Message
Revelation 4:1-5:14
The Heavenly Perspective on This Broken World.
I want you to think about the best invitation you ever received.
Maybe it was to a very special wedding.
Perhaps you were taken on a very special holiday.
Maybe it was to go to a special restaurant.
Perhaps you were given a really great surprise.
Being given an invitation like that can create all sorts of emotion and excitement and joy. So how do you think John felt when He got this trumpet-like invitation from Jesus?
After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
Revelation 4:1
John is looking at a doorway that leads into heaven itself.
He didn’t have to knock on it.
He didn’t have to die to get access.
He doesn’t have to go through some cleansing ritual.
He doesn’t even have to push it open.
The door to heaven has been opened from the inside – and a voice is encouraging John to come in and find out what the rest of Revelation is going to say – all delivered to him while John is in heaven.
In a moment we are going to read the next two chapters of that Revelation. However, before we do I want to tell you about an important literary devises.
Meta tauta eidon
= after this, or after these things.
A phrase like that could be describing a series of events.
On Monday we went to the looking for new shoes at Cinori, Novo, Witchery and Zierra’s.
After these things we went out for dinner at the Hilton Hotel.
(my wife was really happy with her new shoes!!).
We call this temporal progression.
A phrase like this could also describe a series of stories.
When you talk to our friends from Iran they will tell you stories about their life.
They might start by telling you what it was like to be at Christmas Island.
After these things they talk about their family in Iran.
After these things they talk about how they got on the boat.
After these things they talk about how our church has helped them
It is all part of the same story, we just get to hear different bits at different times.
We call this narrative progression
I know it is a bit technical, but it is important for us to understand the difference. Because if we read Revelation as if it is a series of events – temporal progression – we are going to find that very little of it actually applies to us now. But when we read Revelation as a series of stories – narrative progression – we become an important part of the unfolding of history. Because each story involves us and our relationship with God.
So keep that in mind as we read Revelation 4:1-5:14
Do you sometimes find yourself wondering if God is really in control?
As believers we know – in our heads that God is in control.
Who has understood the mind of the Lord or instructed Him as His counsellor? (Isaiah 40:13).
With God all things are possible (Mark 14:36)
We read these passages, and other verses like them, and we have to say, “Yes God is in control”. Our heads have that knowledge; but do our hearts also have that knowledge?
In our own lives God’s control doesn’t always seem to be there.
We want to serve faithfully, yet so often our hearts wander off in different directions. We ask God to help us in our obedience, but at the end of the day we find ourselves falling far short. We desire to share the Gospel and be good witnesses, but regularly our tongues get caught in our throat and we say nothing. Jesus has come to give us victory in God’s family, but the finish line can sometimes seem so far off.
In the church God’s control doesn’t always seem to be there.
The church is meant to be God’s family on earth; but sometimes it is more like neighbourhood warfare. The church is called to bring the message to all people, yet many churches seem to have just one flavour. The church is meant to be busting down the gates of hell – yet we can’t even get past the gate of our neighbour. Jesus wants the church to have victory, but there are times when we just feel like losers.
We say in our head, “God is in control”, but in our heart we can sometimes think, “If God is so much in control why aren’t I, and why isn’t the church, making more of a difference?”
That’s what it is like in our headspace. But that is not what it is like when we step into God’s space.
God’s space is called heaven.
You won’t find it as coordinates on a map.
You can’t program the route using your GPS.
But heaven is a place which is just as real as a visit Parliament House in Australia. Like Parliament House the set-up of the place gives you an idea of importance of individuals and groups.
An important person is the Speaker. He basically runs Parliament and makes sure all the rules of debate are followed. He sits in the very big chair at the front.
The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition also have nice chairs – they sit at the big table.
Key ministers on both sides sit on the bench. The less important you are the further you go back.
You also have the public gallery – where people sit behind the glass.
The place of the different figures gives an indicator of who has authority.
The same is true in heaven
The placement of the items is a great indicator of authority.
In heaven there is a throne … we know it is God’s throne. What God is like is very hard to describe so John uses precious of gemstones to help us understand what God is like. God is more in beauty. More in value. More in worth.
Precious and Unique.
Sought After and Glorious.
This is God.
Around the throne is a rainbow. Not like we see the rainbow as an arch. But a circular rainbow.
The first rainbow happened after God sent the world-wide flood in the days of Noah – all mankind was destroyed except for 8 people. Noah and his wife. Noah’s three sons, and their wives. When the rainbow appeared God said, Never again will all of life be cut off. God also said This is a reminder of the everlasting covenant between yourself and myself.
Every moment that God is on the throne He sees the rainbow and it is reminded of His promise. Anytime anyone, or any creature, looks at the throne they are reminded of this promise. God has made a pact with mankind – to be a rescuing, saving, loving, forgiving, helping, relational God.
Close to the throne are these four living creatures. They all have similarities to creatures here on earth.
Lion.
Ox.
Man.
Eagle.
Their place in the heavens can be determined by asking a few simple questions.
Of all wild beasts which is generally seen to be the most powerful and dominant? A Lion.
