphors and describe it as being like different things.

But here in our text, he's told specifically, you're going to see some things that are future, some things that are yet to take place, and that's where our mind goes immediately. But what's interesting is not all of the book of Revelation is forward-looking.

Some of it actually records for us things that have already occurred. Like actually, a lot of people don't realize that the birth of Christ is found in the book of Revelation. We're going to get there here as we walk through.

There's a war in heaven where Satan is cast down. Well, that happened previous to the creation of the world. And so we see some things that happen past, present, and future, and those things get kind of mixed in here.

So it's important for us to kind of understand that. And in verse 1, we see that in a vision, he looked and he was surprised to find a door open to him in heaven. There was a door opened in heaven. Now, in ancient Greek mythology, the interesting thing is that there were all kinds of stories of strong men who endured many trials and fought off beasts and overcame traps set by the gods in order to fight their way into the abode of the gods, to try to go up Mount Olympus to the place where the gods lived.

And there were a lot of thoughts about that and a lot of legends and myths about men trying to overcome and trying to gain immortality by sneaking in the back door of heaven, so to speak. Well, it's interesting that that's the very context in which this says, well, there was a door open and I was invited in, and so I went in.

See how that might be a little bit snarky? John is actually saying, well, this is the way it went down. I didn't fight my way. The Greeks reading this would have been like, where are the beasts? Where are the traps?

Where's all the adventure? Where's the swords and the helmets and the spears and all that? And he's like, there was a door open and I heard a voice and it said, come on in. And I went in and all this stuff was revealed.

So there's something going on already in the culture that's kind of interesting in the way that God brought this all about, this door in. And so he's invited in the spirit and he's brought into the throne room of the Almighty, the God of the universe, to catch a glimpse of that and share it with us.

Now, the reality is nobody will ever force their way into heaven. Entering his throne room is by invitation only. Did you know that? Nobody shows up there on accident. Everybody is there fully and completely according to his will.

In his grace, God invites John to come and check things out so that he can report to the church, and yes, even us, what he sees when he arrives there in heaven. And the first thing that John records for us in that vision and what he sees is pretty simple and easy to overlook and it's kind of like, well, all this stuff grabs our attention really quickly, but I don't want to brush over the glory and the weight of the first thing that he sees.

If what John experiences and sees first in just verse 2 is accurate and true, if what he says in verse 2 is accurate and true, then it must have a radical impact on our lives. If we believe it and it is true, then it will have a radical impact on our lives because in the center of this spiritual site, the first thing that he sees, the first thing that draws his attention is the throne.

He doesn't take the time to describe that throne, but it's placed in such a way that it immediately is central and it attracts his attention first and foremost, the throne and the one seated on it. And that's the point.

There is one seated on the throne of the universe. There is one there. In heaven, at the center of the spiritual realm, there is an occupied throne. If that is true, it has radical implications for you and me.

If just that one fact from the book of Revelation is true, then we have some soul-searching to do in regard to who we worship, the way we roll, the way that we understand our obligation and our understanding of relationship to this one who rules and reigns over all.

Who sits on a throne?

A king.

A ruler.

One who has power and authority over others. And that's the first thing that he sees. The significance of that should be radical for you and me. But consider for just a moment, we're going to get a glimpse here for just a second, but who sits on this throne?

It's important for us to know who doesn't. Start off there. It isn't you. It isn't me. It isn't any political candidate or ruler among mankind. There is one who occupies the throne and rules and reigns over the universe.

And we simply call him God. God is the one who rules and reigns over all. John limits his description of the character who occupies the throne. I think there's some reasons for that. But all he can say about the God that he sees seated on the throne is that he had the appearance of Jasper and Carnelian.

Now you understand what God looks like, right? Jasper and Carnelian, right? Well, Jasper and Carnelian are two stones. One is a blood-red stone like ruby. That's the Carnelian. And Jasper is a sparkling stone, usually clear like a diamond.

