Revelation 4:1-11

Well, good morning, Church! If you have a copy of God’s Word, would you please join me in the Revelation, the unveiling of Jesus Christ, chapter 4.

This morning we’re going to consider a high view of God. I’ve always considered it a privilege to preach, and today is no different. If you were to ask me, ‘Pastor Curt, during your some 10 years plus of preaching here at the the church, of the some 60 messages or so you’ve preached, is there a favorite?’ The answer is, “Yes!” — and thank you for asking! Three years ago this past August, I did a dramatic monologue written in Scripture in which I took an imaginary trip to heaven as some of you may remember that message. I loved it! — because I was in my mind’s eye experiencing that land of light where there is no night, no more pain or sorrow or suffering, no more death where the former things have passed away! That’s our future in Christ! Hallelujah!

Today, I wanna take you back up to heaven again. So I want you to jump in the elevator with me and go to the top floor, okay? We’re gonna talk about heaven only this time we’ll not be focusing upon so much our experience as we will be focusing upon God who sits on his throne in all of His glory.

This is an amazing text of Scripture! We’re talking specifically about God the Father, and as I think about this subject, tying it into heaven, you know heaven is not just a place. Heaven is a person! There’s an old hymn:

“Oh God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home.” Oh God, Our Help in Ages Past – by Isaac Watts; 1708

Friends, God is our home! — And heaven will be heaven because God will be there. So join me in enjoying God today.

I want you to employ, once again, your power of imagination. One of my predecessors, a friend in a previous ministry, he’s now with the Lord, his name, Warren Wiersbe, he wrote a book entitled “Preaching with Imagination.” And when I come to this text, I want to use my sanctified imagination to try to get him up and get you along for the ride. This is amazing stuff!

You know, we humans, we try to understand what we cannot see by associating it with something that we can see. We can’t see God, right? God’s spirit, he’s invisible. So to try to get a grasp on who he is, we look at the imagery around Him in Revelation chapter 4 to try to get a glimpse of some of His glory. This chapter uses symbol and simile. God is like_____, and the text fills in the blanks.

Early last month, my wife Karen and I drove down to Kansas City, and frankly we enjoyed something special for us. We went to Union Station and basically took a trip down memory lane to “100 years of Disney,” an exhibition. I’m a Disney fan. I grew up watching Disney when I was a kid. The animated cartoons which are still in syndication, you know, “The Wonderful World of Disney.” A few years ago we took our entire family, all of our kids, grandkids to Disney World in Orlando through the kindness of a friend. And in the exhibition, Disney declared his motive, especially for the silver screen when he said this;

“Here you leave the world of today and visit the worlds of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.”Then he added, “We’re enchanted by stories because they take us out of our everyday lives.” Walt Disney

Disney characters have been captured in movies like “Hook.” As you look at this picture of remembrance, let me share again from the exhibition;

“Here is adventure. Here is mystery. Tropical rivers silently flowing into the unknown. The unbelievable splendor, the eerie sound of the jungle with eyes that are always watching.”

Obviously this is other worldly stuff… but so is Revelation 4! There is a similarity, so as I read from this text, I want you to note the visuals; the sounds, the colors, the action, even as we sang just a moment ago.

To Your bibles, chapter 4 verse 1, where the Apostle John is writing autobiographically. Picture yourself right there with him, right now!

Revelation 4:1-11

1 After this I looked, and behold, (and imagine this!) a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, (He’s referencing Jesus Christ who he talks about in chapter one in similar phraseology. This first voice) said (to me) “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” (that’s a key phrase “after this.” So we’re pointing into the future. We’re talking about the time of the tribulation. Verse two)

2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, (pause again. There are four prepositions used in Revelation 4 to describe this throne. Here’s what they are: “on the throne,” “around the throne,” “from the throne” and “before the throne.” See if you can find them as I continue to read. Back to verse two.)

“At once I was in the Spirit and behold a throne stood in heaven and one seated on the throne…” (Try to envision it in your mind’s eye)

3 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.

4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.

5 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,

(likely a reference to the seven-fold ministry, the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 11:1-2)

6 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:

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 mean, this reminds me of a Marvel movie!)

8 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,

(constantly, this is what they’re singing and saying)

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come!”

