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. .
B. The Seated Sovereign (vv.2–6)
When John looks through the open door, he sees the throne of God, with God seated on it. John doesn’t even try to describe God’s face; instead, he describes His radiance—like jasper and carnelian, light refracted in every direction. Verse three points out that there is a rainbow with the appearance of an emerald. I’m not even sure how that works! But in Scripture, the rainbow is always a symbol of God’s mercy, even in judgment.
Lightning flashes, thunder rolls, and verse five tells us that before the throne burns the fire of the Holy Spirit.
C. The Gathered Saints (vv.6–11)
Encircling it all are twenty-four other thrones—elders robed in white, crowned in gold—Most scholars agree that the number 24 represents the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of the New Testament. So these are the redeemed from every age.
Now, I want you to notice something. It’s true that verse describes the elders sitting on thrones and wearing crowns. But then it goes on to describe these four celestial beings gathered around God’s throne. Verse 8 says that 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 look again at verses 9-11:
Revelation 4:9–11 ESV
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four 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, 11 “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.”
So if verse 10 says the elders fall down in worship whenever these living creatures praise God, and verse 8 says they never cease to praise him, then these twenty four elders don’t spend much time on their little thrones. And apparently, those golden crowns only exist so they can have something to cast before the throne. In other words, there is only one King that stays seated. And He wasn’t in Rome. He isn’t in Washington. He is God almighty, the ever-seated Sovereign at the center of the universe isn’t Rome.
Look up.
2. ANCHOR DOWN – The Security for Every Soul (Revelation 5:1–10)
If chapter 4 lifts our eyes to the throne above every throne, chapter 5 invites us to anchor our hearts in the One who holds the scroll of history.
A. Who Is Worthy? (vv. 1–4)
John’s attention shifts from the throne to the right hand of the One seated on it—a hand holding a scroll, sealed with seven seals. In John’s world, a sealed scroll meant something official—like a royal decree or a last will and testament.
This one represents the divine plan of God, His purposes for judgment and redemption. It’s the script of history itself.
But there’s a problem: no one can open it.
John says, “I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.”
Now, I’ll be honest. There’s a part of me that wonders why John wept. I mean, if you’ve read Revelation, you know what happens when the scroll gets unsealed. All hell breaks loose— literally! The four horsemen of the Apocalypse! Plagues! Bowls of Wrath! Locusts! If I was John, I wouldn’t be crying. I’d be breathing a sigh of relief. The less unsealed, the better.”
But John weeps, not because he’s curious, but because a sealed scroll means a stalled story. It means the world’s brokenness continues unchecked, evil goes unpunished, and redemption remains incomplete. If no one can open the scroll, there will be no justice for the martyrs, no vindication for the saints, no end to suffering.
John’s tears are the tears of every believer who has ever looked at the world and thought, “How long, O Lord?”
That’s why we anchor down here—because when life feels like a story that will never resolve, Revelation 5 reminds us: God hasn’t lost the script.
B. The Lamb Is Worthy (vv. 5–8)
Then comes one of the most dramatic turnarounds in all of Scripture.One of the elders says,
“Weep no more. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.
I remember my parents taking me to see the circus when I was a kid. I remember being so excited to see the lions. I wonder if John is thinking to himself, well, of course it’s a lion. King of Beasts! Lord of the Jungle. Of course He’s going to be worthy. So John turns to see the Lion—and what does he see?
A Lamb. A lamb that was slain.
And I can imagine John saying, “Wait— where’s the Lion?” You announce a Lion, You reveal a lamb. What’s up with that?
What’s up with that is the very core of our faith—the power of God made perfect in sacrifice.
The Lamb stands, though slain—alive and bearing the marks of His victory. He is strong enough to take the scroll and gentle enough to redeem those written within it.
And understand this: He isn’t worthy in spite of the fact that He was slain.
C. Why Is He Worthy? (vv. 9–10)
Look at verse 10:
“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
He’s worthy because He was slain.
He conquered not by crushing His enemies, but by dying for them. He broke the seals by shedding His blood.
He turned a world of victims into a kingdom of priests.
And He anchors every soul that belongs to Him—past, present, and future.
And listen—this is what the rulers of the world will never understand.
The spirit of the Antichrist says, power is displayed through strength.
The Christ says, power is perfected in weakness.
The Antichrist says, I will build an army of soldiers.
The Christ says, I will make a kingdom of priests.
The Antichrist says, They will fear us for our power.
The Christ says, They will know us for our love.”
So when it feels like the darkness is winning, anchor down in this truth:
History has a conclusion. The seals are not unbreakable. The one who holds the scroll holds your soul. His blood ransoms people from every tribe and language and people and nation.
3. SING OUT-- The Worship From Every Tribe (Rev. 5:11-14)
Chapter 4 shows us who reigns.
The first half of Chapter 5 shows us who redeems.
Now the rest of the chapter shows us how we respond.
John writes:
“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’” (vv. 11–12)
That’s seven words of praise—a perfect song for a perfect Savior.
Power.
Wealth.
Wisdom.
Might.
Honor.
Glory.
Blessing.
All the things every empire grabs for, every king hoards, and every politician fights to keep—heaven lays them all at the feet of the Lamb.
But it’s not just human kingdoms. In verse 13, the circle widens:
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’”
Heaven sings. Earth echoes. Creation joins the chorus.
The praise that began around a single throne in chapter 4 now fills the entire cosmos in chapter 5.
History ends, not in destruction, but in doxology.
The story doesn’t end with the beast or the bowls. It ends with a Bride and a Bridegroom.
It ends not in chaos, but in chorus.
That’s what happens when you look through the right lens—when you remember who sits on the throne and who holds the scroll. Fear turns to faith. Despair turns to worship.
What’s God saying to us? What is he saying to you?
When you see the world unraveling, sing anyway.
When you feel the weight of what’s broken, sing louder.
Because worship isn’t how we escape the world—it’s how we endure it.
Every worship song is a protest song. It’s our protest against the darkness, our declaration that the Lamb still reigns.
So look up. Anchor down. And sing out.
Because the One who sits on the throne and the Lamb who was slain are one and the same—and He’s worthy.
Let’s stand for closing prayer:
Father, thank You for opening the door of heaven and showing us what’s real.
You sit on the throne that never shakes.
The Lamb who was slain is alive forever.
And every story—ours included—is in Your hands.
When the world feels unstable, teach us to look up.
When our hearts feel uncertain, help us anchor down.
And when fear tries to steal our song, remind us to sing out.
Because You are worthy—of power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing.
May our lives echo the worship of heaven, until the day we join that chorus face to face.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
[Response]
