1. "Sometimes providence seems utterly indecipherable to us. Indeed, sometimes attempts to decipher such a meaning seem almost to be attempts to defend what has happened. So people feel deeply confused, for example, about what to do with the results of immoral medical research carried out by the Nazis."

2. "For me, I want a fundamentalist airline pilot. I want one who believes in absolute runways and absolute non-runways. And I want one who will settle the plane down where he should, that understands there's a clear moral ought to where he lands the airplane."

3. "This wariness of meaning, certainly encouraged in our culture today, leaves us anonymous and unaccountable and unconstrained. And so many are left rudderless at sea, with no fixed star, lost and without hope."

4. "Even our best attempts at magnificence would look tawdry compared to God's very real glory. You would hardly think of this scene needing to be lighted up. Isn't that a bit like gilding a lily?"

5. "There is a simple, innocent awe that should rightly mark the creature when contemplating the Creator. And we should not do anything to undermine that or discourage it. Brothers and sisters, part of our witness to this world should be our evident awe that we have in our Creator."

6. "The focus is all about God himself. It is proper and right and correct and helpful and good for God to be at the center of all that he has made, as it is for the sun to be at the center of our solar system. The moon couldn't do it. The earth couldn't do the task. Only the sun could be the center of this solar system. So far more importantly, only God can properly be the center of history."

7. "Imagine John's astonishment when he looks to see like in the first chapter, he heard the great voice and then he turned around to see and he saw the risen Christ. Now he's heard that the lion of Judah will come to open the scroll. Now he turns around and what does he see? He sees not a lion but a lamb, looking as if it had been slain."

8. "If the clearest presentation, the fullest revelation of God we have is in his becoming incarnate in Christ, how can anyone who rejects that clearest presentation say that we worship the same God?"

9. "Forces which now seem inevitable, problems which now seem insoluble, will pass. What incredible good news is that that we know this in Christ? There is no might on this earth which will remain as long as God will, no majesty which will endure as his will."

10. "The future is not meaningless. It's not anonymous. The future is not foreboding and empty as in a yet unoccupied casket. No, the future is full, and it is bright, and it is for us, God's people."

Observation Questions

1. What is the first thing John sees when the door in heaven opens? (Revelation 4:2)

2. How does John describe the appearance of the one seated on the throne? (Revelation 4:3)

3. What distinctive features characterize the four living creatures around the throne? (Revelation 4:6-8)

4. What specific acts of worship do the twenty-four elders perform before the throne? (Revelation 4:10-11)

5. What does John initially hear about who can open the scroll, and what does he actually see when he looks? (Revelation 5:5-6)

6. How do the lyrics of worship change between the song to God the Father in Revelation 4:11 and the song to the Lamb in Revelation 5:9-10?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why do you think John uses precious stones and natural phenomena (rainbow, lightning, thunder) to describe God rather than giving a direct physical description?

2. What is the significance of the contrast between the "Lion of Judah" and the "Lamb who was slain" in describing Jesus?

3. How does the scene of heavenly worship help us understand the proper relationship between Creator and creation?

4. What does the sealed scroll represent in terms of God's sovereignty over history and human events?

5. How does this vision of heaven challenge the Roman Empire's claims to ultimate authority and worship?

Application Questions

1. When was the last time you experienced genuine awe in worship? What helped create that sense of reverence?

2. How has your understanding of suffering changed when you've viewed it through the lens of God's sovereignty?

3. Think of a current situation where you feel powerless or uncertain. How does the image of Christ as both Lion and Lamb speak to that situation?

4. In what specific ways can you demonstrate that God, not earthly powers or cultural forces, sits on the throne of your life?

5. When facing difficult circumstances, how can you practically remind yourself that "the future is not meaningless" but "full and bright" for God's people?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Isaiah 6:1-8 - Isaiah's vision of God's throne and his response to divine holiness provides another perspective on appropriate responses to God's majesty.

2. Daniel 7:9-14 - Daniel's vision of the Ancient of Days and one like a son of man shows how God's sovereignty relates to earthly kingdoms and ultimate authority.

3. Philippians 2:5-11 - Paul's description of Christ's humiliation and exaltation deepens our understanding of how the Lion became the Lamb and how God's sovereignty operates through sacrifice.

4. Hebrews 12:18-29 - The contrast between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion helps us understand how we can approach God's throne with both confidence and appropriate reverence.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Problem of Suffering and the Search for Meaning

II. The Vision of God’s Throne in Revelation (Revelation 4:1-11)

III. The Company Around the Throne

IV. The Scroll and the Lamb (Revelation 5:1-14)

V. The Sovereignty of God and the Lamb’s Redemption

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Detailed Sermon Outline

• 1. Stories of blame and self-condemnation in tragedy (e.g., a grieving mother’s guilt).
• 1. Cultural parallels in religions (Job’s friends, Hinduism, Buddhism).

• 1. Post-9/11 shift toward “good vs. evil” narratives in media and toys.
• 1. Critique of modern pluralism (e.g., Tom Friedman’s call for religious reinterpretation).

• 1. Contrast between relativism and the reality of truth (analogy of the “fundamentalist airline pilot”).
• 1. The danger of a “rudderless” existence without transcendent purpose.

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• 1. The open door in heaven and the invitation to “what must take place” (Revelation 4:1).
• 1. The centrality of the throne and the indescribable glory of God (Revelation 4:2-3).

• 1. Symbolism of precious stones and the emerald rainbow (Revelation 4:3).
• 1. The inadequacy of human grandeur compared to God’s eternal splendor.

• 1. Contrast between cultural “coolness” and the proper response to God’s holiness.
• 1. The role of awe in Christian witness and worship.

