Revelation 4:1-11 (Behold the Holy & Sovereign God)

Introduction

So frequently these days, and for the last few decades, Evangelical churches in America have focused on the practical.

What do people want to hear?

What questions are people asking?

How can we help people know what to do?

So too, many churches have focused on the pragmatic.

What works?

What gets more people to attend?

How can we help people have better marriages, better parenting skills, more fulfillment at work, or generally more successful lives?

I think that much of this effort is motivated by good desires. I think many Christians genuinely want to make Christianity more useful and more accessible to their non-Christian friends and family.

But I also think that such a utilitarian focus can sometimes be short-sighted.

It can make Christianity feel like just another self-help or self-improvement strategy.

It can make church feel like just another community program… one with a spiritual component (for sure)… but one that aims for the same goals… and employs the same strategies as a homeless shelter, a pregnancy center, a school, a charity, or the rotary club.

If we are only interested in the “cash value” or the “what difference does it make” …or if we have a “why should I care” attitude toward anything that doesn’t seem immediately useful to our lives… then we may actually miss that stuff that is more useful and readily applicable than we might realize.

Today, we are going to focus our attention on something (or more precisely someone) that is other-worldly. There’s a sense in which what we are doing today is not practical or pragmatic at all.

However, I am convinced that what we are focusing on today is the most practical and pragmatic subject.

Like the ancient churches and Christians who first received John’s revelation, we too need to know where to begin… we need to know where our attention ought to be… and we need to let this perspective affect everything else about us.

Today we are continuing our study of the book of Revelation, and we are going to consider John’s second vision.

His first was of the risen and glorified Lord Jesus Christ; and his second was a glimpse into the throne room of heaven… where the incomparable King - the God who is holy and sovereign - is on display.

Let’s consider what we can from this passage, and let’s think about how this heavenly perspective ought to adjust the way we see and hear and experience everything else.

Scripture Reading

Revelation 4:1–11 (ESV)

4:1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.

5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.

8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Sermon Summary

Main Point:

God is the incomparable King, in complete control of all that is, and He is worthy of all worship because He is holy and sovereign.

Outline:

A Second Heavenly Vision (v1)

Six Reminders about Revelation

Behold the God Who Reigns (v2-6)

He is Worthy (v6-11)

Sermon

1. A Second Heavenly Vision (v1)

“After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’” (Rev. 1:1).

First, John’s mention of “the first voice… like a trumpet” is a reference to his first vision in Rev. 1.

Rev. 1:9-10 - “I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying…”

This is a continuation of the revelation that began in chapter one.

John said that this whole book is “the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel [or messenger] to his servant John…” (Rev. 1:1).

Second, John’s language points to a succession of visions, not to a chronological or historical development.

“After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven!” (Rev. 1:1).

Revelation 7:1 “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth…”

Revelation 7:9 “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number…”

Revelation 15:5 “After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened…”

Revelation 18:1 “After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven...”

Revelation 19:1 “After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God…’”

Third, what John heard is an invitation to see and hear a timeless perspective of what can only be viewed from God’s standpoint.

“Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this” (Rev. 1:1) is prophetic language.

The OT prophet Daniel said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “To you, O king… came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made know to you what is to be” (Dan. 2:29).

Once again, the “after this” and “then I saw” and “then I heard” language of Revelation is not necessarily intended to tell the original readers (or us) the chronological order of unfolding events.

This whole book is the prophetic revelation of the way things are (for first century Christians and twenty-first century Christians) and where this world is headed.

Like other prophets before him, John was shown “in the Spirit” (v2) what only God knows and sees.

Friends, this was a great need for Christians in the first century.

Their lives were hard, their faithfulness was costly, and their circumstances were not apparently glorious or blessed or even good… in comparison to the non-Christians around them.

Like the Christians of old, brothers and sisters, we too need to see our world, our lives, and our circumstances from God’s perspective.

As we read through the book of Revelation, we will be reminded (again and again) that all is not what it seems.

Mundane activities (like discipling children, like dealing honestly in business, like pursuing holiness, like resisting sin, and like dealing with unrepentant sinners and false teachers among Christ’s people), these are the laborious-but-worthwhile tasks that will matter most on the last day… and these are the tasks that matter most right now!

