Before The Sovereign Of All

If you would, now take your Bibles and turn to the book of Revelation, the fourth chapter, Revelation chapter 4. We want to look at this chapter today and try to, in an attempt, I hope through my efforts, The Holy Spirit will encourage you and help you in these next few weeks as we look together at the Word of God. So before we look at this wonderful chapter, let's pray together and ask God to use this.

Our Father, we are so thankful for your Word, which gives us perspective and a framework for understanding the world around us, and a framework that will help us even understand our own hearts. And Lord, that will help us to respond to what's happening all around us in a way that honors and glorifies you and that grows us. So we pray that you'd make us attentive to your word, that those things would be true, that we would understand what's going on around us and that we would grow through it.

God, help us in that. Above all, help us to see our God. Help us to see you in the right way in these circumstances. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. A little boy entered the world this week.

Jude Smith was born to Jeremy and Lindsay on Wednesday. The same week, a life made its way to eternity. Jackie Ardrey's dad, Orville, made his final journey. The week before, Jim Seiberling had a seizure. On top of all that, we have this pandemic. Jeremy could go into the hospital to see Jude Bourne, but once he left, he couldn't come back in.

Gloria could stay with Jim, but once she left to go home, Jim was alone. People are going into the hospital with this virus. and because of the restrictions, they die alone. Even the Ardrey family cannot receive friends as we normally would do when someone in our family dies They can receive friends and family to come and talk with them about Orville In fact, the funeral is limited to ten people outside at a safe distance from one another.

Now what can make sense of all this? The scriptures can. I want you to turn your attention to Revelation chapter 4, where we enter the throne room of God. For this week and the next two, I want to turn our attention to Revelation chapters 4 through 6. I want us to get heaven's perspective on what we're experiencing these days. Now some of you remember that we went through the book of Revelation ten years ago.

As I look through all my sermon records, I realize that, and it doesn't seem that long ago to me. It seems like just yesterday that we were in the book of Revelation. But actually, we were in the book of Revelation ten years ago. But I believe that a review, especially in times like this, will not hurt us in one bit. One bit. Now let's get the context of these chapters, shall we?

We're in chapter four. How did we get here? What's the context? of the book of Revelation. This book is an epistle, a letter, written to seven churches in Asia Minor to encourage them to stand faithful in the midst of suffering and seduction, in the midst of suffering that comes their way in the normal course of life or in persecution and seduction, that they will not be seduced away from Christ and their faithfulness to him.

That's why this book was written. it is not about events far off in the future too often we look at this book as oh this is telling us about all these things are going to happen in the future no not at all it is written to churches today it describes the present age the age in which we live now as we await the final triumph of the Lamb. So when we enter this book, you will note it is written to seven churches, and thus it is written to us, right? And it is a whole book devoted to helping those churches stand faithful to God to Christ in the midst of suffering and in the midst of seduction It all about how we then as a church can stand faithful It's describing for us the age in which we live, and it takes us to the final triumph of the Lamb.

Now note, it is written in a highly symbolic way. And that's not to confuse us, it's to reveal certain things. It's to communicate certain truths to us. It is written to give you heaven's perspective on the suffering we now endure, as well as the enticements that we face. So it's written to give you heaven's perspective on what's going on on earth. And it is written so that as it gives you heaven's perspective on the suffering that we endure, that you will have hope. and that's our goal here in these three weeks, is to communicate hope to you by communicating to you heaven's perspective on what's happening in this world.

You see, that's why we're in this book. That's why I think it's important for us to understand these things. We want heaven's perspective. And with heaven's perspective, we will have hope. And some of you out there, some of you are really struggling. You're struggling right now.

You're worried. You're despairing. Some of you are worried about death. Some of you are worried about the economic situation and your jobs. Let's get heaven's perspective so that we will have hope and that we will be different. So I want you to follow along now as I read the fourth chapter of the book of Revelation.

After this, I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, Come up here and I will show you what must take place after this. And once I was in the Spirit, at once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had an appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were 24 elders clothed in white garments with gold and crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder. And before the throne were burning seven torches of fire which are the seven spirits of God And before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass like crystal And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.

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. 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, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 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, Worthy are you, O Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. Here then is God's word from Revelation chapter 4.

Now what we see here is John is summoned to the throne room by the Son of Man who has a voice like a trumpet. From chapter 1, we know that that trumpet-like voice is the voice of Jesus himself. And John in a vision sees that there's a door that's open in heaven. It is open for him to go through. And so in this prophetic trance, if you will, that's what he means by being in the Spirit.

