Well, I trust that the sermons that we have had in Revelation so far, this is sermon number 12. I hope they've been helpful to you in understanding God, His nature, and especially these last sermons dealing with these seven letters from Christ to the seven churches in Asia. Although each one is a specific letter to a specific church in a specific place at a specific time with specific problems, each one of those letters ended with a statement that He who has an ear, let me hear what the Spirit says to the churches, plural. That means that there's principles and precepts within those letters that apply to all Christians, all churches, throughout time, throughout the whole world. It is well worth the time. In fact, it's really incumbent upon us to pay attention to what is in those letters. And if there's anything similar in your own life or in the church that you're part of, well, then you want to take it to heart. Take to heart the commendations if you're doing what is right and good before Him. That is a wonderful thing when God commends you for, as he did, different elements within these churches. If there is a condemnation, take that to heart as well, and then follow the principles he's given in changing that, to repent, to change, and start doing things right. Our goal is to magnify our God and to live for Him. have hope because the promises he has in there are going to be fulfilled. You who are overcomers, specifically, it talks about all sorts of things that will be part of ours as we, during the tribulation period, or at least the end of it, approaching the millennium, during the millennium, and after the millennium. Those give us hope, a confident assurance of the future. Now this morning, we're going to turn our attention to the third section of the apocalypse. which begins in chapter 4, Book of Revelation, chapter 4. I want to read verses 1 through 11, the whole chapter, follow along, and then we're going to come back and look at each of these sections in detail. John writes, 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, I will show you what must take place after these things. Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and one sitting on the throne. And he who was sitting was like a jasper stone, and like a sardius in appearance. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones. Upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads. Out from under the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf, the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within, and day and night they do not cease to say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on their throne and will and worship Him who lives forever and ever and will cast their crowns before the throne saying worthy are you our Lord and our God to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things because of your will they existed and were created. Verse 1 begins with John stating when this new section begins. He says, after these things, indicates that what he is going to be writing now occurs right after he obeyed Jesus in writing down everything he had dictated to him to write to the seven churches. He then states, I looked and behold, a door standing open in heaven. Now John's prophetic vision had been focused in writing down the letters to these seven churches. The glorified Christ had been dictating to him. And now that he's done with that, he looks and here's a different object, a new object, and it changes his focus and his attention from what was earthly to what now is heavenly. The grammar here, if you're interested in grammar, it's a perfect passive participle. But the grammar indicates this is a door that had been previously left open and it's still open. The heaven in which this door is located, it's not the atmospheric heaven, it's not the celestial heavens, this is what Paul would refer to as the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12 2. This is heaven, the dwelling place of God. John sees the open door and then he hears the first voice which I had heard like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me. That takes you back to the same one identified in chapter 1 verse 10. Loud like a trumpet. We had noted in that sermon that this is the Lord Jesus Christ in his glory. And certainly a loud voice like that gets your attention. And John then notes the command given to him. Come up here. I will show you what must take place after these things. And immediately I was in the spirit. Now some claim that this is a reference to the rapture of the church. Why? Well, the command is given prior to the events that are going to unfold and the wrath of God being poured out upon all those who dwell on the earth, all those who are evil, the unbelieving. The church will not be mentioned again from the end of chapter 3 until the epilogue in chapter 22 verse 16. And since there is no specific mention of the rapture within Revelation, this seems like a good place to put it. However, there are Three reasons, quick reasons, I can give you why this is not the rapture. First, well, the command here is given only to John, not to the church. That'd be the first. The rapture's to the whole church. This is only to John. Second, this concerns revelation that's going to be given to John. It is not concerning the glorification of the bodies of those who have died in Christ and those remaining in Christ when Christ returns. That's not in view here. And third, John's physical body remains on Patmos while his spirit is caught up to heaven. So that's not that rapture either. It doesn't fit. This is not the rapture. Now John is in the same condition as he was in Revelation 1.10 when he was in the spirit on the Lord's day and saw this vision of