So too, the false and thin and empty glory of this world is not to be compared with the true and brilliant and weighty glory that emanates from God… which He will Himself share with us, if we will trust and believe and cling to and remain faithful to Him.

What, then, does John see?

He sees the holy God… seated on His throne… surrounded by peace and power… worshipped by heavenly creatures and earthly ones.

2. Six Reminders about Revelation

Before we get into what John saw, let’s remember several things that I talked about some weeks ago. I mentioned six characteristics of the book of Revelation that would be important for us to remember as we study this book.

First, I said that one of the main difficulties in studying the book of Revelation is that of deciding when to zoom in and when to zoom out.

Everything (every symbol, picture, and vision) has meaning, and we would do well to take in as much as we can.

But we must be careful not to get bogged down in the weeds of trying to figure out the meaning of every small detail if that distracts us or prevents us from seeing the overall point.

Second, I also said that the book of Revelation uses several methods to communicate.

For example, numbers are highly symbolic - seven, twelve, and various multiples of these - and they all carry meaning.

It is no coincidence that there are seven churches, “seven spirits” (v5), seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls.

It is no coincidence that there are twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles, and twenty-four “thrones” and “elders” (v4).

Another example is what I telescopic prophecy… the sort that is applicable to more than one event or person or time in history.

This book is about timeless truths, and it tells us what we can expect in this world (from the first century until the end) as it barrels toward that last day… but it was understandable and applicable to the audience who first heard and read these words.

Therefore, we must be careful not to assume that any passage of Revelation is only applicable to our generation, and not to the millions of Christians who have lived during the last 2,000 years.

Third, Revelation is a thoroughly trinitarian book.

The God of the Bible is Father, Son, and Spirit… And these three are distinct, yet one.

God is one what and three whos.

Each person of the Trinity is uniquely active in their work, and each One is worthy of praise and honor and glory for it.

Fourth, God the Son in human form (i.e., Jesus Christ) is particularly worthy and glorious and authoritative in Revelation.

Our passage today is focused on the Father, but Barry will preach through Revelation 5 in just a couple of weeks, and there the focus is squarely on the glorified and worthy God-man, Jesus Christ.

Fifth, the language and themes and symbolism of Revelation are all drawn from the OT.

In most of the NT, when an author wants us to know that he’s referring to something in the OT, he says something like “it is written” or “the prophet says” or he explicitly names some person or event that OT readers would recognize.

Not so with John in Revelation.

As I’ve quoted before, David Helm says that “all the OT prophets rendezvous in the book of Revelation.”

That is, all the images, the shadows, the prophecies, the themes, and the symbols of the OT prophets come together and find their completion in Revelation.

This book is where all the prophets meet together after their term of service.

These pages are packed full of allusions and citations and references to all sorts of OT passages, and God has tied His whole canon together with expert literary genius.

This last book of the Bible is like the climactic final chapter of an epic story where a ton of stuff you’ve heard and seen before all falls into place with glorious beauty and wonder.

We should not read Revelation with a newspaper in our hands to see how it all connects.

Instead, we should read Revelation with our Bible’s open to the OT.

This book is rich with OT connections… and the more familiar we are with the OT, the more vivid and accurate will be our reading of Revelation.

Sixth, Revelation is full of urgency.

We already read in Revelation 1 -

“the time is near” (Rev. 1:3).

“Behold, he [the resurrected and glorified and reigning Christ] is coming…” (Rev. 1:7).

Our passage today is not so focused on the coming of Christ, but it is focused on the present reality that God is (right now) ruling and reigning over all creation.

The urgency in our passage, then, is for the reader to embrace to take on to see from the heavenly perspective.

Friends, whether you think the last day is far off in the future, or if you think today might well be the day Christ returns, the reality is that the God of the universe is reigning from His thrown of settled authority… and He is rightly worshipped by creatures who can see His glory… So, we most definitely ought to get ourselves on the “right side of history.”

