The Sovereign God of Heaven – Part 2
Revelation 4:1-11 (2-4)
July 24, 2016
As you know we have now entered
A new segment of the book of the Revelation.
(1) “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”
As we talked about last week this vision pertains to
The things that “must take place after these things.”
That is regarding the things mentioned in chapters 2 & 3, namely the church age.
Last week we saw the redemptive plan of God regarding Israel.
Sunday night we saw Daniel’s prophecy regarding the 70 weeks.
And we learned that the purpose of these last days
Is to complete what is lacking in the nation of Israel.
The angel Gabriel told Daniel:
Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.”
None of those things has happened yet for Israel.
• They have not finished their transgression
• They have not put an end to their sin
• Their sin has not been atoned for
• Their righteousness has not been established
• All of their promises have not been fulfilled
• And God’s holy place is not sanctified in their hearts
Namely because all of those things occur in a person’s life
When they trust in Christ.
Israel failed to do that.
And according to the timeline given to Daniel,
Israel is still 7 years away from that reality.
Gabriel told Daniel it would take 70 – 7’s (490 years) to bring that about.
• 483 years have passed and then the pendulum of God’s clock was paused as Israel was broken off.
• Once the time of the Gentiles is over, the pendulum will begin to swing again and Israel will be 7 years away from her final and perfect redemption.
IN REVELATION 4 WE BEGIN THE VISION OF THAT TIME.
We are transported into heaven with John to see exactly what God will do
In order to fully redeem Israel back to Himself.
It is a most amazing reality, and it begins with a trip to heaven.
And as we said last week, this account is the only authorized
Account of heaven that God has ordained for us to have.
I’m not particularly interested in “90 Minutes in Heaven” or “Heaven is For Real”,
In fact I don’t even believe those accounts.
Christ was pretty clear to John at the end of this book:
Revelation 22:18-19 “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”
I don’t know what else you could call those accounts but
A DIRECT VIOLATION OF THAT WARNING.
This account is the only authorized and authoritative vision of heaven
That Christ intended for us to have.
Now John is going to see much more than just heaven,
BUT HEAVEN IS THE MAIN FOCUS OF CHAPTERS 4 AND 5.
And in heaven there are two things that specifically stand out to John.
• In chapter 4 it is THE SOVEREIGN THRONE
• In chapter 5 it is THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB
No talk of past friends and relatives…
No fascination with the size of his mansion…
No focus on the golf courses or mountain lakes of heaven…
John is captivated by the throne and by the lamb.
AND THIS IS WHAT WE BEGAN TO LOOK AT LAST WEEK.
We started examining chapter 4, and the focal point is obvious.
• Vs. 2 “and behold, a throne”
• Vs. 2 “and One sitting on the throne.”
• Vs. 3 “around the throne”
• Vs. 4 “around the throne”
• Vs. 5 “out from the throne”
• Vs. 5 “before the throne”
• Vs. 6 “before the throne”
• Vs. 7 “in the center and around the throne”
It’s obvious to us what caught the attention of John, it was the throne.
And indeed that was our first point last week.
#1 A THRONE
Revelation 4:1-2a
The point is that there stands One who is in full sovereign control.
God is in charge working His full sovereign plan out to perfection.
• There is no higher throne
• There is no more authoritative throne
• None can stop His judgments
• None can question His authority
TURN TO: PSALMS 2
This is a remarkable chapter to us
Regarding the sovereign authority and unlimited power of God.
• The Psalm literally begins with those who would do their part to literally break
the yoke of God around their necks. They want no part of submission to God.
Notice God’s response to their full scale rebellion:
(4) “He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.”
• Despite all their conspiring and all their cooperation they can’t even cause God
to take their threat seriously.
God isn’t concerned in the least, because He has already decreed who will rule this world and it is His Son.
Read 4-9
And that reality then leads to a great piece of advice from God
To those earthly kings who thought so highly of themselves.
(10-12) “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
See the very appearance of the a throne in the heavens
Demands the submission of all who come before it.
• God is not seated on a PEDESTAL for you to evaluate Him.