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• 1. Elders as representatives of worship (white garments, golden crowns).
• 1. The four living creatures: symbols of creation’s praise (lion, ox, man, eagle).

• 1. The creatures’ cry: “Holy, holy, holy” (Revelation 4:8).
• 1. The elders’ response: Surrendering crowns and acknowledging God’s creative authority (Revelation 4:10-11).

• 1. Rejection of Roman imperial worship (contrast with Emperor Domitian).
• 1. Assurance of God’s ultimate rule over history.

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• 1. The scroll as a symbol of divine judgment and history’s culmination (Revelation 5:1).
• 1. The search for one “worthy” to open it (Revelation 5:2-4).

• 1. The Lion of Judah revealed as the slain Lamb (Revelation 5:5-6).
• 1. The Lamb’s qualifications: Redemption through blood (Revelation 5:9-10).

• 1. The crescendo of praise from angels, elders, and all creation (Revelation 5:11-13).
• 1. The unity of creation and redemption in Christ’s sovereignty.

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• 1. God’s ultimate judgment over earthly powers (e.g., Rome, modern nations).
• 1. The Lamb’s victory as the answer to suffering and evil.

• 1. The exclusivity of Christ’s redemption (contrast with interfaith syncretism).
• 1. Invitation to repentance and faith in the Lamb’s sacrifice.

• 1. Cultivating awe and reverence in personal and corporate worship.
• 1. Hope in God’s eternal kingdom amid temporal trials.

• 1. The transient nature of earthly powers versus God’s eternal reign.
• 1. The hymn of assurance: “His kingdom is forever.”

Imagine the phone ringing so soon after the tragedy. On the other end, the friend, the Christian friend who has heard the news and who wants to help.

And then she says the words which go round again and again and again in the mind, this happened to you because of what you did.

Well, to the grieving person, the friend might just as well have wielded a sharp steel knife.

You might be surprised by how many times I've heard just such stories of one person talking to another person who's in great pain and telling them, this happened to you because of what you did.

Often that's what we tell ourselves, isn't it? I remember talking to one mother, telling me about the death of a child, agonizing over the responsibility that she felt for that child's death, she would go over the events again and again. Though there was no apparent way that she could have prevented the child's death, she couldn't help but feel that this had happened because of something she had done.

Of course, this idea is an old idea. It is not anything new. From the Old Testament book of Job, what some of Job's friends say there, to Hinduism's teaching of reincarnation, to the Buddhist idea of Dharma, we find people expressing this idea that we get what we deserve in this life.

Yet I think we all tend to react against this idea of. Of reading history and events so clearly. Sometimes providence seems utterly indecipherable to us. Indeed, sometimes attempts to decipher such a meaning seem almost to be attempts to defend what has happened. So people feel deeply confused, for example, about what to do with the results of immoral medical research carried out by the Nazis.

I mean, would using such information in some measure be a justification of the suffering that took place? Do we want such a justification?

Sometimes meaning would seem to be so cruel that we would rather avoid the idea of meaning, of order and history, of meaning and the events of our lives at all.

We are mixed on this. We desire it, and yet we are wary of it. I read an interesting article in the Washington Post a couple of weeks ago about how since September 11, even the toy industry has begun more clearly representing moral choices. Games that are popular are games that show a clear distinction between what's right and what's. And what's wrong.

A season of good versus evil, they called it. And it's quite a phenomenon, apparently. I quote the article. As many parents have tried to explain the tragedies to their children, they have often put the events in stark black and white, saying things like, the people who did this are Bad. Many children have never heard their parents talk so plainly about good people and bad people, psychologists say, because parents today often describe the world in more nuanced terms to raise tolerant and unbiased children.

That wasn't on the editorial page. That was a story in the Post a couple of weeks ago. Of course, not everyone feels comfortable with this reassertion of clear moral distinctions. Not everyone is pleased with this new lack of nuance. Tom Friedman, this past Tuesday in the New York Times, called on all religious people to reject the totalitarianism inherent in our faith, whether Christian or Jewish or Muslim, to reject the idea that only our way is right and to, quote, reinterpret their traditions, to embrace modernity and pluralism and to create space for secularism and alternative faiths.

Well, I don't know Tom Friedman, but I assume he must think that religions are sort of projections that we create in order to help us feel good about the world that we live in and cope with difficulties. I imagine he probably feels it's a bit different than, say, an airline pilot who has a choice to make about where to land his airplane. Now, for me, I want a fundamentalist airline pilot. I want one who believes in absolute runways and absolute non runways. And I want one who will settle the plane down where he should, that understands there's a clear moral ought to where he lands the airplane.

Now, I think Tom Friedman would probably want that too. What I. I think he may not have considered is that there's actually in these great world religions, as he calls them, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, an understanding that what we're saying about God, about life, is every bit as real as the concrete, concrete on the airplane Runway. So for us, we understand that, but it is not simply a way we choose to look at the world, but we understand this is actually a matter of truth. I guess this sounds safe and warm and inviting enough at first, Tom Friedman's call for omni tolerance.

But examined more closely, I think this wariness of meaning, certainly encouraged in our culture today, leaves us anonymous and unaccountable and unconstrained. And so many are left rudderless at sea, with no fixed star, lost and without hope. Because at the end of it all, life seems kind of like an onion, you know, when all the days have been peeled off, it simply ends with nothing at the core, nothing there at the center. Is there any meaning in the events of life, of history? Or are they just so many happenings with only the meaning that we invest in them?

