Morning Sermon

November 4, 2007

The Throne Room

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When was the last time you did something important? Extremely important? For some people, caught in the mundane routine of ordinary life, that question might be impossible to answer. Because of that, a measure of frustration sets in. A measure of discouragement, even, for some, depression. Life just doesn't seem to be meaningful. Nothing seems to be significant. Our lives become hopelessly entangled with all the superficial activities that really don't seem to have any purpose.

So what is your purpose in life? What is your goal in life? What do you want to accomplish in life? Or, perhaps, from the perspective of older age looking back, what do you wish you could have accomplished in life? Or more positively, what accomplishment is it that gives you the most satisfaction?

Shakespeare's tragic character Macbeth seems to express the brief and often meaningless existence of our lives quite well when he laments, "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."

Is that all there is? "Life's but a walking shadow, ...Signifying nothing."

Other people, so beset by the trials and troubles of this world, don't focus upon the fleeting nature of life so much as its rigorous hardships. The suffering of life is dominant, and also hopelessly inevitable. Still others, entangled in the petty affairs of seemingly pointless and trivial drudgery, endure that same sense of hopelessness in the longing for something important.

So what is it that gives you that sense of importance? What is it that you do that really does bear great significance? The answer to that question is the subject of the sermon this morning, and believe me, the answer does not lie in any measure of self-fulfillment. Just the opposite. The most significant moment of your life is when you are the least conscious of yourself, for it is the moment you are the most enraptured in the glory of greatness of God. You see, the most significant moment of your life is right now. The most significant hour of your week is this very hour. Right here. Right now.

It may not seem important. It may not feel important. But oh, how it is! What we do together right here is so momentous because what we are doing right here and now is entering the very presence of the sovereign God and ruler of all heaven and earth. We call it worship! That is what Revelation chapter 4 is all about.

So let me set the stage for that worship, and this will be particularly encouraging for any of you sensing more acutely the dangers and troubles of life. The whole concept of worship begins with a look at,

I. THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD. In other words, John's revelation of Jesus allows us to gaze into heaven. v.1-2

Derek Thomas comments, "From the poverty-stricken state of the church below, John's gaze is taken upwards to things as they truly are. The upward glance is often the signal of a new perspective on things. John is being reminded that God is in control. The church may be languishing; Satan may be doing his worst; but God is reigning on high."

Did you catch that? "John's gaze is taken upwards to things as they truly are." How many of you really need to be reminded that the way things really are is that God is sitting upon a throne!

You can read about all the problems of our community in the newspaper. You can read about all the troubles around the nation and throughout the whole world. In this day and age of the internet, you can get information immediately as it happens. And see pictures, video. Anywhere in the world. And it is that perspective of trouble that gives us the sense of the way things really are. But all of those things are nothing but a distortion of reality. This is the ultimate reality,

A. God reigns and rules as king over all. That's the way things really are! So writes Derek Thomas: Encapsulated in a single vision is a glimpse of the church and the world. God has the whole world in his hands!" David Chilton comments, "A right understanding of the world must begin from a right understanding of the centrality of his Throne." William Hendriksen puts it this way, "These chapters, moreover, do not give us a picture of heaven. They describe the entire universe from the aspect of heaven. The purpose of this vision is to show us, in beautiful symbolism, that all things are governed by the Lord on the throne."

"The throne is the very centre of the universe!" Not the sun, as we understand from astronomy. Not the earth, as was believed earlier in history. Not man, as we tend to think as human beings. But the spiritual center, the very real center of the whole created order is this throne room into which we gaze with the apostle John. And it is not so much that we are given a glimpse of heaven here in Revelation 4, but that we are given a glimpse of the whole universe, heaven and earth and all God's creation together. We are given a glimpse FROM HEAVEN of how things really are.

And so at the center of the universe is a throne. And beloved, it is God's throne! v.2

And it is a throne from which God rules over all creatures and all creation. Consider the four living creatures surrounding the throne in, v.6-7

I won't begin to claim all the answers nor the only possible answers to all the symbols in this book, but with the help of several commentators, I do believe these four living creatures refer to the whole world as we know it. The entire creation. Perhaps even a reference to the redemption to the redemption of the whole creation with a new heaven and a new earth. Perhaps four would refer to the four points of the compass, north, south, east west. In other words, four creatures point everywhere.

Calvin comments, "By these heads all living creatures were represented to us...These animals comprehend within themselves all parts of the universe by that figure of speech by which a part represents the whole. Hendriksen writes, "These four 'living ones' standing ready to render service to God in any of the four directions, that is, in any part of the universe, represent all the 'living ones.'"