• God is not seated behind a COUNTER for you to question Him.
• God is not seated at a DESK for you to counsel Him.
God is seated on a throne that you may obey Him.
Romans 9:20 “…who are you, O man, who answers back to God?”
Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
But perhaps the most powerful picture of the majesty and sovereignty of God comes in the 38th chapter of Job.
TURN TO: JOB 38
(Read the chapter)
• Of course you know this revelation was given to Job in response to the pride
with which he came before God.
• Job questioned whether or not God was just,
• God reminded Job that such accusations where not for him to make.
God reigns upon the throne.
He is God.
We are carried before the throne of God for 1 purpose;
Namely that we might acknowledge Him as God.
Think of what Jesus told His disciples as He taught them to pray:
Matthew 6:9-10 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”
That prayer comes from the heart of One
Who understands that God reigns upon His throne.
God is in control.
And as we said last week that is a comforting thought to know.
Regardless of all the uncertainties that seem to consume our world, one thing remains the same and that is the throne which John saw fixed in the heavens.
So right off the bat John said, “behold, a throne was standing in heaven,”
A Throne
#2 ON THE THRONE
Revelation 4:2b-3a
“and One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance;”
Here we are certainly confronted with the reality that the throne of heaven DOES NOT SIT VACANT.
• We know that God is on His throne.
• We know that it is He who rules all things.
• We know that He is in sovereign control.
But here we also focus on THE APPEARANCE OF
This “One sitting on the throne.”
WHAT TYPE OF PERSON IS SITTING ON THE THRONE?
(we certainly care about such things)
(3a) “And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance;”
And He describes the One on the throne as “like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance;”
• A “jasper” was a diamond which is the costliest of stones and certainly the most brilliant.
• A “sardius” was a ruby.
So John describes Him as a sort of red brilliance.
Ezekiel 1:27 “Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him.”
Ezekiel is obviously looking at the same thing,
But his descriptors are a little different.
Ezekiel doesn’t compare Him to a red glowing stone, but rather to “glowing metal that looked like fire all around with it”
Ezekiel 1:4 “As I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire.”
Daniel 7:9 “I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire.”
There again are flames and fire and sparkling and dazzling brilliance.
Certainly it implies perfection, but
It also seems to imply divine WRATH or consuming HOLINESS.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 12:18-29
Hopefully this passage will come back to your memory since it hasn’t been that long since we studied it together.
The writer of Hebrews is laying out for the reader
THE DANGER OF NEGLECTING OR REJECTING THE GOD OF HEAVEN.
And he begins by reminding them of the day when Moses and the children of Israel approached Mt. Sinai.
(VERSES 18-21)
• It was a terrible sight at that mountain, and that was just an earthly mountain
that God descended upon.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that
This is different from the mountain we approach.
(VERSES 22-24)
They went to an earthly mountain, we are approaching a heavenly one, where God dwells.
And then comes the warning.
(VERSES 25-29)
• You should not “refuse Him who is speaking”.
• Namely because (29) “our God is a consuming fire.”
It coincides with what the writer of Hebrews said previously:
Hebrews 10:31 “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
It is an analogy of judgment,
But it certainly fits the revelation that John receives here.
When John sees God on His throne,
He sees God in full glory and as a consuming fire.
JOHN IS SEEING THE GLORY OF GOD.
Ezekiel 1:28b “…Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.”
Ezekiel said, it is the glory.
• It is what Moses could not look at.
• It is what drove the priests out of the temple.
• It is what sent Isaiah reeling in fear.
Isaiah 6:1-5 “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
When Isaiah saw this sight he was terrified and literally overcome with his sinfulness.
He just knew he was about to be judged.
That is the One John sees on the throne of heaven.
It is God in all His glory, and it is not necessarily a comforting image.
• He is a God of pure holiness and consuming fire.
• He is not One to be messed with or provoked.
• He is not One to be refused or ignored.
• He is not One that you should offend or ridicule.
JOB FOUND THAT OUT THE HARD WAY.
He is holy God filled with glory and splendor and divine wrath and power.
He is in fact a consuming fire.