Does the future hold an answer to this? I think that the answer is emphatically yes. What we studied last week, the man, the first century Christian named John, what he saw flatly contradicts the popular modern denial of meaning. Because what he saw at the very center of his vision and placed at the very beginning of the book that he wrote, what he saw at the very heart of the future, is a throne. And this throne radically affects how we understand our lives today, the future tomorrow.

So let's look this morning now, as we have for our studies, chapter four and five, at the book of Revelation, the revelation of Jesus Christ. You'll find Revelation at the very end of your Bible. If you pick up your Bible and just go to the very end, you're in the Book of Revelation. Well, depending on what Bible you have, you may have maps or concordances, but the last book in the Bible is Revelation, and we're in chapter four. If you're visiting, you're not used to looking at your Bibles.

That's the large numbers. When you look at there. The large numbers are the chapter numbers. The small numbers are the verse divisions inside the chapter. So when I say four, verse two, that's the large number four, and then the small number two, we're beginning at chapter four, verse one.

You'll also notice in your bulletins we provided for you that outline again of the Book of Revelation. If you missed it last week, you've got another copy this week. Pull that out and stick that in your Bible. So that might be of help to you. If you look at that outline, you'll see what we're looking at this morning.

Chapters four and five is the beginning of the great big vision that takes up the Book of Revelation as a whole. It's not the Book of Revelations, as people sometimes say. It's the Book of Revelation. There's one. And this is the vision that he has when the big vision, if you will, that runs from chapter four through chapter 22 begins.

John had his initial vision, of course, of the risen Christ that we considered last week in chapter one. Then he took down the letters to the churches in chapters two and three. And then this Revelation 4, beginning at verse one.

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. At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and carnelian, a rainbow Resembling an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones, and seated on them were 24 elders.

They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne were four living creatures. And they were covered with eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion. The second was like an ox. The third had a face like a man.

The fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, Even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever. The 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.

They lay their crowns before the throne and say, 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. Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?

But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside it. Then one of the elders said to me, do not weep. See the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.

Then I saw a lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

They sang a new song. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain and with your blood, you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God. And they will reign on the earth. Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands and ten thousands times ten thousand.

They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them singing to him who sits on the throne, into the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever. The four living creatures said amen, and the elders fell down and worshipped.

Well, I am sorely tempted just to keep reading the book of Revelation to you. I mean, this is just an amazing vision that God gives us. But this morning we want to look at just these two chapters and we want to note four things in particular, if you are taking notes, these are the four things we are going to note, especially the throne, the company around the throne, the scroll, and then the Lamb. The throne, the company around the throne, the scroll, and then the Lamb. And as we study this together this morning, I pray that you will see that you stand related to the future as you stand related to its sovereign.

Let's go back to chapter four, verse one.

We rejoin John, the seer of the vision, here. He says, after this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And a 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, John sees a door open very similar to what the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, I think, had experienced in his visions. The voice which had spoken to him before, you remember, in the first chapter, Jesus voice, and it goes on and dictates these letters in chapters two and three, which had told them to write all these things down.

Well, he now invites John to come and to see what he says must take place. After this, he invites John up through the door, as it were, into heaven itself. I mean, surely only from heaven can we get such a perspective as we see here verse 2. At once I was in the spirit, and. And there before me was a throne.

So he says, I was in the spirit. I think that that can let us know he didn't leave the isle of Patmos. He was still on this exile, as an exile on this island. But he says in the Spirit. I was in the spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.

And the one who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and carnelian. A rainbow resembling an emerald encircled the throne. So right at the beginning of the main section of this book, this book lives up to its name, the Revelation, the revealing of what is hidden. We readers are invited up into heaven to see a scene which is normally veiled, normally hidden from us in this life. And this scene really sets the stage for the rest of this book.

So if you want to understand the Book of Revelation, if you've heard stories about how difficult it is to understand, it really isn't in some ways. And I think the key are these two chapters in understanding this vision. Okay, what does John see? The first thing he sees is a throne. And who is on the throne?

Well, of course we know who this is. As it says down in verse eight, the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. This is the kind of vision that we see elsewhere in the Bible. In the Old Testament prophets. For example, Micaiah at One point in First Kings 22 tells of a vision he had in which he saw the Lord sitting on the throne with all the host of heaven standing around him, on his right and on his left.

I think too of Psalm 99. The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble. He sits enthroned between the cherubim. Let the earth shake. Great is the Lord in Zion, he is exalted over all the nations.

Let them praise your great and awesome name. He is holy. So. So just as the psalmists and prophets had visions of God on his throne, so John's vision begins here as a vision of God on his throne. The entire vision of heaven which John had begins with God.

And I don't know about you, but when I read this, it seems like John is struggling to express this in words. If you look at the way he writes about it, he seems to have trouble finding words to describe the splendor of what he sees here. Interesting. There's no direct description of God. You would think if he sees God, surely he's going to write down something.

But no. In this vision, it seems like either he didn't quite see or it's just so glorious there's no way words can describe. Instead, his description is filled with a kind of description of radiant, precious jewels, which we'll see again at the end of the book as the heavenly city is described. Look at verse three. And the one who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and carnelian.

A rainbow resembling an emerald encircled the throne. Now, we need to understand that this was not the dim twinkle of some gaudy Christmas decorations. All right? I was at a mall not too long ago and I saw all the Christmas decorations up and I had been reading this vision, meditating on it, and the contrast was sharp in my mind. What John saw was not even the most beautifully decorated home that we'll have during this holiday season.

And so no direct description of God is given here that's going to be adequate. Even our best attempts at magnificence would look tawdry compared to God's very real glory. You remember that statement of John Wesley's that I have shared with you so many times now, you should have memorized it. Do you remember what it is? I was in the robe chamber adjoining to the House of Lords when the King put on his robes.