You can see the pictures that are up there. And I believe that what John saw was a brilliant light emanating from the one who occupies the throne. White and red light flooded his eyes as he saw the throne and the one who was seated there.

Paul clarifies for us and explains that when he's speaking to Timothy about our God, he talks about our God who dwells in unapproachable light. Our God who dwells in unapproachable light. And John had a chance to glimpse, to glance at this unapproachable light.

And consider Moses also experienced that unapproachable light. And in the book of Exodus, when he would come down from the mountain after having a conversation with the Almighty, his face, Moses' face, shone with the brilliance of having been in the presence of the Lord to such a degree that it terrified the Israelites and he had to put a veil covering over his face lest they become terrified of the glory that was emanating from Moses from just having been in the presence of the Almighty.

That's the kind of light that we're talking about here. How does that work? I don't fully get it. I don't fully understand. There's something about the light emanating from God himself and his glory that is overwhelming to the human senses.

We might be surprised that John doesn't give us more description. You might be going, okay, well he's there. He's in the throne room, man. Why doesn't he just give us more detail about God? But I think if you were there, you might also just merely catch a glimpse.

Because the light of God himself, as Paul, as the book of Acts clarifies for us, outshines the noonday sun. So I don't think you're going to be gazing at him trying to discern an outline and trying to figure out what he looks like.

But here in this throne room vision, John shares the setting with us and goes on to clarify. I mean he can't speak a whole lot about the one who is on the throne, but he's going to share what's going on in the presence of the Almighty, the one who occupies the throne of the universe.

And there, surrounding the throne, is a brilliant green halo. And I say brilliant green halo, if you look at the text, it talks in terms of there was a rainbow that had the appearance, all the way around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.

And when you think rainbow, how many of you memorize Roy G. Biv? Any of you know what I'm talking about? Roy G. Biv, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, right? The colors of the rainbow.

And you got that sometime in your schooling and it's stuck, wedged in there. But don't think Roy G. Biv in this sense. There's this circle of light, but a rainbow all the way around, like double rainbow all the way, I had to say that.

But a couple of you know what I'm talking about. But it's green in its hue. It says it's like an emerald. Do you see that in the text? Like an emerald. This is more like, there's not a Greek word for halo.

So he says there's this light that's encircling the throne and it is green. It's emerald. It's like an emerald. And we need a reminder that John here is groping for words to describe the things that he sees.

And we quickly come to the end of our ability to discern what is literal and what is figurative. And so we have to look at cues in the text. Sometimes John helps us by saying things like, look at the text.

It had the appearance of an emerald. Well, there's one thing we know for sure.

It wasn't an emerald.

Because he says it was like one. And so if it was an emerald, he would have said it was an emerald. But he chose to actually say it's like that. So there's a quality about this light. It's encircling the throne of God.

It's like an emerald. And most scholars would agree.

It's the color.

The color is what he's driving for here. So there's this green light that is emanating from the throne of God. But remember that God himself is in the text. The light that he's emanating is this red and hot white light that is emanating from him.

And then around him is this green halo. Surrounding the throne are 24 other thrones with 24 elders who are clothed in white garments. And it says they had golden crowns on their heads. Just, again, a regal, noble view of what is going on in this place.

There are 24 what I picture in my mind to be smaller thrones. And I think that's a reasonable assumption. But now in identifying these elders, I want to be clear that I am not sure who they are.

I'm going to be honest.

I don't know what that does for your confidence in me as your pastor. Maybe you expect me to have all the answers and know everything. I will tell you who I think they are, but I don't know for certain.

And so I would not go to the grave over this one. I'm not going to die on this one.

Who do you think they are? Angels or men?

I don't know. I don't know.

Okay.

That would be a really weird scenario, wouldn't it? I mean, I don't know when that happens. Where does that happen? But here's the thing. There are scholars that I highly respect, deeply respect, that believe that these are angelic beings.

