November 3 Sermon: Before the Throne
In Revelation 4, John’s vision shifts from earthly struggles to the throne of heaven, unveiling God’s glory and ultimate control. For believers facing persecution, this reminder of a sovereign, eternal King offered profound hope. Today, we’re called to endure life’s challenges by focusing on the One who reigns over all creation. Discover this unshakable foundation and steadfast hope.
Consider these questions as you listen to this week’s message on Revelation 4:
How does John’s vision of the heavenly throne in Revelation 4 offer comfort to Christians facing hardship and persecution?
Why is it significant that the worship of God in heaven is unceasing, and how does this influence our view of worship today?
In what ways can we turn our focus from earthly struggles to God’s eternal throne in times of anxiety and uncertainty?
Transcript:
Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon from First Reformed Church in Edgerton, Minnesota. Each week, we dig into God's Word, trusting that the Holy Spirit will continue the good work of sanctification in us. So this past spring, we started out in the book of Revelation, and we spent several weeks looking at the opening of this book of the Bible and the addresses there to seven churches in Asia. This is who the book of Revelation was written to. And during the course of those weeks, I emphasized how important it is for us to remember that original audience of the book.
It is essential. We can't understand Revelation without realizing who it was written to. And it's important that we are reminded here, as we come back to Revelation today, that what these churches were facing, the reason the book was written, what they were facing was persecution. And at the beginning of the book, we see this promise that judgment is going to come on those who were persecuting them. In fact, the Apostle John lets us know that this judgment was soon, that it was at hand.
And these churches scattered throughout Asia, they were primarily made up of Jewish people who had come to faith in Christ, and then they were experiencing this persecution. From the Jewish authorities of the time, and from the Roman state, from the government. So the Jewish side of the persecution was trying to twist their arm so that these Christian converts would revert to their previously held positions instead of trusting in Jesus for their salvation as the Messiah. And we know that this was the reality.
And we know that this was the reality in the first century, because the Bible tells us. It not only shows us in the book of Acts that this is taking place, but really, this is what the book of Hebrews is about. In Hebrews, the author is making a case that the temple and the sacrifices that occur within the temple are but types and shadows of the reality that was going to come in Jesus. And as we read this, we see that the Bible tells us that the Bible is not just a book of Acts, but a book of Hebrews.
We come to understand that the temple was actually a hindrance to the advancement of the Christian faith, because these Jewish converts, they would inherently look back to these ritual feasts and sacrifices that were centered on the temple and Jerusalem. So as we come back to the book of Revelation this week, I want to help us to understand that the Bible is not just a book of Acts, but a book of Hebrews. And I want to help us to understand something important about this book as we continue through the book and come to this fourth chapter.
I want to try and make the book of Revelation as simple as possible. We're very confused by it, but there's some things that we can understand that can help us settle down and understand it in a better way. And one thing that I want us to remember is how geographical the Jewish religion was. It was very based. It was very centered on what was going on here on earth. It was centered on the land of Israel, right? We know this.
Centered on the land of Israel. It was centered on the city of Jerusalem. And then if we bring it in even closer, it was very centered on that geographical location, that mountain in Jerusalem where the temple was located. That was the emphasis of their faith. Yes, they understood that God was holy and sovereign and above all things, but their religion was very much based on what was here.
And while those Jews that we're thinking about today with the ones who had been dispersed into Asia, while they had been removed from Israel, they'd been dispersed into all areas of the Roman Empire, even they were very focused on Israel. They were focused on Jerusalem and the temple. I can give you an example. I can give you an example of how we know this was the culture.
Think about the day of Pentecost. Think about that story that we read every year. Think about all the people that were gathered there and the reason that these apostles of Jesus were able to speak in other tongues. Because there were all these people from every nation under heaven that were there to observe the feast of Pentecost. They weren't in Jerusalem on vacation. They were there. They were there to observe in the ritual feast.
And while all of these people, as I said before, understood that God was sovereign and over all things, their worship was very centered on the temple. So this would have been something that was baked very deeply into them for generations. Even if you were someone who had come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you would have struggled with the idea that you don't need to go to Jerusalem to observe, to observe these feasts. That would have been a very big obstacle for you in fully embracing what was being taught in the gospel. Because you had always been a part of these pilgrimages to the holy city.
And our natural human tendency is always going to gravitate towards someplace we can go with something we can do, right? As opposed to trusting in salvation in a God who is not visible, we want to go and see the sacrifices. We want to take the sacrifice ourself. We will always want something that is tangible in front of us. That's just how we're wired.