His brow was much furrowed with age and quite clouded with care. And is this all the world can give, even to a king, all the grandeur it can afford? A blanket of ermine around his shoulders, so heavy and cumbersome he can scarce move under it a huge heap of borrowed hair with a few plates of gold and glittering stones upon his head. Alas, what a bauble is human greatness. And even this will not endure.

But friends, here in John's vision we see no passing human mock grandeur. Rather we see a rainbow of light surrounding the one on the throne, a diamond like brilliance pervading the whole scene, resplendent, as Paul says elsewhere, dwelling in unapproachable light. This is the glorious God who is at the center of the universe. Now, if you are here this morning, as a non Christian, there are no places in the Bible I could tell you that would be clearer than this for giving in short compass, a picture of God. He is utterly holy and pure.

He is the one who has created all things and sustains all things. This is God. This is what he's like. At one point, you know, in the children's classic the Little Prince, you find these couple of sentences, it is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.

Oh, when I read this, I just can't help but think that our world needs a little bit more humility towards the invisible, doesn't it?

In this picture, what we see in this glorious vision. This vision granted John here followed the glorious vision he had as we studied in chapter one of the Vision of the Risen Christ. And here, as we had noted in the first chapter, we see that awe and reverence marked John as he was in the presence of the risen Christ, as he's in the presence of God. Surely this should mark our assemblies as we gather together for the praise of God. I mean, who can imagine the reverence that John must have felt here in this chattering age?

What gives us a sense of awe to the point of making us silent?

What takes our breath away and leaves us speechless? This is how John felt. This should be the response that we should try to cultivate in our own hearts and lives to this God. That should be true of us as individuals and of us as a church. It's appropriate that we are overwhelmed, awed, brought to silence in our contemplation of our great God.

And, oh, friends, how important is this kind of amazement in our culture today? Today we're used to being amused and entertained and pitched and marketed and enthralled and excited, even at church. But we are not used to being odd. In fact, I wonder if you've noticed how our culture encourages us never to be obviously impressed. Exactly.

What it means to be cool is to never look obviously impressed, to be nonplussed by everything. Oh, it's the president, huh? You see, that shows you're mature. You're with it. You're something.

We should not cultivate that as Christians. It is a glory to be modest and humble and impressed. There is a simple, innocent awe that should rightly mark the creature when contemplating the Creator. And we should not do anything to undermine that or discourage it. Brothers and sisters, part of our witness to this world should be our evident awe that we have in our Creator, that we realize that he is not like us, that we are in the presence of one so much greater than we are.

This is part of the witness that we bear. So a radical centeredness on God should mark our times together as a church. He is the center of our lives together. He is the center of the future, and he should be the center of our present. Now, that's what we see in this vision of the one on the throne.

Let's move on now in the second part to what John found around the throne. Look at verse 4.

Surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones, and seated on them were 24 elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.

Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as Crystal in the center, around the throne were four living creatures and they were covered with eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion. The second was like an ox. The third had a face like a man. The fourth was like a flying eagle.

Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night, they never stop saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say, 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.

So John goes on in this vision and he describes the rainbow encircling the throne, the elders surrounding the throne, the thunder and lightning coming from the throne, the lamps before the throne, and the four living creatures around the throne. Some have suggested that this rainbow was to remind John of the mercy of God. ECHOING Remember the covenant of mercy that God made with Noah and his descendants and marked by a rainbow throughout the book, the main business of the elders that we meet seems to be falling down in the worship of God. This is what they're always doing. Their whole business seems to be the utter praise of God.

These holy ones spend themselves in perfect priestly duty, worshiping the king forever. Thunder and lightning is what John uses to describe the awesome power and majesty of God, just like what God's people in the Old Testament had experienced at the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. The lamps before the throne are either some other angelic servants of God or else, as the NIV's marginal reading suggests, they could be a picture of the full presence of the Holy Spirit of God. All of this vision John describes as being reflected again, you notice by kind of what looks like a shiny floor there. In verse six, before the throne, there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

Now, we all know the way to lighten up a dark room is by a strategically placed mirror. Right, that just kind of helps. But, you know, you would hardly think of this scene needing to be lighted up. Isn't that a bit like gilding a lily? And why would you do that?

Well, I think we have to understand that all these images here, one sort of piled on top of the other, are to show us the superlative nature of this sovereign. This is the throne room to end all throne rooms, because this is the king to end all kings. That's what's going on. Again, all of this is very similar to the vision of God you see in Ezekiel, chapter one. You might want to read that this afternoon.

Short, just one chapter. Ezekiel, chapter one. The four living creatures mentioned here in verses six and seven sound like a cross between the cherubim there in Ezekiel that are described and the seraphim that are in Isaiah's vision. But the impression left is the same. Even these magnificent beings lives are entirely given over to the service and worship of God.

But remember the warning that I gave last week about being distracted by the details? Do you remember that what we said about the right hand of Jesus back in chapter one, verse 17, John says, he placed his right hand on me. And then I said, but wait, what did we see just in the previous verse about Jesus? Right hand? He was holding seven stars.

So then what. What did Jesus do with the seven stars? Did he lay them down and then put his hand on John? That's. That's not the point of the vision.

You're not supposed to read the details like that. This is vision after vision. On top, there's symbols that John saw when he was in the spirit to communicate something particular. You see this again here, I'll keep driving this home through the book of Revelation. I think it'll help you understand it.

