Last Sunday was our first service together in three months of not having anything in person together.
And it was a great time. We sure enjoyed being together.
And we looked at a place in God's Word where, long ago, services were disrupted.
And then, after a period of time, resumed again.
And we looked at that day when King David led the people of Israel to begin services again at the tent that David set up in Jerusalem.
It was a joyful day. It was just a wonderful time.
David encouraged the people to get the instruments out.
He got the worship team together.
And he shared one of his own songs that day as an example of the kind of praise and song that they were to offer to the Lord.
And we saw last Sunday that the kind of worship that God desires is worship that comes from the heart.
We saw, in David's words, that God is worthy of our praise.
He deserves it. It's fitting for him to receive that from us.
And we looked at a whole bunch of reasons that David put into that song of why God is worthy.
Of us coming together and worshiping him Sunday after Sunday.
Well, today we want to add another reason to that list.
A reason for why God is worthy of our worship and our praise.
And we find that reason in Revelation chapter 4.
Revelation is a unique part of the scriptures.
It has some of the characteristics of a letter that's been written to a number of churches.
But it also has characteristics of a vision which God gave to the Apostle John.
And not just any vision, but a prophetic vision.
A vision in which things of the future are revealed.
And so, up until this point in the book of Revelation,
John is on the island of Patmos where he has been exiled because of his preaching the word of God
and because of his giving testimony about Jesus.
And it's here on the island of Patmos that God gave him an amazing vision.
The Lord Jesus himself was who John saw revealed to him that day.
And he saw the Lord Jesus not just in ordinary human form, but in his glorious appearance.
And the Lord Jesus commanded him to write words down, letters to give to various churches.
And it's just following this that we pick up the story of this vision that John is experiencing in chapter 4.
After this, I looked, and there before me, says John, 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.
At once, I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven.
With someone sitting on it.
And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby.
A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.
Surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones.
And seated on them were 24 elders.
They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder.
In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing.
These are the seven spirits of God.
Also, in front of the throne, there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures.
And they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.
The first living creature was like a lion.
The second was like an ox.
The third had a face like a man.
The fourth was like a flying eagle.
Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around,
even under its wings.
Day and night, they never stopped saying,
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come.
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne
and who lives forever and ever,
the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne
and worship him who lives forever and ever.
They lay their crowns before the throne and say,
You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created and have their being.
Well, this is a very strange vision.
There are a lot of interesting details in it.
Lots of things that, if we're honest,
we have no idea what John is talking about.
But let's look at a few of the details that we see here in this vision.
The first thing that we want to notice is that this is a vision of heaven.
This is one artist's rendition of this vision.
John says,
There before me I saw a door standing open in heaven,
and a voice invites him, the voice who spoke to him earlier,
the voice of Jesus, to come up here and see some things,
and in some mysterious way that's beyond our understanding,
John was in the spirit, in this vision,
and it's as though he was taken up through this door into heaven,
where he got a glimpse of some very strange things,
some very amazing things.
John describes the first thing that he saw as a throne there in heaven,
and someone sitting on the throne.
He describes the appearance of this one sitting on the throne,
and his description is like no person that we have ever seen.
In fact, we almost get the sense that even John is reaching for words to describe this one.
Verse 3,
The one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby.
Perhaps John means to describe something of the way that he's beautiful,
he's glorious, he's reflective.
There's a bit of color there.
He goes on to describe 24 thrones that are seated around this one throne.
Here's another artist's rendition of it.
And an emerald rainbow, you can kind of see it around the throne.
Flashes of lightning coming from the throne.
Rumblings and peals of thunder.
You can see there on the picture, seven lamps blazing in front of it,
and the four living creatures.
A very strange and mysterious vision indeed.
And when we read this, I mean, we have all kinds of questions, I'm sure.
Like, why did God give a vision like this to John?
Is this actually what heaven looks like?
Or is this just a vision that kind of reveals truth or reality of what happens in the spiritual realm?
Is it symbolic?
What are the seven spirits of God?
What kind of creatures are these with six wings and eyes all over their bodies?
And who are these 24 elders, these kings who sit on these thrones and have golden crowns?
Well, I have a short answer and a longer answer.
And my short answer is I have no idea what all of these things refer to.
The slightly longer answer is that God doesn't waste his breath in anything he says or reveals.
And so I trust that there is some important meaning and purpose for revealing just what he did to John that day.
