Gav, on Revelation 4 & 5...

Revelation chapters 4 & 5

A Who’s Who of Heaven…

Intro – Bill and Ted’s bogus journey.  If you are a Christian, then I imagine you’ve thought before about what Heaven is going to be like.  And I guess you’ve probably also thought about who you’re going to meet there too.  Who is going to be there?  Einstein?  Lots of nice dudes wearing white?  Aliens?  And what are they going to be doing?  Will they really be playing charades?  When I was young, I imagined Heaven to be a place where we could play monopoly all of the time because I loved monopoly.

These chapters in Revelation allow us to have a sneaky peek at who’s going to be there, and something of an idea about what they’re going to be doing…

First of all, it would be good to clarify when Revelation 4 and 5 takes place, and what it concerns.  It clearly contains matters of Heaven, as verse 1 and 2 of chapter 4 clearly shows that John is being shown Heaven.

With regards to the timings of what is happening, it might be helpful to think of this passage as being outside of time.  I just want you to imagine that time stopped now.  What would you be thinking?  (take answers).  Well, the reality of it is that you wouldn’t be thinking very much at all.  You wouldn’t be saying much, you wouldn’t be doing very much either, because you are bound by time.  God, however, is not.  God does not need to live by our rules.  He can exist and act outside of time.  If that makes sense, then great, that’s really cool.  If it confuses you, don’t worry – it won’t make a difference to the truth or relevance of this passage.

It’s also worth saying that there’s a lot of symbolism in Revelation, loads in chapter 4 and 5, that refers back to the Old Testament.  Whilst I’m going to highlight some of this, I’m also going to miss some out, not because it isn’t really exciting, ‘cause it is, but because there is too much to fit into the time we have this evening.

We’re going to start off with the first person John sees in this new vision of Heaven:

He who sits on the throne

The instantly noticeable thing about this person, in verse 2, is that he is sitting on a throne.  This person is in Heaven, ruling, and John sets quite a vivid scene.  This person on the throne has the appearance of jasper, and of carnelian.  These precious stones are of some beauty, and are included in verse 3 to reflect some of the wonder of God’s creativity, expressed originally in the perfect Garden of Eden.  The rainbow, too, is of beauty, but is here as a symbol of God’s covenant with creation (from the story of Noah in Genesis 9) and God’s promise, and his commitment towards everything that has life (Gen 9v17).

The thunder and lightning in verse 5 remind us of God’s appearance in Isaiah at Mount Sinai where God gave the Israelites the law, and in front of the throne, John sees seven lamps burning.  These lamps mean seven Spirits of God.  This is not to say that there are seven Holy Spirits, as seven is, in the Bible, a ‘perfect’ number, so ‘seven spirits’ is representative of one perfect Holy Spirit.

Verses 6-8 describe to us four creatures, like a man, an ox, a lion, and an eagle around the throne.  These creatures provide another link back to creation, but also similar creatures are talked about in Isaiah 11, when God’s new creation is brought in.  This, then, is making a link between Eden, God’s original, perfect creation, and the restoration of Eden in Heaven, a place where it is once more perfect.

In verse 8, these creatures talk to He Who Sits On The Throne, and call him ‘holy, holy, holy’ (when things are repeated like this, it’s like saying ‘extremely extremely holy’, they call him the Lord God Almighty, who was (before the beginning of time), who is (exists now, inside and outside of time), and who is to come (will be, and will always be).

This person who sits on the throne will not only live forever (v9), but (v11) in his will created all things and continued to give them being.

And just in case you weren’t sure, this first person John sees is God, the Lord Almighty, the creator, the sustainer, the authority, the beautiful, the everlasting, who is worthy (v11) to receive glory, honour and power!

Moving on in his vision, now concentrating on chapter 5, John also encounters another:

The Lamb who was slain

At the beginning of chapter 5, John is allowed a glimpse of this scroll.  The scroll has seven seals stopping it from being opened.  Now, seals in Old Testament prophesy tended to be to do with the end times and, particularly, judgement.  There are also references, in Isaiah and Daniel, to do with a similar scroll holding God’s plan for all of time.  In John’s vision, they are looking for someone to break the seals, to open the scroll.  Effectively, somebody to destroy sin, and reveal the purpose of God.  But there was no one who could do it.  No one untainted by what was inside, no one worthy.  But, in verse 5 – “Wait!” says an elder, “look!” “there is somebody!”  And there he is, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David (v5), the lamb, looking as if he was slain (v6).  He has triumphed!  He is able to do it!  He is able to destroy sin and judgement!  Can you tell who it is yet?