If you look at verses 8 and 9, see verse 8, you have this continual, unceasing worship, right? Never stop saying, but in verse nine, it's every time the creatures do this, the elders do this, they fall down and throw their crowns. Well, it seems like the four living creatures are always doing that. Well, so then the elders are always falling down and throwing their crowns. Then what do the living creatures stop for a moment while the elders go and get their crowns, put them back on and sit back up?

Not trying to make fun of God's word or a vision, but I'm trying to help you understand that. You don't read this vision like it's a videotape. These are images. They are to communicate particular truths about God. So God's worship is unceasing.

He is forever worthy of worship. That's what verse eight is telling us. And verses nine and ten are telling us he is so worthy of worship that you cannot imagine a creature, even this. The elders, that is the leaders in heaven itself, who do not doff their own caps, if you will surrender their own sovereignty in his Presence. So two different points are being made by the symbols in this vision in verses 8 and then 9 and 10.

So the point again of these descriptions is not so that you won't be embarrassed when you begin circulating someday in the heavenly menagerie. You know, it's not so that you're going to recognize, oh, an archangel, as opposed to a four living creature. That's not what it's about. Or so that the next time you teach Sunday school, you can help the kids know how to draw them. That is not what this vision is about.

This vision, well, what's the point? The focus is all about God himself. He is the focus. And so we read at the beginning, in verse eight, day and night, they never stop saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Who, whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.

It's almost as if to draw attention away from themselves and back to God, they lay their crowns before the throne. They acknowledge that all they have and are comes from God. And they 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. They acknowledge God as the source, and therefore as the sovereign over all the world, including their angelic, magnificent selves. He is the sovereign.

He is what the Book of Revelation is about. The Book of Revelation is about God. That's the center of it. Now, all this, of course, was vitally important to John and to the Christians that he was writing to. You see these words here that you see repeated like in 4:11, you are worthy.

These words were the words which greeted the emperor in triumphal procession. And Domitian, who we think was the emperor at the time, we know he's the emperor. We think that's when this vision happened. Domitian encouraged the use of this phrase, our Lord and God about himself in their worship of him. Domitian as emperor.

So in the time when the whole civilized world was giving homage to a mere human emperor, John's vision reminded these early believers that the God that they worshiped wasn't just the Lord of their individual hearts, while the Roman emperor ruled everything else. No, all creation pays homage to its true sovereign, the Lord God Almighty, who, unlike the emperor Domitian, was and is and is to come. So just when circumstances, perhaps had beaten him down to a kind of practical hopelessness. This vision that God gives to John was a vision of God's greatness. And such a vision would certainly breathe hope into withering believers whose hopes had begun to falter.

The Lord of their lives was indeed the sovereign Lord of history. God, not Rome, is sovereign. That's what this vision is about. As Christians, we understand that all of creation is by creation, that is by design, rightly and necessarily centered around God. And it should be so.

We have no objection to make about this vision. We don't want equal time for competing deities, for upstart angels who make it seem as if, no, they should be the focus of our worship. We don't want competing time for ourselves, as if we should be recognized as the proper center of the universe. No, we understand that it is proper and right and correct and helpful and good for God to be at the center of all that he has made, as it is for the sun to be at the center of our solar system. The moon couldn't do it.

The earth couldn't do the task. Only the sun could be the center of this solar system so far. More importantly, only God can properly be the center of history. So it's a good thing when our culture recognizes that we are made with a purpose, that there is a design. So it was a good thing when a few days ago, Jonathan Wells of the Discovery Institute and Stephen Columbia professor of biology at Harvard, had a discussion before 400 people at the Kennedy School of Government about the design inherent in the world.

That is a good thing. If we recognize the coherence of the world, we will be both closer to seeing it as creation and to seeing God as its creator. That is a good thing. But all this was not at all veiled from John here. I mean John, even as he had fallen down to worship the risen Christ before, so here all of creation is falling down, clearly acknowledging the Creator.

We need to see this. It is important for us to realize that all creation serves God to remember that this world is not a speeding car out of control. It's not an inevitable process of the working out of chemical reactions. It's not one random throw of the dice after another. That is not this world.

No, God himself personally rules this world. God sovereignly created this world and he sovereignly administers it. He sovereignly saves, and he sovereignly dispenses judgment. No one compels him to do anything. While there are things that we may not understand about the will that God has given us, about the choices that we know that we have about.

About the responsibility which those bring to us. We don't just hope that fate will bring us this or that. No, we pray as Christians. We pray to this God, to a God who can answer. And when we worship, we worship this same one whom John saw here, the God who reigns over the universe, over everything that he has created.

Now, as we let this biblical view of God invade our minds and hearts, our I think we'll find that our respect for God increases, our reverence for him and awe of him grows. Our understanding of his word improves, things make more sense. We realize all the more the only way that we can ever come to know him is by his grace. As we consider this throne with which John's vision begins, we are humbled, we're reassured, we're comforted. Were more able to trust him, just like the apostle Paul did with that thorn in his flesh.

Remember, Paul wanted that removed. He didn't know how this could be the sovereign God's will. This hurts him in some way. And yet. And yet he knew God better than he knew his pain.

And he could therefore trust God even with his pain. Friends, as we come to know God more, as we come to know him better, we'll find that trust also growing in us. We find ourselves wanting to join in with these heavenly creatures to praise the great God. We're given hope and peace. And so when we gather together, we do and should give ourselves to the singing of the praises of this great God, as we've already done this morning.

And still in another sense, of course, when we begin saying that while we're still in this fallen world, our restless hearts stir and we so often get ourselves into the kind of problems that I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon. Problems like how can this sovereign God allow some of the things that go on in our world. Thousands killed in a sudden tragedy. Religious conflicts, terrorism, war, natural disasters, even the personal quiet despair that ends in suicide. How can God allow all of these things to go on in history?