(Now, this is the only time in the bible where one of God’s attributes is thrice repeated as if to say, ‘I want to emphasize this!’ This is a superlative. ‘I want to get God up in his holiness!’ The word means that God is entirely other. He is distinct. He is unique. He is transcendent. He is God, and we are not. And then he’s described in language of eternality, “…who was and is and is to come!” And later in this text, he says, “The one who lives forever and ever.” Let me stretch your mind for just a moment. In the Bible, the eternal God describes Himself as “I Am.” He is before time. He’s after time. He exists outside of time. Right now, He exists in the past, and the present, and the future… at the same time! — because He’s eternal. The eternal I Am. WOW! What a God!)

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,

10 the twenty-four 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,

11 “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.”

So why does this vision occur where it does in the chronology of Revelation? Well, as you know, this follows a recently preached series on the seven churches of Asia Minor. That was a challenge from Jesus to those churches and to ours, and then after chapters four and five were actually a couplet, the worship before the wrath, we find chapter six through nineteen, which talk about the coming time of tribulation. And catch what Jesus said about this future time. This is from Matthew 24. This will blow you away!

Matthew 24:21, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.“

What an exclusive claim! That’s scary for those who don’t understand the future, and especially scary for those who don’t have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. So the question, ‘Why the vision here?’ — And here’s my answer. It helps the readers to deal with what was our failures as we reflect upon the challenge from Jesus in the previous chapters, and it also helps us with what could be our fears about the future. Here’s the point. To cope with any kind of trouble, past, present, or future, we need a greater vision of God, God exalted in all of His glory. We need a high view of God! My goal today is to get God UP to make Him BIG like He is! That’s really the premise of our text. That’s the premise of the book. That’s the premise of the bible… to give the great God glory that He deserves through His Son, Jesus Christ, to provide our redemption at the cross and the resurrection.

Okay, to the question that probably you’re wondering as we read through this, ‘Yeah, Curt, what in the world do these symbols mean?’ ‘To what do they refer?’ I’ll do my best. This is my understanding, studying scripture. My understanding. I’ll try to interpret for you. This is rather information intensive, so I’ll give you lots of graphics to try to hang on to. But let me remind you that the reality is always greater than the symbol. Got that? Here we go.

Verses one and two, the voice of Jesus trumpets out an invitation, “Come up here,” and God catches John up, I believe in an out of body experience, not unlike the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12, out of body, and the Holy Spirit gives him revelations of what God is like by looking at the symbolism around him. Now throughout this text we see reference to the word “throne.“ It’s an important word. It occurs 13 times in chapter four, 45 times in the book of Revelation. And it’s a picture of God’s sovereign rule and authority over everything. So what does that throne look like? Verse 3. “We see a Jasper and a Carnelian stone, a rainbow dominated by an emerald hue.” These stones are jewels in color like a diamond and a ruby set against the backdrop of a greenish rainbow picturing God’s beauty and His splendor. Can you try to imagine what it looks like? Well, here’s what AI imagines what it looks like. Sometimes it helps to try to depict it graphically, verse 3. That rainbow, of course, reflects God’s promise in Genesis, the flood and the judgment. And in judgment, there’s always future deliverance for God’s children. The question is, are you one of them? Do you belong to the Lord? Are you safe into the future because you know Jesus Christ?

Now, I believe, and I realize some of you may differ from me at this point, I believe the church escapes the coming future time of tribulation.

[1 Thessalonians 5:9] “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…“

We see believers in verse four pictured by 24 elders on many thrones. This is likely a reference to the universal church. The universal church are believers from the time of Pentecost all the way until we go home to heaven. There’s gonna be gazillions of folks up there who are in Christ! Imagine the mass of people! Now I believe the number 24 is a number of representation and completion. There were 24 orders of priests in the Old Testament, so I want you to understand this right now. I’m probably talking largely to a group of Christians. This is where you and I will be shortly in this scene. You’re among those 24 elders if you’re in Christ wearing crowns that God has given you for good, faithful works, which you will throw before Him in gratitude for all He’s done in His grace! That’s where you’re going! That’s where I’m going! These Christ followers have gone to heaven. They’re redeemed. They’re sinless, rewards in hand, which they bowed down before the throne again and again and cast their thrones before the Lord.

Verse five, we see flashes of lightning, rumblings and thunder! These are visuals and sound effects, reflecting the terrifying splendor of God’s glory through judgment! Picture a thunderstorm breaking overhead! That’s the imagery from Revelation chapter 6 through 19.

Further in verse 5, we see seven torches, seven spirits. As mentioned earlier, this is a reference to the presence of the power of God, the Holy Spirit.