The Spirit has given him these visions, or it's like he's in a prophetic trance that takes him through the open door into the heavenlies, and immediately he sees a throne. He has entered the temple of God in heaven into the inner chamber, the throne room of the living God. Now, this whole chapter with the revelation of God on his throne with angels singing of his holiness is reminiscent of Isaiah's vision in Isaiah chapter 6.

You remember it. The seraphs are flying with their six wings and saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. Holy, holy is God. And so we find ourselves then in the temple of God. And from that perspective, Jesus, through John, reveals what must take place in the latter days. Now remember, we saw earlier, as we looked in this book, that what must take place after these things is a way that John means what must take place in the latter days.

Now let me remind you how the scripture uses the latter days. So many of us, when we think of the latter days, are thinking, oh, we're living at the very end of the age, right before Jesus returns. That's what we mean. But the Bible always uses that term latter days to refer to the last period of human history. The period from Jesus' ascension to Jesus' return.

Those are the latter days. So what John is saying here is I'm seeing what has to take place in the latter days. What's going on now? We're in the latter days. That's how the Bible uses, the New Testament uses that term, latter days, to refer to the period of time between Christ's ascension and his return, you see. Now keep in mind that this is a vision, not a photograph of God's throne.

Now let me say, as I said ten years ago, never read the book of Revelation as photography. It is vision. It is symbolic. To take these things literally is to miss the point. When you take some of these things literally, you'll miss the message altogether. This is a vision, not a photograph of God's throne room.

When you get to heaven, don't start looking for a throne circled by 24 people in white robes and gold crowns. With four living creatures on each side, on every side of the throne. This is symbolic. This is a vision. This is what we call a theophany, a vision of God, a picture that represents the being and the actions of God. You've got to keep that in mind.

OK, so this vision, this of all these symbols are to communicate something to you. Okay? They're not to give you a photograph. They're to give you a vision. Let me illustrate it this way. If I were to say to you, you know, my friend George is a real wolf.

And you looked at me and said what Wait a minute I never seen George with fur pointy ears and a wet nose I've never seen that. If you took me literally, you missed the point altogether, haven't you? When you think of it symbolically, in that metaphoric way, what am I saying to you? Don't trust George with your daughter. Okay? That's the message.

But if you take that literally, you missed the whole point. and that's the way the book of Revelation is. Don't look at it literally. It's symbolic. By the way, many of those symbols come from the Old Testament. There's visions and things from the Old Testament that inform the book of Revelation. So here we are with this vision of the throne room of God.

It's a vision. It's symbolic. What do they mean? What does Jesus reveal to us here? What is it that he wants you to see? He wants you to catch a vision of God's holy sovereignty.

Do you think that the way you picture God affects the way you think about God? You ever thought about that? The pictures of God that you have in your mind. So, as most people do, when they think of God as an old man with a long gray beard sitting on a throne in heaven, what do they walk away with thinking about God? They think he's a kindly old man whose job it is to forgive people, who's just like a big grandpa in heaven, because that's the picture they have of him.

Our minds naturally think in terms of pictures and images. And Jesus reveals to John a picture or vision of God and his throne room in order for you to understand the nature of God. When you see God pictured here, you don't think of a kindly old grandfatherly figure in heaven, do you? No, this picture is intended to form your thinking about what God is like.

You see, we are congregations of his people struggling against suffering and persecution and seduction. What do we need to know about our God? How do we need to think about him in those kinds of situations? What should we know concerning him, given the state of our congregation? in light of the pandemic sweeping the globe what vision of God do you need you see that's what John doing here John is giving you a vision of God that will form your idea of God and his being and his work And we need a vision of his holy sovereignty That what John communicating Our God is a holy, sovereign ruler.

First of all, verse 2, God sits on a throne. It stands apart from all earthly affairs. It's transcendent and independent of all human intrigues. it's above and independent of all the things that happen on this world and yet it is in control of all those things it's in control of all the affairs of earth from the the working of men to the working of a virus this god is sovereign this becomes obvious in this book which is given to help us glorify God in the triumph of His Lamb.

You see, all the judgments seen in the visions of this book proceed from this very throne. The war, the conquering, the death, the famines, the pandemics, the earthquakes, even the destruction of Babylon in this book, all of them originate from this throne. So what you must see is all that happens originates from this throne. God is in control. God is sovereign.

