In The Throne Room

Intro

So here we are, the end of our series “Christ our King.” We have heard the seven letters to the seven churches, and now I ask you All American: What happens when you come face to face with greatness? This is the question begged by the song “I can only imagine,” the single most-played Christian song of all time. In it they ask:

Surrounded by your glory what will my heart feel; will I dance for you Jesus; or in awe of You be still; will I stand in your presence; or to my knees will I fall; will I sing hallelujah; will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine.”

Often when people finally meet a childhood hero or encounter a celebrity, they lose control. Rational people who would normally articulate very well find themselves tongue-tied, giddy, and filled with remorse after they embarrass themselves in the presence of their idol. The term star-struck has emerged to describe this syndrome.

So, I ask you to consider what you might feel? There are also those who are puffed up with an inflated sense of self-worth. For instance, when I was 13; I met Neil Armstrong. I was selected, as a youth member of the community to promote a local event. This included getting up much earlier than most 13-year-olds tend to get up. I was to appear on a morning news segment, and, unbeknownst to me, would be followed by the famous astronaut. After my appearance I proceeded to the exit when a man who wanted to commend my performance stopped me; he said he had heard me on the drive in and introduced himself. I felt pretty darn important. ‘I have fans’ I thought to myself, I even later signed no less than 5 autographs! It wasn’t until we parted ways that I realized the name he had told me. “I’m Neil Armstrong.” I only made it 7 or 8 steps before that fact dawned on me and I whipped around. The elevator doors shut. I felt pretty silly.

There was a tradition in Rome, a returning army would march through the capitol. These honors were spectacular. Picture a culture whose celebrities were gladiators, slaves bribed with freedom to entertain crowds of tens of thousands by mutilating one another replicating battle scenes. Actual warriors returning home from a successful conquest –nothing could compare. Picture the Arc de Triumph in Paris, recall pictures of V-E day in Times Square.

It was the duty of a slave, not only to drive the chariot carrying the celebrated commander, but to continuously whisper in the commander’s ear, “Memento Mori,” which means, “Remember, you are mortal.” A reminder that would serve to prevent the recipient of the crowd’s accolades from losing their sense of place amidst the celebrations. Imagine the honor. Imagine the awe, the fear.

Transition

Now I certainly can’t relate to that in terms of scale, I’ve never been a part of a state championship or even scored a game-winning goal, but I’ve been recognized; singled out for acknowledgment, appreciation, and credited for effort I’ve contributed. Clearly as a 13-year-old I didn’t handle it very well. Now, whether it’s a return from a deployment at Green Ramp or a below-zone selection for promotion, what about you; what honors have you received? Do you have a binder or wall, maybe even for some of you who’ve been around a bit longer, a room where you keep your certificates and trophies?

Maybe you pride yourself with the number of Instagram followers you have or your win streak in Candy Crush. Maybe you have an over-inflated ego. There will always be celebrities, and there will always be winners, individuals who are high-achieving, talented, and those charged with great authority. These things don’t have to be bad. And they’re not so long as you remember that you’re entrusted with it from someone. So long as you remember your place. Because we’re not worthy of the praise we love or seek. But there is someone who is. Pride is defeated when we continuously worship the one who is.

The Prophecy v1

Jesus told his disciples, “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also;” and that’s truly where our Scripture takes us today. Look with me again at verse 1:

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

Revelation is the only book in the Bible that begins and ends with the promise of a blessing to those who read, hear, and heed the words of its prophecy. That’s what Jesus promised each church as we’ve read the past 7 weeks.

In verse 1, John identifies that it’s Jesus guiding him through this vision. He’s just heard the pronunciation of judgment on the seven churches; be it condemning in nature or encouraging, and now we get a glimpse into the throne room. The authority from which judgment comes. Jesus says, in the first of only three things said in the entire chapter, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

Now that statement has a lot of gravity, not just because it’s Jesus who said it, but it's revealing, it's prophetic, it's eschatological, a theological term, a contraction comprised of two Greek words, ‘eschatos’ meaning ‘last things,’ and ‘logy’ meaning ‘the study of.’ Its meaning relates to the final destiny of the soul and of humankind. It concerns our eternal end. The concern of this book is not with things which will take place. It concerns things that, as Jesus says, must take place, the completion of God’s divine will. It is the same as the difference between a want and a need; while you want pizza, you need food; one is desirable, the other is indispensable. God is in supreme control. John is not writing about matters of chance, but about events which will occur, essentially. Not ‘essentially’ as in, “in essence, kind of, well pretty much,” rather, that it is essential that it happen. We are talking about indisputable, categorical truths. It is as if to say, “it is not a threat, it’s a promise.” We will die; God must be worshiped. It’s prophesy, it’s what we’re left with in the end, it is what we see here when everything else has passed away. It is the same prophecy of Isaiah about whom was said, “Every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, “In the Lord alone are deliverance and strength.”