Now, with all this in mind, let’s consider what John tells us he saw in this second vision…

3. Behold the God Who Reigns (v2-6)

John tells us that he was “in the Spirit,” meaning that he was receiving a supernatural revelation from God (v2).

And John says, “behold…” (v2):

There is “a throne” and “one seated” on it (v2).

There is one who rules in heaven… and this one is the true sovereign over all of earth’s affairs.

This is the God of the Bible.

He is enthroned above all.

He rules over all.

He is the true King and sovereign over all creation.

The one seated on the throne has a glorious “appearance” (v3).

The glory of the one ruling in heaven is described by referring to precious jewels - “jasper and carnelian” (v3).

In Rev. 21, these same jewels (along with several others) indicate the glory of the New Jerusalem, which God Himself is bringing down to earth.

The God who rules is glorious beyond description.

God is certainly deserving or “worthy” of glory (v11), but that’s not what I’m talking about here.

We ought to give God glory.

But God is not lacking in glory.

If no creature ever glorified God (honored Him, praised Him, worshipped Him), God would still be infinitely glorious!

Glory is something God has already.

He is magnificent, awe-inspiring, brilliant, and wonderful!

To look at who and what God is… to consider Him, to ponder Him… is to catch a glimpse of His glory.

Around the throne is a “rainbow” (v3).

This image or symbol draws on at least 2 OT references:

First, it reminds us of the promise God made to Noah, back in Genesis 9.

After judging and destroying most all the people on earth, God told Noah that He would not do it again (not destroy the earth by water).

And God gave Noah (and all humans after him) a sign to remember God’s promise.

God said, “I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Gen. 9:13-17).

Thus, the vision of a “rainbow” around God’s throne is a reminder that God has been and knows how to be the gracious savior of those He loves.

Second, this “rainbow” around the throne (along with a few other features of John’s vision), echo another prophet from the OT - Ezekiel.

Ezekiel was a prophet during the time just before the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.

His prophecies were about God’s judgment that were to come upon the people of Judah, because of their sin and rebellion.

But Ezekiel also foretold of a time when God would restore the glory of His people… a time of gracious blessing.

Ezekiel’s first vision shares much in common with what John is describing here.

Thus, John is presented here to the reader as one who is commissioned (like Ezekiel before him) as a prophet to God’s people.

Like the people of Judah in the OT, there is coming a time of pain, sorrow, and persecution… But unlike the rebellious people of Judah, God’s New Covenant people will both hear God’s prophetic word to repent and and believe and persevere… and they shall themselves experience God’s rescue and restoration.

Brothers and sisters, the appearance of a rainbow around the throne is a reminder to us that God has promised salvation to His people and He has not forgotten His promise!

There are several other features of God’s glorious appearance here in John’s vision that we can’t unpack in great detail… but the picture is striking as a whole.

The “twenty-four elders” are representative of all God’s people, and these representatives are already wearing the “white garments” (holiness) and “crowns” (authority) that God has promised (v4).

There are “flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder” (v5), which tell us that God Himself is judging the world by His own standard of righteousness (think Exodus 19-20, but on a world-wide scale).

There are “seven torches… which are the seven spirits of God” (v5), and these are symbolic of the Holy Spirit as well as the lampstand in the Holy Place of the OT tabernacle and temple (Ex. 39:32-43).

And there is a “sea of glass” (v6), which is symbolic of the water basin just outside the OT temple and also symbolic of the dwelling place of the great dragon of Revelation (Rev. 13:1, 15:2, 16:3, 21:1).

But note that the “sea” is as calm as “glass” and as smooth as “crystal” (v6)!

What we see here is a picture of the God who rules, the God who saves, the God who judges, and the God who presently has all things under complete control!

Friends, do you believe that’s true right now?

Are you living as though the God of the Bible is the reigning King over all creation?

How does your life reflect honor and obedience and service to this King?

How are you preparing to stand before the God described here on the last day?

4. He is Worthy (v6-11)

Verses 6-11 tell us what is going on (in this heavenly temple scene) “around the throne” (v6).

What is happening here is worship!

All earth and heaven are worshipping the glorious God because He is worthy!

There is much to see here that we don’t have time to get into, but I can tell you that the prophets Ezekiel, Daniel, and Isaiah are all reverberating in this passage.

