Revelation 4
- Tim Cain
- Nov 29, 2009
- Series: Revelations
Revelation 4
November 28 & 29, 2009
Kaleo El Cajon & Kaleo Linda Vista
Tim Cain
Today I want to talk about an age old reality that all of us deal with everyday. Everyday, whether implicitly or explicitly, we deal with the question “Is it worth it?” Many of us don’t even verbalize the question, but I believe that ultimately it is the question behind all of our actions. When you get up to go to work you are saying by your actions that it is worth whatever they are paying you, or that keeping your apartment and eating that day and paying off your credit card is worth getting up this early. Everyday, with every decision, most of them not even thought out, we are declaring value. It is because this question is so implicit in our every action that people can see what we value just by how we live. It is the foundational nature of this question that gives us the ability to witness by our mere actions, to declare to the world what we value by how we spend our lives. We are more aware of this question at certain times. Any of you who have ever rented an apartment, bought a car, or bought a house are keenly aware of this question. It was probably a frightening question. What makes it frightening is that even when we think about this question really hard and do our best to figure out if something is worth it, we still make mistakes. We make mistakes because we can’t see the future, we don't know how things are going to turn out. Thousands of people who worked really hard and got really good deals on their homes ended up losing them because they couldn’t see the future. When they bought their homes they thought for sure they were worth it and they were then, but because they could not see the future it turned out that their homes were not worth what they paid for them. I know that you understand what an important question this is in ordinary life. But what does this question have to do with God?
In America, that is a good question. In America, we seldom associate any cost with serving God. We see God as an auxiliary aspect of our lives that is a no-brainer because the cost is so little. I find time and again when people are confronted with any kind of cost associated with loving Jesus, they often simply refuse to believe that believing in Jesus could really cost anything.
In America, when people are told about Jesus they are seldom told about any cost involved with serving him. There is a cost for denying him, they will go to hell, but if they will only believe in him they will have eternal life and all their sins will be taken away. That’s it, easy, say a prayer, walk forward, believe in Jesus. That sounds pretty simple, and it doesn’t sound like it costs anything. But, that is not how Jesus did evangelism. Look at Luke 14:25-34. Notice how Jesus talks about the cost and then talks about being salt and light. Why is that? Because if it cost everything to follow Jesus, and you still chose to do it, you are saying that he is valuable. You are saying that Jesus is worth more than family, more than comfort, more than even your own life. When we remove all cost from following Jesus, we lie and we deceive ourselves and the result is we believe in a Jesus who is not very valuable. We treasure Christ as much as he cost us, and when he cost us nothing we value him very lightly.
All of this has been to remind us of what we have talked about the last seven weeks. The last seven weeks has been a call to consider everything rubbish that we might gain Christ. It has been a call to be faithful even unto death, to hold on to Jesus come what may, to repent of everything else that we are clinging to that we might cling to Jesus. If you have been here over the past weeks, if you have listened to Jesus’ words to the seven churches, you know that what he is asking is going to cost them. If they are going to be faithful witnesses to Jesus, it will cost them. Not only will they endure external persecution, but to truly cling to Jesus, we have seen how they must first acknowledge how much they need him. They must die to themselves and admit that they have nothing within themselves to offer Jesus and run to him for help naked and empty-handed. This is the cost of following Jesus. This is what Jesus has called every church to. This is what he meant when he said, “whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospels will gain it” (Mk. 8:35). So, if following Jesus cost so much there is a question that everyone must ask. That is the question we are going to address today and it is the question that Revelation 4-5 answers. The question that Revelation 4 answers is, “If following Jesus cost us everything, is it worth it?” Is it worth it? The sweet thing about the way God answers the question is he answers it decisively. He answers it in a way that we could never answer because, unlike us, he knows the future.
Revelation 4 is written to a bunch of churches that are filled with some who are being faithful and suffering tremendously, even dying for their faith, and others who have said that if following Jesus costs everything, it’s not worth it. They are compromising and trying to take the best of both worlds. Revelation 4 speaks to both groups, and because we are like them, it speaks to us today.