In symbolism also, they would represent all of creation by the appearance of a lion, the noblest of all creatures, an ox, the strongest, a man, the wisest, and the eager, the swiftest.

What is even more likely is that they are actually cherubim, a high order of angelic creatures, specified in,

Ezek. 10:20 "This is the living creature I saw under the God of Israel by the River Chebar, and I knew they were cherubim."

The point of all that is simple. And it ought to be of utmost encouragement to you in your own daily life circumstances. God reigns and rules as king over all! And to state what is obvious in those descriptions,

B. God lives and exists to be worshiped. This song of the angels around the throne of heaven is a song of worship. v.8-9

The catechism we often use with our younger children has a very good question and answer in this regard. The question is why. "Why did God make you and all things?" And the clear and concise answer, "For his own glory."

That's what this world is all about, that we the creatures, we with all of creation, would sing the praise of our great creator. v.8a

Likewise, v.10

And note the reason why God is to be worshiped. v.11

The creation doesn't exist because God needed to create, nor because he was lonely or incomplete. The creation exists because God was pleased to create according to his own purpose and will, and to create all things for his own glory.

That would bring us to,

II. THE NATURE OF THE GOD WHOM WE WORSHIP. What is God like? And let me tell you, we are not free to worship God as a god of our imagination. We may not conceive of God as we think ought to be, and then worship that conception of him which we have devised. No. Our worship of God depends upon our ability to know God as he revealed to us, to know him as he is.

And that's what we have here. A description of God, a study of God, which is what the English word "theology" really means. But theology is not the study of doctrine, doctrine of the mind and intellect that does not focus upon an object. No, theology is the study of God! And to study God, you must understand the doctrine, for that is how God is revealed.

So what is God really like? I could choose one word perhaps to summarize it all. Note the refrain of the four living creatures in, v.8

God is holy! In other words, God is separate. God the creator is fundamentally different from everything in his creation. He is set apart and set above all the works of his hands. He is holy.

And so we read from the Old Covenant, in the language of the seraphim themselves, those angels of heaven,

Is. 6:1 "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!"

Under the leadership of Moses, we receive this prophecy,

Ex. 15:11 "Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?"

None, of course. None others are like him! Glorious in his holiness. Likewise in the New Covenant,

Rev. 15:4 "Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested."

So look at the four ways in which God's holiness is identified here. First,

A. God is almighty in power. v.8

The Lord God omnipotent. "His power and majesty are beyond human grasp." (Thomas) His power, by which he simply spoke and the world came into existence. Such power belongs to the God of our worship.

It is power exercised by Jesus himself, Heb. 1:3 "...who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

God upholds all things by the word of his power. The word of his power that brought everything into existence, now upholds all things. Everything. Every detail. Every circumstance. Every obstacle. Every difficulty. Every joy and every sorrow. Everything. What power!

Secondly, as a matter of God's holiness,

B. God is exalted in honor. You see, "the four living creatures are said to have six wings, as though ready to fly in whatever direction God commands." So great is their honor of him. The twenty four elders join in the worship of God by falling down "before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne."

God gets all the honor. Even the honor of our crowns, the rewards we receive for those works God receives as good works. Even our crowns, whatever glory and honor we might receive, is all cast down in honor before God seated upon his throne. I hope you get the picture clearly. The preeminent concern of our worship, indeed the preeminent concern of our whole lives, is that God receive all the glory and honor.

As soon as you forget that, as soon as you even feel as if some of the honor would belong to you, you will go astray in your worship. The moment you retain just the smallest bit of that honor for yourself then you fail to ascribe all the honor to God.

So we are to join these four living creatures and these twenty four elders, in the worship of God,

v.11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."

Even more fully, we read at the end of,

Rom. 11:33 "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 "For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?" 35 "Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?" 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."

That is the sum and substance of our worship and of our whole lives! And beloved, that is the sum and substance of your purpose in life. That is the very definition of meaning and importance. Whatever you do the rest the week, whatever you do most of the time, what you do here in ascribing to God the glory due to his name is of the greatest possible significance. For God is exalted in honor.

Thirdly,

C. God is glorious in majesty. Glorious. The word glory means heavy. Weighty. Of greatest importance. God is heavy. And when God receives glory from us, it means he is worshiped as he is, glorious in majesty.

v.11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power." So he is!

