WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.640 As we begin, let me introduce you to a man who was dubbed Mr. Eternity. So going back to the 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:18.179 millennium, the Sydney fireworks display, at the end of that great display around the harbour area, 00:00:18.740 --> 00:00:28.039 in great big 90-foot high neon letters stood this word, Eternity. And people around the world find 00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:33.659 themselves asking, what's that about? But it actually was in memory of a famous Sydney citizen 00:00:33.659 --> 00:00:40.259 of the 1920s. He really came to prominence. This was a guy by the name of Arthur Stace. 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:52.179 Arthur was homeless, and one day he happened upon a church that had their doors open for a cup of tea 00:00:52.179 --> 00:00:59.039 or coffee. And as he described later, I went in for a rock bun, and I came out with the rock of ages. 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:06.840 He met Jesus, and his life was changed to the extent that every night of his life, for decades, 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:15.760 he would go into the streets of Sydney, and with a piece of chalk would inscribe on the walls or on 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:25.160 the pavements this single word, Eternity. He was a man absolutely captivated by this new perspective 00:01:25.160 --> 00:01:32.080 on life, that now he had the joy of eternity with Jesus to look forward to, that now he was living 00:01:32.080 --> 00:01:37.360 with that sense there's more to life than just here and now, and he desperately wanted the people around 00:01:37.360 --> 00:01:45.060 him to be aware of it too. And so as we begin, I think it's important for us to ask ourselves, 00:01:45.060 --> 00:01:52.780 do we have that perspective? Would we say that that captivates us? Does that influence how we live? 00:01:52.859 --> 00:01:59.159 Does it influence our faith? Is it represented and reflected in what we bear witness to? 00:02:01.859 --> 00:02:07.260 Eternity is so important. It's so important to the perspective of the book of Revelation. 00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:13.960 Here in chapter 4, the emphasis is very much on the everlasting rule and majesty of God on the throne. 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:20.860 Next week, we have that glorious chapter, chapter 5, where we think of the lion who is the lamb, 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:26.879 the everlasting glory and reign of the Lord Jesus. But almost every section of the book, 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:34.060 we're thinking about themes of eternal judgment and eternal salvation. We're being reminded about 00:02:34.060 --> 00:02:41.980 eternity. And it's for a particular purpose. So John is given this vision for the sake of a first 00:02:41.979 --> 00:02:47.799 century group of believers who are being persecuted. They're this tiny minority and life is hard. 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:55.219 And eternity is always designed to be an encouragement to the people of God. 00:02:56.659 --> 00:03:03.179 An encouragement to recognize the God of eternal glory sits on the throne. Not Caesar, not an emperor, 00:03:03.180 --> 00:03:10.460 not any power that we see around us today. And there is, because of the Lord Jesus, there is eternal hope 00:03:10.460 --> 00:03:16.280 for the people of God. And so this chapter really calls us to live with an eternal perspective. 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:22.400 Jesus gives John the next part of his vision that we're going to see a door open to heaven. 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:27.379 And we're going to see the throne room of heaven. And we're going to hear the worship of heaven. 00:03:27.379 --> 00:03:33.120 And Jesus gives John that vision for the church. Because I think, not just in the first century, 00:03:33.240 --> 00:03:42.060 but in every century, believers will always struggle to really and truly believe that eternity is more 00:03:42.060 --> 00:03:50.139 real than the here and now. We will always struggle to think that beyond the chaos that we see in our 00:03:50.139 --> 00:03:57.120 lives or in our news, there is a God who is working out his saving plan. And we always need to be 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:05.900 reminded that the coming of Jesus, which is part of God's eternal plan, is the source and the promise 00:04:05.900 --> 00:04:13.360 of unbreakable joy and glory to last for eternity. So let's get into our text. Let's look at these 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:19.800 first couple of verses and let's think about this door that's open. John says, after this I looked, 00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:26.319 and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. That the open door to heaven is a signal 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:34.800 of access to God. That Jesus in this vision opens the door so that John has the privilege 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:42.819 of seeing something of God's glory. And that's exactly what Jesus came to do while on earth. We 00:04:42.819 --> 00:04:51.719 think about the moment of his death. And as Jesus died, the great temple curtain was torn in two. 