These are a unique created being of God. They're angels. They are not humans who have died and have gone on before us and are now seated around that throne. Remember, John in the past is seeing this happen.

And by some things that we're going to see here in the text, it's presumed that this is still going on here today. So it would have to be people who have already died or something like that, even in John's time.

So some have identified these 12, I mean rather the 24, as the 12 apostles and the 12 tribes of Israel. One really intriguing thing is that one of the 12 apostles is the one seeing this unfold. And he'd be like, hey, there I am.

It doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense that John is one of the 12 who is around the throne, or rather one of the 24 around the throne when he's standing there watching this all unfold. So that's one of the things.

But there's a few things that lead me to conclude that these are angels. By the way, there are scholars that I really, really admire who believe that these are humans. So it's like, you know, I mean you kind of go, okay, that's why I'm a little bit on the fence about this.

But I lean on the direction of these being angelic beings. Because of the ongoing nature of their worship, without rest and without end. Now we were created for rest. What is heaven going to be? It's often imaged as a rest for you and I.

And it's clearly stated in this. These beings, whatever they are, these 24 elders, have no rest. Even God took a rest on the seventh day, right? But not these. These beings worship day and night. They never stop singing the praises of God.

And they're close ties with the four living creatures that we're about to encounter. I lean towards seeing them as 24 angelic worshipers. Who were likely created strictly for this ongoing, specific worship of God in his throne room.

Humanity as the image bears, by the way, are created to worship God in ways that are unique. Where angels were created to worship God in a different way than mankind does. It's more consistent with the things that we see them doing here.

Let me explain. The things that they're doing. Could we bow? Yeah, and we should. We should bow at times. Can we sing? Yeah, and they're singing. Can we cast crowns before him? Yes, we could. Could we sit on thrones?

Yes.

But we also are unique in that God has for us a method of worship that also includes creating things. Cultivating things.

We multiply.

We create culture. We are relationally driven and we worship him in a whole multitude of ways. And manifestations of the way that humanity worships. And these beings do not exist that multitude of ways.

They do the same thing repeated over and over and over again. And God has not, as image bears, he has not instilled that repetition in you and I. But rather has instilled in us creativity in our worship of him.

That we can worship him while we are working. We can worship him while we are jogging. We can worship him not just while we are jogging but through jogging. We can worship him not just at work but through the way that we work.

And the very nature of the things that we create can be rendered unto him service to the almighty. Even if it's a drill for surgery or whatever it is that you create. It can be something that is honoring to him just in the part that you play in that creative process.

So is that making sense to you? Are you getting why I think that these are a specific, unique, created. And again, I emphasize that I have some reasons that I believe that. But I could be wrong and I'd be okay with being wrong.

And God will set that straight when we get there. I have to be honest in my mind.

Heaven and the throne room of God.

In my mind has been more like a respectful, stately, and peaceful place. Anybody agree with me on that? Like that's been your mindset of the throne room of God. Respectful, regal, kind of just honorable place and location.

But verse 5, in verse 5 we find that it is anything but quiet. It is not a quiet place. Not only is there dazzling red and white light and green halos, but it's loud. There's flashes of lightning and rumbles and peals of thunder that are emanating from his throne.

Ongoing. Remember when he came down and settled on Mount Sinai, what did the people see and hear? They saw a storm. They saw lightning.

They saw thunder.

Often in his manifestation there is indeed a show and display of power and loud noise and trumpets blaring and that kind of stuff. There's the fire and the smoke of seven torches that are called here the seven spirits of God.

Which needs a little bit of explanation. Seven spirits of God. I thought there was one Holy Spirit and there is indeed one Holy Spirit. But often described in a perfection, the number of perfection being seven.

And the menorah is a seven-wicked lamp that is described in Zechariah 4, 1 through 10, in the Old Testament, in that Old Testament prophetic book. And there the Holy Spirit is described as the power of God to accomplish his work.