In verse 6, we see a sea of glass. It pictures the floor of heaven and the ceiling of the universe, illustrating complete peace at the abode of God. If you’ve ever seen, for example, Saylorville Lake early in the morning before the wind picks up, smooth as glass. It’s a picture of peacefulness. Now there’s a lot of tumult on this globe right now, horrifically so. But in heaven, everything is at peace, because God’s on His throne. And that’s comforting to realize.

In verses six to nine, finally we see four living winged creatures with eyes from all angles and varying faces. These creatures, I believe, are a class of angels called Cherubim. (Ezekiel 1) In fact, I believe that there are various classes of angels, spirit beings. There’s the archangels, there’s the Cherubim, there’s the Seraphim, there’s the Garden variety of angels. Without trying to freak you out, it’s very likely that right now, as I preach and you listen, there are thousands of angels in this room watching you listening to me. You say, ‘Curt, how in the world would they fit?’ They’re spirits! They don’t take up any space. There are likely billions of angels in heaven and floating around earth, and God sends us guardian angels to protect us, according to 1 Peter.

Now, as I look at this description of the Cherubim, with their eyes in front and behind, that may freak you out too. It’s symbolic. I thought, ‘OK, Curt. How can you illustrate this?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, yeah… yeah.’

Two weeks ago, we hung new lights, pendant lights. You can look up at them. They add so much more illumination in our room here, and I thought, “You know, some of them are in front of us and some of them are behind us. They’re like the eyes of the Cherubim who are watching you and me right now.” Now you’re really freaked out! Okay. But really, I think the greater picture is that they are meant to display the fact that God’s eyes (and He’s a spirit, remember?) So this is figurative language. God’s eyes are everywhere. He is omnipresent and He’s omniscient. He knows all things. He sees you right now. He knows what you’re thinking about, what you’re going through. God is present, ever present. He’s not just locked in a room up in heaven. He’s right here now by His Spirit. This is wonderful truth! He’s omniscient, omnipresent, He’s all everything.

These faces depict God’s strength, pictured by the lion, God’s compassion, service of the ox. Rationality like the human face. God is a thinking, personal being. And He is a God of transcendence like an eagle, which flies over everything. God is over everything.

Now, I need this high view of God, and so do you, and so does the Church of Jesus Christ in America. We need a high view of God. He’s not just our big buddy. He’s not just the man upstairs. He’s the eternal Yahweh, the self-existent one, who in his aseity [He is completely self-sufficient, depending on no one else. He is complete in Himself] is dependent upon no one! He’s lived forever, and so will you if you’re trusting in His Son Jesus Christ!

Now let me pause to catch my breath, and to slow down, and move from interpretation to application. Okay?

I’ve ministered to numbers of you as a counselor here. I think I have a pretty good feel for where most people are, but I don’t know what you are going through today in your life. I don’t know what you’re thinking right now. I don’t know if you’ve just tuned me out already and said, ‘Enough of that! I’ve got problems I gotta think about!’ I don’t know what’s gonna happen to you tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, next decade, but I know this… God knows everything about you, including your future, and He plans what He permits. Did you hear me? God plans what He permits. He’s sovereign. He knows where you are spiritually. He knows if you are a true follower of Jesus Christ by faith in what He did at the cross and the resurrection, or He knows if you are actually just pretending, though you sit here regularly. He knows. If you’re a believer, God knows if you are God focused or if you’re a problem focused.

When Christ invited John and us up to the throne room, he’s basically inviting us to look at life from God’s perspective. How do we know if we’re looking at life from God’s perspective? Well, I’m gonna pose two questions for you and ask you to answer them rhetorically as you sit in your seat. And here’s the first one. What dominates your daily thoughts as you think about this life and your future? What are you thinking about right now? What will you think about five minutes after you’re out of here? What are you thinking about? Would you agree with me that it’s a constant battle to keep our thoughts right? Wow! It’s a struggle! We know the text, like 2 Corinthians 10:5, ‘bring every thought into captivity to Christ.’

[2 Corinthians 10:5, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…”]

We know that and yet we still struggle. Self-preoccupation can easily replace God-focus. We’re all about ourselves. Who am I? How much have I accomplished? Where can I find my joy in this world? I laughed and I was convicted at the same time when I first heard this description of a sports fan and I am one of them. I’ve been into sports all my life.

“A sports fan is a person, a guy who chooses his favorite team at age 11 or so and then lets that team upset him for the rest of his life.” The description of a sports fan

Do I hear it, “Amen?” — or an “O my!” How often have your collegiate teams ever won the national championship? That’s Exhibit A, right? (laughs) … like for many of us, zero. But this goes deeper than sports.

