Revelation 4:1-11 (Praise God All Creatures, Jeff Kliewer)

First of all, confessing that You are God, You're sovereign over all things. We trust You. We're thankful that You remain on Your throne. There's nothing that could dethrone You, and there's nothing that can surprise You.

Nothing that gets out of control. For You are God. And we just call on You this morning, asking that You would visit us here as we worship, that You would come and fill us with Your precious Holy Spirit, that You would give us joy, and help us to catch a glimpse of what You are, who You are.

On Your throne, Lord, show us through Your Scripture.

That we would worship You.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, it seems fitting that I would begin my sermon this week by addressing the coronavirus situation. Obviously, it's something that has the world in a tizzy. There's a lot going on.

And so I'll just begin with five pastoral counselings, if you will. That's not the word. Some pastoral remarks. That's a better word. Pastoral remarks about the coronavirus. Number one, obedience. Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 teaches us that we are to obey governing authorities.

So the government may at some point say that the church is not to meet because of this coronavirus. I think if that happens, then the proper thing to do is to obey government. Because it's not that they're trying to shut down the gospel at this moment.

It's not an acts for kind of situation in which we would have to obey God rather than men. It's a situation of the government working to curtail a virus. So there's obedience. Number two, wisdom. If the government gives a recommendation at that point, we're to consider that recommendation prayerfully and biblically make decisions using wisdom, taking into consideration the recommendation, but not bound by that recommendation.

Number three, and just seeing some interaction on Facebook, not from this particular church, but just in general, this is a very important one. The word grace. Grace. The question of social distancing versus supply chains and economics and all other considerations is not a gospel issue.

It is not the issue of the Trinity, substitutionary atonement, resurrection of Christ, virgin birth. It is a tertiary issue at best. Some people will approach this subject genuinely and sincerely thinking that all interaction in a public forum should be canceled right away.

Other people will say, no, we need to continue on with our lives as much as possible. And the question will not be answered with a definitive, thus says the Lord. And because that's the case, we need to have grace for one another.

If you disagree with somebody's opinion on this, make sure that you're sincere in the opinion that you have. Make sure you're informed that you're reading, that you know why you hold to what you do, and make sure it's a biblical opinion.

But then be gracious toward those who might differ with you on that subject. Number four, prayer. Christians of all people, literally of all people, know how to deal with this virus. We can't stop it, but we know the one who can.

And our president has called for a national day of prayer today. And I think that's a wonderful thing. I think that all of us should join in that, praying for a stop to this virus, because God could stop the virus like that, couldn't he?

And we're told he has purposes for what he does on Earth, including the evil things of this world, because we live in a fallen world. And yet he wields those things for his purposes as well. And so we should turn our eyes to him.

We should call on the Lord, call on the King for safety, for healing for those who are sick. In every way, we should pray. And who knows, but that God might use this to bring about revival. If God's people who are called by his name will humble themselves, and you know the rest, pray and seek his face, he will hear from heaven and heal our land.

Now that was applied specifically under the old covenant to the people of Israel. But the general equity of that still applies in the sense that we can pray, and God hears our prayers. And that's what Christians should do, pray at a time like this.

And then finally, love. And by love, I'm not just repeating point number three, that we should have grace towards one another who differ. By love, I'm saying that we of all people should have each other's back.

There might be somebody in our congregation who's wracked with fear and anxiety because of this virus. I hope they get a phone call today from someone who's sitting here. There could be someone who's afraid to go out and buy food.

Maybe we should call the people in our congregation, go through the directory, make some phone calls and say, hey, brother, sister, are you doing okay? Do you have everything you need? Is there any way I can help you?

At a time like this, the congregation, the Christians in a congregation need to pull together and to have each other's back, to love one another. So of all times, this is a perfect time to love one another.

Make those phone calls, shoot some emails, be aware of people in your life and in your circles in general beyond the church. Be an example of love at a time like this. Amen? Amen. So this is where we are with the coronavirus.