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:59.580 The barrier, the no access sign to God's presence torn open. The door to God, to life with God, to 00:04:59.580 --> 00:05:05.660 fellowship with God is open. Access comes through Jesus. He gives the vision, but he also gives the 00:05:05.660 --> 00:05:13.180 access. So the door is open, and then we hear the voice speak. Come up here and I will show you what 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:18.340 must take place after this. Think about that privilege. Here is the God of infinite glory, 00:05:18.339 --> 00:05:24.519 and one of his representatives invites John to come up into his presence. He comes into the throne room 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:34.799 of God, and he will be shown that everything that follows, all that we will see next year when we get 00:05:34.799 --> 00:05:45.120 into Revelation again, of God's judgments, of the realities of spiritual battle, of God's people who both 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:53.699 suffer and are protected. All of that stands under the rule of God's sovereign will. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:02.259 And as John sees this door standing open, and he hears the voice inviting him up, verse 2, 00:06:02.259 --> 00:06:09.539 but once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:18.680 Now think about what that means for our day to day. It is not chaos that governs this world. 00:06:19.980 --> 00:06:28.759 It is not the forces of nature that determine how life goes. The universe is actively ruled by Almighty God 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:39.199 who sits on the throne. And this throne room is the control center for the universe. I don't know if 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:49.480 you've ever been able to go into a control tower at an airport or at a train station, but if you've had 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:54.939 that experience, or even if you've seen images, then you probably have a sense and appreciation that what 00:06:54.939 --> 00:07:02.420 can look so confusing to the untrained eye, what can seem so out of control is actually well-ordered by 00:07:02.420 --> 00:07:13.659 the person who is in control. God is in control. He is on His throne. And it's so significant that 00:07:13.659 --> 00:07:23.399 before John sees anything of this feature vision, he first sees behind the scenes, he first sees God 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:27.159 sitting on the throne. The eternal God rules. 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:35.299 I read this week an old essay by C.S. Lewis. It was called Learning in Wartime. 00:07:36.699 --> 00:07:41.859 In that essay, he was asking the question during the First World War, is it appropriate for people to go to 00:07:41.859 --> 00:07:47.000 university and to try and study and to do the normal stuff of life while there's these great events happening? 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:52.180 And he was reflecting to this group of students to say that, do you know what, people have always 00:07:52.180 --> 00:08:00.079 been living on the edge of a precipice. People have in every generation always lived under the shadow 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:06.699 of something more important that seems to dominate. And what Lewis did was to remind the students 00:08:06.699 --> 00:08:12.459 gathered there in the heat of the First World War is that that's something for the Christian, and it 00:08:12.459 --> 00:08:16.620 should be something for all, that's something more that overshadows is eternity. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:24.759 You know, we live every day under the shadow of the reality of heaven and hell. 00:08:26.259 --> 00:08:32.379 And we have to figure out, how do we live life? How do we work? How do we live with faith in light of that? 00:08:32.379 --> 00:08:43.259 And this vision speaks to us of good news in light of eternity, the good news that God is on the throne, 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:49.840 that this world is not spinning out of control, and that Jesus has come to open the door to eternal life. 00:08:51.779 --> 00:08:57.320 That in Jesus' death and resurrection, the King of death has been defeated, 00:08:57.320 --> 00:09:05.040 and that Jesus' resurrection life is the first fruits of future resurrection, eternal life. 00:09:06.920 --> 00:09:13.240 And so this vision of the door is a vision that calls us to faith, because it calls us to live 00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:21.860 with that eternal perspective, to know that God rules eternally, that that would be a source of hope 00:09:21.860 --> 00:09:32.620 for us in this anxious age that we live in, that the King on the throne gives promise that in the end, 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:45.060 light always will overcome the darkness. Well, let's move from the door to think about the throne, 00:09:45.340 --> 00:09:51.580 verses 3 to 6. And just before we get into the text, to recognize, 00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:57.379 that sometimes we find ourselves asking the question, and maybe we're asking the question 00:09:57.379 --> 00:10:04.540 of the throne, what's it like? Which at one level is a very basic question, what's something like? But 00:10:04.540 --> 00:10:10.920 sometimes it can be really difficult to answer, especially if we're talking about a concept that's 00:10:10.920 --> 00:10:16.060 utterly unfamiliar or foreign to the person that we're trying to explain it to. 00:10:16.059 --> 00:10:23.159 So what we typically do in that case is we will draw on what is known and what is familiar. 