the glorified Christ and received the letter from the seven churches. Apparently John after writing that down went back to a normal state and then he looked and then he sees this vision now the door in heaven Here's the command and now he's going to be transferred back again to being in the spirit This would probably be somewhat similar to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 where he is caught up as in the spirit and Paul even says, I don't know where, I don't know what's going on, I just know suddenly I'm here in the third heaven with God. That's all he can say, that's all he knows. Must be something similar to that, John's experience. At least two more times this is going to happen. He's going to return to a normal state and then he's going to be carried away by the spirit again. That's in Revelation 17, 3 and 21, 10. Now, Jesus specifically calls John to heaven for the purpose of showing him what must take place after these things. Now that phrase comes directly from Revelation 1.19 and it marks this third section of the apocalypse. Remember chapter one covered those things that were past tense. He wrote down what he had already experienced of what God was going to do. That was past tense. Then chapters 2 and 3 deal with the present realities as he writes these letters concerning these churches and what was going on in those churches right then. Now this is the third section and everything here concerns the future. After these things then refers to what occurs after this present time of the messages in those letters. So not just the next sequence in what occurs in his experience. It's after these letters, that's present time, now we're moving to future time. So after John is given this command, come up here, He's immediately in spirit, he's taken to heaven, and that's the proper vantage place for him to be able to see what Jesus is going to reveal to him about what's going to happen in the future. Now the next phrase of the verse calls attention to what John sees next in this state of being in the spirit. It says, and behold, that calls your attention to it, behold a throne standing in heaven. Now, as the passage continues, as we look at other things in Revelation, it's going to become clear this is the throne of God. It's going to be mentioned 35 more times in Revelation. Eleven times just in this chapter alone. It's a central part of the message. The throne of God. Now from the other references we understand that this throne is the one from which Yahweh pronounces judgments. That goes back to the Old Testament where it talks about God on His throne, like Psalm 9, 4-8, Psalm 45, 6-7, Hebrews 1-8, and then in Revelation 20, 11-15. God on His throne, He pronounces judgment from this throne. In addition, Psalm 11, 4, Isaiah 6, 1, describes that this heavenly throne is in a heavenly temple. So it's in a location. Okay, John's not going to mention that here in chapter 4, other places. Heavenly throne in a heavenly temple. Now, one thing we should keep in mind is that physical descriptions of spiritual realities of things that are beyond our experiences are always going to be difficult. So if you can't quite picture in your mind exactly what he's seeing, it's okay. He was there and he couldn't quite picture it either, okay? So he's gonna use a lot of similes, he's just describing, here's what I'm seeing, this is the best I can do in trying to describe it. Revelation 7.15 and 16.17 tell us that this throne in God's temple is in God's temple, and with chapter eight, verse three, saying the golden altar is before this throne, and 11.19 saying the Ark of the Covenant is also there. So he's not describing necessarily everything, but the focus on particular things in this first vision. Now, putting all these elements together, then we understand the image that John sees, God's throne in his temple in heaven. That's the simple part of it. Now he next describes the one sitting on the throne, and he says the one sitting on it was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance. And again, further descriptions added later in the patch in the book make it clear what this is. The one sitting here on the throne is God the Father. Why? Later on he's distinguished from the Lamb in chapter 5 verses 5, 7, 6, 16 and 7, 10 and he's distinguished from the Spirit in chapter 4 verses 5. So this is God the Father sitting on his throne. Sitting on the throne is not a position of rest. we tend to think of that if you're tired you want to go sit down and rest that's not what's happening here this is a throne it is actually a position of actively reigning as the sovereign receives homage from his subjects he issues commands to his servants and he's going to make judgment about matters brought before him you think of a king who would be doing this or something we might relate here when a judge sits on the bench Okay? He's working. That's what's happening here. This is a position of authority. Now the descriptions given next are those of His glory using two particular similes. He was like a jasper stone. He wasn't a jasper stone. His appearance was like a jasper stone as far as His appearance. Now that may just be simply John's attempt to describe what he's seeing. But remember back in the beginning of Revelation, it used the term semion. which we get from the same root, the idea of a sign. And it means that, to cause something to be both specific and clear is to give a sign. Since that's the whole point of the whole book, there has to be some symbolic significance to it, even if we don't know what it is. There's something. There's a reason that these particular colors, this particular manifestation, this appearance, it has some meaning. Now, that's not easy to figure