Of all domestic animals, sheep, cattle, goats, which is most powerful and dominant? An ox.
Man is the most powerful of all living creatures.
The eagle the most powerful of all the birds.
The meaning is clear isn’t it. These four creatures are the dominant heavenly beings. They are located closest to the throne in a circle. When they start worshipping God, the rest of the creatures in heaven join in.
In a ring around the throne, rainbow and four creatures are 24 thrones with 24 elders. They have white robes and golden crowns. In the commentaries I read there are at least 9 suggestions as to who these figures are. But here is what we know for sure:-
- they are constantly worshipping and exulting God on the throne.
- the white garments they wear represent holiness.
- the golden crowns represent authority.
- the bowl of incense which is the prayers of the saints shows they have a connection to the people of God.
So what we have here is a heavenly counsel of 24 elders who are very near to the throne of God and they are advocating for the saints in some way.
So we put this all together and what do we have? The throne, surrounded by a rainbow, surrounded by four heaven-dominating creatures, surrounded by 24 thrones with elders who are somehow advocating for us. All the while there is a constant environment of worship.
Not worship where we pull together an amazing group of musicians, and use great lighting effects, and try and hit 100 decibels of sound.
Not worship where which is lead by an organist who knows all the songs in meter following the verse refrain verse refrain pattern.
Not worship where the only instrument is a voice, and maybe a drum, and the congregation dances and claps in rhythmic time.
This is not the worship of any style that we have seen or experienced in all the cultures in all of the world. This is the worship of the most powerful, dominant, wise, eternal, heavenly creatures. And they are all saying the same thing.
God we give you worthy.
That is what true worship is … acknowledging the worth of God.
What is God worth? Well even these most powerful, dominant, wise, eternal, heavenly creatures are less than God.
Which faces us with an important challenge. The book of Revelation is not going to make a single iota of change in your life until you are convinced of that truth.
I am less than God.
I am not the captain of my soul, God is.
I am not in charge, God is.
I am not the pilot, God is.
I am not the king, God is.
I am not the centre of the universe, God is.
I have much, am much, am able to achieve much … BUT I am still less than God.
And until I really know my place I cannot have a lasting impact on history. Because, until I know my place I am not really a part of HIS-STORY.
Ultimately it is God’s story that matters most, not the script that I want to give. Certainly I will have a part in the story, but the main action is determined by God. That is where the scroll comes in. We read about it in 5:1. The One on the throne is holding it His hand. And a question is asked. Whenever a question is asked in a ceremonial setting you know it is important.
Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, and be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?
That is a serious and important question isn’t it.
Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?
That is an eternally serious and eternally important question.
And, for an awkward moment it looks like John might have to write.
“No-one was worthy, so the scroll remained sealed, and I went out the door and back to Patmos”. No wonder he starts crying.
Until one of the 24 elders sets him straight – here comes the Lion who has triumphed – he can open the scroll. I’m sure John must have rubbed his eyes at this point.
John hears about a Lion; John sees a Lamb.
John hears about strength. John sees weakness.
John hears about a conquering beast. John sees a defeated victim.
John hears about life. What John sees is death.
This is not one of those cute Lambs you see at a petting zoo. The one with the tail that wiggles all over the place whenever you feed it milk. This Lamb is a battle-hardened Ram.
A sacrifice that has secured salvation.
An offering that overcome death.
A victim that has secured victory.
Everything about the appearance of the Lamb seems wrong – yet we know it is exactly right. The one who is worthy is Jesus – the same Jesus who gave His life as a sacrifice for us.
When the scroll is passed onto this Jesus, the only true Saviour Jesus, it is here where these chapters really hit home.
We began by asking “Is God really in control?”.
We ask the question as we face our daily lives.
You can guarantee when Jesus was arrested, and flogged, and beaten, and found guilty, and had a crown of thorns put on His head, and crucified.
You can guarantee when this was all happening there were many who were asking, “Is God in Control?”
But on the third day, when Jesus rose again, defeating death, defeating Satan, defeating sin. Well … there is no doubt is there.
God is definitely in control.
As the rest of the book of revelation unfolds we have to remember this. You see the scroll is going to be unrolled, and the seals are going to be broken, and events are going to take place, and evil will rise up, and Satan will make a stand, and the church will be under pressure, and judgement will happen. History is going to be written and we are going to be a part of it. And there are going to be days when we as individuals, and we as a church, will wonder – “Is God in Control?”.
Well the book is now in the hands of the Lamb.
His blood purchased people from every tribe and nation for God.
He makes them into a kingdom of priests who will reign.
He has power, strength, wealth, wisdom and honour.
He is there in the middle, right next to the throne.
Do you know what that means? Even before the scroll has been opened outcome is clear … the Lamb wins. Even on the worst days, through the worst events, when the worst is happening to us. Know this truth. Satan has already lost. Sin has already lost. Death has already lost. Because the Lamb has already won. Is God in Control? You better believe it!!
That is the heavenly perspective we are given as we look around in this broken world.
Prayer