00:10:23.859 --> 00:10:28.659 So the classic example, you know, for anyone who's ever eaten any exotic meat, 00:10:29.359 --> 00:10:32.799 and somebody asks, what's it like? Ah, well, it tastes kind of like chicken. 00:10:33.539 --> 00:10:37.619 You know, we know chicken, chicken is safe, chicken is familiar, chicken tastes good. 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:48.159 We always compare any new meat to chicken, maybe to beef. When John comes in this vision to the throne 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:59.500 room, he is encountering a glory beyond his and our wildest imagination. It is an indescribable glory. 00:10:59.500 --> 00:11:08.039 And so John has to reach for language that is available to him, even while he recognizes the limits of language 00:11:08.039 --> 00:11:16.799 to describe God's glory. And so we'll hear, as John begins to describe the throne for us, he'll say, 00:11:17.340 --> 00:11:26.000 well, it had the appearance of, and it is like. And so he draws on things that are known and familiar and that are good 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:31.460 to help us in some way to help us in some way to get a sense of the glory that he saw. 00:11:31.460 --> 00:11:38.440 And he also draws on what is known from the Old Testament to help us to get a sense of what he saw. 00:11:39.059 --> 00:11:43.179 That's why we read Isaiah 6, because that's where John goes in his thinking. 00:11:43.379 --> 00:11:51.299 So having said that, three themes to pick up on as John describes the throne. The first is the theme of glory. 00:11:51.299 --> 00:12:02.519 Verse 3, the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. Now, this is not saying that God, 00:12:02.599 --> 00:12:14.699 the King of glory, looks like two colors of stone, precious stones. He's saying that just as a precious 00:12:14.699 --> 00:12:20.579 stone, regardless of how you turn it, will always shine with glory. There's always new facets 00:12:20.580 --> 00:12:32.400 of glory on display. So it is with our God. He is glorious and wonderful and beautiful and good. 00:12:34.060 --> 00:12:42.160 A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Rainbows don't shine like emeralds, 00:12:42.220 --> 00:12:50.340 but emeralds are beautiful. And rainbows speak wonderful words, because the rainbow reminds us of 00:12:50.340 --> 00:12:56.440 the covenant that God made with Noah. It reminds us that God loves his creation. He loves his people. 00:12:56.759 --> 00:13:02.700 He shows covenant faithfulness. He preserved the world and people on it so that Jesus could come, 00:13:02.940 --> 00:13:11.160 so people could hear good news and be saved. And the rainbow is like a circle. And in the center of 00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:20.980 the circle is the throne, the God of covenant faithfulness and love is at the center. And then verse 5, 00:13:21.459 --> 00:13:28.259 thinking about glory from the throne, came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Now John's 00:13:28.259 --> 00:13:34.659 going to the Old Testament again. He's going to Mount Sinai. He's going to the book of Exodus. When God met with 00:13:34.659 --> 00:13:40.639 this people on the mountain, he's saved them and he's called them to himself and he's telling them 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:48.319 something about himself. He invites them to come to be his people, but at the same time there is that 00:13:48.319 --> 00:13:58.779 recognition that he is a God of unapproachable glory and holiness and awe and splendor. And so John's 00:13:58.779 --> 00:14:04.779 vision of the throne speaks to us of the glory of God. But it also speaks to us, secondly, of the 00:14:04.779 --> 00:14:14.720 authority of God. So look at verse 4 with me. Surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones, 00:14:15.139 --> 00:14:22.679 and seated on them were 24 elders. And so we're going to come across these kind of numbers throughout 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:28.100 the book of Revelation here. Most likely it represents the Old Testament and New Testament church 00:14:28.100 --> 00:14:37.420 at worship, the 12 tribes of Israel plus the 12 apostles. And they each have a throne, and those 00:14:37.420 --> 00:14:48.639 thrones are in a circle, and at the center there is God's throne. And the lesson, God rules. 