out. Now, the first difficulty we actually have here is, what does it mean, jasper? A jasper stone currently is an opaque, it's a form of quartz, chalcedonia actually. It's opaque and it comes in many different colors. But the same term, translated jasper, is used in Revelation 21 11 and there it's described as something, a stone very costly and that is crystal clear. So it's not the jasper we think of, probably something like a diamond or something similar. Clear, crystal, very expensive. Now the second stone, Sardius, is a fiery deep red stone for which the city of Sardis, which we looked at some weeks ago, was named. Now there's a lot of speculation about the symbolic meaning of the stones, but probably the best suggestion is that it's the holiness and justice of God because those same mixtures of colors, a bright, clear, fiery light along with fire is very common in the Old Testament and in apocalyptic visions of divine majesty. Ezekiel 8.2, Daniel 7.9, Revelation 1.14-16 all have that. It's bright, it's crystal clear, and there's fire as well. So concluding with this, then we would see this is a picture of the Holy God on His throne full of wrath and ready to judge sinful mankind. The next description adds to the scene. There was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance. Now, I don't know about you, but when I think of a rainbow, I think of part of an arc. And part of that is because, well, I'm here on the ground. And the rainbow I can see is, it ends in the ground. But there's an interesting, it's not a phenomenon, it's just reality. If you were looking at the same rainbow and you were in a plane, it would be a circle. Be like a halo. John is in heaven, so I would expect he's not seeing a rainbow, he's seeing a rainbow, the whole thing, a halo. So that's how to think of this. Now most, well I don't know, have you ever seen a rainbow that's just green? Yeah, I haven't either. All right? Because rainbows, as we think of them, are formed by sunlight passing through at particular angles that refracts the water droplets, reflect the light, and so you get the whole spectrum of light, all the colors. Well, this rainbow, this bow, is not being caused by rain. So it's actually not a rainbow, it's a bow. And whatever is causing it, it's Greens. Shades of greens. The dominant, he says, is like an emerald. That kind of green. Now the rainbow itself, in order to understand what this may mean, makes its first appearance in Genesis 9, right? And it is both a reminder and a promise. It's a reminder of what God has done and a promise that he is not going to do that again. He's not going to destroy the world by a flood again. And so that's what the bow meant. It's a reminder of his past judgment, but also a promise that there's mercy in the future. And that's probably what this is. God is a wrathful God. He is holy. He's been affronted. That wrath is going to be poured out. And yet at the same time, he's also a merciful God. He extends his grace to the humble. So this green rainbow, this green bow around the throne is a symbol of hope in the midst of his wrath which is about to be poured out as going to be recorded in the rest of the page of this prophecy. Wrath is there and yet also God of mercy because he never forgets his promises. Now verse 4 continues this description of what John saw around the throne. Around the throne were 24 thrones, and upon the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting, clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads." Now there's no further description of these 24 thrones other than their position in a subordinate position. They're around the throne of God. They're encircling it. There's a lot of debate about the identity of these 24 elders. Are they human? Are they angels? If they are human, which humans? If they're angels, what angels? Now before looking at what the possibilities may be, I simply need to point out here the term elder here, presbyteros, in this context is referring to an official office, it's a position. This isn't referring to being old, okay? That's what presbyter means, it's elder, means old. If you get old enough and you can't focus your eyes very well, you have presbyopia. Which means, literally, you have old eyes. Okay? They don't function so well. It's not talking about age here, it's talking about a position. Okay? Now, I'm going to run through this fairly fast. Reference are in favor of that being humans are the following. One, the term elder is used only for men with perhaps the exception of Isaiah 24, 23, where it is used of a heavenly assembly. Second, in Revelation, white clothing is generally associated with the saints. Third, the golden crowns here are Stephanos, that's a wreath of victory or honor usually associated with redeemed men. Fourth, white robes, crowns, and thrones are all included in things that are promised to overcomers that they will receive in heaven. Fifth, these same elders are later found singing a new song of redemption, and that would be associated with humans. And sixth, the number 24 could be associated with 12 patriarchs plus 12 apostles, or the 12 tribes of Israel plus the 12 apostles, or perhaps the 24 orders of priests, and all those things, whichever one you take, they're all human. So that would be in favor of these being human. In favor of these being an angelic being of some type, first, Isaiah 24, 23 does indicate the term elder could be used for an angelic assembly. Second, angels also appear in white clothing, 20 verse 12 in Acts 1, 10. Third, golden crowns often can be used to denote royal dignity, as those around God on His throne. 