3. Anchored, Not Anxious (Revelation 4-5) Series

Good morning! Please open your Bibles to Revelation 4.

I’ve been in Alabama long enough by now to know that every SEC football team has its own rallying cry. Its own greeting when you pass another fan at Wal-Mart.

If you’re a Bama fan, you say “Roll Tide.”

Auburn’s got “War Eagle.”

Ole Miss is “Hotty Toddy.”

Mississippi State is “Hail State”

Florida is, “Maybe next year.”

And Vanderbilt? Well, normally, Vanderbilt fans wouldn’t acknowledge each other in public. But this year, its different. More and more, you hear the rallying cry of the Vanderbilt Commodores:

Anchor Down.

It’s a nod to their naval mascot, but it’s also a statement of resolve: Plant your feet. Stand firm. Don’t get swept away. And if all else fails, remember that you will always make more money than they do.

This morning, we are going to camp out in Revelation 4-5, and I want to offer you three words of encouragement for your own life. You can repeat these after me:

Look up.

Anchor down.

Sing out.

And I think these are important for us today, because our world doesn’t look all that different from John’s world in the first century. Let’s stand for the reading of God’s Word:

Revelation 4:1–11 ESV

1 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.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 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, 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. 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, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

[pray]

1. LOOK UP - The Throne Above Every Throne (Revelation 4)

Before we move on to what John sees in heaven, it’s worth remembering what he—and his readers—were seeing on earth.

The book of Revelation was written near the end of the first century, during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian. He was the last of four Roman emperors who unleashed horrific persecution on both Christians and Jews.

First was Nero, whose cruelty toward Christians was legendary. Nero blamed Christians for the great fire of Rome, and his punishments were horrific—some were crucified, others burned alive as human torches to light his gardens.

Then there was Vespasian, who rose to power during a Jewish revolt against Roman rule. He oversaw the siege of Jerusalem and authorized the destruction of the Temple, which was carried out by his son Titus. After Vaspasian, Titus was emperor for a couple of years, and finally there was Domitian. Under Domitian, emperor worship was revived, and all Roman subjects were required to address him as “Dominus et Deus”—Lord and God. To refuse to say it was treason.

So by the time John wrote Revelation, believers had endured four emperors in a single generation who saw themselves as gods. The empire crushed any movement that challenged Caesar’s glory.

And while we don’t live under emperors today, we still live in a world where power doesn’t take kindly to being questioned. There are political leaders who crave absolute authority and unquestioned loyalty. Leaders rise and fall, politicians posture and promise, and every age has its Caesars. But Revelation pulls our gaze higher—to the throne that never changes hands.

A. The Open Door (v.1)

When your world feels unstable, do what John did: Look Up, and behold a door standing open. Hear the open invitation: “Come up here” It is a call to lift your eyes above your circumstances. It’s as if God is saying, John, before I show you the future, I’m going to show you my glory. .