In Revelation 4 John sees a vision. In this second vision John is taken to heaven where he is shown ultimate reality. In this vision he is seeing things the way they really are. It’s like his eyes are open to true reality and the true reality is that God is seated on the throne. Notice the emphasis on God’s throne. Eleven times the throne of God is repeated. God is sitting on his throne, the center of everything. Everything else revolves around his throne.
God is on the throne. He is sovereign; he is in control. In a world where things so often don’t seem to be going right, where chaos seems to rule, where evil often wins the day, when death and not life seem to have the final word, into this world we are shown a vision of the truth that regardless of what it may seem like, God is on the throne, he is ruling, he is in control, and he is absolutely amazing. Revelation 4:2-3 says, “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.” The fact that God is majestic, full of glory, shining in brilliance, and in total control over everything would not in itself be all that comforting. But notice that around his throne was a rainbow.
The God who is in control of all things, who created everything and now rules soveriegnly over all, who will soon judge the world—this is the God who keeps his promises. He is the covenant-keeping God. The rainbow was a reminder of God’s covenant, not just with Noah, but with all creation. His covenant was that in his wrath he would never again destroy the world with a flood. God keeps his covenant; he has a rainbow around his throne to remind him of his promises. In the ancient near east, the rainbow had far more significance than it does today. In those days when a warrior would come in peace they would put their bow string down on the ground, it was a symbol of peace and that is why God chose it as a symbol to speak of his promise not to judge the whole world with a flood again. The majestic, sovereign God over the world keeps his promises.
Further evidence of his grace and promise-keeping is seen in the next section. Around the throne were 24 elders. Almost all commentators agree that these 24 elders represent all the saints from both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The idea is that the 12 heads of the twelve tribes of Israel represent Old Testament saints and the 12 apostles represent the New Testament saints and the 24 elders represent both of these groups. Notice they are wearing golden crowns and white robes. Again we see evidence that God keeps his promises. Revelation 2:10 says, “Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 3:5 says, “And the one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments…” Here in Revelation 4 John wants the churches to know that God keeps his promises. Here they see that those who have conquered are clothed in white and have gold crowns. God keeps his promises.
John continues with his vision by talking about how “From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder.” Now this phrase occurs four times in Revelation, and in each case it is understood to accompany God’s judgment on the earth. I will read for you one example but there are others. Revelation 11:19 says, “The nations raged but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth. Then God’s temple in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightening, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and heavy hail.”
So, when John sees peals of thunder and lightening ushering from God’s throne, he is seeing another aspect of the promise-keeping God. He is seeing the justice and judgment against sin and those who are destroying the world he created. Here we see that God is coming to judge his enemies. He will destroy the destroyers of the earth. The nations may rage, but he is coming and he will quiet them with his wrath. His people will be saved. Like Noah in the flood, God’s wrath is coming, but it will not harm his people. For all who have sought shelter in the righteousness of his only Son, for all those who have hid themselves in him, the great and mighty day of God’s wrath against his enemies will not harm them.
Any of you who have ever been in a real thunderstorm, nothing more needs to be said. You know the imagery that John is trying to portray. You know how the thunder can shake the windows, how lightening lights up the entire landscape. Truly there is nothing like being out in the middle of a massive thunderstorm when lightning is striking within miles of you. When you are driving and you see a tree struck, you feel so exposed and so small. The thunder is so loud and crashing, it truly sounds angry as it explodes in your ear. Can you imagine this scene? The pealing thunder and flashing lightening on earth can hardly compare to what John saw in heaven. What a scene this must have been!
God is reminding his people that he is the one who reigns. Anyone who has ever been before Caesar’s court knows it cannot compare to his throne room. So, he calls his church to not be afraid of Caesar, to not give in to his threats, for he cannot compare to God and to the power that ushers from his throne.