Transition

Jesus told us “do not swear by heaven, for it is God’s throne.” The dramatization of heaven as this version of Earth that is simply better and without Sin is not what we see here. Here in verse 3 we get a description of the throne room, each item with vast significance, John describes the scene through simile (he uses the word ‘like’) 7 times in your pew Bibles. This is because it’s not truly ‘like’ these things at all, it’s completely ‘other.’ But what can he do? He’s told to write these things down, so what we have here is his best efforts amidst the confines of written language. There are a countless number of love songs, but each one falls short of the perfect description, words just don’t convey accurately or fully, feelings or sights. I think we have a good idea, but keep in mind, what we have here is John’s description, and there are others, Isaiah and Ezekiel both describe similar scenes.

The Created v2-7

In his description of heaven, the one in which hearing is a blessing –in understanding the scene playing out in John’s vision, you are truely blessed with some perspective about what we were created for. It is awe-inspiring. It’s spiritual. You can’t deny something happens emotionally as a husband watches his wife walk down the aisle, or a bride sees her husband at the altar. Like when a mother is handed her child or parents watch their baby take his or her first steps. Maybe you’ve met your childhood hero, of course hopefully your recognized them. In the same way, the response we will have in front of God is unconscious. Every knee shall bow, every tongue will confess. It is an involuntary reaction to the realization of holiness. You don’t see the rich man in the parable with Lazarus contesting God’s authority. Instead he says, “Father have mercy upon me.”

God reminds his people in that they are holy, set aside and not because they were more numerous than the other peoples, but because they were the fewest of all peoples. This is to say that God isn’t glorifying his chosen people, but using his chosen people to glorify him.

Around the throne, in verse 4, are the 24 elders, they are the 12 patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the 12 Apostles (minus Judas Iscariot of course), you’ll remember Jesus said, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” He was replaced with Matthias, who became one of the first martyrs of the Christian tradition. These elders represent the redeemed of both covenants now united in Christ. They are clothed, this passage tells us, in Jesus’ righteousness. Now, this is not a birthday suit; rather the white robes promised to the faithful in the letter to the church in Sardis (). Our unworthiness is in no way equivalent to the Son’s worthiness. This stands in contrast to the nakedness spoken of in the letter to the church in Laodicea. In similar fashion to the children’s story, “The King’s New Clothes,” The danger here is that one’s own self-absorption will jeopardize what you wear before the one on the throne, but it will not change the fact that he must be worshipped. He must be worshipped because in him and through him we have our existence, he must be worshipped because he is faithful, he must be worshipped because he’s worthy, he must be worshipped because he paid a debt, we could not pay ourselves. He must be worshipped because it is what we are created for. In John’s Gospel, after a particularly hard teaching and many were turning away, Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter asked, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” Proclaiming, “You have the words of eternal life.” He must be worshipped because there is no other. Everything else is complete despair. Nothingness, desolate and void. It is unfulfilling and leads to nakedness. It does not change the fact that every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess. It changes only what you will wear before the one who sits on the throne.

John goes on to describe the heavenly firmament which separates heaven and earth in verse 5, and captures the rumblings of thunder and flashes of lightning which represent dominion over all creation. The lamps, the seven Spirits of God are also present in Isaiah’s vision, the “Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord and [that we] will delight in the fear of the Lord.” () Gifts of the Spirit come from God. Only with God are we able to follow the command of Jesus, to turn from our sin and bear fruit of repentance. Any ability or talent or appearance or power or fame we receive is entirely derivative; an expression of His goodness ascribed to us for a short while.

Transition

John concludes his Gospel saying “there are many more things that Jesus did. If all of them were written down, I suppose that not even the world itself would have space for the books that would be written.” In the same way, as we here see John conveying his heavenly vision in terms of earthly riches, I suppose I could keep us for hours unpacking the wealth contained in this passage, a true blessing, but I would be remised it we didn’t get to the worship itself.