But sometimes God gives us more of a glimpse than an opportunity to gaze and fully understand.
And I think that's what's happening here.
Who are these four creatures?
What are they?
Are they real?
Or are they symbolic?
I think we're wise not to make too much of them.
Or presume in pride to know just what they are.
But I think it's also wise not to make too little of them.
They show up 11 times in this vision, this story which God has given.
And we can speculate.
We can guess.
We can look at all the details of the crowns and the clothing that they wear and the types of creatures that they are.
But I think it's safe to just admit that we don't know just what this is all about.
It appears as though God is just giving us a glimpse into something that is beyond us.
He does that sometimes.
Sometimes he does it in order to reveal something but also conceal something for a later time in which we will know more fully.
So what can we take from this very strange vision?
And really this is just a piece of the whole thing.
Well I think that we can start by concluding that wherever God rules from in the heavenly realms, it's glorious.
It's beautiful.
Not only that but he, the one who sits on heaven's throne, is glorious and beautiful.
He is someone who is to be feared.
John describes flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder coming from the throne.
Can you imagine how John would have felt in the midst of that, witnessing that?
Just a couple weeks back we had some storms come through Davidson.
And I still remember seeing the living room window just lighting up with flashes of lightning.
And hearing the booms of thunder.
And we just had to pause what we were doing and just kind of stand in awe and listen like,
Wow, this is powerful.
Even little Caleb, his attention was captured.
And he had to come over to the window and talk about the booms that he was hearing.
Can you imagine how John would have felt in this vision?
To see and hear that coming out of this glorious throne in heaven.
The Lord is glorious.
He is beautiful.
He is someone to be feared.
And all of this vision, in some ways, really points to the truth that he is holy.
That he is other.
He is above.
He is beyond.
He is distinct from us.
Superior.
Here he is.
And he is being worshipped day and night by creatures the likes of which we have never seen in our world.
They are declaring this truth.
That he is holy.
Holy.
The repetition of that word signals that it's not just a little bit of holy.
It's a lot of holy.
So far above us.
And all other beings.
Holy.
Holy is the Lord.
God.
Almighty.
Holy.
The story goes on.
John sees these living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne.
And we just get the sense that we, through John's eyes, are seeing a worship moment.
A moment in which God is receiving worship.
And it goes on from here.
The 24 elders, John tells us, they, when they see the creatures giving praise to God, they fall down before this one seated on the throne.
They lay their crowns before him and they worship him.
Just think of that for a second.
You, as a human being here on earth, what would it take to get you to bow down before another person here on earth?
I mean, we can hardly even imagine a situation where we would do that.
It would have to be the greatest of rulers, a powerful man, a person worthy of great respect, a person who is truly worthy to get us to bow down before him.
Now, flip that around and imagine that you are such a king.
And you have a kingdom and you have a crown of gold on your head that represents your rule and reign over your kingdom.
What would it take to get you to fall down on your face before someone else?
And to take the crown, the symbol of your authority and power and rule, and lay it at the feet of another.
You would only do that before the greatest of kings that this world has ever known.
This is the kind of moment that we see happening here through John's eyes in his vision.
Not only do they bring, do they take up the posture of worship and fall down before the one on the throne and lay before him their crowns, but they speak words of worship.
Verse 11, you are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power.
Just think about those words for a moment.
Worthy.
It is fitting.
It is right that you receive glory, worship.
It's what you are due.
Why?
They give one reason.
Also in verse 11,
For you created all things,
and by your will they were created and have their being.
This is an awesome statement.
And it's worth taking a time to just slow down and ponder it.
For you created, you made everything.
And it exists and continues to exist because of your purpose and intention, your will.
You are worthy for doing that.
I love that little phrase.
Created all things.
That's a big little phrase.
All things means a lot.
Let's consider for a moment what is included in all things.
It includes the things of heaven.
It includes the things of earth.
It includes the physical.
It includes the spiritual.
It includes the really big things like clusters of galaxies.
It includes the really little things like protons, neutrons, and electrons.
It includes the laws which govern our world like gravity, thermodynamics, the laws of motion and physics.
It includes the systems which we see happening all over.
The rain cycle.
The tide.
The ebb and flow of the tide.
The way the moon affects those things.
All of it.
All things includes that liquid we call water
in which there are countless different kinds of living creatures.
Swimming.
Living.
It includes the sky and all the flyers which navigate the currents of wind
that we can hardly even imagine.