So what does this have to do with helping us to understand Revelation as we move forward? Remember that what is in view here in the book of Revelation is the prophetic words that Jesus spoke in Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13, regarding the destruction of the temple. Jesus made a prediction that the temple would be destroyed within a generation, and it was. It was destroyed in the year 70, and there has not been a sacrifice since. The temple was ultimately destroyed. Not one stone was left unturned, just as Jesus prophesied.
And so the fulfillment of these prophetic words of Jesus not only serves the purpose of judgment, but, when that temple was destroyed, it removed the practice of those types and those shadows that were a hindrance to those new Christians who were Jewish believers in the first century. And we know from history that these prophetic words of Jesus came to pass in the year 70, as I mentioned before. And while Jesus fulfilled the purpose of the temple, and these first century Jewish believers would have trusted Him, and in His sacrifice for their sins, you can imagine the grieving that would have occurred for these people when they heard of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
Regardless of how you feel, those places on earth have significance to us. As terrible a place as the Metrodome was to watch a baseball game, how many of you are nostalgic about World Series victories there? Right? We are attached to places on earth. And so, as we learn, as we look at this, as we look at this chapter of Revelation, we're going to see how John is taking this, what they can see in front of them, for these people who trust in a very geographical religion, to avert their gaze to heaven, to change their focus from the temple and Jerusalem and Israel, and avert their gaze to the God who is glorious, who is seated on the throne in heaven.
So when we come to the book of Revelation, understanding this, having this in view, it can take what we view as an abstract book and make it really practical, even for us outside of the first century. Because this truth not only gives the first century believers hope, it reminds us of our heavenly king, of our high priest, we'll see more about that next week, and it points us to the ultimate hope that we have in Jesus, the hope that is beyond us. Beyond the temporary things of this world.
So as we step further into Revelation 4, we are invited to see beyond earthly struggles and beyond the temporary symbols that once guided the worship of the Hebrews. We're lifted instead from Jerusalem's temple to the very throne room of Almighty God, the throne room of heaven, where God's eternal glory and his authority are on full display for us. And in this passage, we're given a picture, a picture of what the Jewish believers of that time, and really all of us, can cling to amid change and uncertainty. A heavenly king, a steadfast high priest, and a vision of worship that transcends our earthly limitations.
So that was a pretty long introduction, but it was an important introduction, and so I'll have the lining out of our three points be really quick for us here today. First, we are going to see the majesty of God's throne in Revelation 4, verses 1 -3. Second, we will consider the unceasing worship of the living creatures in verses 4 -8. And then finally, our focus will be on the worship of the elders in the final three verses of this chapter.
So with all that lined out, we find ourselves at the start of chapter 4. And it really sets things up very different from what we saw in the first three chapters of Revelation. There we had this vision of Jesus, but he was addressing the seven churches in Asia. And the vision that John has of Jesus, he is standing in the midst of seven lampstands. And remember, those represented the seven churches. Well now, we get a dramatic switch. In fact, it's an extremely dramatic switch in location. And it really is an amazing vision, and it's meant to remind John and these churches who are suffering persecution that they can endure the hardship that they are in.
So as we look at verses, so we look at verse 1 here, we see that his gaze is averted from what is in front of him to looking at the door standing open in heaven. And we read that a voice speaks to him like a trumpet, saying, come up here and see what must take place. And so the idea here is that this voice is loud. It is clear. And it's calling him to see an amazing vision of heaven. And you can understand this, this idea of the trumpet being loud. If you've ever had a child who took up the trumpet in band, you know how loud it is. You can't get away from the noise, right? That's the idea. This is a beautiful sound. That this is loud and can't be missed.
And so suddenly we see in verses 2 and 3 that John is in the Spirit. And the first thing that he sees is a throne. And it's important that we understand here that John is calling back to the Old Testament and using imagery there. Specifically, he is calling back on visions of heaven from the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel. So in Isaiah 6, Isaiah had this vision of God and His holiness and it showed us Isaiah, Isaiah's call to be a prophet, that he was going to proclaim the word of the Lord.
And so here this imagery reminds us of the absolute holiness and majesty of Almighty God. In the presence of God, Isaiah was convicted of his sin. And it established the authority of Isaiah to speak the word of the Lord because he had been in the presence of God. And so the same was true of the prophet Ezekiel. And his vision. While this passage isn't probably as well known to us as Isaiah 6, it also gives us this idea of God's majesty. Of God's holiness. Because it tells us of His appearance being like sapphire. And the idea is radiance. The idea is brilliance.