The late Tim Keller… he’s a familiar word in evangelicalism. Where’s Tim right now? He’s in heaven. He, being dead, yet speaks, and listen to what he cautioned. “Remember this, if you don’t live for Jesus, you will live for something else. If you live for career and you don’t do well, it may punish you all of your life and you will feel like a failure. If you live for your children, you make them an idol and they don’t turn out all right, you could be absolutely in torment because you feel worthless as a person.” Tim Keller

John Piper adds,

“When Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation…” He was warning us. Temptation is the proposition that something else can be our joy instead of Christ. But unless Christ is enough, nothing else ever will be.” John Piper

I love Joni Eareckson Tada! She’s one of my heroines. Godly quadriplegic. She gives us great insight. Look at this quote.

“Stay in the habit of glancing at your problems, but gazing at the Lord.” Joni Eareckson Tada

How’re you doing with that? ‘Hey, Curt, how’re you doing with that?’ Can I admit to you I often fail at that. I worry, anxiety, go up, my family, my friends, my finances, my health, which is accompanied by pain. And these worries, they lobby me for domination in my thoughts, and I’ve been convicted! I listened to Abe’s message last week and I thought, “Woo!” That word from Jesus to the church at Laodicea that Abe so ably declared, “You’ve gotta repent.” Remember how he defined it? From

[Proverbs 28:13, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”]

… he said, “It’s not just to confess your sin. It is actually to change your thinking. It is actually a way for you to forsake your self-centeredness.” Abe Miller quoting Proverbs 28:13

And I thought, “I’m guilty, Lord!” I had to do this last week, to say to my dear wife, “Karen, would you forgive me? I’ve been complaining a lot.” I’ve had to go to God and say, “Lord, would you forgive me for a spirit of complaint?” I don’t just want to have an attitude of gratitude at Thanksgiving. I want to live a lifestyle that demonstrates my joy is in the God seated on the throne and not in my circumstances.

[Colossians 3:1-4

1 “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”]

Colossians three verses one through four, really are what I want to do and what I want you to do. We’re exhorted as Christians, ‘since then you are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, set your mind, your affections on things above, not on the things of this earth. Why? Verse three says, because “you have died.” Remember that phrase, “you have died,” “and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we appear with Him in glory.‘

Karen and I, long had a friend by the name of Mary Lou, who’s now with the Lord. She was struggling physically. She went to the doctor after all the tests. And the doctor said, “Mary Lou, I have bad news for you. You have terminal cancer. You’re not long for this world.” Mary Lou responded calmly by saying, “It’s OK, Doc. I died a long time ago.” Colossians 3:3, [“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”] and she was saying in effect, “You can’t scare me with heaven.” (congregation laughing) Are you scared of heaven? Do you know Christ?

So what dominates your thoughts? And then question number two, my last one, what drives your daily motivations for your purpose on earth? God created us on purpose, with a purpose for a purpose. And our purpose is to worship God. It’s not to seek glory for ourselves.

Pastor Samuel McAllister, now home with the Lord, passed at age 38. Before he died, he shared with his friend an insight from the famous C.S. Lewis. He said,

“C.S. Lewis described life as a play. But he said about this, “We always assume in this play that we’re the main character. We’re not. Christ is. And we suddenly realized that we’re the person who comes in from offstage and places a cup of tea on the table and then exits only to soon thereafter die.” C.S. Lewis

And I think this is where Pastor Sam was identifying with the story because he said, “And that’s okay if we die seeking to honor the Lord. This is God’s story, and we’re in the middle of his narrative. But know this, that when we lose our life for his sake, we find it again! That’s the promise of Jesus.

Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, ( finish it) to die is gain.“

This is the goal! Heaven’s our destiny! — And in the meantime we give God glory, and once we get there we’re going to glorify Him forever! That’s our reason for being!

My wife has granted me permission to share a bit of her story. Grew up in a Christian home. In her middle to late teens she was struggling though she’d made a profession of faith earlier. “Does what I believe about Jesus’s death and resurrection, does that really save me? Is my faith genuine? Is it a borrowed faith from Dad and Mom?” Any students, teenagers here struggling at times with that? Is this legit? “I don’t know if I’m just borrowing something that really isn’t mine.” It’s a question you have to answer. I mean, is Jesus the only way? Is it exclusive? Are there other ways to God? ‘What’s my purpose as a teenager for being here on this globe?’ And Karen did her own self-study of a scripture. She collected the dots and they all connected in one verse, which has become Karen’s life verse.