Well, that's where the other half of our section becomes important. As we move on to the third point, look at what we find in the next chapter, Chapter five.

Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.

If you took my advice and read over the whole book of Revelation this week, as I encourage you to do, even in one sitting, would take you 40 minutes, maybe 45, you'll have seen that the effects of these seals being broken in the chapters after this 1, 6, 7, 8, 9. It shows what was in the scroll. It becomes clear that this scroll, located in such a prominent place, is the book in which history, including all the coming history of God's judgments on the world, is contained. That's what this scroll is. In this scroll are contained the decrees of the sovereign, sealed up until the appointed time, the right time for them to be unfurled and to come to pass.

By recording that John was reminding his readers here that the final word would not be had by some stylus pushing official in Ephesus who could have John shipped off to prison or some other earthly decrees which could compel Christians to undergo punishment and suffering unless they would agree to worship the Roman emperor. No, the final word would be issued not from the Emperor of Rome, however things might appear now, but. But from the throne in heaven. That's what was being made clear by this scroll, as we'll see next week, Lord willing, as we continue our study. In John's vision, judgment on all who oppose this sovereign God will come.

Verse 2. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll. So the angel calls for someone to break the seals and open the scroll. Not someone powerful. You'll, you'll note he doesn't say someone powerful, but what does he say there?

He says someone worthy, someone who had the appropriate authority. Like the story of the as yet unrevealed King Arthur drawing Excalibur his sword from the rock. Arthur did not extract that sword because he was the strongest, but because of his identity, because of who he was. That's the point that's being made here about the opening of the scroll. One must be found who is worthy.

Well, who came forth. It's kind of like one of those questions I ask at the wedding, isn't there? Isn't it? You know, is there anyone present who can give reason why they should not be, they should not be joined in marriage? And who came forth here?

No one. That's what we read in verse three. But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. And so look at John's reaction. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.

It's as if his vision of the future was about to end before it even began. John recognizes the significance of the scroll. It's as I've said, the plan of God, his will for. For history. And John weeps and Weeps not just because he.

He longs to know God's plan for the future, though he does, but because he longs for God's purposes to go on and to be accomplished. So when they seem about to abort, he weeps. But he's stopped by this elder who John recounts in verse five, said to me, do not weep. See, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.

So it will be done, we find out, and by a mighty lion who has triumphed. Now that's a symbol we're used to. We like that. That's kind of the thing we would expect a lion. C.S.

lewis, you remember, uses to great effect the lion Aslan in his books, the Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan is, throughout, a most noble character, even awe inspiring Lions have always been like that. That's why they're used as national symbols by everybody from Ethiopia to England. And so we're hardly surprised here when we find that the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals as the one who has triumphed.

He is the one who is able to show the ultimate victory of God and the defeat of his foes.

Friend, perhaps you're one of those here this morning who thinks that you are, as the English poet W. Henley famously put it, the master of your fate. But if so, this vision clearly contradicts your belief. There is someone higher, someone else to whom you will one day give an account, to whom you will one day answer. History is controlled by this great one.

As we read in Acts 17, God made every nation of men and he determined the time set for them and the exact places where they should live. The final word in history will come from God and from, as we see here, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who is able to bring to pass the will of God inscribed on this scroll of history. Everything in this vision serves to reinforce in the mind of the believer that God is the final arbiter, that he is sovereign indeed. God has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.

He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead. And that man is the Lord Jesus Christ. So friends, here at this church, we recognize that all of history will be summed up and judged by the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore we seek to understand our faith and all our life through Christ we Work to know God's word and to understand its implications. So in everything from the book stall over there to the sermons that I preach here, from the Wednesday night Bible studies to the Henry forums that we have, we try to understand our whole world according to God's word and so bring glory to him as we discover more and more of his truth about himself, about the world that he's created, and about his recreation of us in Christ.

This one, this lion of Judah, is uniquely the Lord of history. He alone can open the scroll.

Now remember that John is looking for a mighty lion to come forth to open the scroll. Okay? John's never read the book of Revelation before. He's there in that vision, and an elder has told him this one in authority has told him that the lion of Judah, this mighty lion will come and open the scroll. That's what he's heard with his ears, right?

Now you look at verse six.

Imagine John's astonishment when he looks to see like in the first chapter, he heard the great voice and then he turned around to see and he saw the risen Christ. Now he's heard that the lion of Judah will come to open the scroll. Now he turns around and what does he see? He sees not a lion. But John says in verse six, a lamb, looking as if it had been slain.

It is the Lamb, of course, who triumphed by sacrificing himself, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And now the Lamb of God, he who was led like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers, is silent, so he did not open his mouth. It is this lamb who is about to reveal the final judgment of God upon the sin of the world. But this Lamb, though slain, is standing upright, having seven horns and seven eyes, I think, again a symbol for perfect power. Horns and perfect wisdom or knowledge.

The eyes perfect then to be a judge and to carry out and execute the judgments. This lamb who was slain but is now living is clearly Christ, who spoke to John back in chapter one and verse 18 and identified himself as the living one. I was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. I was dead.

I am alive. The Lamb who was slain. And look at where he is standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. Look at verse seven. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

So the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down, prostrated before the Lamb. Now that is amazing. These angelic beings who are so Careful throughout this book of Revelation to reject John's worship when it's offered to them. You remember we saw that last week in chapter 22, when John mistakenly started to worship an angel. He said, stop.