John goes on to say that before the throne there was a sea of glass. In the ancient days the sea represented death and chaos. The flood destroyed the earth in Genesis. In Exodus the sea destroyed the Egyptians. The word for abyss in the New Testament is the same word for the sea, and in Revelation the beast comes out of the sea. The sea represents chaos and death, but God has calmed the sea. The sea that once raged is now calm. Death has been conquered, Jesus has won the victory. Just as Jesus calmed the sea when he was on earth, so through his death he has calmed the sea and won the decisive victory over Satan. In heaven there is no more chaos, no more death. Jesus, the beginning of the new creation has conquered death and is the first fruits of a new creation that will never again taste death. Just as heaven shows us the true reality, God is on his throne, he is in control, so the calm sea in heaven shows us the true reality that death has been destroyed and the restoration of all of creation has been achieved and is now in the process of being worked out. Now, with this being the reality, you might wonder why the world still seems so chaotic and death still seems to reign. Many have called this tension the already/not yet.
We look to heaven and see the end of the story is written, Christ has conquered, the sting of death is removed, and yet we know that the full realities of these truths have yet to be experienced. We live knowing that God is in control, that he reigns over all things and yet we pray that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I know this tension is hard. It is so hard to believe that God is in control when everything around us sometimes seems to argue that he is not. Many of us wonder why it is that we must live with this tension since Christ has already won the victory. But I want you to see that this tension, as hard as it is, is for God’s people.
If God would have come back 20 years ago, how many of us would not have known him? The tension exists because God still has souls that he has not yet saved who will live for all eternity with him, and he is not willing that any whom he has called should perish. Praise our God for this tension. Some of you even here now are not ready for him to return. Praise God for the tension and turn to him today. Turn to him now and praise him for his patience. Praise him that he is patiently waiting to restore all things to himself so that more might be saved. For us who know Jesus, the tension is not for us to go out and enjoy the comforts of this world; he is waiting because his people are to proclaim his name to the ends of the earth. His people are to be about the ministry of reconciliation where God is reconciling the world to himself. Romans 10 reminds us, “How will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” This was the call to the seven churches in Revelation and this is the call for our church today. It is a call to be his witnesses, to be communities of light, hot or cold communities in a lukewarm world. We are to be contrast communities of light shouting out to the world that our God is on the throne, that he is in control, that he keeps his promises, that he is mighty to save and that he is worth whatever cost. That is what living in the tension allows us to do. It allows us to show the world what a treasure our God is by living under his gracious reign even when the world cannot see he is on the throne.
And around the throne John saw four living creatures. These creatures are representative of all God’s creation. They are not necessarily real creatures that you are supposed to try and picture and draw, but they represent all that God has created. All of God’s creation will praise him. In heaven right now, his creation calls forth his glory. They say, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” The hymns or the songs at the end of this chapter serve to sum up the main points of the chapter. One of those points is that our God is Holy. He is unlike anything you will find out there. His ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts. We cannot comprehend his majesty, we cannot grasp his grandeur, we cannot judge his actions. He is holy. He knows what he is doing. Not only is he holy, but he is and he was and he is to come. He is eternal. Unlike everything in this world, he is eternal. Everything else on this earth is passing away. Kingdoms rise and fall. Think of all the kingdoms that have risen and fallen since this book was written. Ddo not put your trust in politics, government, freedom, America, our economy, or family. Do not put your trust in your family for they will come and go. Look at an old album, a family tree. Your family is not permanent, they are not forever, they cannot save you, they cannot offer you what you need. Psalms 146 says, “Don’t put your trust in princes, in mortal men who cannot save, When his breath departs he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.” Don’t put your trust in a dream, or in the promises of a father or a spouse, for on the day that they depart all their plans all their promises die.