And we see this described vividly when John describes the throne as well. Jasper, Carnelian, and then a rainbow around the throne that has the appearance of an emerald. Take a moment to put that description in your mind's eye. It's magnificent, isn't it? And it really helps us to understand the glory of heaven.
You see, John in going to this vision, he is not on the outskirts of the heavenly city. He isn't in the suburbs needing to go on a journey to where the action is at. He is at the throne of Almighty God. The majesty of God is the first thing that he takes in. And we need to understand that the glory of God here is the point. For all of the confusion that the book of Revelation can cause in us, we need to understand that this book is about the glory and majesty of God. And the power that He has to save and comfort His people.
And while we don't have a holy land, a holy city, or a temple that we look to like the first century Jewish Christians would have had, you and I, we are prone to focusing on the things of the earth. And allowing ourselves to think that the things of this world are of primary significance. But the book of Revelation reminds us there is more than what we see. And it's hard to take our eyes off of what we have physically in front of us. But the book of Revelation reminds us of the deeper reality of God's rule and His reign over all things. He is on His throne.
And it's important that we understand that the allusions to the Old Testament are meant to do more here than just build up our imagination of what heaven must be like. It is also meant to give the apostle John and the book of Revelation authority in the eyes of those reading and hearing these words. The idea is just as important as the Old Testament books. And John is receiving these prophetic visions and words just like Isaiah and just like Ezekiel. And so the people who are reading this should trust and believe these words. And they can trust what John has to say here.
God is on His throne. He is in control. And He is in control despite how it may feel to those experiencing oppression from the Jewish rulers or from the imperial Roman state. The image of the throne lets them know that there is an authority higher and a power greater than the worldly oppressors that they're facing. And the description of the throne is bright and magnificent to imagine. And therefore the God who is seated upon that throne is greater in power and majesty.
And we see this exhibited to us as the vision of John continues to be shown to us in verses 4 through 8. And we see the worship of the living creatures. So the first thing that we see is that there are 24 additional thrones. And on these thrones are 24 elders who are clothed in white garments and have crowns of gold adorning their heads. Now it's possible that there are 24 thrones to match the number of priests that served in the temple in the Old Testament. But it's pretty much assumed that what this is pointing to instead is the idea that in the Old Testament there were 12 tribes of Israel and in the New Testament there are 12 apostles.
The idea is that there's a continuity between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. And so there's 24 thrones, 24 elders. The idea is that we are to understand that this New Covenant reality is not something separated. It is a fulfillment of the Old. The idea is that the people of God are one people, united together in Christ. The faith is once for all delivered to the saints. And there's not a Jewish faith and a Gentile faith. It is one. There is one God, one Savior, and only one way to salvation, and it's through Christ.
And from this imagery that shows the unity of the plan of God, we are drawn back to the image of the throne with imagery that reminds us of the power of God. Now, we all admit that we struggle in reading and understanding Revelation. But if I just gave you verse 5 here, you would know how to interpret verse 5. You know how to interpret the language here, the flashes of lightning, the rumblings, the peals of thunder. It is meant to evoke in us feelings of the earth shaking with the power of God. That God's power is so absolute.
We've all experienced the power of a storm with close lightning and wall -rattling thunder. And while the construction going on in our streets has shaken us a little bit, in fact, when there was thunder this past week, I thought it was the construction and not thunder. While that has happened, really, there is nothing like the earth -shaking power of thunder or even an earthquake. And those would have been the images, the things that the people in the first century, these New Testament Christians, would have understood. They didn't have earth movers. They didn't have explosions that would rattle the earth. They understood this imagery just like we do. This is giving us the idea of God's absolute power.
But this imagery is designed to draw us back to the throne of God. And it gives us more imagery about his presence. We have torches of fire. Remember the seven lampstands at the beginning of Revelation. The idea here is that that fire probably comes from these lampstands in heaven. We have the sea of crystal. We have all these things going on. But what we are drawn to here, more than anything else, is these four living creatures. And these draw us back to the idea of the cherubim in Ezekiel 1 and the seraphim of Isaiah 6. These creatures here are described vividly. And the idea of these creatures is that they are the guardians of the throne of God.
And most importantly, they have a song that they sing. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The idea here is that God is absolutely holy. We see this in Isaiah 6. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts we read in Isaiah. The idea of God's absolute holiness is helping us to understand the continuity, once again, between the Old and the New Testament. This holy God from Isaiah is the same holy God that we read of here in Revelation. And the repetition of the word holy is to drive the point home to us. To elevate his holiness beyond anything that we can imagine. Nothing in all of creation is like the Lord our God. He is holy, holy, holy. He is other. He is set apart.