And as the world, as I mentioned, is in a tizzy, I don't think that God is sitting in heaven wringing his hands. I don't think he's surprised. I don't think he's worried. The aseity of God is the doctrine that says that God is dependent on nothing.

God is in and of himself sufficient. He's not afraid. He is on his throne. And so let's go take a glimpse now. We have the great privilege and in God's providence, it comes to us this morning that we're in Revelation chapter 4.

So let's go there. We've read it already, but let's turn there and we're going to go verse by verse to catch a glimpse of God on his throne. And I will say this is the main idea. If we as Christians can catch a glimpse of God on his throne, it changes everything for us.

It changes how we worship. It changes how we extol him for who he is and for what he's done. We need to catch a glimpse and by God's grace, he gives us that glimpse in his word. Revelation chapter 4. Let's look at the first verse.

Well, this harkens back, of course, to the first chapter of Revelation. It was Jesus who spoke with that thundering trumpet-like voice in Revelation chapter 1. John turned around to see who was speaking to him and behold, he sees the candlesticks and the flame.

But standing in the midst of the candlestick, which means in the midst of the churches, was Jesus himself. So the voice here is the voice of Jesus. And not only is he the voice speaking come up here, he is the door, symbolically speaking, because Jesus said in the book of John, I am the door.

He is the way to heaven. He is the entry point. The door standing open in heaven. Now that just symbolically speaks of Jesus, but the first voice, which he heard speaking like a trumpet, said come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.

There are some who consider this to be an indication of the rapture of the church. In the flow of the text, that's not made explicit. So that might be a step beyond where the text goes, but it certainly parallels with the outline of the book.

Okay, the outline of the book of Revelation is found in Revelation chapter 1 verse 19. This is sort of the thesis statement of the book. We are told that Jesus tells John, write therefore the things that you have seen and the things that are and the things that shall take place after this.

Three parts. First, the first chapter. The things that you have seen. What did John see? He saw the glorious radiance of the son of God himself. He saw Jesus. A vision of Jesus. That's the first part of the book.

And that's what the book is about. Even though it's only one chapter where he sees Jesus, that's the central figure for everything that comes after. The book is about Jesus. It's the revelation of Jesus after all.

Revelation 1 .1. So the first part of the book is this vision of Jesus. The second part is the things that are. That refers to Revelation 2 and 3, where Jesus tells us and diagnoses the state of the seven churches, which typify churches through all the ages.

This is the things that are. Whereas we might be self-congratulating, and we might put on a mask, and we might be like Sardis and have a reputation for being alive. Heaven forbid that our church ever would be that way.

Whereas people justify themselves, Jesus tells us the things that are. His diagnosis is true. He is the faithful and true witness. And so the second section of the book of Revelation is the things that are.

Those seven letters are 100 accurate. They are the things that are. And then finally, notice the parallel language here in chapter 4, verse 1. You have a marker to say that we're moving on to a new section of the book.

So this is a drastic change from the chapters 2 and 3, the diagnosis of the churches. It says, after this I look, behold. Isn't that dramatic?

A door.

And John is caught up from earth to heaven. Now, I don't think his body actually leaves earth. He's caught up in the spirit. It's a vision of heaven. So he's caught up, and the voice says, come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.

So flip back to 119. Do you see the parallel in the language? Take place after this. After the things that are, we move on. So here's where the book gets very interesting. You move from the diagnosis mode of the things that are to a vision of things that will take place after this.

In other words, end times, future, eschatology. These are things that are yet to happen. After the churches, the age of the churches is over, which parallels in timing, chapter 4, verse 1, the rapture of the church.

John is now caught up into heaven to see a vision of things that have not yet happened. That's amazing, and you guys know it's coming because you've probably at least become somewhat familiar with the rest of the book, right?

Horsemen of the Apocalypse, trumpets, seals, all kinds of judgments coming on the earth. It's going to get interesting. It'll be a wild ride, but this here is the transition to that point. Chapter 4, verse 2.