1 Kings 22, 19 and Psalm 89, 7 allude to that. So it doesn't have to be just victory, as in winning a sports event or something. They also would be passed out as symbols of honor, prestige, dignity. Fourth, angels are not prohibited from singing. And Job 38.7 indicates they may have. At creation the morning stars sang together. Fifth, the four living beings, which are angels of some sort, we're going to be taking a look at those a little later, also take part in the new song in Revelation 5. 6. These elders are already seated on thrones and men are not going to be so seated until a later point in the future. They're not seated until chapter 20 verse 4. We're only in chapter 4. 7. The strongest argument that these 24 elders are another class of angelic beings is that they are consistently classed with and yet distinct from other angelic beings and also distinguished from the saints. So, whenever they come up, they are a class to themselves. And then eighth, in Revelation 7, 13, and 14, we find one of the elders that is distinguished from the great multitude of humans, reveals to John the meaning of the heavenly vision he's seeing. Well, that's an action, this revelation of heavenly visions that is only given to angels and to Jesus himself throughout the book of Revelation. It would be highly unusual and it would be the only case if a human was doing it. So the conclusion then would be that this is a class of angels that are part of the heavenly host that are regularly described or alluded to in the visions of heaven as being near to God on his throne. that occurs in the vision of Micaiah in 1 Kings 22, 19, Psalm 89, 7, and Isaiah 24, 23. Now, whatever view you take on this, and admittedly it is difficult, whether they're humans or angels, this is clear. They're subordinate to God, and their purpose is to serve and to worship and glorify Him. And that includes their casting of their crowns before Him, we'll see in verse 10. Now verse 5 then adds to the frightening majesty of the scene because it describes what's coming from the throne, what's emanating from it. Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. Now that could just be majesty except throughout Revelation it's tied in with something else. Throughout Revelation, that same phenomenon starts occurring with judgment. It's used in conjunction with the seven seals. It's used in conjunction with the seven trumpets. It's used in conjunction with the seven bowls of wrath. All of those are God's judgments and you have the same phenomenon. This is actually very similar to God's display on Mount Sinai when Moses went up to get the law. and there was lightning and there were sounds and there's peals of thunder and the people way down the valley were frightened by it. In fact, later on they tell Moses, you go up there, we're not, we're sitting here, you go up, we're not going up there. All right, they're frightened by it. It would be frightening. Those sights, those sounds coming from God's throne further add that this is a place of judgment from which his wrath is going to proceed. The next description verses 5 and 6 are what are before the throne. There are seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God. The phrase lamps of fire burning might be better to think of these more like torches. The particular word here we usually describe something like a resinous pine branch or dried twigs that have been covered in pitch. And it was used outdoors. So don't think of this as the common little lamp that has a little wick and it's got a little fire in it. Wind would blow that out. This is something that's raging. It's a bright fire. And these are before or in front of the throne. Throughout Revelation, fire points to judgment. Now the text specifically states here the seven lamps are the seven spirits of God and we discussed those before back in chapter 1 verse 4 and in chapter 3 verse 1. The seven spirits are referenced to the Holy Spirit with the seven probably alluding to the seven characteristics of the spirit which are listed out in Isaiah 11 verses 2 through 5. He is the Spirit of Yahweh, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel, Spirit of Strength, Spirit of Knowledge, and the Spirit of Fear of Yahweh. Those would be the seven spirits. It is the Holy Spirit. Now the next thing that John describes is an object, which I have there in notes as the something. Exactly what is it? It's in front of the throne. He's not seen this before. Verse 6, before the throne there was something like a sea of glass like crystal. A lot of speculation in the commentaries about this, especially those that use allegorical interpretation. However, the description does give us some idea about it and a meaning, even if we can't be absolutely positive. The first is, this object certainly adds a formidable magnificence to this scene before God's throne. Whatever it is. It just adds. This is a magnificent, majestic sight that he is seeing. The second, it places a distance between him and God the Father and his throne. It's between him. It's before the throne. John is looking past it. And that certainly speaks of the separation God has from us. And that's his holiness. That's what holiness really means. That's his major thought of it. It's separation. God is other than us. Our usual problem with messing things up is we tend to think of God in human terms. He is not us. He is different from us. He's other than us. And so this separation would speak to that holiness. He's separated. Third, glass in the ancient world was hazy at best. Manufactured like we did now. There'd be a lot of impurities in it. But that's why the extra addition here. It's glass like crystal. That would be something unusual. The word crystal comes from a root word that actually can be used for ice. So that gives you an idea of what you're talking about. Something