Sermon Tone Analysis

The Heavenly Throne

When we began our look at The book of Revelation we first saw a vision of the exalted Jesus caring for and protecting his churches.

And what we see in the book is that after the period of the churches has come to end The Kingdom of God will come to this earth.

This Revelation of what is to be includes the destruction of the powers of evil, the destruction of Satan, and death itself.

All of which sound magnificent however the story of the end includes some dark times for the church as well.

A time when Satan and the powers of evil will break forth in a final desperate attempt to stop the purposes and plans of God.

And during this time Satan will seek to do so by destroying the people of God.

Satan is going to be permitted to unleash fearful and uncontrolled forces of evil on this earth.

But before we get to that part of the story.

God wants us here in chapter four see a vision that John has not of the future tribulation that is yet to come.

But rather a vision of what is right now in the heavenlies.

God in his wisdom and grace is about to give us a glimpse into heaven.

Why does he do this at this juncture in the revelation?

God knows that as we approach the time of the end the anxiety level of His church is only going to increase.

And so to help, God gives to us a glimpse of the heavens.

He allows us to see himself seated upon His throne.

So, if your here today even and in any way struggle with anxiety and we all do in some small way often times.

This sermon will help.

Perhaps just a small bit, but it will hopefully bring comfort and peace in the struggles we all face in this life on this side of Heaven.

This chapter unfortunately contains several points of disagreement within the church as to what is expressly being stated in each verse.

Some of these I will take time to step back from the passage and discuss.

I feel like I need to do this because they are points that you will likely experience if you have not already, either through books or movies or other believers.

And I want us to have a cohesive understanding of the book as a whole not a smattering of ideas that ultimately to fit together very well.

So, let’s look closer at our passage today from Revelation chapter four.

John begins and he writes in verse one.

The Open Door

John is again in prayer, we will see this more clearly in the next verse, and Jesus comes to him in a vision and in this vision John sees an open door.

A door that Jesus has provided to allow John to enter into the heavens and to have the amazing opportunity to behold its wonders.

John has been caught up as we saw earlier when he was in prayer in chapter one and was then given a vision of Jesus when Jesus gave to him the seven letters to the seven churches.

This time Johns vision is of the heavenly realm.

And we are going to find his vision recorded here in chapters four through nine.

And so Jesus calls to him and commands him to come up here into the heavenlies.

So that Jesus might show to John what must take place in what we today call the end times.

John writes in verse two about the first thing that his eyes lay upon and we read.

The Heavenly Throne

Ok, before we get too far I want to address some of the sticky theological questions that some bring up when reading this verse.

Some state that John is being used here to represent the church and that God gives us a vision of John at the beginning of the revelation of the end times and he is at this point in time caught up in the spirit and he immediately then finds himself in the heavens with Jesus.

They would state that because of its timing in the larger story of the book of revelation it must point to what is called the pre-tribulational rapture of the church.

Could this timing be a possible understanding of this passage.

I will admit that it is possible.

However, I have several difficulties in accepting this position.

Let me explain.

First, no where in the book is John referenced as symbolically representing the church.

So this is something that we must read into the book.

Second we have already seen where this type of language in Revelation chapter one simply refers to a state that Jesus brings John into while he is in prayer.

So, why would expect something different here I am not certain.

In fact we are going to find several similar references throughout the book.

And they will never say that the rapture is what is meant at those points.

In fact I believe that we see these other similar statements because the book was not given in a single occurence in time to John.

But rather Jesus came to John several times while he was on Patmos and that John then recorded each of them in order as a single book.

In fact all of this discussion usually causes us to miss the most important part of this vision.

And that is that the first thing that John sees as he enters into heaven is the throne of God.

And I believe that this is a deliberate gift to John as he languishes in exile on Patmos.

God almighty no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in is still seated upon His throne.

And so John is given this gift at what had to have been one of the lowest points of his life.

Then John describes this magnificent vision of the throne of God and he writes in verse three.

John is given the amazing opportunity to see God Himself seated upon His throne.

And the glorious nature of what his eyes behold, I believe, blow him away.

And as a result he never actually gives us a clear description of the one who is seated upon the throne or of the throne itself.

And what John is left with within his minds eye is the brilliance of the glory of God.

And so John rather than describing distinct features of the one who sat there or specifics concerning the throne he describes the appearance of the glory that shone from the one who was seated upon the throne.

It was the appearance of gem stones like jasper and carnelian he says.

and the glory that surrounded the throne was encircled by what appeared in shape similar to a rainbow with the appearance of emeralds.

This rainbow wasn’t what we typically think of as that half-circle bow that we see in the sky.

The words here state that whatever this was the closest word John could find to describe it was a rainbow.

But he says it was around the throne.

In the NIV we read.

Revelation 4:3 (NIV)

And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby.

A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.

This idea that the throne was encircled by this rainbow is what is precisely stated in the original greek.

So there was something that we today might have called a halo around the throne.

Just take a moment and let this really sink in.

What John saw was so amazing that to describe the details of what he saw would miss the mark on the brilliance and glory that was revealed to him.

And so he uses dramatic symbolic language to attempt to describe his vision of the throne of God.

This is how magnificent the glory of God is to witness.

The is the vision we all need to have when we think upon the glory of our God who is seated this very day upon His throne in the heavens.

Now there are those that look for meaning in the types of stones or the colors of the stones that are mentioned here.

I think this is a huge mistake.

And I believe this because we have to yet again look for meaning beyond the passage and read that meaning back into the passage.

I believe we need to keep it simple.

John is conveying the glory of the brilliance of each stone.

And that when he does so we should understand that the greatness of the glory of God goes beyond the ability of mere words to explain.

And this is why John says that it appears like gemstones.

Something that throughout history has held immense value and meaning for nearly all people.

And this is what John is trying to convey in these words.

John continues in verse four and he writes,

Okay so I know most people at this point want to know who are these twenty-four elders.

Well, I’ll say this for right now there are several different possibilities that people have used to explain who the elders are.

I will do my best to explain who I believe that they are.

But not until we get to verse ten.

Because right now our focus is actually upon the Throne of God.

And the fact that these twenty-four elders sit upon thrones themselves with golden crowns around the Throne of God.

Right now I want us to take in the picture that John is giving to us of what it is his eyes see before him.

And at this point in our passage we need to see this magnificent Throne of God with God seated upon it and the radiant splendor of his glory surrounding himself and the throne.

And then surrounding that are twenty-four smaller thrones with twenty-four elders seated upon those thrones.

This is a grand and glorious picture of our God enthroned in all of his glory.

This is the God that we came today to gather together as His people in worship and praise of His great glory.

Then in verse five John continues describing the Throne of God and he writes,

From the throne came flashes of lightning and peals of thunder.