Barry will lead us through chapter 5 in a couple of weeks, and he may or may not speak to the comparison of Daniel’s vision of the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man, but I will leave that to him.

I will simply say here that Revelation 4-5 are all of a piece, and we see in these two chapters something of a reversal of what we saw in Revelation 1.

In Rev. 1, John’s vision of the resurrected and glorified Christ was a combination of Daniel’s Ancient of Days and the Son of Man.

Jesus is both the Ancient of Days (God) and the Son of Man (Messiah or Christ)!

Here (in Rev. 4-5), John envisions these two characters distinctly.

The Son of Man (the God-man, Jesus Christ) is distinct from the Ancient of Days (God the Father), but both are glorified and worshipped together.

For today, I’m going to focus on the parallel with Isaiah, since our passage is emphatically pointing us to the glory and worth of God the Father.

And the emphasis here is on the worship of God (especially the Father) - because He is worthy - for two particular reasons: He is holy and He is sovereign.

God is worthy of all worship because He is holy.

Our passage includes two quotations of what the worship sounds like around God’s heavenly throne… and the first is there at the end of v8.

Four “creatures” (which represent all creation) “never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” (v8).

This is one of only two places in the Bible where the repetition of holiness occurs three times. The other is Isaiah 6.

When Isaiah received his divine commission as a prophet, he too saw a temple vision of the holy God… but his was in the earthly temple.

Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up” (Is. 6:1).

And Isaiah heard six angels calling out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Is. 6:3).

The literary use of repetition notes emphasis.

If this thing is holy and that thing is holy, that’s one thing… But God is holy, holy, holy!

Holiness is the attribute of God that seems to encompass all others.

God’s love is a holy love.

God’s righteousness is a holy righteousness.

God’s justice is a holy justice.

Holiness is best described as “otherness.”

Holiness is separated, consecrated, set apart.

Friends, God is not like us.

Over the years, we’ve enjoyed teaching our sons about the mythological gods and goddesses of the ancient Greeks.

These myths are interesting artifacts of human history, and they are a good contrast for us to better understand the difference between gods who are the invention of men and the true God who actually exists.

Mythical gods are capricious, they are fickle, they have weaknesses and even wicked desires… in other words, they are a lot like us… only a bit more powerful… a bit more capable… a bit longer lasting.

But the God of the Bible is not like us at all!

He’s not only infinitely more powerful than anything we can imagine… He’s also perfectly moral, perfectly good, and perfectly just.

Furthermore, the true God is not limited in any way by creation…

Mythological gods can sometimes fly, but the true God is omnipresent.

Mythological gods can sometimes know things that others don’t, but the true God is omniscient.

Mythological gods can sometimes do incredible feats of strength or energy, but the true God is omnipotent.

Mythological gods have a beginning and they have an end, but the true God is the one “who was and is and is to come” (v8).

God’s holiness (I think) is best associated with His aseity.

God’s aseity is His self-existence, His complete autonomy, and His total independence.

This is one of those ways in which God is completely different from everything else in all creation.

R.C. Sproul was teaching on this at one point, and he said that when he sees or hears the word “aseity,” he knows that most people don’t know what it means, and many people don’t care to think about such a thing.

But Sproul said that when he sees or hears that word, he gets chills and is provoked to awe.

See a clip of Sproul talking about this here: https://youtu.be/s3VgaRdY5dQ?si=AWlXv28ULsz0qlOf

I can relate.

When I first became a Christian, I loved Christ and I worshipped God… but when I began to study theology and read Scripture (more than just the Romans road), I realized that the God of the Bible was far more awe-inspiring than the God I heard about during 19 years of church sermons and Sunday school classes.

It was like that time in the Chronicles of Narnia, when Lucy saw Aslan after she’d grown up a bit.

Lucy said, “Aslan, You’re bigger!”

And Aslan replied, “That is because you are older, little one.”

Lucy asked, "Not because you are?"

