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Preached in Markham Baptist Church, August 24, 2008
preached by Alex Philip
 

Studying Revelation poses some inherent challenges.  First, there is the simple reality that access to the full revelation of God necessarily leaves one speechless.  Human languages are paupers when it comes to finding the resources to communicate the beauty and sheer glory of the living God.  For this reason, Isaiah, in the sixth chapter of the book of Isaiah, spends more time describing the surroundings of God’s presence than on God Himself.  We see the same thing in John’s record of his vision of God:  the setting is described in greater detail than the character.

Another challenge is contained in the fact that though at one time apocalyptic literature – which is the type of literature into which the book of Revelation falls – was once a common genre with a familiar index of symbols and metaphors.  Today, of course, it is an exceedingly rare genre.  So the casual reader who picks up the Bible and reads its final installment is buried under a sea of mystical and mysterious symbols.

Having said that, let me provide you with the outline for our study.  In reading Revelation 4, I hope that we will see at least 4 things: the setting of true worship; the necessity for true worship; the subject and object of true worship; and the reason for true worship.

The Setting of True Worship

“A throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.”

John’s immediate audience was believers who were persecuted for their commitment to Christ.  They lived in a culture that despised the Son of God and mocked those who were His followers.  When I say persecuted, I mean men and women who on a weekly basis were thrown before hungry lions in the Roman coliseum; these were the men and women who were rounded up on a daily basis by the Emperor Nero and burnt at the stake and set on fire to mock their commitment to be the light of the world and on a purely functional side to light up his garden for his dinner guests.  So for these Christians who were aliens and strangers in the world and who were hard pressed on every side, who were facing death all day long, the throne on which the Roman Emperor sat was an ever present source of tribulation and hardship.  But with this one comment John rouses the troops and encourages them to press on.  How?  By reminding them that there are thrones above earthly thrones; there is a king to whom all kings will have to give an account; there is an empire that looms larger than the largest empires of the world.  And one day the occupants of all the earth’s thrones will have to stand before this throne and pay homage to the one who is seated on it.  So be strong and courageous; fight the good fight.  There is a throne above the throne that is the source of your hostility.

“Had the appearance of jasper and carnelian and around the throne was a rainbow…”

In reading Revelation we need to be careful to avoid the common hurdle of missing the forest for the trees.  There are some who will read into this description of these precious jewels, great significance as to the colour of the jewels.  Jasper being white, they say speaks of Jesus’ purity; carnelian or sardius being blood red speaks of the blood He shed.  Perhaps, but I suspect that we are stretching a bit.  At the very least what we can be sure of is that John sees that the one who is seated on the throne is resplendent in beauty.  The only way to describe the splendour of the king is to compare Him to some of the most precious jewels a person could own.  Yet, this is clearly a comparison down. 

I stood, last week on the edge of Ground Zero, the site where the September 11 attacks took place 7 years ago.  Before going to the site, I asked, “What is Ground Zero like?”  I was told, “It’s like a big hole in the ground.”  That’s a comparison down.  I’ve seen holes in the ground.  I’ve even seen big holes in the ground – Ground Zero is in one small respect a big hole in the ground, but oh, it is so much more than that. But without being there, without seeing the devastation and the magnitude of ground zero you can only compare down.  The tremendous irony for the Christian of course is that John’s downward comparison of the appearance of the one seated on the throne is to compare Him to the most precious jewels that a person can own.  John’s downward comparison is to that which we grasp upward to own.

“From the throne came lightning and rumbles of thunder.”

Today the greatest source of natural power comes from the fusion and the fission of the atom.  Before the nuclear age, thunder and lightning epitomize power and might.  How significant it is then to read that thunder and lightning flowed from the throne of God.  It did not merely encircle the throne or embellish the throne.  The thunder and light found its source in the throne.

“Before the throne were burning seven torches of fire which are the seven spirits of God.”

First, this passage is in no way intimating a deviation from the triune nature of God.  There is but one God who has and always will eternally exist in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  So what then is John referring to when he mentions the “seven spirits of God?”

1.This may refer to a group of angels who stand before the throne.

2. This may be a reference to the Holy Spirit wherein the number 7 represents perfection and thus the seven spirits of God refers to God’s perfect Holy Spirit.

3. A third option is that it is referring to the character of God himself.  Isaiah 11:2 provides a list of seven spirits associate with the Lord.  They are:

a.       The Spirit of the Lord

b.       The Spirt of wisdom

c.       The Spirit of understanding

d.       The Spirit of counsel

e.       The Spirit of might

f.        The Spirit of knowledge

g.       The Spirit of the fear of the Lord

“And around the throne, on each side of the throne are 4 living creatures, full of eyes… first  like a lion; second like an ox; third face of a man;  fourth like an eagle in flight…”

It is difficult to say with any certainty what is happening here.  Some have suggested that the animals represent the gospel writers; some suggest that the animals here represent a panoply of wildlife (the lion representing the wild animals; the ox representing domesticated animals; the eagle representing the birds of the air.)