Read Isaiah 53v7

Who is this, who acted like a lamb, who was sacrificed to spare others the judgement that sin brought upon them?  Who was this who was slain (v9) and with his blood, purchased men for God?

This is Jesus, the worthy one, who stands with God Almighty at his throne (v6), who has perfect power (v6 – that’s what the seven horns stand for), and who sends (still v6) his perfect Spirit out into the world.

And Jesus, also, in verses 9, 12 and 13, is worthy of honour, glory, praise, power, wisdom, strength and much more, all that God the Father is worthy of, but second to him.

Jesus can destroy sin, and when he was slain, by his blood he purchased men for God.  Which leads us to the last people we’re going to talk about today that John saw in Heaven;

The Saints, purchased for God!

Back in v4 of chapter 4, we are introduced to 24 elders on their own thrones, around the central throne of God.  The number 24 is really important here, as it represents the people of God, from the Old Testament, and the New.  12 tribes of Israel, 12 disciples.  The people of God are sitting around God, ruling with him as promised in Revelation 3 and other places in the New Testament.  They rule, but (v10) they lay down their crowns before God, showing that they still submit to his authority.

The saints, these people of God are not just from Israel, though, they are made up of people from every tribe, every language, every people, every nation (remember Eph 1v10?).

This is a wonderfully diverse set of people, united in Jesus blood (5v9).  Each one of God’s people, including each one of you that claims Jesus as your Saviour, has been purchased by Jesus’ blood.  And they aren’t bought with no real aim, no, (v9) they are bought for God.  Christians, on Earth and in Heaven belong to God.  He owns them.

And he has made them into a kingdom, and he has made them specifically to serve him.

The people of God in Heaven, as show here, spend a lot of their time praising and worshipping God, and worshipping Jesus.  (ch 4, v10 & 11, chapter 5 v8-10, 13 & 14).  They do this because they recognise that God is Almighty, that he reigns, that he creates everything that has being, and they recognise that Jesus is the only one worthy to destroy their sin, and that he did do it, and was slain for their sake.

God’s people offer praise, glory and honour to God because it is deserved.

If you consider yourself now one of the people of God, then you need to be looking at the Heavenly people of God in Revelation 4 and 5, and seriously thinking about whether your attitude to God bears any similarity to theirs.

This pattern for us needs to start now.  Do we lead lives of worship?  As we belong to God, do we try to live as he wants us to, do we lay our crowns before him in submission?

In these two chapters, we see that creation exists for the praise and glory of God – do our lives look like we exist for his praise and glory?

Do you recognise God as your King and authority?  If you do, then praise God!  That’s great.  Do you trust in Him and his plan which he has for you, as written in the scroll?  If you do, then praise God!  God is sovereign; he does have a plan mapped out for you, for me, for everyone.

Do you recognise God as your creator, if so, brilliant!  And do you recognise him as your sustainer, who gives you being?  If it wasn’t for his say-so, I wouldn’t be giving you this talk, you wouldn’t be here, you wouldn’t be breathing now, or now, or now.  If you recognise his power and sovereignty in this, and you praise him and worship him, then Hallelujah!

But; this is where it gets hard.  Bad things happen, people die.  God holds the universe together, and allows all things that happen to happen, so he allows these things to happen also.  In these times, do you still recognise him as the Almighty God? Because he still is.  In these times, do you recognise his plan for everything?  Because it is still active.

Let me put it into a concrete situation for you:  You’re sitting, in hospital, next to a bed.  In that bed is your Nan, and, she’s dying, dying of cancer or whatever else it might be.  When you are sitting there, will you still recognise God as King, will you still trust in his plan for everything?  Will you give him glory, and honour, and praise that he deserves?

My trust in that plan was tested severely a year and a half ago. When my Mum was dying, it was hard to say to God “your will be done.”  It was hard to offer him praise, to give him glory, to accept his sovereignty when my Mum became someone I didn’t know right in front of me.

But I know where my allegiance lies.  I know who purchased me by his blood – God is no stranger to loved ones dying.  I know that God is King, and that he is worthy of all glory, and if you know that, then Hallelujah!  When the going is good, then I’d suggest that then is the time give God praise, and to ask him for trust in his plan, and the ability to praise him as he deserves when times are tough (not because of the toughness, but in spite of it.)

Why don’t we just have a couple of minutes for people to pray that prayer for us (allow time).

If you don’t consider yourself one of God’s people, I need you to know that we all have a problem, sin – our rejection of God, and there’s only one person worthy enough to take away our sin, Jesus, who sacrificed himself for us.  All we have to do is ask him, and he’ll buy us for God, to reign with him, and to live with him in Heaven.