And this is whom John saw “on the throne”
So John was caught up to heaven and he saw a throne and on the throne was glory.
#3 AROUND THE THRONE
Revelation 4:3b-4
“and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.”
So now we are sort of panning the camera out
And we see what is around the throne.
And it begins with “a rainbow around the throne”
• Only it’s not like a normal rainbow that we would instantly think of,
• This one is “like an emerald in appearance”
• Which of course implies it had more a green tone than that of all the colors.
But a rainbow is consistent with the other visions
Ezekiel 1:28 “As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.”
Ezekiel saw it too, only Ezekiel doesn’t seem to focus on the green hue.
What are we to make of this?
I think certainly we could see it is simply a refraction
That is coming off of the glory of God.
God’s glory is so brilliant and majestic that
It literally throws off a rainbow like refraction all around it.
But I do think it is more than that.
We know about the rainbow and its purpose.
Genesis 9:11-17 “I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. “It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. “When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Long before the gay and lesbian community tried to hijack the rainbow to be the symbol of their sin, God reminded us what the true purpose and significance of the rainbow is.
It is a sign of covenant God made with humanity.
• It is a two-way reminder.
• We look upon it and remember that God will never again flood the earth,
• And God is able to look upon it and remember the promise He made.
The rainbow then becomes a symbol of God’s faithfulness.
It is the sign of a covenant or a promise He made with humanity
And it is a reminder that He will never break that covenant.
And I don’t think it’s far-fetched at all to say that
God’s throne is surrounded with faithfulness.
He is the One who always rules and reigns in perfect faithfulness.
• He is incorruptible
• He cannot lie
• He does not break His word
• He is faithful to do what He said
His faithfulness literally reflects off of Him in the form of a rainbow.
But a rainbow is not all we see here.
(4) “Around the throne are twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.”
Who are they?
Some have quickly said that they are the 12 apostles and the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel.
That is problematic since nothing in the text indicates that they are two groups of 12. That is to say there is no indication given that we are to split these groups into two.
• Furthermore we have extreme difficulty saying that any of these 12 are part of
Israel since it is during the time of the tribulation that Israel is going to be saved.
• In fact in a couple of chapters we are going to see the 144,000 each
sealed from Israel to prepare for their ministry.
Calling them the apostles and the tribes simply does not fit.
Some have said that they are simply angels.
Again that is problematic since the angels are specifically referenced in chapter 5.
Furthermore these 24 are sitting on thrones
• And we have no indication in Scripture of angels resting or ruling. Hebrews 1 calls them ministering spirits, literally servants of believers.
Another problem there is that
These 24 have “golden crowns on their heads.”
“crowns” here is STEPHANOS which is the overcomers crown.
It is the victor’s crown.
Paul said:
1 Corinthians 9:25 “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.”
“wreath” there is STEPHANOS
This is a crown given to those who overcome their struggle against sin.
• But this is not a struggle with the angels.
• They are not those who would have had to overcome so as to be crowned before the throne with the overcomer’s crown.
To see these as Israel or Angels or even the apostles is quite a stretch.
SO WHO ARE THEY?
Well, the fact that there are 24 of them is significant.
John MacArthur noted this:
“There were twenty-four elders appointed by David to represent the Levitical priesthood, that’s in 1 Chronicles 24, interestingly enough. There were twenty-four elders appoint by David and they were to represent the twenty-four courses of priests. Furthermore, according to the next chapter, 1 Chronicles chapter 25, there were twenty-four divisions of singers in the temple. Twenty-four patriarchs listed, twenty-four elders representing the priesthood, twenty-four singers representing the musicians in the temple. Twenty-four then is an interesting number that seems to speak of completion. It seems to speak about a representative group. All of the priests were represented by the twenty-four. All of the Messianic genealogy was represented in the twenty-four. All of the musicians were represented in the twenty-four. We could conclude then that twenty-four can be a representative number. So whoever these twenty-four are, they represent a larger group.” (Sited in A Sermon by John MacArthur on www.gty.org. Sermon Title “A Trip to Heaven, Part 2” Code: 66-17)
So the question is, WHO DO THESE REPRESENT?