Aslan said, “No, I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

Brothers and sisters (especially you teenagers and young adults), if you find that your heart is cold toward God or that your mind is easily distracted by the things of this world… then I challenge and encourage you to get to know the God who is “holy, holy, holy” (Rev. 4:8).

the God who is self-existent… “who was and is and is to come” (Rev. 4:8)…

the God who said to Moses, “I am who I am” (Ex. 3:14)…

the God who said to Isaiah, “I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things” (Is. 45:7).

the God who said to Job, “Who is this that darkens [my] counsel by words without knowledge? …Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? …Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place…? …Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? …Do you know the ordinances [or decrees] of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?” (Job 38:1-33).

This God is worthy of all worship and honor and glory… because He is holy!

God is worthy of all worship because He is the sovereign creator.

The second quotation in our passage of what the worship sounds like around God’s heavenly throne is there at the end… v11.

There… after the “living creatures” (representing all creation) “give gory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne” (v9)… the “twenty-four elders fall down” in “worship” saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Rev. 4:11).

If the first reason why God is worthy of worship is focused on what He is (i.e., the holy God), then the second reason is focused on who God is in relationship to creation (i.e., He is the sovereign creator of it).

It is interesting that the Bible itself associates God’s role as creator with His ongoing role as the providential God who works all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph. 1:11).

Psalm 33, for example, says, “For he spoke, and it [i.e., creation] came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations” (Ps. 33:9-11).

In old Christian catechisms, God’s providence (His governing of all things) is the heading over two particular spheres of God’s sovereignty - creation and redemption.

In our passage this morning, both of these spheres show up in glorious concert.

The explicit language of the worship going on around God’s throne is that of God’s creative work - He is worthy, “for” or “because” He “created all things, and by [His] will they existed and were created” (v11).

But why do the churches of first-century Asia Minor need to “see” God this way through John’s supernatural vision?!

Is it not because they need to know that the same God who reigns supreme over creation is also reigning now as sovereign over the unfolding plan of redemption?!

What did Christ promise all of the churches if they would “conquer” or “persevere” through the hardship and pain and persecution they were facing?

Did He not promise them…

that they would “eat of the tree of life” (Rev. 2:7)?

that they would “not be hurt by the second death” (Rev. 2:11)?

that they would receive “the hidden manna” that is Christ Himself (Rev. 2:17)?

that they would “rule” the nations alongside Christ in glory (Rev. 2:26-27)?

that they would receive “white garments” and that their names would be in “the book of life” (Rev. 3:5)?

that they would enter the “city of… God, the new Jerusalem” (Rev. 3:12)?

and that they would “sit with” Christ Himself on His “throne” (Rev. 3:21)?

And, how in the world could they believe such preposterous things, when all around them was apparent evidence…

that the wicked rule the world…

that sinners are rewarded…

that Christ’s people are trampled under foot…

and that God’s plans to restore and glorify His people were apparently being thwarted at nearly every turn?

Didn’t they need to see things from John’s heavenly perspective? Don’t we?!

Friends, I’m not talking about a spiritual reality that has no real effect in this present world…

As though God reigns in heaven, but the devil and his people reign here on earth.

No, I’m talking about a heavenly perspective that is just as true and real here as it is there!

As a matter of fact, I’m talking about a reality that is more real than the present circumstances of this life!

The stability, the hope, the will to endure (for Christians) is not that we shall escape a world that is under the power of the devil!

No, our stability and hope and will to endure comes from our awareness that the God who “was and is and is to come” (v8)… the God who is “holy, holy, holy” (v8)… the God who “created all things” and holds all things together right now (v11)… is the same God who is working out His plan to redeem repenting and believing sinners…

and even though it may appear that all is stacked against us… the God in charge of our redemption… the God in charge of the whole plan… is right now seated on His throne… and all His promises are as good as accomplished… it is just a matter of time.

Conclusion

What are we to do with all of this?

We should worship the God who is worthy!

We should join with all who worship Him now!

We should eagerly anticipate that coming day when we shall join with all who worship Him in glory!

We should trust the God who is holy and sovereign!

We should trust that He is able and that He is working all things toward His good and glorious ends.

We should cling to His promises, believe His word, and obey His commands.

God is the incomparable King, in complete control of all that is, and He is worthy of all worship because He is holy and sovereign.