clear like ice, crystal clear. Now the combination of all this together gives you the idea it's something smooth and clear that's reflective of the lightning coming through the throne. If it's like glass, it's crystal clear, it's gonna reflect things. So you can see this is standing before him. As lightning is coming out, that lightning is gonna be reflected in this object, this something. Now, the term sea is a generic term. It simply really means body of water. Now, how big it is will determine what sea it is, right? Now, it can't be too large, because if this is a large sea in front of the throne, well, John's gonna be too far distance to be able to describe what's happening up there. So it's not a large sea. probably more, this is probably an allusion to the sea made of cast metal used in Solomon's temple. You can read about that in 1 Kings. He had this big laver, big basin made out of brass, it was cast, and it was referred to as the sea. It was actually used in the cleansing ceremonies, filled with water. That's so, and it would fit, that was in the temple, This is the temple of God. You might expect to see something like that. This would also be pointing to the need for purification before you come before God. That would be the emphasis within it being there. John next describes four unusual living beings and their activity. Verse 6, second half. In the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. First creature is like a lion, second like a calf, third at a face like a man, fourth like a flying eagle, and the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings full of eyes around and within. Do you know what that is? Ever seen one of those? Yeah, I haven't either, okay? And if I did, I'd probably fall on my face. That would be a scary sight. Now these living creatures are certainly creatures in that they're created by God, but because they're not animals, They're not human. I'm going to refer to them through the rest of the sermon as living beings in the same way Ezekiel 1, 5, and 13 does the cherubim. Living beings. Because they're not animals, they're not human, okay? They're an angelic creation. Now certain features John describes here are direct. Their location is direct. They are in the center and around the throne. That indicates they're in close proximity to the throne. One on either side, one behind, one in front. That's direct. Also direct is that each of these is full of eyes in front and behind. Each has six wings and each of those wings are full of eyes around and within. Now, Perhaps when you were growing up, you thought your mom had eyes in the back of her head because she always knew what you were doing. Well, these creatures do. Not just the back of the head, but it describes it, front and back, eyes all over the place. And then there's these wings, so the wings stretch out, so the eye there, it's on top of the wings and under the wings. Nothing is going to get by these creatures. They're not omniscient, but they're observant of anything that gets near them. They will see it. Now these living beings are similar to what is described in Ezekiel 1 and 10 in having many eyes, but those cherubim only had four wings and these have six. 6 like the seraphim in Isaiah's vision in chapter 6. So they're not cherubim, but they have some similarities. Now from there, those are direct statements. From there John goes to simile, because he can't really describe it. It's the best he can come, it's like this. So, there are four living beings. The first is like a lion. The second is like a calf. The third is like having a face of a man. And the fourth, like an eagle. So, these living beings are not those things, but that's the best description God, John, can give of their appearance. Again, descriptions of the cherubim in Ezekiel 1 and 10 are similar, and yet different enough concludes, well, they're not the same beings. There's also a lot of speculation, significance of the resemblance of one of these four living beings to each of these animals. A lot of it is really wild. Some have said, well, it represents the four Gospels. And the order goes all over the place. Some said it's particular attributes of God. Some suggest maybe the four points of the compass. Some even suggested the four standards of particular tribes of Israel. Well, none of those ideas can pass any scrutiny. Now what we can conclude from the descriptions is this. Number one, their close proximity to God's throne shows they're an exalted order of angelic being of some sort, which are distinct from other orders of angels. That we can conclude. Second, we can conclude that the proximity plus all these eyes and the fact that this whole scene is emphasizing the judicial nature of God's throne indicates they may have something to do with judicial authority. Third, their particular appearance has some significance related to that position and purpose. Now from there it's speculative. But if we just use the the common metaphorical meanings of these animals, we'd end up with the following. The lion would represent nobility or royalty. The word calf here consistently translated in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, would actually be ox, regardless of age, and therefore signify strength. The human face would represent intelligence and reason, and the eagle would represent swiftness. but that's just going on the general metaphorical usage of those terms. Now the activities for beings described in the end of verse four really is what's important. Day and night they do not cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty who was and who is and who is to come. Now the number and the appearance of the Seraphim in Isaiah 6 are not described other than they have