I think it has to be representative of the church.
• They are sitting on thrones.
• They are clothed in white garments.
• They are awarded the victor’s crown.
And all of those realities are consistent with the church.
These CAN’T BE TRIBULATION BELIEVERS since the tribulation hasn’t even started yet, and they are actually introduced in chapter 7.
These are already in heaven, before the tribulation, and they already have their thrones, their robes, and their crowns.
And let’s remember some of the promises that
Christ made to the church back in chapters 2 & 3.
Revelation 2:26-27 “’He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON,AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father;”
Revelation 3:21 “’He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
Both of those speak of people who overcome and reign with Christ.
Certainly we are aware that Christ is the One who clothes His bride in white garments.
Revelation 3:18 “I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.”
Or even the promise Christ made to Philadelphia:
Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”
I do think it’s well within reason to see these 24
As representatives of the church.
• They have overcome and been given their crown.
• They have trusted in Christ and been clothed in His righteousness.
• They have endured to the end and are sitting on thrones with Christ.
Now, I know some of you are already putting the pieces together (most likely many of you were last week already) and are ready to say:
“SO DOES THIS MEAN THE CHURCH SKIPS THE TRIBULATION?”
• And those of you who have studied this with me for a while know that this was an issue that I wrestled with for a while.
• Namely because the timing of the rapture is not listed anywhere in Scripture so trying to nail down the timing is extremely difficult.
However there are several indications that
The church will in fact be home before the tribulation begins.
ONE is the fact that all we are seeing here occurs “after these things”
SECOND is that the church never appears in Revelation again.
THIRD is the appearance of the 24 elders already in heaven.
• It seems very fitting that these 24 represent the raptured church.
• That the fullness of the Gentiles has now come in
• The pendulum of God’s timing has once again started swinging.
Now, if that is the case, what are we to take from this?
We are looking at what is “around the throne”
We already saw a rainbow which indicated God’s faithfulness.
But understand if this is in fact the church, and we believe it is,
Then that is ALSO AN INDICATOR OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS.
Consider statements like these:
John 10:27-28 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”
Or the prayer of Jesus:
John 17:11 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.”
Or listen to this:
Romans 8:31-39 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Or
1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Or
Jude 24-25 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
Do you know why these 24 are able to gather around the throne?
Because God was faithful to His promise to keep them from stumbling.
There is only one reason why the church will arrive in heaven victorious
And that is because God has caused them to do so.
• He has been faithful to never leave them nor forsake them.
• He has been faithful to complete what He started.
• He has been faithful to bring them safely home.
• He has been faithful to anchor them through the storm.
• He has interceded over every sin
• He has carried through every trial
• He has empowered through every persecution
They have made it safely home because God is faithful.
Both the rainbow and the elders around the throne are reminders of God’s faithfulness.
• He accomplishes His purposes
• He keeps His word
• He does what He intends
And as we are carried into heaven we see a throne.
On the throne we see glory
Around the throne we see faithfulness
GOD CAN AND WILL DO ALL THAT HE INTENDS.
He has accomplished His purposes and now comes the end.
IT DOES MY HEART GOOD to know that when given a vision of the end,
I know where I’ll be.
I’ll be among the saints gathered around the throne
All because Jesus kept His promise to never leave me or forsake me.
It is in fact an encouraging reminder.
“How firm a foundation you saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent word. What more can He say than to you He hath said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
Fear not He is with us oh be not dismayed, for He is our God our sustainer and strength. He’ll be our defender and cause us to stand, upheld by His merciful, almighty hand. How firm our foundation, how sure our salvation, and we will not be shaken, Jesus firm foundation.
The soul that is trusting in Jesus as Lord, will press on enduring the darkest of storms, and though even hell should endeavor to shake, He’ll never no never no never forsake. He’ll never no never no never forsake. How firm our foundation, how sure our salvation, and we will not be shaken, Jesus firm foundation.
Age to age He stands, faithful to the end. All may fade away, but He will remain, He will remain. How firm our foundation, how sure our salvation, and we will not be shaken, Jesus firm foundation.”