And as we look at this song, we see a phrase that we saw back at the beginning of Revelation. It says, who was and is and is to come. And this phrase reminds us that God is eternal, that he is unchanging, that he is sovereign, that he is in control. And regardless of what is happening, in the world around us, we can have hope and we can find comfort
in his protection. And so we've seen this unceasing praise of the creatures. And so let's finish up this chapter looking at the worship of the 24 elders. Because it's not just the living creatures that give praise and honor to God, but the 24 elders fall down before the one who is on the throne. They worship him. They cast their crowns before his throne. And this really is amazing imagery. The ones who have crowns, the ones who have positions of honor in the presence of God, even they are on their knees before this holy, holy, holy God. And they cast their crowns before him. The symbol that they wear that is a sign of honor and authority is thrown at the feet of the Almighty. There is no one like the Lord our God. Only he is worthy of praise. In fact, that is their song. The one seated on the throne is worthy of glory and honor and power. And notice what the emphasis is here. He created all things and by his will they existed and were created. What we're meant to understand here is the sovereign power of God. This is not just praise because he is capable of creating by the power of his word. The emphasis is on his will to create. The idea that God is in control. And the people who received this message from the Apostle John, they were struggling with the realities of persecution. It was a persecution from both religious and political authorities. In the face of hardships like that, it's very easy to have your eyes focused on what is in front of you. The pain that you're experiencing. In fact, isn't that the point of persecution? To get you to focus on what is going on now? And to stop looking beyond what you are experiencing in the moment? And the truth of the matter is is that the hardships had really only begun for these first century Christians. It was going to get much worse. And on top of it all, Jesus had prophetically spoken that the temple was going to be destroyed. It would seem like all hope is going to be lost. That there's no reason to have hope. God is not in control. And in the midst of that, what does John do for these people? He brings their gaze to the throne of heaven. In the midst of earthly hardships, he says, look to heaven. Because their hope is not in the things and institutions of this life. Their hope is in heaven and the sovereign God who is holy. The God who is in control of all things. I want to ask you, is there a better message for you and I today? We live in a world filled with anxiety. We live in a world filled with fear. I saw a news article this past week about election anxiety. Would any of you imagine that that was even a thing 15 years ago? And now it's a reality and I know we all have it. We all do. Even people who are far too young to participate in the process are exhibiting signs of this anxiety. It is fatiguing. It is having a negative side effect on people's mental, and even their physical health. And this is just one example of problems in the world that weigh us down. That distract us. So as we consider Revelation 4 today, John averts our gaze to heaven as well. John is showing us the throne in heaven. Just as he did to these people, these churches in Asia in the first century. In the face of the hardships of this world, we look to the glorious one seated on the throne. The one worthy of unceasing praise. The one who created all things and by his will, they existed and were created. The one who holds on to his people. And I want to be very clear about what I'm not saying. I'm not advocating for escapism. That we don't worry about what happens in this world because we're just going to be taken away from it. John was not taken from the persecution of this life in the book of Revelation. He got a vision of heaven, but he had to go back to Patmos. He had to endure hardship. And you will as well. But as we go through that, we can look to heaven. Being involved in the world matters. Shaping culture matters. Enduring hardship matters. Raising our children in the faith matters. But we do all of these things not looking for an escape, but looking to the one who is ultimately in control and provides hope for us. And as we move on to chapter 5 next week, we will see that the greatest hope that we have is that Jesus suffered and died to bring us salvation. Next week, we're going to look at the anthem of heaven. It's the most powerful passage in my opinion in scripture. Worthy is the lamb who was slain. And that is our source of hope. And so our application today from this fourth chapter of Revelation is very clear. John lifts our gaze from earthly struggles to the throne of heaven, where we see a God who reigns supreme and is worthy of unceasing praise. And for those early believers facing intense persecution, this vision affirmed their hope rested not in earthly institutions, but in a sovereign, eternal God. And it's the same for us today. Amidst our anxieties and our challenges, the word of God comes to you and I, and it shows us that we are to look beyond immediate troubles and focus instead on the one who is in control and the one who holds us securely in his hand.
The one who helps us to endure with the steadfast hope rooted in the majesty of God's throne and in his love for his people. Amen. Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for the gift of your word and for this image that we have of heaven. We pray, O Lord, that as we experience the difficulties and anxieties of this life, that we would look to heaven and to our sovereign God who's on the throne, the one who is worthy of all praise, the one who is holy, holy, holy. May he be our focus instead of the temporary difficulties of this life. It's in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.