The difficulty in correctly interpreting this particular scene lies in the fact that there was once a time when apocalyptic literature was more common.  Today, of course they are not.

But what we can say for certainty is this:  All things were created by God and for God.

The Necessity of True Worship

Every depiction of the throne room of God, mainly Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4, reveals the simple fact that heaven is ultimately a place of worship.  These strange and mysterious creatures which our minds cannot fathom did not eternally exist.  They had a beginning at some point and God was their origin.  They never appear on earth, they are not reincarnated spirits of your great uncle.  They were created by God and they exist for one purpose: to worship Him.  Has it not occurred to you that the same is true for you?

We are hopelessly religious.  Even when we deny God we end up exalting something in God’s place be it our intellect, our savvy our skills our sense of control. 

Our hearts – not the physical organ that goes thump-thump but the seat of a person’s delights and affections and desires – is a muscle of sorts.  We train it to pursue after many things and the pursuit of heart’s desire is the essence of worship.  Our hearts pursue sex, relationships, wealth, acclaim, knowledge, a spouse, health, chocolate, sleep.  We love these things.  Our hearts desire them.  They chase after them.  We dream of them.  In other words, we worship them.  That hopeless religious streak in us is a testimony to the fact that we were created to worship.  But we are also hopelessly rebellious and we do not worship nor do we naturally desire to worship the only one who is worthy of our worship.

Worship is derived from two old English words: “weorth” meaning “honour” or “worthiness” and “scipe” meaning “to create.”  These words met up in a middle English word “worthship” and became the word we know today as “worship.”  We ascribe worth to something not just by what we say about it but by how our hearts delight in it and cherish it and pursue it all costs.

But our worship of all of these things is bankrupt and doomed to frustration because these are not the things that we were created to worship.  We were created to worship God and God is only glorified and your hearts will only be satisfied when He is worshipped for who He is.  We are so foolish and rebellious in our spirits.  We perpetually worship the creation rather than the creator and ascribe worth and glory to the gift rather than the giver.

Listen to how Augustine of Hippo described this reality:

“Too late have I loved you, O beauty so ancient, O beauty so new, too late have I loved You!

You were within me but I was outside myself and I sought you there!

In my weakness I ran after the beauty of the things You have made.

You were with me and I was not with you-

The things You have made kept me from You – the things which would have no being unless the existed in You!”

God is both the subject and the object of worship

If what I have said is true, then a startling truth emerges.  God is not only the object of our worship; He is its subject.

What do I mean?  Remember back to grade school grammar.

Dexter kicks the ball.

Tom rides the tractor.

Susan answers the phone.

Pat plays the guitar.

Dexter, Tom, Susan, Pat – these are the subjects of the previous sentences.  Ball, tractor, phone, guitar these are the objects.

 The subject is the one performing or enacting the action and the object is the one receiving the action.

But let’s consider the action of worship.  It’s not difficult to see that clearly God ought to be the object of worship.  But the clear testimony of Scripture is that God is also the subject of worship. 

Let me, as quickly as I can try and show you from Scripture that God is the initial and the true subject  of our worship:

Take your very life.  God teaches that you were created for one reason: to glorify Him (Isaiah 43:6,7).  So, God initiated your existence and your existence was initiated so that God would be glorified.  So the glory that is rendered to God as the object also finds God as its subject.

Or take the inspired prayers  in Psalms:  “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” (Psalm 51:15).  David prays that God would open his lips so that his lips would be able to participate in declaring God’s praise.  God is the initiator of the worship (by opening David’s lips) and is the object of David’s worship.

Similarly, the inspired lyrics of praise songs in Psalms teach this truth: “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.” (Psalm 40:3).  The request is that God would put a song of praise into David’s mouth and that the song would rebound off of David’s mouth and return to God.  God initiates worship and is its true object.

We see this played out in the New Testament.  Our love for God is only possible because of God’s initiating love for us:  “We love because he first loved us…”  (1 John 4:19)

Unfortunately, I cannot spend too much time on this thought.  But suffice it to say that all of the worship that we direct to God is ultimately initiated by God to begin with.  Thus, God is both the subject and the object of worship.

Now to say that God is the object of our worship seems obvious.  Clearly, we gather here and sing our praises to God.  Right?  Perhaps, but if you listen to yourself as you drive home after church; or if you listen to your heart when a slow hymn is sung or one of those loud songs is sung in church you should be frightened by how often we talk as if we were the object of worship.  We say, “You should go to this church, the worship is great.” or  “Don’t go to that church, the worship is boring.”  These comments and we have all been guilty of saying it betray the simple reality that we think, to some degree, that worship is about us or our musical preferences.  Brothers and sisters, be careful!  The only one who is to judge the quality of worship is the one to whom the worship is directed. 