I'm going to read through verse 6. It's the first thing that John sees. At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne. Now, if you're one to mark your Bible, go ahead and circle every place that you see throne in the following verses.

See if you count 11, that's what I got. 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 heads. 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, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. We'll get to them in a minute, but do you notice the reoccurring word?

Of course, it's throne. When John sees God, we're told that he sees his throne. John 1, verse 18, he's already told us, no one has ever seen God, but God, the one and only, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

People have seen Jesus. In Isaiah 6, there's a vision of the throne room, and in John 12, we're told that what Isaiah saw was the Son of God. He saw Jesus, and when Jesus was incarnate and walked among us, people saw Jesus, but no one has ever laid eyes on the Father.

So we're told here that John sees the throne, not the form. In fact, look at the description in verse 2. A throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne. All we know is there's one on the throne.

There's one there, but we don't know what he looks like. We don't know his eye color. Is his hair white like the white hair of Jesus described in chapter 1? Is there a sword coming from his mouth? There's no description here.

This is the Father. So how is he described? In verse 3, he who sat there had the appearance. Okay, we get to see what he looks like, right? No, we're not told what his face looks like because the Father does not have a body like the Son does.

Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. He was born to the Virgin and took on human form, the kenosis of Philippians 2, 5 to 11, the form of a servant. But the Father here, what is his appearance? It's of jasper and carnelian, the first and last stones in the priestly vestment.

It is a picture here of glory. And the word I'll use is majesty because this is a picture of the throne room. The idea being communicated here is just absolute radiant majesty. These are glowing stones, beautiful stones.

And so the throne has a rainbow around it. Isn't that interesting? It had the appearance of an emerald. Of course, the rainbow harkens back to Genesis chapter 11, the promise made to Noah not to destroy the earth with the flood.

But why does this rainbow glow with emerald as the astounding dominating color? Answer, I think it represents life, the greenness of life, that despite the promise of judgment that he would never again destroy the earth with a flood, that promise still stands.

And yet this rainbow is bursting with lively color, the emerald is effulgent in its glory. And the color is green, this life that comes. The promise is not a promise of death and judgment.

It's a picture of life.

The rainbow now is the life that flows from him. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. So God is the author of life. And that's the imagery here.

Verse four, around the throne were 24 thrones and seated on the thrones were 24 elders. Interesting. When I see the throne room in my mind's eye, I try to picture these other thrones, 24 of them around the king.

And I think, wait a minute, shouldn't there just be one throne? What are other thrones doing in the throne room? There have been some who have focused on the multiplicity of thrones to try to bring God down a little and man up to his level.

In fact, the Roman, not the Roman Catholic, the Mormon Church believes that man can be exalted to the level of godhood. And often they'll go to Psalm 82. I want you to go there for a moment. This is also a teaching that has crept in in other quarters, even of evangelicalism.

The teaching that there are a council of gods. In Psalm 82, there's a very interesting psalm. And I think it'll underscore the point I'm about to make. It says, God has taken his place in the divine council.

In the midst of the gods, he holds judgment. Many people have used that as a launching point to say, well, God is the supreme Elohim, but there's other Elohim, lesser gods, but gods nonetheless, who sit around and confer with him.

Some, in some way, approximate to his status. But continue to read the psalm. Chapter 82, verse one. And now verse two. How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Give justice to the weak and the fatherless.

Maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy. Deliver them from the hand of the wicked. They have neither knowledge nor understanding. This is not a picture of the exalting of these so-called gods.

They walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you. Nevertheless, like men, you shall die and fall like any prince. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all the nations.

As you take the entire psalm as a whole, the picture is not to say that there is a council of gods with approximate authority one to another. The picture is of men who exalt themselves and strut about, and God puts them into their place, saying, you will die like men.