And as you proceed through the book, and you see, as we're going to see in the sixth chapter, when those seals are broken, and you see death and conquest and epidemics, you see, it proceeds from this throne. God sits on a throne. The God who sits on the throne is glorious in his holy sovereignty. He's not just some poor king sitting up there and just trying to say, okay, I guess we'll do this.

This is a God of glory. And you see the glory of his holiness and sovereignty magnified as you approach the throne. You're struck by an intense glowing green and reddish light as the light of God's glory shines through the Jasper and Carnelian. Now there's no significant meaning to those stones. They don't particularly mean anything but this. They are always in the Old Testament they always associated with God glory They are always associated with God glory And the book later indicates that they have this translucent quality so that the light shines through them So God glory is magnified, if you will, in these stones as his glory shines through them.

Just to give you the impression of this glory of holiness and sovereignty. The glory of his mercy begins to shine in the emerald green of the rainbow that surrounds his throne. There's this green rainbow. The rainbow reminds us of the glory of God's mercy on people, for it speaks of the rainbow that appeared after the judgment that God poured out on the entire earth.

You remember, in the book of Genesis, it says that God gave us this rainbow as a sign that he would no longer destroy the world that way again. It's a reminder of his mercy. The glory of his mercy shines through. God bears witness in his very throne room, like he does in the sky, that as he pours out his judgments on the earth, which we will see, which you see in the rest of this book.

He will be gracious to his people. Those who belong to the Lamb are going to be subjects, objects of his mercy. So you see God's glory in these intense lights, and you see his mercy in this rainbow that surrounds his throne. You come to verse 5, and the closer you get to the throne, the more heightened and intense becomes his glory. For now you see flashes of lightning, rumbling and peals of thunder.

What is that? That's a reference. That always takes us back to Mount Sinai. Because that's the way God descended on Sinai with rumblings and clouds and thunder and lightning. And the court of heaven comes down on Mount Sinai, bringing great fear to the people of Israel and awe to them. And God has not changed.

He is still awesome in holiness and sovereignty. And for us who dwell in the midst of all this suffering, we must remember that God has not changed. God has not changed. He is the same God who descended on Mount Sinai with those incredible signs of His sovereignty. We come to verse 5 as well, and you see His holy sovereignty finds expression through the agency of God. of His Holy Spirit.

Now again, this is a little bit difficult when you see these burning seven torches of fire which are the seven spirits of God. If you look at the book of Revelation, seven indicates effectiveness, thoroughness, fullness, completeness. In the Bible, seven is often used of perfection. And so it talks about effectiveness, thoroughness, fullness, completeness.

Again, John has a vision that the prophet Zechariah had. All right. The prophet Zechariah had a vision in which there are seven lampstands with seven lamps and they represent the one spirit who would bring grace to Israel. And in verse 10 of that vision in Zechariah, God says, these seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth. So when I go back to Zephaniah and I see that there and I see it repeated here, it makes me think this is God the Spirit.

He's using a symbol that was used in the past to speak of the Spirit of God. Whose eyes, these seven are the eyes of the Lord which range through the whole earth. So God the Spirit knows everything. No event, no scheme, no plan against his people escapes his gaze. Nothing escapes his gaze. His holy sovereignty finds expression through the agency of his Holy Spirit.

He is sovereign. There's nothing that escapes the gaze of the Holy Spirit. Now we come to the fact that this sea, this sea before the throne, or before the throne there is this, as we look at verse 5 or 6. And before the throne there was, as it were, a sea of glass like crystal. This is the last thing said about the throne. And this is really important.

The sea is as smooth as glass or ice. It's crystal. It's the floor of God's throne room. It reveals the peace of God's sovereignty. Now you see the sea is associated with evil and chaos The vision behind the vision if you will the vision behind the vision of Revelation can be found in Daniel 7. Okay, let's turn back to Daniel 7.

Take your Bibles, I hope you have them open there at home. Daniel 7 look at verses 2 and 3 Daniel declared I saw in my vision by night and behold the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea and four great beasts came up out of the sea different from one another and then he goes on to describe them but notice they come out of the sea the sea is being worked up right and as you go through this book you see over and over again that sea is the symbol of evil and chaos. For example, in chapter 13, verse 1, And I saw a beast rising out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.

Chapter 15, verse 2, And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire, and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and a number of its names standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. Chapter 21, verse 1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

All right? Why does he say that? There is no restless sea in the throne room of God. The devil, as we look in this book, the devil has been defeated by Jesus, And even though he fights furiously, from heaven's perspective, he has been decisively defeated. What looks like chaos around us produced by this pandemic. All the pain and the suffering and the uncertainty.