six wings And they have, they're standing above the throne of Yahweh. But their activity is exactly the same. In fact, the wording is almost the same. Now these living beings offer praise to God day and night. They don't cease in their declaration of God's character and nature. Now that does not preclude them from doing other things that God assigns them. In fact, God has them do several things in Revelation. In chapter 6 it is these living beings that summon the horse and riders to send out the first four judgments and the seal judgments. It also doesn't hinder them from giving out the bowls of wrath to the seven angels in Revelation 15 7. So they have other things they do. This is really referring to the kind of time in which they're engaged in giving tribute to God. It's day and night and not the length of time. So this would be seen as a continual activity, whenever they're not carrying out one of the other things God assigns them, this is what they're doing. That would be the way to understand this. Now the content of what they say focuses on God's holiness, His omnipotence, and His eternality. God is the thrice holy God. Perhaps that's a reference to the fact that He's triune. God the Father is holy, God the Son is holy, God the Spirit is holy. Or it could just be repetition to emphasize this. He is holy, holy, holy. Now holiness carries a connotation of purity because God is separate from all his creation. There is nothing that can contaminate him. He is not, he cannot be contaminated by anything because he's separated from creation by his very attributes. The Lord God, the Master, the Supreme Being is the Almighty. a title that was used back in chapter 1 verse 8 and will be used six more times in relationship to his actions of wrath. Chapter 11 verse 17, 15, 3, 16, 7, and 14, and 19, 6, and 15. Now I'm emphasizing that because wrath is important throughout this. Lord God, the Almighty, that term is consistently referenced to his wrath. He's also the eternal one. Here, the one who was, and who is, and who is to come. Self-existence, past, present, and future. In verse 9, the view begins to step back a bit for the focus on just these four living beings, and it's going to start including what they do and what it prompts in other beings. Verse 9, and when the living reachers give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, This is an indefinite temporal clause and pointing to repetition. This is something that is carried out over and over and over again, this action of worship. And when they do do that, it's going to prompt other creatures to respond in a like manner. Now what they're doing over and over is first is giving glory. Glory is doxa, we get our word doxology from that. It's to extol the attributes of God, things such as his splendor, his power. And in this scene of heaven, it's God's splendor, holiness, power, and eternity, and wrath are all on display. His character, his attributes, that's glory. Honor, to me, is to assign worth due to position or status. And so in the scene in heaven here, God is in the central position, seated on his throne, and exalted as all the attention and activities are focused on him. And thanksgiving is to express gratitude for benefits and blessings. In this scene, it's primarily going to be creation. Now the four living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to Him who sits on the throne. That's the exalted position around which all three of these elements are going to focus. And these are given to Him who lives forever and ever. So the second time in here, it's an emphasis. He is the eternal one, the eternal being. That's part of His nature. Now when they do this, there's a response, verse 10 tells us, the 24 elders will fall down before him who sits on the throne, will worship him who lives forever and ever, will cast their crowns before the throne saying, and then it's going to go on with their particular praise as well. So again, John is describing God in reference to this position seated on his throne and emphasis then again on his eternal nature. To fall down is an act of worship. It demands a humility before the one being worshipped in reverence for his exalted position over you. Revelation reveals the 24 elders are going to do this four more times. Sometimes they do it with the living beings, sometimes it's with other angelic beings, and sometimes it's just by themselves. I don't know if you ever thought about it, there was a reason that Satan's temptation of Jesus included, fall down and worship me. For Jesus to do that would upend the complete order of the universe. To fall down and worship is to give honor and prestige to the one you're worshiping. They are greater, I have humbled myself before them. Satan was asking Jesus, God in human flesh, to worship him, a creature. Only God is to be worshipped. Only God is to be worshipped. This act of worship then is one of reverence and homage. Their second act of worship described here is casting their crowns before the throne of God. This is a voluntary surrender of their own honor and prestige in order to further exalt the holy and eternal God who is judge over everything. The final act of worship is what they say. Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created." This begins with a declaration of God's worthiness followed by the reasons he is worthy of such worship. First, he is both their Lord and God. The word Lord, kurios, is often used as a term of respect. We might, in the English equivalent, be calling someone sir or ma'am. But this statement is our Lord and our God. It signifies He is Master. He is the supreme natural being. It is placing themselves before Him as slaves of God. And because he is in such an exalted position, God is worthy to receive glory and honor and power. Now glory and honor we saw already the four living beings that was part of their declarations. Here power is substituted for thanksgiving and reflects a shift in focus to God's works of creation. God is worthy of all worship because he created all things. It is only through His will that all things came to be, and they were created. That order, I think, is important. It gives us an insight into how things did come to be. First, they come into the mind and will of God, and then physical reality in time and space through His acts of creation. God is everything. We're simply a manifestation of his will. That's why we're created. We first existed in him, in his mind and his desires. And then he made us. Now there's something you may have noticed missing in all this. Normally when praise is being given to God and humans are doing it, redemption is included somewhere in there. Redemption is not mentioned here. Not at all. Not even an allusion to it. That's not going to happen until chapter 5. The focus of this first view of the throne of God and he who sits on it is that he is holy, he is omnipotent, he is the eternal judge. And the objects in this throne room add to that majesty that he has. He is surrounded by angelic beings that are far beyond us mere mortal humans. And they are doing homage and worship to Him simply because He is the Creator of all things. The symbols of His power and wrath already on display in His appearance and emanating from His throne add to that. This is His nature. Those things warn of the wrath that is now going to be poured out. It is coming upon those who do not worship and obey Him. And God will be entirely justified. That's who He is. That's why He's worthy. That's why we need to submit before Him. Move away from our pride and arrogance that somehow we know better than God. Or that God is there to serve us. It's exactly the opposite. We exist to serve Him. He is our Lord and our God. Revelation 4 then is the first warning to those who are proud and arrogant, sinful mankind. Humble yourselves before your creator as do these majestic angelic beings. If they are doing this, then we certainly must as well. And then the example of the 24 elders and the four living beings is also a reminder to the redeemed. Worship of God is central. It's to be central in our lives. Don't allow half-hearted worship to be in your life like worship of God is some sort of afterthought if it's convenient. It has to be primary. Yet how often are there Christians, and maybe you've had to struggle with this, something else came up, well, you know, it's not convenient to go to church and worship with everybody. It's not convenient to have my quiet time today and spend some time thinking and focusing on God and praying. Yeah, when I get time, I'll read the Bible. It should be primary in our lives. Don't allow worship of God to shift to your own thoughts and feelings about it either. Worship of God is not about you. It's about Him. And yet how often in churches people judge whether it was a good worship service as they leave with, did they like the music? Well, that was a good sermon. I felt good about that sermon. I got to see my friends. It was a good thing to do today. It's not about you. It's about God. Probably the best worship happens when you walk out those doors and you'll be like an ex-marine. Well, is there such a thing as an ex-marine? They say no, right? No, okay. He is a marine no longer in active service, okay? Big fellow. He walked out. He didn't say a thing to me. He walked out and went, and I said, great, he got it. When you leave knowing that you have had an encounter of understanding the God who created you and that you need to get your life right with him, that is the best worship because it's going to continue on. You do know that we are to render to Him the sacrifice of praise. Sacrifice, you kill it. You kill all the other stuff so I can focus on praise of God is primary in my life. I have to set aside all my selfishness, all my wants and desires. I didn't get fulfilled the way I wanted them today. I have to praise Him because He is who He is, even in the midst of the most difficult situations. Sacrifice of praise, and then as it tells us in 2 Corinthians, even in the most mundane things of life, eating and drinking, do all that you do for the glory of God. The example of the Well, it could be a seraphim, whatever these creatures are, these angelic majesties in worship of God continually, unceasingly, the 24 elders who fall down and worship whenever the four living beings do what they do, is a reminder to us, worship is central in our lives. Do all that you do for the glory of God. Everything should be about that. Father, thank you for the truth of your word and that we can carry out the example that has been set before us. Father, as we see this, though, we also see aspects of who you are that are scary to us. Our tendency is one to focus on all the loving things that you've done, especially in redemption, of your mercies, of your grace. But here we see a scene in heaven where it is of coming wrath. That you are holy, righteous, and Father you've been offended over and over and over again. And there's a point that's coming when your long suffering will end and the wrath will come. Father we live in a world that is so blind to that. Thank you for the mercies you've given to us to understand your word that has removed that blindness so we can see the truth and respond properly with repentance and true worship of you. Give us opportunities to warn those around us, Father, that they might escape your wrath and instead know the blessings and joys of Jesus Christ in their lives. In Jesus' name, amen.