Actually, this whole description is a picture of that glorious majesty. The words themselves go beyond any ability of mine to accurately and specifically explain. The symbolism is not such that we ought to identify each word with some certain, specific symbol. But that the words together, as a whole description, point as best they can, to the majestic glory of God, as much as our human language allows.

Just listen, v.3-5

And one more thing about this holiness of God. His eternal existence.

D. God is eternal in his existence. And that is what sets him apart from you and me. There is neither beginning nor end to the existence of God. Again note the praise of,

v.8 "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!"

We had seen the same description in, Rev. 1:4 "John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne."

Rev. 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

And so then we come to,

III. THE NATURE OF OUR WORSHIP. In the Old Covenant, the significance of worship was easier to observe, because there was a particular high and holy day that would come only once a year. And only one man, the high priest, could enter the inner sanctuary, only on that day. One man, once a year. The day of atonement, in the presence of God.

In the New Covenant, though that experience is more frequent, it is no less important. The day of atonement in the presence of God takes place every time we gather together for worship. So this vision of worship in the heavenly throne room is not just something for us to observe, it is something in which we participate.

Beloved, do you grasp the importance of that. For all the mundane and ordinary affairs of your life, you are now gathered together in Jesus name, and according to,

Heb. 12:22 "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect."

Even more personally, the very next verses, Heb. 12:23 "...to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel."

So here we are. We have been raised with Christ. And we have gathered for a formal ceremony before the throne. We have come into the very palace of God to gain an audience with the king himself. That is what we are doing here. Right now. And so,

A. As the church, we are the body of true worshipers. As the church, the covenant people of God.

It is worth noting that the three stones mentioned in verse 3 were all included in the breastplate of the Old Testament high priest, which had twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel. So in the Old Covenant, the people of the tribes worshiped by being represented before God on the breastplate of the high priest.

Here in Revelation 4 there is also mention of 24 elders, which I believe to be representatives of the church in heaven. The whole church. The fulness of the Old Covenant church represented by the 12 tribes of Israel, and the fulness of the New Covenant church represented by the 12 apostles. So both those churches are represented, together as one, with a double portion of 12. 12 and 12 makes 24. Thus whole church is represented.

And,

B. As the church, we ascend to the very presence of God in our corporate worship. We enter this throne room. That is what this vision is all about. We, the corporate body of Christ, enter the inner sanctuary of heaven itself. So when the four living creatures are before the throne, they represent all of us, all of creation. When the 24 elders appear before the throne, they, too, represent us as a church. And the significance of this cannot be understated. As we are represented in this vision, by faith we take part in the very thing that is portrayed. The purpose of this vision is not for us to remain as observers, but to take part as participants.

v.9-11

I would be remiss if I failed to end with one final, crucial understanding of the nature of our worship. It is simply this, that...

C. As the church, we worship only as the recipients of God's own cleansing mercy. We do not worship as those who have any intrinsic worth be accepted by God and acceptable to him. The mercy of God in accepting us permeates this whole passage. Let me demonstrate.

v.3 "...and there was a rainbow around the throne."

Why a rainbow? The rainbow is a sign of peace, God's peace. God's promise to never again bring a destruction to his people, that the cloud of judgment is past. The rainbow represents the promise of God to be faithful to his own promises, a sign of his covenant mercy to a fallen world.

Gen. 9:11 "Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." 12 And God said: "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 "I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 "It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 "and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 "The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

Such a covenant on God's part in nothing at all but an act of mercy!

Then notice the clothing of the twenty four elders before the throne.

v.4 "Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads."

Now where did those white robes come from? We'll look at that more closely in,

Rev. 7:13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" 14 And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them."

How do we get white robes with which to be properly adorned as we worship a holy God? They have been washed in the blood of the lamb! How great is his mercy!

Is. 1:18 "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool."

There are also crowns of gold, a reward surely given as a testimony of God's own mercy and not our own merit.

And then, verse 6, there is that "sea of glass, like crystal." What should we make of that? Nothing less than the clean water with which our robes are washed. The sanctifying power of God himself, cleansing us with clean water as he promised.

Ezek. 36:24 "For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them."

The glassy sea before the throne of heaven is nothing less than the clean water with which God cleanses his people from all their sins.

Beloved, that's mercy. And you who are the recipients of that mercy, as you behold the throne room of God, join your voices with the worship of those representing you in this glorious vision.

v.9 "...fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."

Ps. 29:7 "Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Give to the LORD glory and strength. 8 Give to the LORD the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts. 9 Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth."

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