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:57.840 The Lord deserves all authority. And just as it was, again going back to the time of the Exodus, 00:14:58.100 --> 00:15:02.139 when all the people of Israel had their tents and they were told to make them into a circle, 00:15:02.279 --> 00:15:10.320 right in the middle was God's tent. God with his people. The God of glory and holiness with his 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:20.139 people. Another fascinating detail, verse 6. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea 00:15:20.139 --> 00:15:28.639 of glass clear as crystal. So imagine now a sea that is flat calm, so you're able to see your own face 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:34.720 reflected in it. This is significant because if you read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, 00:15:34.819 --> 00:15:42.279 you'll find the sea represents a place of chaos and evil, a place of the anti-God forces. But here 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:51.679 there is flat calm that speaks of victory, that speaks of peace secured. Again, to stick with the 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:57.779 book of Exodus, imagine the people of God, they've just been led out of Egypt, and they've just crossed 00:15:57.779 --> 00:16:04.639 through the Red Sea, and they've watched the Red Sea engulf the armies of Egypt. So they see their 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:15.179 enemies have been judged, and then the sea is flat calm. Speaks of salvation. Think about Jesus on this earth, 00:16:15.980 --> 00:16:26.779 stilling the storms. The God of glory and authority. The God who is more powerful than the forces of evil, 00:16:26.779 --> 00:16:36.299 who at the cross would defeat evil. The throne speaks of authority. But we also need to recognize, 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:42.379 thirdly, that the throne speaks of eternity, because central to the worship of heaven 00:16:42.379 --> 00:16:48.539 is the fact that the one who sits on the throne is eternal. So maybe you noticed, 00:16:48.839 --> 00:16:55.199 this to read from verse 8 now, that John quotes from Isaiah 6, the song of the seraphim, 00:16:55.200 --> 00:17:03.500 but there's an extra line. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Isaiah continues, 00:17:03.580 --> 00:17:08.860 the whole earth is filled with His glory. But here it's different. What's the focus of praise now? 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:16.080 That God is the one who was, and is, and is to come. This is the fifth time in four chapters, 00:17:16.580 --> 00:17:20.640 we've either heard God being praised because He's the one who was, and is, and is to come, 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:27.220 or because He's the first and the last in the Alpha and the Omega. This is clearly designed to be 00:17:27.220 --> 00:17:35.259 comfort for God's people. In John's vision, that God reigns eternally with glory and authority. 00:17:36.380 --> 00:17:43.000 He hasn't lost His power or grip. He never will lose it. He will never stop showing love and 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:54.740 faith. It's the point of the vision. And so then we begin to see why we need an eternal perspective 00:17:54.740 --> 00:18:04.759 that's drawn from the throne room of heaven. You and I need to remember the one who sits on the throne. 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:16.099 The one that we are invited to call as Christians, our Father in heaven. We have that sense of intimacy 00:18:16.099 --> 00:18:24.740 and love and relationship, and it's wonderful. At the very same time is this infinitely, eternally 00:18:24.740 --> 00:18:30.019 glorious God who rules according to His will and saving purposes. 00:18:30.019 --> 00:18:36.440 So when believers in the first century and believers in the 21st century, we feel like 00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:42.639 we're giving up a lot, and we're making sacrifices, and we're feeling opposition, 00:18:43.099 --> 00:18:48.460 and we feel like our message is going nowhere, and we're asking ourselves, is it worth it? We can say, 00:18:48.460 --> 00:18:55.900 yes, it is worth it because He is infinitely worthy. So we remember the one who sits on the throne, 00:18:55.900 --> 00:19:05.800 and we also need to remember that the throne is central. It's amazing the way the vision deliberately 00:19:05.800 --> 00:19:11.840 keeps circling back to that. So there's the rainbow circle, and there's the throne in the middle. 00:19:12.080 --> 00:19:16.920 There's the circle of thrones, and there's God's throne in the center. Why do we need that? 00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:26.400 Because I think we're always tempted to move the furniture around, to say, well, in this moment, 00:19:26.779 --> 00:19:31.800 let's not make God central. Let's make me and my will and my agenda central. 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:46.680 So often the Bible speaks about the sin of idolatry, which has at its heart that instinct to make someone 00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:55.639 or something take the place of God. I will give glory and worth to this person, to this thing, 00:19:56.299 --> 00:20:00.259 that this is where I'm going to look for significance and meaning and security and purpose. 