Right now, all of us are seeing this incredible restlessness around us. Like the sea. and what we need to acknowledge and to visualize here is that from God's perspective, it's calm. God throne is not a place of restlessness It not a place of chaos and tumult From God perspective it is peace Everything is as smooth as crystal That's the very, that's what's under the throne of God.

So as you look around you, all the uncertainty and the panic, the fear, all that's going on around us, know that God is in control. In his throne room, it's calm. That's the vision you need at a time like this, as you look at the sovereignty of God, a sovereignty of peace for us. As you stand in the throne room, you become even more aware of God's holy sovereignty as you watch his heavenly attendance.

Circling the throne, you see the 24 elders dressed in white and crowned with gold. Verse 4. Now these symbolize God's people, both of the old covenant and the new covenant. This 24 shows up. It shows up at the very end of the book. Turn to chapter 21, where you see more of the symbolism explained.

Chapter 21, verse 10. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper clear as crystal. It had a great high wall with 12 gates. And at the gates, 12 angels. And on the gates, the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed.

And on the east, three gates. On the north, three gates. On the south, three gates. On the west, three gates. And the wall of the city had 12 foundations. and on them were the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. You see the old and the new combined.

This is a total of the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles representing both Old Testament and New Testament saints. These are the ones who remain faithful to God, who have repented of and remain faithful in the face of idolatry, compromise, lukewarmth and persecution and all the suffering that goes on. Entering the throne room, you see these faithful saints of God throwing themselves down on their faces and worshipping God.

Would you not say this God is sovereign for those who remain faithful recognize the holy sovereignty that saw them through the fire that saw them through the difficult times Now walking past that outer circle of worshipping saints, your attention is arrested by the sight of four strange creatures, positioned in the front and the back and on each side of God's throne. These strange creatures resemble two creatures in the Old Testament. In Ezekiel 1, you see these creatures described in Ezekiel 1, all with these faces and these eyes.

You see them in Ezekiel 1 and the seraphim of Isaiah 6, the seraphim with the six wings. All right? these are the guardians of the throne and the emissaries of god not that god needs guarding but it represents the unapproachable holiness of god these by the way are the creatures that inaugurate the judgments on the earth as we as you see in chapter 6 in chapter 15 their multitude of eyes search the earth and they execute punishments on those who truly deserve them and what do these powerful supernatural creatures do they praise god verse nine and they sang a new song worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed to people for god now i'm sorry i'm in the wrong chapter 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 worthy are you oh lord and god these supernatural creatures give their praise to god and we see the certainty of god's sovereignty in their words they express to us what's true of God that has been symbolized up to this point. They express his sovereignty.

And so you're convinced of God's sovereignty and holiness as you hear the praises of his holy attendance, both the elders and the creatures. First of all, our God is holy in his sovereignty. Verse 8, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was. and is to come. Like Isaiah, we come face to face with God in his holiness. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 6, because those words are found right there in the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah chapter 6, follow along with me. in the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple above him stood the seraphim each had six wings with two he covered his face and with two he covered his feet and with two he flew and one called to another and said holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts by the way Lord of hosts is God Almighty that's how we see it in Revelation. The Lord of hosts is talking about his power, right? So we could translate that holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.

Exactly what they are saying in the book of Revelation. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called. And the house was filled with smoke. And I said, woe is me, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips. And I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said, Behold, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. Like Isaiah, we come face to face with God and his holiness. The holiness that is the wellspring both of judgment and atonement.

Do you see that in the book of Isaiah? The holiness of God is the wellspring of judgment and of atonement. He is the all-powerful God who stands above history in his eternity. This God who is sovereign over all of history. He can and will accomplish his sovereign purposes for both his people and rebels. He can and will deliver his people and protect them in all that befalls them.

God's eternal reign supersedes the temporal reign of evil pseudo kings of the beast and his followers of all the wicked powers on earth his eternal reign supersedes even the best of rulers listen we all waiting for the president and the governor to say hey go ahead have your parties now right We're waiting for them to say, you can leave your homes, right? Remember, God's eternal reign supersedes them. He's in control, all right?

The elders tell us why God is so powerful. they tell us why he's so powerful not the um i'm sorry not the elders but the the beasts or the the creatures the creatures around the throne tell us why god is so powerful all that you see on earth and in heaven have come about by the creative word of god worthy are you our Lord and God to receive power and honor and glory for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created. How difficult is it for you to bring into existence something by the word of your mouth? Difficult?