The imagery here is not to exalt others to the place of God. It's to say to those who do exalt themselves that you will be humbled, the opposite of how many people read it. So now flip back to Revelation 4, and my question in verse 4, why do you have 24 thrones around the throne?

Answer, it's not to share glory with another, but the answer is given in what happens thereafter. As the seraphim, the angels, surround the throne and sing praises, those who are given a throne to reign with Christ, who are honored by Christ, they fall from their thrones, and they take the crown, the Stephanos, the reward from their head, and they cast it at his feet.

In the same way that Psalm 82 does not exalt man, this passage is not about sharing glory. It's to say that all of the universe, all things exist for the glory of one, the one true God. The thrones that surround his throne are not to elevate man, but to bring man low, to say, I'm not worthy of this throne.

I'm not worthy of this crown. I throw myself at your feet. It's God who is worthy. The teaching of our culture is always about the glory of man. Man sits on the throne of American culture, preeminently the individual self.

All messaging that you find coming out of Hollywood, except for those movies, the few movies that are produced by Christians, like I Still Believe, the story of Jeremy Camp,.

Which is in theaters,.

Which is an amazing, amazing movie. All of the world's messaging is to tell you to take your seat on the throne. The world is telling you, take your seat on the throne. Get what belongs to you.

Get what you can get,.

And be glorified in the eyes of the world. And yet, there is only one who is right to glorify himself. It is right for God to be interested in his own glory, because there's one creator, one Lord. Who else should receive glory if not him?

And if God did not reckon himself worthy of all glory, he himself would be denigrating his own place. Impossible for that to happen. Follow this. It is right for God to desire to be worshiped,.

Because he is God.

And this is what the passage is teaching. These 24 thrones, they exist not for themselves, but for him. The whole universe is centered around God. Our culture and the cultures of the world push God into some abstract corner, some idea to be debated in a philosophy class.

But Revelation 4 presents him as the center of everything. The one for whom everything else exists. Verse 5, from the throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder. Terrifying. And before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God.

We've dealt with that previously. This sevenfold spirit, you can go back to Isaiah chapter 11 for the attributes of the spirit and the description of the spirit in a sevenfold manner. These spirits represent the Holy Spirit.

So you have the Father and you have the Spirit. But I'll ask you to notice at this point, there's one missing. We stopped at verse 6. Four living creatures. The four living creatures represent the angelic world.

These four representatives of angels. These are angelic beings. We saw them in Isaiah chapter 6. We learn more about them here. They're covered with eyes. Isn't that kind of weird?

Why are they covered with eyes?

I think it's because their role is not to do or to contribute anything but to see, to behold glory. Their role is to see the splendor of God, to behold His glory. And so they're covered in eyes. So they represent the angelic world.

The 24 elders, I think, represent Israel and the church. The 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 apostles, in a representative way, as John sees a vision of a worship service. The church will be there one day.

Those redeemed by the blood of the land, but also redeemed by the blood of the lamb, are those before the time of Christ, the children of Israel, who were chosen by grace and saved through that same blood of the lamb.

24, 12 plus 12, representing Israel and the church, worshiping before the throne. And you have the Father, described as radiant. And you have the Spirit, the sevenfold Spirit. So who is missing from this story?

At this point, all eyes are looking for the Son. And the reason I bring this up now is because next week you'll see, and I want you to read ahead. Chapter 5 builds to a climax the presentation of the Son.

It's the Son who mediates between God and man. It's the Son who came, became a man, and took on flesh to stand in the gap that we would one day be in His presence. So here we have in verse 7, 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.

I would love to be able to unpack that symbolism, but from all my reading and all my effort, I can't. And that's okay. Now that we've gotten into the symbolic, visionary aspect of the book of Revelation, there will be some symbols that are hard for us to unpack.

We cannot be as definitive in interpreting apocalyptic vision as we can a narrative or a didactic teaching section of Scripture. Doesn't mean that it's not true and revelatory. It reveals things to us.