00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:14.200 And when we do that, we sin against God. And when we do that, we will always find ourselves 00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:24.559 being disappointed because we're asking some created thing to take the place that belongs to eternal God. 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:28.259 And no one and nothing can bear that weight. 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:36.359 And so we have an opportunity, I think, this season, this season of Advent, this season as we reflect 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:44.179 on the glory of God with us, on the glory of Christ for us, to refocus, 00:20:44.180 --> 00:20:54.420 to remember that it's His throne that's central. And that really takes us to the third aspect of 00:20:54.420 --> 00:21:00.340 John's vision. It takes us to the worship that we see in verses 6 to 11. 00:21:01.539 --> 00:21:08.320 Kind of drawing on what we've just said, Paul Tripp, the biblical counselor, he's super helpful on 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:13.399 recognizing this. Lots of people have over time. That you cannot divide the world into worshipers 00:21:13.399 --> 00:21:20.159 and non-worshippers because by nature we are all made to worship. That actually what divides us isn't 00:21:20.159 --> 00:21:25.039 what I worship and you don't. The point of division is what do we worship? 00:21:27.439 --> 00:21:33.399 What is it that we think deserves all my attention? What is it that captures my heart? 00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:40.380 What is it that I give my energy to? That reflects what I think is my true treasure. 00:21:41.700 --> 00:21:45.740 It's my true treasure found here on earth or found in heaven. We all worship. It's where 00:21:45.740 --> 00:21:52.060 is that worship directed? And so we come to the final part of John's vision and what we see is this 00:21:52.060 --> 00:21:59.200 worship scene where those who have an eternal perspective, those who are in the throne room, 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:06.180 those who see the God of glory, they are joyfully worshiping the eternal God and the people of God 00:22:06.180 --> 00:22:13.180 are invited to be part of that. So our great need is to find this same perspective, 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:22.700 that we would share this same source of worship, that we would find our satisfaction and joy in the 00:22:22.700 --> 00:22:29.779 God who is described here. The first thing to notice in the section is who are the worshipers? 00:22:29.860 --> 00:22:35.840 This is interesting. Verse 7, the first living we've got around the throne, there's four living 00:22:35.840 --> 00:22:41.000 creatures. The first like a lion, second like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth like a 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:46.539 flying eagle. And it's these who day and night are always singing praise to God. So the scene, again, 00:22:46.539 --> 00:22:52.139 we read Isaiah 6, it sounds like Isaiah 6, except instead of the seraphim, instead of that rank of 00:22:52.139 --> 00:22:58.899 angels, in John's vision we get these four living creatures. So on one level the point is that the 00:22:58.899 --> 00:23:07.899 great heavenly beings lead the worship of God. But I think these living creatures remind us that all 00:23:07.900 --> 00:23:17.200 of creation is made to worship God. Here is the noble lion, here is the strong ox, here is the wise man, 00:23:17.300 --> 00:23:25.500 here is the swift eagle. And notice too, they're covered with eyes. Often in sort of these vision 00:23:25.500 --> 00:23:33.100 scenes, it is God that seemed to be covered with eyes as a sense of His knowing everything and seeing 00:23:33.099 --> 00:23:39.379 everything, having the right perspective. But here it's His representatives. And as nothing is hidden 00:23:39.379 --> 00:23:47.899 to these representatives, as they have a true perspective, as they see God's glory, we find them 00:23:47.899 --> 00:23:55.759 worshiping day and night. So the four living creatures worship and the 24 elders also worship. 00:23:55.959 --> 00:24:01.240 Verse 10, there's this call and response to the living creatures of giving glory, honor, and thanks. 00:24:01.240 --> 00:24:07.480 And then the 24 elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever 00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:15.079 and ever. So the worshiping people of God represented here in the vision, as they recognize the superior 00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:23.960 glory and honor of God on His throne, they lay their crowns before Him. We serve at His pleasure. 00:24:23.960 --> 00:24:35.840 To Him and to Him alone be all glory, praise, and honor. You could think of the greatest choir experience, 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:45.779 worship experience you've ever been part of here on earth and recognize that what John is invited 00:24:45.779 --> 00:24:52.460 to see turns the volume, turns the glory up infinitely.