It includes all plants and trees.
It includes light.
It includes sound.
Everything.
All things.
You are worthy, our Lord and God,
for you created all things.
Everything.
What a statement.
Let's think a little more about some of these things
and just how they show the worthiness of God.
Plants.
Such an amazing thing.
There are so many different kinds all over earth
and they all grow and look a little different
and have so much variation and color,
different conditions in which they thrive.
You look up close, even at the back of a leaf,
and look at the detail,
the complexity of what's going on there.
I've got a massive poplar in my backyard
and it just floors me
that that whole tree grew out of a seed this big.
It's amazing.
Those of you who farm,
that tiny little canola seed,
isn't it amazing that the whole canola plant
is packed into that?
You can store it.
You can activate it whenever you want
just by putting it in the ground
and putting some water on it.
It's amazing.
Those of you who are doing some gardening,
maybe you've got some of these
that you're hoping to see in your garden
later this season.
Isn't it amazing that out of a tiny little tomato seed,
you can get a whole plant full of these
ripe, beautiful, red, juicy tomatoes.
God created all things.
Here's an example of something that we've created.
Let's talk about machines.
Some of you fix machines.
Some of you drive machines.
Here's a machine that's been made by man,
a combine, and it's pretty impressive.
It can do some pretty amazing things.
It's got lots of processes,
lots of mechanisms,
lots of systems.
It's got GPS.
I don't know if that model does or not,
but probably not.
It looks like an older one.
But what's amazing to me
is that all throughout our world,
we see that God has created
all kinds of machines,
living machines,
with all kinds of parts
and programming
that function in all kinds of ways
that blow this out of the water,
that make this look primitive.
I mean, think for a moment of this.
A dolphin.
It's got one of the most amazing systems
on the planet
for sonar,
echolocation.
I just have to tell you
a little bit about it.
Apparently, this thing is able to
create clicks
of all different kinds
and project them out into the water
through an acoustic lens
in its forehead.
It can bounce those sound waves
off a fish
up to 200 meters away,
get the waves back
through its jawbones,
and interpret that information
into a 3D image.
Like, that's astounding.
And what will blow our minds
even more is that
it's so fine-tuned
and it works so effortlessly,
so naturally.
It's part of the programming
and wiring
that it can do this
to objects far and near,
back and forth so quickly.
It can see a whole swarm of fish
just going like this
and zero in on a single fish
with those waves
and just zip right in there
and grab it.
Not by sight,
but by this crazy sonar system
that's wired into its head.
God created that.
It blows our minds.
It's amazing.
Here's another example
of something amazing.
Birds.
What a creature.
A creature which can go
from standing still
and just start flapping
and climb right up
into thin air
and just hover
through the air.
We've done the best we can
to replicate flight.
We've made our machines,
but they look big
and clunky
and they're primitive
compared to this.
I mean,
you think of what a bird
can do.
The engineering,
the design.
Birds are as common
as anything.
I mean,
we see them all the time
and yet
the acrobatics
that they can do
in the air.
They can snatch
an insect
out of the air
in mid-flight.
It's amazing.
A bird like this
can zero in
on a fish
down in the water
and dive
and grab that fish
right out of the water.
And all of that's
wired into this
little package.
All the programming
is there.
The mechanisms
are there.
It has just
the right parts.
It's amazing.
Another example
of the
awesome creativity
of God.
While we're on
the subject of birds,
I just had to put
one of these in there,
a hummingbird.
What an amazing creation.
This thing can fly
up to 50 kilometers
an hour
and then
in an instant
stop
mid-air
and just hover.
And then
if it wants to,
it can fly backwards.
This particular
kind of hummingbird
can do
in-flight fueling.
Come right up
to the flower,
hover.
Think of the
precision on that.
Its beak
is like
a tiny needle.
It can suck
the nectar
right out of a flower.
In-flight fueling.
Give SpaceX
a run for its money.
Another amazing
creation of God.
And all of that
packed into this
tiny little body.
It blows our minds.
How can it sustain
that kind of
muscle activity,
that kind of
energy requirement?
the fuel that it would
need,
the energy output
of this thing
is amazing
and it's all
in this tiny
little thing.
The best of drones
that we have engineered
doesn't even
come close to this.
You get maxed
10 minutes of flight
before the
battery's dead.
Or consider
the caterpillar.
Another thing
that God has created.
I love these.
They give,
they baffle the minds
of scientists
over and over
and over again.