Let me give you a really good litmus test for the sincerity of your commitment for God being the sole object of worship.  Let’s see if it is not more than lip service:

Look at Revelation 4:8.  See that three-lined song that goes, “Holy Holy Holy / the Lord God Almighty / Who was and is and is to come.”  Notice how often it is sung?  Day and night without ceasing.  If you are thinking, “Man that’s boring,” you are victim to self-centred worship.  It’s not about you! 

The church needs to repent of the lip service it pays to God in its worship and return to the reality that God is the subject and object of worship.  So young people, when we sing songs that were written before your parents were born that communicate the greatness of God, don’t complain in your heart about the song’s pace or melody.  It’s not karaoke; it’s not the first dance at your wedding.  And senior saints, when a song is sung that adds just more grey hairs to your crown of wisdom do not immediately assume in your hearts that the church is a lost cause – the song is not for you to begin with!

The Reason for Worship

In this vision of the throne room of God, we have 3 songs that provide three distinct reasons to worship God.  2 of the songs are found in Revelation 4 and the third song is contained in Revelation 5.  The first song is a song of worship for the holiness of God.  The second song is a song of worship for God’s act of creation.  The third song is a song of worship for God’s act of redemption.

His Holiness

The heavenly host worship God because He is holy.  Holy is a very difficult word to translate because it has been associated with everything from cows to smoke.  The word holy comes from the Greek word “hagios” which means “other” or “separate” a very poor parallel might be the phrase “cut above.”

At the heart of “Holy” is the reality that God is so utterly superior to us.  And this reality is repeated thrice as a means of emphasizing this truth.

Notice that this song worships God simply on the basis of His character.  It does not speak to anything He has done.  If God had never created the heavens and the earth, if God had never sent His Son into the world to save sinners,  He would still be worthy of our worship and adoration.  But He has and that is why the next 2 songs are sung.

His Act of Creation

I will not spend much time on this because I have already touched on it already.  Our hearts always need to be on guard because of our rebellious tendency to worship the creation rather than the creator.  Creation is good.  God has declared it to be so and the gifts in creation are meant to be enjoyed but only as a catalyst for worshipping the creator not as an end in themselves.

His Act of Redemption

God is to be worshipped for the redemption that He initiated, accomplished and applies to His people.  In order to understand this redemption we need to understand the first two songs.  Because God is holy He stands in opposition to that which is unholy.  Our first parents rebelled against the holiness of God and ushered in sin and death into the course of human history.  Because of our sin, we rebel against God and worship the creation rather than the Creator; the gift rather than the Giver.  This rebellion which the Bible calls idolatry is rightly deserving of God’s wrath.  There is nothing that raises God’s ire like the sin of idolatry.  God the Father despises it.  God the Son detests it.  God the Holy Spirit deplores it.  But God in His mercy and grace initiated a plan of redemption.  He sent His Son into the world to bear the just penalty for our rebellion to worship God.  Our idolatry deserves death and condemnation.  We deserved to be placed under a curse but thanks be to God He gave us His Son as our substitute and the death we deserved He experienced; the condemnation that should have been directed to us was directed to Him and the curse that should have fallen on our heads fell on Him. 

And here is the mystery of God’s grace and the ground for our worship.  Jesus not only bore our sins on the cross and suffered the penalty for our rebellion,  He exchanged it for His life and His merit.  So, all the blessings and privileges that should have been allotted to Jesus for His life of total obedience to the will of the Father are ours and all of the wrath and judgment that should have been ours for our rebellion have been received by Jesus.  This is the mystery and the majesty of the story of redemption.

Let me close by returning to a detail I intentionally overlooked in Revelation 4.  You will see in verse 6 that there is a sea of glass like crystal.  A surface reading of the text may seem to indicate that this is a picture of tranquility.  But this is not so.  Remember from the throne is coming peals of thunder and flashes of lightning.  In Jewish, Egyptian and Babylonian literature the sea is always an object of terror and obstacle to be overcome.  This sea stands before the throne of God and whatever it may specifically refer to it serves at least one function – it separates humanity from God.  As the revelation that John receives comes to a close in Rev. 21 we find a description of a new heaven and a new earth.  Revelation 4 is the original heaven with its sea that separates us from God.  But notice Revelation 21:1  what do you see?  No more sea.  The sea is gone.  The barrier between you and God has been dried up and erased. 

This is the fulfillment of the redemption sung about in Revelation 5 and accomplished at the cross.  Jesus Christ plunged Himself into the sea which separates you from God.  He drowned in the sea of God’s judgment and wrath so that you could stand on the solid ground of God’s favour and pleasure.  The sea of your sins has been dried up in Jesus’ death on the cross.  Praise God!  Praise God!

We celebrate that reality in our worship and our worship is in both song and drama.  When we eat the bread and drink the juice we participate in a 2,000 year old drama that testifies and reminds us of the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ which purchased our redemption and gave us the opportunity to worship God once again.

Copyright MBC and Alex Philip - August  2008