I'm just saying don't be as dogmatic about what each symbol means as you would be the clear teachings of Scripture. And as I look at this verse, I am prepared to say,.

I don't know.

I don't know. Why does he have a face like a man? If anybody knows, tell me afterwards.

All right?

I don't know that. So moving on now into verse 8, 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. Here we have attributes of God. The role of the the seraphim here or are they cherubim?

I think they're seraphim.

The role is for them to declare the attributes of God and the preeminent attribute of God. In fact, as Pastor John and I have talked about this, it seems that the word, the attribute of holiness is the summation of all his attributes.

It is a description of him as the omnipotent, all-powerful one, the omniscient, all-knowing one, omnipresent, the pure one, the loving one, the powerful one, the word holy.

Captures.

The full scope.

Of his attributes.

The word itself means set apart, different. As God is above us, separate from us, so the word holy communicates.

Different,.

Bigger. Whatever you envision God to be like, I guarantee you this, the true God is infinitely more glorious and different than the best imagination that you can come up with. The best that I can do when I picture myself going before the throne and what will it be like?

You know the song, I Can Only Imagine? The best that we can do is infinitely short of what it will be like. Isn't that awesome to think about?

They cry, holy, holy, holy.

And never get tired. They never get bored of this. He says, the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. This is the eternality.

Of God.

Romans chapter 1, verse 20 and 21 talks about how men are without excuse. Why are they without excuse? Because the eternal power and divine nature of God is clearly seen through the things that are made.

Anybody who looks outside and sees the trees or you've seen an eagle swoop by. Maybe you've been looking online and you've seen that image of an eagle who spots a fish from miles away with that eagle eye and he takes off on a beeline for this fish at a hundred plus miles per hour and just a split second before this eagle hits the water at that speed, which would kill the bird, it collapses its wings around itself like an Olympic diver and pierces the water perfectly, catches the fish and flies off with its food.

Anybody who's seen that, you better know that there is a God that designed that creature. And of course scientists have proven that the irreducible complexity of an eyeball cannot have evolved because there's too many parts that would have to evolve at the same time.

The optic nerves, the lenses, the brain stem that's able to interpret the data, all of that would had to have evolved at the very second that all of it was needed. And there's millions and perhaps billions of optic nerves that each have to evolve.

To find their corresponding connection. Point being, this is a creature. It's made. And if God makes things like this, you know, he is eternally powerful and he is divine. Divine nature. Romans 1 20 and 21 tells us that.

And so this is what the living creatures extol. They talk about his attributes. They praise him for his holiness. Verse 9. And here it is. They cast their crowns before the throne. Isn't that a beautiful image?

Their crowns, their Stephanos. That's the picture of a crown of someone who's run a race like an Olympic athlete at the time. If he wins the race, he's given a garland kind of crown on his head. This is not the same crown that the king wears.

That belongs to the monarch. To God. But this reward crown that's given to the one who's run well. Even that doesn't belong to us. When we get into the presence of God, we will want no glory for ourselves.

Because we'll be beholding glory. We'll see glory and we'll take those crowns and we will fall on our face and we'll throw the crowns at his feet. And don't you love the way everything is in sync in heaven?

It says in verse 9. So in one moment, you see the living creatures are crying out.

Holy, holy, holy.

And it's almost like in response, like some kind of antiphonal chorus. In come the 24 elders. Diving off their thrones, they throw their crowns at the feet of the Lamb. And somehow this scene repeats itself again and again.

It's all orchestrated. It's all beautiful. It's choreographed. So should the church be in this age. When the worship leader steps up and begins to sing. And the worship team begins to give glory, the hearts of God's people should rise and respond.

Should come from within us. We hear the singing of praise to our God. It should just awaken something in us and we begin to sing. How do you know if you've worshipped yet today? Have you worshipped yet?

It's possible to come in and sing, maybe move your lips without worshipping. The picture we have here is true worship. That's a picture of passion. When these men, these elders, elderly men, when they dive off of their throne and they throw their crowns at the feet of the Lamb, at the feet of God on his throne, they are worshipping with passion.