Revelation 4:11 (KJV), “ Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

Is that your pleasure to give Him pleasure? — to find your satisfaction in Him?

When folks come in for counseling and they’re struggling with anxiety, it’s not unusual for me to pull out a diagram, and I’ll try to dissect this diagram for you here on the screen for those fixated on their problems and anxiety. It’s a familiar verse, the verse on the screen here.

Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.”

But we often pull that out of context. Did you know Psalm 46 is in a context of turmoil, and difficulty, and challenge, the burdens of life? It starts by saying,

Psalm 46:1-2, 10

1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, (earthquake) though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea…” (volcanic action)

(It’s depicting all of the trauma we go through in life, but then to verse 10)

10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

So here’s not an original with me, how we tear this verse apart for people to understand when they’re struggling with life’s anxieties. Here we go. The first part of that verse,

Psalm 46:10, “Be still…”

What does that mean? Stop talking. Switch off your phone. Stop questioning… and listen.

Revelation 2:7,  “He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

Listen to that still small voice. The next phrase;

Psalm 46:10, “… and know…”

What does that mean? Stop doubting. Be sure. Have faith. No second opinion. And finally,

Psalm 46:10, “…that I am God.”

God is almighty. God is in control. God is love. God is wise.

I know it’s hard to be still when you’re suffering. Before I came here to staff at this church, I was the pastor of a suburban church, suburban Indianapolis. And a fellow pastor inside the city reached out to me one day and he said, “Hey Curt, how about us getting together at a coffee shop and we’ll talk?” And I said, “Sure, that’s so kind of you.” And I found him to be a very gracious, Godly, insightful, biblically literate man, and I was blessed by the fellowship. But I didn’t know at the time until years later he wrote a book called Dark Clouds; Deep Mercy. My friend, Mark Vroegop, my Dutch brother, and his wife, Sarah, had gone through some really deep waters. They lost a number of children through miscarriage, but then really the blow that hit them the hardest was the still-born little Sylvia who died just a few days before she was due. And they were crushed! — And that book is his story of how he and his wife worked through that trauma and that pain.

Now, I didn’t know, as I started to read the book this summer, how much Karen and I were going to need that book. Over the years, we’ve had in our children seven miscarriages. But then this summer, perhaps the hardest one of all, we had a stillborn granddaughter. So we drove to that state where they lived and cried with them, tried to minister to them, help them find a cemetery, and I officiated at my granddaughter’s service. Such a little casket and such a little grave. What do you do with your pain? Where do you turn? What do you tell people? You turn them to the hope we find in Christ.

This is Mark’s recommendations from his book to go to the Psalms of laments, and I’ll just lay them out quickly for you… Four steps in your pain, whatever it might be.

1. Turn to God in the Word, in particular, the Psalms of lament.
2. Lay out your lament, your agonizing pain. He even uses the word complaint. Just pour your guts out, your heart out before God. Then thirdly,
3. ask God for help in prayer. Ask Him. He’s your Father. He wants to hear from you! And then finally,
4. choose to trust God. Choose! It’s a choice in your trial to choose to trust Him.

I will trust when I cannot see. When I’m faced with adversity, for I know Your will is always best for me. I will trust when I cannot see. As for God, His way is perfect. And I know He loves me because He gave me Jesus, and you as well.

[Romans 8:32] ‘… and if God spared not His Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely, graciously, give us all things?’

He loves you! He has a plan! You won’t see it through until the other side, but choose to trust Him!

Mark has gone on to write another book, a new book called Waiting Is Not a Waste. And this quote says it all.

“Waiting on God is living on what I know to be true about God. When I don’t know what’s true about my own life.” Mark Vroegop

Who is this, God? What is He like?

Psalm 46:1-2, 10a

1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble.

2 Therefore, we will not fear…” (And here is his command to all of us. Here is his promise.)

10 “Be still and know that I am God.”

Would you pray with me?

Father, There are a lot of hurting people listening to my voice right now. I identify with them in pain, often in sin, in preoccupation with myself. Forgive me. Lord, I pray You redirect our thoughts toward the throne of heaven, toward the God who is, who’s completely in control, who’s a good God, who loves us, who gave His Son for us. I pray you’d help those who don’t know Jesus to reach out by faith right now and trust Him as Savior and Lord. Help us to listen to the advice of our friend, Mark, to turn to God in the Word, to lay out our laments, our pain, to ask You for help, and then to choose to trust You as our loving, Heavenly Father. Help us, Lord, right now to look up to heaven to the one seated on the throne. Help us to behold our God. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.