Revelation 4: The Coronation Of The Elders

The elections are now behind us and we do have a new president. The slogan right now appears to be “Change is Coming.” Many of us are hoping that the change will be for the positive. Yet I’m sure others are hoping that not too much change will come! Take for instance the former president P’noy, I’m sure he is hoping change won’t be in the form of legal cases and prison terms. How discouraging it must be for the presidents who go from the palace to the prison. I mentioned to my wife that P’noy did not go from the palace to the prison and she replied “not yet at least!”

The problem the Politian’s face are the various political systems and all the opposition and distrust. Often the disunity in the political system makes it difficult for a president or leader to accomplish their agenda. It takes a strong and sure leader to be able to push their agenda in-spite of political opposition.

This morning we will eventually be studying Revelation chapter four. When John began his letter Jesus Himself gave us a simple outline of the Book of Revelation in Revelation 1:19 (NASB) — 19 “Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall take place after these things.” The outline follows the past tense, present tense, and future tense structure. The past tense was simply John seeing the start of his vision which was him seeing Jesus. This would have been what is recorded in the first sixteen verses of chapter one. Then the present tense was the messages to the seven churches of Asian minor who are representative of all local-churches throughout the Church Age. The present tense aspect of the letter is recorded in Revelation 1:17-3:22. I mentioned the Church Age; this era was coroneted at the Last Supper, commenced at Pentecost and will end with the rapture of the Church. As for the third tense concerning the outline of Revelation, it begins with chapter four and follows through until the end of the book. Thus the events that we will end with today are still future events.

Revelation four is a rather short chapter with only eleven verses. Yet it has a specific theme and that is the throne of God. The Throne of God is directly mentioned eleven times and referred to several more times. When you think of the Throne of God you should see the object (a throne) as signifying the sovereignty of God. Thrones were the place where kings would exercise their sovereignty. In the ancient middle east an actual throne could have been anything from a padded chair to a pile of pillows. The common denominator was what took place at the throne. Kings exercised sovereignty and to be sovereign they had to have the ability and right to reign over subjects. As creator God has the right to reign over His creation. The question is, does He have the ability to reign over creation? We must peer into the throne room of God to see exactly “how” He reigns.

The bulk of today’s message will be spent on shaping our understanding of how God exercises sovereignty. First we will look into the throne room and see who is present. Then we will look at what exactly the participants are doing. Then finally we will discuss our future role within God’s throne room.

When you think of Heaven what do you think God is doing there? Do you see Him as being so holy that nobody can approach Him and therefore He is sitting there in a big empty room alone? Or do you see it as a room that has a throne center stage and all beings present are constantly giving Him praise? Often that is how I picture it, and for me that is an exciting picture. What about Satan, do you see him present? How about angles? Sure, I can picture them there! How about demons, are they there? Has heaven always been the same? The scriptures indicate that numerous persons have been to, or at least looked into, heaven.

Years ago I was working with a church outreach that was ministering to the poor (back in the U.S.A.) One gentleman who attended the outreach on a regular basis shared a story of how he died and went to heaven. His tale was familiar in that he states that he saw a great light and then was told that he had to return to earth. He even went so far as to say that the Lord had a great mission for him and that is why he had to return. The problem was that he was addicted to alcohol and that he was not involved in any type of ministry outside of attending our mission and receive a free meal and Bible study. I guess things could have changed but I know that he has now already passed away without accomplishing anything great for the Lord.