Think about the things that we let control us, like what someone says about us, what someone did to us, or how we feel right now. Don’t let your feelings control you. Your feelings go up and down and come and go; don’t give them power over your life. Don’t let others’ feelings or opinions about you control you. They are so small, so momentary. Contemplate the momentary nature of the things we allow to control us. They don’t have to; let’s let them go and instead run to our God. You see your God sits enthroned in heaven, he shimmers like Jasper, he has a rainbow surrounding him that looks like an emerald, and thrones surround him with elders representing the countless throng of all his people who have ever trusted him throughout history. Take note of that. Those who have trusted in him are sitting in thrones. They are worshiping; they are not disappointed. They have not been left empty-handed, there are no tears in their eyes, no regret. They sit in white robes for they have been washed with the blood of the lamb. They wear crowns of gold for their savior has conquered for them and has given them the crown of life. Peals of thunder and lightening spew from his throne and they come to destroy all God’s enemies and vindicate and protect his people. Massive living creatures with eyes all over, representing all of God’s amazing creation day and night, praise God and still they do not exaggerate his worth. I am a lone man and I will talk for one hour. We are a small church and we will sing a few songs and some of us will go home believing we have done our duty for the week. All the while in heaven massive creatures representing all of creation sing ceaselessly “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God almighty” and they do not ever exhaust his worth. Never if they sing for all eternity will they exhaust his worth, for he is holy. He is unlike them, unlike us, unlike any of his creation for he is holy. He is unique. He is above. Yet he loves to inhabit the praises of his people. Though he is utterly unique and though the praises of his people will never fully proclaim his glory, still he loves to inhabit the praises of his people and he has created us for just such a purpose. He has created us to glorify him. He has created us to worship him, to dwell in his temple, to gaze upon his beauty and to worship him forever. Whenever the four living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who is seated on the throne and who lives forever, the 24 elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and cast their crowns before him.
They love to praise him. They love to worship him. Mark their actions, for they are true. They are right. They are what we ought to be doing. Rather then clinging to the gifts God has given them, rather then being consumed with their own lives and what they are doing, rather then struggling with anxiety, or living in fear of what others think of them, or working to gain comfort and clinging to their stuff in order to bring them joy, these men find joy in worshipping their God. They find joy in bowing before his throne and giving him all that they have and all that they are, for he is worthy.
Worthy. With that one word, they have answered the question for us. Our God is worthy. He is worth it. The elders have found something worth living for, they have found out why they were created. They have joy, meaning, and purpose in life. They know why they exist. They know what they ought to do. Don’t picture them sitting in an eternal church service, singing the same songs over and over. That may be how we feel, but that’s only because we have not truly glimpsed the God who is worthy. We think, worthy is my work, worthy is my rest, worthy is the Charger game, worthy is my sleep, worthy are these things and we look forward to them and we delight in them. But when we know the God who is worthy, then in worshiping him we find the satisfaction that comes when we do what we were created to do. That is why David can say, “one thing I ask of the Lord and this only will I seek, to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to worship him in his temple.” It is why he can say, “I was glad when they said let us go to the house of the Lord.” It is why he can dance naked around the ark of covenant and when his wife laughs at him he can say, “I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes.” He can say it because he loves the God who has given him so much, and he will make merry before him because he knows that all he has is a gift from God. It is why David can say better is one day in God’s house than thousands elsewhere. Why? Because God is worthy to be worshiped and praised.
Do you ever wonder if you are wasting your life? Do you wonder as a day goes by whether or not you did anything of lasting value? Do you ever finish something you had been totally looking forward to only to be left with this empty feeling? All of us have, and we hate those feelings and they are fearful thoughts. There is one thing that we are called to do, one thing that will last, one thing worthy to give our lives to, and that is to give glory, honor, and thanks to him who is seated on the throne. He is worthy because he created everything, and it is by his hand that they continue to exist. It is in Jesus that we have life. In fact, the Bible tells us that Jesus is our life, and true life is only found when we worship him. What is more worthy than your God? Who is more worthy than him? Who is like him? To what will you compare him? All of us will give our lives for something. All of us will declare the value of something that we choose to live for, the only question is whether we will find at the end of our life that it has been worth it. There is only one who is worth it, only one who is worthy. God alone is holy, he alone is the creator of all things, he alone is worthy, he alone was and is and is to come. We were made to worship our savior and we will never find rest or joy or peace in anything else. When I say worship, I do not mean just singing to him. I mean loving him, valuing him, thinking about him, speaking about him, obeying him, singing to him, meditating on him, treasuring him, enjoying his creation in humble gratitude toward him, depending upon him, needing him, clinging to him, and considering everything else rubbish compared to him. To this you have been called and you will find joy in no other place.
