Skip to content Alpha/Omega - Revelation: Worship in Heaven Feb 21 · 55 min ...more
Alpha/Omega - Revelation: Worship in Heaven
February 21, 2021 · 55 min
This chapter is simply a preview of what is to come in our worship. Many times, we become cavalier in our worship and need to be reminded of its importance in our daily lives as we prepare to meet the Lord. A study in Revelation 4 causes us to be overwhelmed by God and His character as we prepare to meet Him. Regardless of how we view God, our view certainly is not big enough. As you listen to this week's message, meditate on God's Word and review the questions, may God grant you a greater desire to worship Him. Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
Series BRAVE Church February 21, 2021 · 55 min · BRAVE Church
This chapter is simply a preview of what is to come in our worship. Many times, we become cavalier in our worship and need to be reminded of its importance in our daily lives as we prepare to meet the Lord. A study in Revelation 4 causes us to be overwhelmed by God and His character as we prepare to meet Him. Regardless of how we view God, our view certainly is not big enough. As you listen to this week's message, meditate on God's Word and review the questions, may God grant you a greater desire to worship Him. Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub ...more Show the full description Show less This chapter is simply a preview of what is to come in our worship. Many times, we become cavalier in our worship and need to be reminded of its importance in our daily lives as we prepare to meet the Lord. A study in Revelation 4 causes us to be overwhelmed by God and His character as we prepare to meet Him. Regardless of how we view God, our view certainly is not big enough. As you listen to this week's message, meditate on God's Word and review the questions, may God grant you a greater desire to worship Him. Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
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0:00 Lord Jesus, thank you so much for who you are. Lord, we love getting the privilege of worshiping you. Thanks for that invitation. And, Lord, we pray today as we hear your word proclaimed, Lord, that you'd be helpful0:12 to me, that I would be clear on what you once said, and, Lord, that you would do a work in each 1 of our hearts. And so, Lord, we're asking you to speak directly to us, so that we can hear you, and then, by0:24 faith, put into practice the very things that you show us to do. And so, Lord, for what you're going to accomplish, we're all gathered here today, and for all that wanna hear the Lord and respond to him the way0:36 that he would want you to respond, would you agree with me this morning by very loudly saying the word, amen. Amen. A preview is a glimpse of the0:47 real thing. Advertisers spend millions of dollars giving previews so that they can give you a glimpse of what the real thing is going to look like. We see it when it comes to movies. They have movie0:59 previews. They give you just enough to whet your appetite so that you'll sit there and say, I I gotta go experience the real thing. Advertisers are great when it comes to sporting events. They'll advertise it in such a1:10 way saying, you don't want to miss this. This is gonna be 1 of the greatest games of all time. And, they give you just enough to whet your appetite so that you want to come and experience even more. That's what1:21 advertisers do a great job at. And when there's a preview of what's to come, the purpose of the preview is to get you excited or wanting to be a part of what you see. Spiritually, this is1:33 true as well. As we're studying the book of Revelation, for many people and for many commentators when it comes to the book of Revelation, many people wanna start in Revelation 6 and following to talk about how's this
1:44 all gonna unfold, who's the antichrist, and what's the mark of the beast, and what's the time and space for all these different things, and we'll get to that. But what I find interesting is when we read about the book of
1:53 Revelation, that the Revelation is the unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the first thing, the first 1 we see unveiled is Jesus Christ in all of his glory. And then we see what Jesus Christ loves. We took a look at
2:05 7 different churches that Jesus Christ loves and wants to be a part of. And now what we're gonna take a look at in Revelation chapter 4 and 5, which in my opinion are the most underrated chapters of this entire
2:17 book, is on the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven, and what worship looks like, what the components of worship are, and what they should be. When we study the word of God,
2:29 studying the word of God, studying theology is very different than any other academic enterprise that we engage in. If you wanna study biology, you make observations, scientific observations. You make a study, you look
2:40 at things, you say, yep, that's what that means. If you study geology, you look at rocks, and you say, okay, this is what we understand to be true about rocks. But when you study the person and work of the Lord Jesus
2:51 Christ, you're studying theology, theos, God, the study of God, it's different. We're not studying God and making assessments about him. We're opening his word and letting him reveal who he is, make
3:03 assessments about us, and then that should cause us to respond to him in a way that declares that he's worthy of our worship. So every time we gather and hear the word of God proclaimed, or every time you're studying the
3:14 word of God, or you're reading the word of God, if we're doing it properly, it should emote a response in us of our worship directed at God. And so today, what we're
3:26 gonna do is take a look at what worship in heaven looks like. It's a preview. It's not the whole thing. God couldn't give us the whole thing. There wouldn't be enough books that he could write to tell us everything
3:36 that's going on in heaven, He's gonna give us a glimpse or a preview of what worship is going to be like when you arrive. It's so fascinating because for me, many times when I'm studying God's word during the week and
3:47 I'm getting ready to proclaim it, there's several times where I either feel chastened by the Lord or need to repent of things, or I'm overwhelmed by the Lord or think this is really good or the Lord shows me love. As I'm