God Worshiped v8-11

This chapter was introduced with an invitation, similar to the letter to the Church in Philadelphia; “What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.” He said to them, “See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.” Chapter 4 starts with John observing before him a door standing open in heaven, verse 1. We discovered together that worship is, in fact, the final state of all humanity, and I submit to you it is also the meaning of life on Earth. Recorded in , some of the Pharisees insisted Jesus rebuke his disciples when they proclaimed “blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Jesus responded telling them that “if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.” reads, “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

The hosts are described as creatures, here representing all creation. Each creation has been fearfully and wonderfully made with a purpose. The eye is made for seeing. And that is the intended purpose of these beings, to forever behold “the one seated on the throne.” They are covered with eyes, so they can take more of him in, and wings to move freely all around him. So too are your bodies, your voices exist to worship him, your hands to build for him. This worship must happen. It is the point of creation, it is our ‘telos,’ our created purpose, our ultimate aim. Worship is the result of the created’s encounter with the creator. The decision to worship is not yours. It is a part of your being, your construction, it is in your essence. It must happen.

The two other spoken statements in this passage relate to that; “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Verse 8 says the angels never stop saying that. Verse 9 and 10 go on to say, “Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne… the twenty-four elders fall down before him… lay[ing] their crowns before [Him] and say” in verse 11, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will, they were created and have their being.”

And it doesn’t say they choose to do this in homage to the king. There is no decision here, it must happen. Scripture records this time and time again:

· In the desert when the LORD consumed Israel’s burnt offering on the altar when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

· When the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, he fell to the ground.

· At the transfiguration in , “When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground and were terrified.”

· When Mary looked for Jesus at his tomb and found two angels, she was terrified and bowed her face to the ground.

In fact, every time someone comes to recognize that they are in the presence of something holy it is the automatic unconscious response. And it is because he is worthy, and we are not. He is our Lord and God who created all things by his will.

It’s like that chariot driver, reminding the driver of his place. Instead of grounding a man who needs to remain low, we lift up God and constantly praise him. Imagine the honor, imagine the awe. But standing as a slave isn’t that great, standing in glory with Jesus as a reward, is an unspeakable honor. Awestruck. Incomparable even to being star-struck –inarticulate, tongue-tied, and giddy.

John records the words of the master before he took up the cross. “I no longer call you servants, I have called you friends.” We will worship him; we must worship him. Why wait?

Transition:

So, what does this mean for us today? What did it mean to John? Whether it’s the Master’s diploma on your wall or your larger than life coin collection, both of which I have in my office, these things are useless if the only purpose they serve is to make us feel important or to proclaim our own impressive greatness.

The hosts of heaven have honors much greater than this earth has to offer, yet they are unimpressed with themselves. It appears as if they don’t spend much time on their own thrones. They are invested, instead, in worshipping God.

Application

This is our greatest achievement in life, and our true end; to honor God. But we don’t have to wait, it can be us now too. Any glory or honor or recognition belongs to Him. From Him and to Him and for Him are all good things. Every good and perfect gift comes from him. Remember that anything good is already his; they are on loan to us for a short while, and these gifts have purposes; they are not designed to be repurposed or claimed for our own.

Everything is created with a purpose; just like the eyes and wings of the heavenly hosts. Our talents were intended to be employed in building a community for service. Those who are gifted in service; we’ve got a hospitality team in need. Those who have a passion for children, our children’s church is in need. Are you a talented musician? Don’t squander your gifts!

This is how we fit into his kingdom.

Transition

So, I ask you today, who is your king? We all stand in awe of something, we invest our hearts and dedicate ourselves to something. All humans will worship something. But will we worship ourselves, or some idol, or some experience, or will we worship the one who is worthy to receive glory and honor and power, by who’s will all created things have their being?

And consider the lyrics, when you’re surrounded by his glory what will your heart feel? Will you dance for Jesus; or in awe of him be still; will you stand in his presence; or to your knees will you fall; will you sing hallelujah; or be able to speak at all?

Conclusion

Do you have a crown that you haven’t surrendered? When we understand who and what God is, we have no choice, he must be worshiped in spirit and in truth, just as these who continually behold him.

The door is open. To those who spend time daily in his presence reading the words of God, reminding themselves of who he is; they are the ones who see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts.

Transition to Communion

In a moment we will have the opportunity to come to the table. As the chaplains come forward to serve you, I want you to consider this in your hearts. Take a minute to consider any areas that need surrender. Jesus told his followers to be reconciled to their brothers and sisters before heading to the altar. When we commune, we do so in community, not alone. When you come face to face with Christ on the throne, remember the battle he had to overcome for us was the cross. When we take cup and the bread, we join him. We are his redeemed, his triumph.