Yet, the Bible is clear that as sinful human beings we cannot worship God. Though we were made to worship him, our sin and rebellion has separated us from God and made it impossible for us to enter his presence and worship him, for he is holy and cannot tolerate sin. Nothing unclean is allowed in his midst. His holiness is so great that though we should give our lives to worshiping him, on our own we cannot, for his holiness would consume us. That is what Isaiah said when he was given a vision of the throne of God. He said, woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips. While this heavenly scene is more glorious than we could ever imagine, it is a place reserved for the righteous, the holy, the clean, and on our own we know we are not. That is what makes God even more amazing. Hebrews 10:19 says that we can enter the holy places! The place we just saw, the place where God sits enthroned, we can enter it. We can enter it by the blood of Jesus. We can enter it through the new and living way opened for us through the veil, which is his flesh. The imagery comes from Genesis 15. It comes from the way ancient near eastern covenants were made. In those days when they would make a covenant they would take an animal and cut it in two pieces and then walk in between the torn body declaring let this happen to me if I break my covenant. In Genesis 15 God took this covenant with Abraham. He walked between the torn body of sacrificial animals while Abraham slept, and he knew he had to be the covenant-keeping God. To be the God with the rainbow around his throne he would have to give his only son to become like one of those animals. His only son would have to have his body broken for us, torn in two that we might have access to God. The image of Hebrews 10 is the image of the torn body of Jesus, like the veil of the temple that was torn in two. When we approach the throne of God, the throne that John saw, the throne with lightning and peals of thunder, we can only approach it through the torn body of our savior. That is why we can approach it confidently. God gave his son to make a way for us to come to him. We are fools if we ignore it. Yet, while we come boldly, we also come humbly, broken, contrite, and in awe, for we know the price that was paid for us to come to him. Jesus gave his life so that we could approach the throne of God to do what we were made for: to worship him and declare that he is worthy. What a privilege it is to come before the throne of grace. In the Old Testament only the high priest could enter into the holy of holies, and then only once a year and only with blood sacrificed for his own sins and for the sins of the people. Today, we all can enter. Not because we are better than the high priest, but because Jesus’ blood is better than the blood of bulls and goats. Because his sacrifice is better, we can enter the very throne room of God through the torn body of Jesus. Washed with his blood, we can come before the God of heaven and earth, the creator and sustainer of all things, and as we come before him we can speak to him. We have the ear of the holy one. We can speak to him. When we speak to him, let us speak as the elders do, let us declare that he is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. We are allowed to worship the God who is worthy in his very presence. We are allowed to worship him because he has loved us and provided for us a new and living way. He has given his only son so that we could do what we were made for. He has given us his only son so that we can declare his worth to the world. This God is worthy. Whatever it cost to follow him, whatever you must give up, all of it is rubbish compared to him.
Before we come and take communion, I want us to take a few minutes. No one has to do this, but anyone who wants to do this can. Let’s take a moment, and turn around and get on our knees, and boldly approach this majestic, holy God who sits on his throne. Let us approach him through the torn body of his only son. As we come before his throne, let us stand in awe of his glory, and let us simply declare that he is worthy. I want us to come before the throne of God and simply declare, “God you are worthy. Worthy of our praise, our time, our resources, our hearts, our minds, our families, our comforts, God you are worthy. Worthy are you our Lord and God to receive power and glory, honor, and power.” After a few minutes we will begin to play music, and when you hear the music you can feel free to get up anytime and come and take communion. As you see the broken bread, remember that it was the broken body of Jesus that has made a way for you to approach the throne of God.
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