It's coming from the heart. And the angels are the same way. Sometimes we picture angels just doing their duties, right? But Psalm 84 says he makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire. I think there's zeal in the angels.

I think there's love for their God. There's two kinds of angels, elect angels and fallen angels. The elect angels can never fall. They are like believers in heaven. Having been glorified, those who are with God in heaven can no longer sin.

Fallen angels can never be saved. One of the mysteries that angels long to look into is that God has so loved people that he came to save because we were fallen and dead in our sins and transgressions.

But God came, Jesus in the flesh, dwelt among us and died the death that we deserve. And this is why chapter five is so amazing. The grace of God is the pinnacle of his glory. What we're seeing here is his attributes.

We praise God for who he is.

He's God.

Holy, holy, holy.

Next, we're seeing in verse 11, the elders are praising him for what he's made. But in chapter five, the scene erupts. It is amazing to see Revelation chapter five erupts with praise. And it's just amazing to see them say, worthy are you to take the scroll?

Why?

You ransom people for God from every tribe.

How?

With your blood. The grace of God is the pinnacle. That's the climax point of this scene. So we look at verse 11. We worship God because of, one, his attributes. He's holy.

He's God.

He is the only uncreated being in the universe. Everything else is derivative.

He's God.

His attributes is one. Number two, for his creation. He didn't need to share his glory or let anybody see it. He was perfectly content. I mentioned the aseity of God in the economy of the Trinity. Before anything was made, the Father loved the Son, loved the Spirit.

There was a perfect unity. They needed nothing. God did not need to create.

But he did.

So verse 11. Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. For, what? You created all things and by your will they existed and were created. Is anybody here like me? Sometimes your heart begins to harden up and you don't worship the way you should.

I think it was Chuck Smith that talked about how we're filled with the Spirit,.

But we have a problem.

We leak.

We're leaky vessels. Sometimes we're full of the Spirit, but sometimes we don't even feel like praising him. Anybody else have that trouble? One of the solutions to that is to walk outside in the middle of the night.

Or go out on a boat one day, late night fishing. When there are no clouds in the sky. Some people are saying, no, that's going to get you praying, but maybe not praising because you're afraid of being out to sea.

But you look up at the stars and recognize that our Milky Way galaxy has 300 billion stars. And your eye, your naked eye, can actually see 10 galaxies. The nearest one, I think it's called Andromeda or something like that.

Andromeda, blah, blah, something like that. You don't need to know how to say it. It's the brightest in the sky. The brightest of the galaxies. And when you see it, you think, is that a star? No, it's not a star.

It's a trillion stars. Our sun is one star. This galaxy that you can see with your naked eye, so bright is the light. It's a trillion stars, 250 million light years away. That means light takes 250 million years to get from point A to point B.

That's how big the universe is and how many stars exist in the sky.

How big is our God?

You just need to think about that. You need to look and then think about that because it's there for this reason. Romans 1, 20 and 21. He put it all there so that we would say, that's our God who made that.

So creation awakens worship in us. The 24 elders are worshiping because they're thinking about who is our God that he made all of this. 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. Application. Worship like people who have beheld God's glory. Wouldn't you love to be in the throne room and see what those four living creatures look like?

I'll tell you what, they worship as those who have seen. The 24 elders, they worship as those who have seen, but we're told in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, the end of chapter 4 and end of chapter 5, we are told that we have beheld his glory.

I think it's 3, 17 and following, that beholding his glory, we are being transformed into his image from one degree of glory to another. In other words, you who have a Bible, you who can read this passage, go back and read it again and again until you see, who is this God that we worship?

Keep looking into the scripture and you'll see his glory and then you'll begin to worship. Worship him for his attributes. Worship him for his creation. Look at the created things and next week, we're going to look at him as the one who saves, the one who conquered the Lamb of God.