I'm a creature like you. Don't do that. You reserve your worship for God alone. Here. These angelic beings who are so careful here, they prostrate themselves in worship before the Lamb.

Each one had a harp. They were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Isn't that beautiful? Golden bowls. I mean, these prayers that you know were just despised and thought to be worthless by the oppressors.

These. These prayers are seen as precious incense to God. Friend, if you're ever involved in prayer or prayer meeting, you think that's a waste of time. I gotta go. You're making precious incense to God.

Verse 9. And they sang a new song. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. So it's very interesting. Even as God was praised for creation in chapter four, so the Lamb is praised for the great work of recreation, of redemption.

Here in chapter five, you see that balance of praise for creation, chapter four, for recreational redemption in chapter five, verse ten, you have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands and 10,000 times 10,000. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. Note how similar this praise is to the praise given to God in the last chapter.

If you're looking at the niv, they're set off as poetry. You can easily look back and forth and compare them in chapter 4, verse 11, and then look back at chapter 5, verse 9. They both begin with this description of praise. You are worthy. But of course, it's not to Domitian.

No, it's to God. And now here it's to the Lamb. And then look at the specifics that the heavenly host praised the Lamb as being worthy of. Here in chapter 5, verse 12, worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. Now again, look back over to verse nine of chapter four.

There they'd say that God was worthy to receive glory and honor and power. They grounded God's praise in his work of redemption. They've grounded the praise of the Lamb in his work of creation for God. They've grounded the praise of the Lamb in his work of redemption. And so then we shouldn't be surprised when John recounts his vision combining their praise in verse 13.

Then I heard every creature in heaven and earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them singing to him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever. The four living creatures said amen and the elders fell down and worshiped. Just humor me here and let's all say amen. Amen. There's one more time.

Amen. That's just a great vision. It's a wonderful climactic vision. In the Bible. This praise begins with the 4, and then the 24, and then the thousands and thousands, and then 10 thousands upon 10 thousands.

And this ripple of praise from the beginning of the circle continues to grow until it becomes this great universal wave of praise from every creature in heaven and earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them. And so what we have here is really the coronation of the Lamb as the true sovereign of history. Now, did this happen at a certain point in time? Well, that's not really the point. The point is a revelation of who Jesus is because of what he's done, because of his obedience to the will of the Father and giving himself on Calvary's cross to purchase men from every tribe and nation and people and language.

Because he has done that. He is this one, and he is this one. And because he is this one, he did that. So we join in this worldwide chorus of praise when we sing our praises to Christ. Now, not everything in the Bible is crescendo.

And I do tire of Christian meetings where absolutely everything has the big ending. You know, the Bible's not like that. Most of the things in the Bible aren't like that. Most of them are stories of humble obedience, of perseverance, of continuing hope. But sometimes in the Bible you do have the great climaxes and crescendos and friends, this is one of them.

This is the time when you do see this wonderful glorious truth become evident to all and finally denied by none. Those reading John's account of his vision are reminded that this God, though he is the all powerful creator, the sovereign ruler, the final judge of the world, this great God is also the Lamb of God who was slain and by whose blood people were purchased for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. The sovereign was slain for his people. As it says in Acts 20:28, God bought the church with his own blood.

That's an astounding thought. We will celebrate it tonight, Lord willing, as we obey Christ's command and gather as a church, celebrate the Lord's Supper together. That's why together as a church, we gather to proclaim the Lord's death till the very time when he returns. Some of you noticed that I was quoted last week in the post about opposing interfaith services, or at least not wanting to participate in them myself. And particularly they took one line in which I denied that the God the Muslims worship is the God, the true God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you'd like to know more about this, we're planning to have a Henry forum on this with Timothy George coming to address just this question in February. Anyway, it was a long, polite, intelligent email from an active Muslim in Quebec. I did a Google search on his name and found him turning up in lots of places in Muslim websites. He obviously writes to people a lot about things like this. He argues somewhat carefully and somewhat strangely from the shared history in the Old Testament, to even the shared etymology of the Hebrew word and the Arabic word, to the shared some shared attributes that the God of Muhammad is the God of Jesus.

And yet even in his very attempt to in a kind way ingratiate himself to me as a Christian, he is praising Christ. And this email is full of praise for Christ, his reassurances of how exalted a position they understand Jesus to have as the Messiah. In his very statements about Christ, he falls far short of the scene that we have here. In the book of Revelation, the Lamb was slain, which they deny. And this Lamb was worshipped by these heavenly beings as God Himself, which they deny.

Friends, if the clearest presentation, the fullest revelation of God we have is in his becoming incarnate in Christ, how can anyone who rejects that clearest presentation say that we worship the same God? I'm not ignorant of the shared etymology of the word. I'm not ignorant of the shared history of the religions I'm talking about today, the God that we worship. If you hold up an old picture, you know, two people may both look at that picture and go, oh yeah, I know who that is. But then when the person pictured walks through the door, one person goes, yeah, that's exactly who I thought it was.

And the other one says, you know, I must have been mistaken. I was thinking of somebody else. Closer examination, greater accuracy, eliminates the false Unity based upon ambiguity. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Moses and David, has turned up in Christ and there is no mistaking him for another. So again to be clear, why was the Lamb slain?

The Lamb was slain to obtain our redemption from sin on the cross. Christ died in our place as our substitute, taking God's righteous punishment for our sin. We sometimes are called to follow Christ even to death. I mean, didn't Jesus say himself to his disciples, call them to take up their cross and follow him? And that was not going and buying a piece of jewelry.

The cross was an odious symbol that was being willing to die and die that. A public and painful and shameful death. So he did that. But our death, when you and I die a death as a Christian, should we be called to that? Our death is not substitutionary like Christ's was.