It's the only creature
in our world
that we know of
that forms a chrysalis,
turns all of itself
into a chemical soup.
all of its organs
gone
into chemicals
and then re-emerges
as a totally
different creature.
A thing that
eats differently,
a thing that
moves differently,
flies differently.
It's nothing like
what it was
when it went in.
It baffles
the minds
of the best
of human biologists.
How could something
do that
in just two weeks' time?
It's amazing.
And we're just
getting started here.
The whole world
is full of all kinds
of stuff like this.
This is one of my favorites.
A living cell.
This is one of the most
complex things
on earth.
A single living cell
has,
and these are not
my words,
and these are not
just the words
of Christians,
it has all kinds
of micro machinery
inside of it
that are at work
performing
their various functions
all the time.
And I don't think
they've just chosen
those words
because, you know,
that's our experience.
So, yeah,
it kind of looks
like machines.
No, they're machines.
According to
microbiologists,
there are
biological motors
and rotors
and bushings
and walking mechanisms
and all kinds
of stuff
going on
all the time
inside just one
of these little things.
There's factories
called ribosomes
that help produce
proteins.
There's a storage
center
where all the
information
and blueprints
are kept
on strands of DNA.
There's little machines
that go in there
and make copies
of various strands
and bring those copies
to the factories
and then the factories
call for all these
other machines
to bring the various
pieces that are
required to
form these
massive chains
of amino acids
that then get
carried over
to this other machine
that folds them
into the
perfect shape
so that they can
function
as the protein
that they are.
And all of this
is happening
all the time
in this complex
world
of the living cell.
It's mind-blowing.
It's breathtaking.
God created it.
I just have to say here
there's one guy
that I just
I couldn't help but
I came across
his stuff this week
and he's working
at stuff
on a very tiny level.
He's a Nobel
prize winning scientist
and he's working
on a nano car
or he's actually
made it already.
It's a car
that's got
a little carbon
helix
kind of spherical
thing for wheels
on each side.
It's so tiny
you can't even
see it without
a microscope
and he's trying
to figure out
how to get this
to move
on various surfaces
how to coax
the wheels
to roll
and maybe we
can even load
it up with
a little cargo.
That's machinery
and engineering
on a whole
nother level
but it's
nothing compared
to what's already
going on
and the kinds
of machines
God has already
wired into
every living
creature.
not only
has God
made this
world
and everything
in it
so functional
so complex
but he has
made it
beautiful.
It's not
just all
of his
masterpiece
blueprints
enacted
he's made
the world
the universe
his canvas
and I mean
just think of it
all the birds
could be grey
all the butterflies
could be black
and yet
God has put
patterns
and all
different kinds
of colours
sunsets
and sunrises
he's infused
beauty
into all
of his
creation
it's amazing
foxes
this is the
start of the
summer months
we're about
to hopefully
all of us
get outdoors
and see
more of what
God has made
and I just
want to encourage
us to look a
little closer
to gaze a
little longer
to open our
eyes a little
wider
and to ponder
a little deeper
as we have
opportunity
to look
at all
that God
has made
right in front
of us
we're surrounded
by it
in fact
we are
ourselves
creations
of God
that cell
that I
showed you
just a
moment ago
that was
you
when you
started
you were
one of
those
and yet
all
you are
today
a living
breathing
human
being
was packed
into that
one
little
thing
everything
needed
to form
you
was
there
it's
amazing
there's
a
part
of the
scripture
where it
says
the whole
earth
is
filled
with
his
glory
and it
is
this
earth
this
universe
is
God's
masterpiece
and it's
a reason
why he
is worthy
of our
worship
you are
worthy
our
Lord
and God
to receive
glory
and honor
and power
for you
created
all things
it's
amazing
it's a
reason to
celebrate
to worship
day after
day
it's
a reason
to
continue
coming
and gathering
together
as we
are
today
to sing
to praise
and to
honor our
Lord Jesus
Father in
heaven
we thank you
for your
word
we thank you
that
in a sense
you have
given us
a glimpse
of heaven
and the
glory
where you
dwell
we thank
you
that you
have
made
this
beautiful
world
for us
to live
in
and that
it's
good
and that
we can
enjoy it
as a
gift
from you
and we
ask that
you would
open
wide
our eyes
to see
your
fingerprints
over all
of it
and that
we wouldn't
take it
for granted
we love
you
we pray
this in
Jesus name
amen