It's impossible. You don't go to your house and put your hand on the house and say house be painted and all of a sudden it's painted. Right? You don't do that. In fact God even goes beyond that. God just speaks it into existence.

Not just like we would say house He would say, house, and there's a house, all painted and fully furnished, right? Only God can do that. He can do that, speak things into existence without any working material, just by the word of his mouth. Not only that, but all of it exists by his will. It exists by his will. Okay?

Okay? he just has to will it and it's done you know what by his will everything is sustained I have a barn that's collapsing in my yard right I can't go home and just go and it refuses and it refuses to it doesn't suddenly stand up straight, right? But God, by His will, has created everything and sustains everything. Because of such sovereignty, what?

We ascribe to Him all power, glory, and honor, right? Worthy are you our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power because this is true of you So why is this here Why is this book here So that you catch the reality of the heavenly perspective, not just the vision of the heavenly perspective, but the reality of that heavenly perspective. John is caught up into heaven reminding us, for example, the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel who says the same thing.

Ezekiel's caught up in the heaven and like a prophet, John is summoned into the secret heavenly counsel of the Lord. And in his prophetic role he must go back to God's people and communicate God's hidden purposes and tell them what they must do and how they must be. He's been ushered into the timeless dimension of truth and reality. You see? The church, as it suffers persecution, needs this perspective.

Because God is sovereign and his omniscience is represented by the spirit in the eyes of the creatures. He gives us hope. God is sovereign and in the midst of persecution, we need this heavenly perspective. With this perspective, we can persevere. With this perspective, we know that everything is not happening willy-nilly. that men who are coming against us can only go so far and only only so far as god says because god is sovereign untouched by our enemies we know that we will be finally vindicated and rewarded even though we are presently no match for our oppressors god is worthy of all praise because all creation including our persecutors exists only because of his will listen when we suffer, we tend to see only our problems.

We don't tend to see God, and so we need this perspective because it teaches us to worship. In the midst of persecution, we can worship. You know how it is. And you know, I've told you this before. When pain invades us, our universe ends right here. It's as far as it goes.

I remember one time, I had toothache when one of my best friends, John Street, was speaking at a conference. You know what I remember? I remember sitting there saying, John when are you going to be done I want to take care of this tooth And it seemed like he just went on and on See pain from persecution when it gets oppressive we tend to lose this perspective.

And this perspective moves us to worship God in the midst of the difficulties. We need this vision as the church, as it resists the seduction of this world. God is holy, and we must not give in to the unholiness that affluence brings our way. In the midst of comfort and riches, we need to see that our God is sovereign and holy. And last of all, the church as it exists on the planet needs to have this perspective.

Listen to William Hendrickson. The church is in the world. Accordingly, it suffers along with the world. children of God do not escape the horrors of war famine and pestilence right we got that we're seeing that the church Hendrickson goes on to say the church needs these tribulations it needs both the direct antagonism of the world and participation in the common woes that pertain to this earthly life as a result of sin.

The church too is sinful. It is in constant need of purification and sanctification. As the seals and the trumpets in the rest of this book and the bulls bring about God's judgment on earth, we need to remember that these come from the throne of our Father who is ruling and is sovereign in it all. when all these things are happening that's what we need to hear and listen now you need heaven's perspective I know I know for a fact that some of you as you listen to me some of you are struggling with anxiety and some of you are struggling with fear some of you are afraid of dying from this some of you afraid of what's going to happen where where am i going to how am i going to get money to support my family i can't work right and so all of this is going on you're worried about your family members you're worried about all these things listen to me listen to what god says we serve a god sits on a throne and he is in control of all of this.

Our suffering is not beyond his control. And that is where you find hope. Dear people of God, this is where we begin. You must see. You cannot despair. You cannot be anxious.

You must not. And you don't have to be when you have this perspective. Here is our God, almighty, holy, and sovereign in a throne room of glass. You see? That needs to be reflected by us. You need to be praying, God, help me to get this heavenly perspective on this earthly sorrow.

God, help me to see that you are sovereign. my life everything about me is in your hands and you are my father and you will not torture me you are not playing games with me You are working for my good You are sovereign. And I can trust you. Let's pray. Father, help us to get the heavenly perspective. The perspective of heaven. God, we must have that perspective.

We must or we will die. God help us I pray to see that our God sits upon a throne of intense glory that Father you are worthy for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created Father help us to see You as holy. And sitting on a throne, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.