Rather, our death comes because following the truth in a world filled with hateful lies will sometimes get you killed. But the difference between such Christian ideas of martyrdom and those perverted notions we see in medieval crusaders or whirling dervish assassins or kamikaze pilots or Muslims involved in jihad is we don't understand that we are martyrs in the process of taking other people's lives, but rather in giving our own lives so they might have the good news about the Lamb of God, the Lamb who was slain so that they might be redeemed and purchased out of their bondage to sin and given new life and forgiveness for their sins in Christ. That's what we understand dying for our religion, martyrdom to be. Of course, you know, even the unbeliever cries why when some things happen, as if there's somebody there to answer that question. As if it's just natural to every human being that takes breath that there's some reason why things happen.

The intuition lies deep within us that there is meaning in the events of our lives. If you're here this morning as a non Christian, or at least as an uncertain person, notice that the God on the throne is the Lamb. He is not fate. He is not the removed watchmaker of the Deists. He is not the uncertain God of some people around the world who don't know whether or not he will be merciful.

In their case, this sovereign God is the Lamb who was slain. You remember the poem which Ed Edward Shillitoe wrote, which addresses Jesus of the scars? The other gods were strong, but thou wast weak. They rode, but thou didst stumble to a throne. But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak and not a God has wounds, but thou alone, brothers and sisters, we do not have a God, as the writer to the Hebrews says, who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.

But we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. He has quite literally given himself for everyone who will ever come to turn and trust themselves to him. And so you and I can trust. We can trust, just like a child can trust a parent.

Not because they understand everything the parent is doing, but because. But because they know them. They see what their character is like and they can trust them.

This vision then reveals that the sovereign, all powerful God who rules the universe is the one who has given himself for us. He lacks neither the good will nor the mighty power to accomplish for his people all that we need. Now, these early Christians clearly needed to know this. You remember, John himself was an aged exile on a rocky island in the Aegean. There are many indications throughout this book that the Christians he was writing to were suffering then for trying to live as Christians.

If you read those letters to the seven churches in chapter two and three, you find in one place even that one member of that church had already died for the testimony of Jesus. It says back in chapter two, verse 13, friends, it's one thing to have to cope with suffering, any suffering at all, but to have to cope with suffering, particularly for your faith. This is a special trial. Christians have had to do this throughout the history of the world. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are having to do it around this world today, in many places.

How would we cope with that again today? Here, Richard Sibbes, the great Puritan preacher, picked up the confusion of allegiances that there often are in this life. He used the image of great households coming together. You know, when Earl so and so would go to visit the Duke of this or that, and he would go to his great manor with all of his servants, and he would bring all of his servants. They would be mingled together during the days or weeks of their visits.

But then when they would leave, he illustrates, he says, when two masters are parted, their servants will be known whom they serve by following their own master. Blessed be God. In these times we enjoy both religion and the world together. But if times of suffering should approach, then it would be known whose servants we are. Consider therefore beforehand what thou wouldst do if trouble and persecution should arise.

Wouldst thou stand up for Christ and set Light by liberty, riches, credit, all in comparison of him. If Christ and the world part once, it will be known which we followed in John's day, Christ and the world were clearly parting. And it may be so in our own day as well.

Well, what a vision of God John gives us here he gave these churches. What a vision God gives us of himself in this book, as the great hymn says. What more can he say than to you? He hath said it's a tremendous vision. Just a word of challenge to those of you who are still alienated from God.

Let me ask you, what more are you waiting for this morning before you would trust in Him? Can you articulate what it is you want to know or feel or sense or understand that you do not yet know or sense or feel or understand? What more can he say than to you? He said here Christ alone can unlock the secrets of history. And ultimately Christ alone can explain the confusion in your own life.

Trust in Christ to save you. Pray in Christ's name to God, asking for forgiveness of your sins, repent of your sins. Believe the good news about the Lamb who was slain for our sins, about the Lord Jesus Christ.

A word of comfort to those who have already re established their relationships with God. God is on his throne. I hope you carry that away with you today. Where are the emperors of Rome who reigned and who themselves demanded that they be worshiped? Even on pain of death?

Their sovereignty remains no more than that of the Egyptian pharaohs or Babylonian emperors before them, no more than that of the Fuhrers of the Third Reich or the general secretaries of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. No more than the thrones and great offices of nations around the world today will remain forever. None of those authorities is eternal because they are not the ultimate sovereigns of this world. God is. He rules from his throne.

Forces which now seem inevitable, problems which now seem insoluble, will pass. What incredible good news is that that we know this in Christ? There is no might on this earth which will remain as long as God will, no majesty which will endure as his will. As Martin Luther wrote, the Prince of Darkness grim we tremble not for him the body they may kill. God's truth abideth still.

His kingdom is forever. So God is on his throne. Infinite justice will never be brought about by the American military, regardless of how selflessly and valiantly they fight. It is beyond their power, but ultimate justice will certainly be brought about. But it will be brought about by God.

This God, the God who is on the throne and the God who has revealed himself as the Lamb. John has many other things to tell us about what the future holds. But. But he wants us to get this clear right from the beginning. At the beginning, at the center of it all, is the throne.

The throne of God. His people are not held in the hand of Caesar, but rather, as we saw in chapter one, in the hand of him who bought them with his blood. And if you're one of God's people this morning, trusting in the Lamb who was slain, you can know that this God is for us. And so the future is not meaningless. It's not anonymous.

The future is not foreboding and empty as in a yet unoccupied casket. No, the future is full, and it is bright, and it is for us, God's people. Amen. Let's pray together.