3:57 studying Revelation 4 and 5, here's the feeling I consistently am getting. I'm overwhelmed. I'm overwhelmed at the God that I serve and realize whatever view of God I have is just simply not
4:09 big enough. And so, as I got ready to preach this week, part of me was just like, I think I'm just gonna stand up and read Revelation 4 and say, that's it, and go back and sit down because I don't know that I can add a
4:20 lot more than what I'm reading in this text because it's so overwhelming and so incredible as our who our God is. And so we could do this with any scripture that we read here, but because of the nature of what we're
4:30 reading today, gonna invite you to stand as I read Revelation chapter 4. And as I read that, I want you to look for the components of what you see in this worship. I want you to picture what it would be like if you were
4:41 invited up to the throne room of God and then how you might respond to him. In Revelation chapter 4 starting in verse 1, here's what the apostle John writes to us. After these
4:53 things, I looked and behold, a door standing open in heaven And the first voice which I heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these
5:04 things. Immediately, I was in the spirit, and behold, a throne was standing in heaven and 1 sitting on the throne. And he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardis in appearance, and there
5:16 was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance. Around the throne were 24 elders, and upon the thrones, I saw 24 elders sitting, clothed in white garments and golden
5:27 crowns on their heads. Out from the throne came flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder, and there were 7 lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the 7 spirits of
5:39 God. And before the throne, there was something like a sea of glass, crystal. And in the center and around the throne, 4 living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first creature was like a
5:51 lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the 4 creatures, each 1 of them having 6 wings, are full of
6:03 eyes around and within, and day and night, they do not cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty who was and who is and who is to come. And when the living
6:15 creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, The 24 elders will fall down before him who sits on the throne, and he will worship him who lives forever
6:27 and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne saying, worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all
6:39 things, and because of your will, they existed and were created. Amen and amen. You may be seated. This picture that we get from the apostle John is clearly from the Holy Spirit because
6:51 none of us could make this stuff up. We wouldn't see this. This is not what we would picture in our own mind. And really, we're gonna talk about the components of worship here in chapter 4. We're gonna talk about 4
7:01 specific components of worship that God designed for worship to be. And the first is this, God designed worship to be paramount. God designed worship to be
7:13 paramount. Paramount means chief in importance or impact. It means supreme or preeminent. It means worship is central to everything that's going on in the throne room of God. Notice
7:25 what happens in verse 4. He says, after these things, I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, come up here and I will
7:36 show you what must take place after these things. Now, we see this word twice. These words, after these things, after these things. If you wanna hold your finger there and flip back to Revelation chapter 1 and verse 19,
7:46 you really see the outline for the entire book of Revelation. He is told, therefore, write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after
7:58 these things. He's told to write down what you see. What he saw was a vision of the resurrected Christ in all of his glory. Then he was asked to write down what you see, which was what God is doing in the church. Then
8:10 you see him write down after these things. I take this text as from Revelation 4 onward as future. This is a picture of what is going to happen. This is a picture that's going to
8:21 take place after God is finished with the things that he's currently doing presently here. And notice what John saw. I looked and behold, a door standing open in heaven.
8:35 What does that even mean? Like, I don't know how big the door was. I don't know what kind of door it was. I don't know what it looked like. Here's what I know about the door. It was open. There's gonna be an invitation
8:47 from 1 on the other side of the door saying, come up here. There's an invitation for John to come and worship. Now we have songs that people sing called knock knock knocking on heaven's door, stuff
8:59 like that. I've never seen the door. You've never seen the door. Apparently, there's a way into heaven. Jesus said when he was on the earth, he was the door. Jesus said he was the way. He was the
9:10 truth. He was the life. He was the gate. Through Christ, we're going to be able to have access into his heavenly throne room. Without Christ, you'll never have access. What we're gonna realize is that in
9:22 Christ and in Christ alone can we have access to his throne room. That's why the good news or the gospel of Jesus Christ is so important. And it's simple as this. Jesus Christ, God's 1 and only son, came to
9:34 earth on purpose to do 1 thing, to fulfill the law and die on a cross in your place for all your sins. That's why he came. He came because he knew there was no way you could get to God, so he came
9:46 to get you to God by believing in him. He died on the cross. He was buried for 3 days. He rose from the dead. When he arose, he showed himself as being the 1 and only son of God, the only 1 who
9:58 had conquered death permanently, and begin to make invitation for all who would repent of their faith, repent of their sins, and by faith trust him that they could have life in his name. Here's the thing. Before we even
10:09 talk about worship today, here's the question. Do you even know the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you even saved? I didn't ask if you came to church. I didn't ask if you're a good person. I don't ask if you have religion. I
10:19 didn't ask if you're serving somewhere, and I didn't ask if you're in a small group. I asked when was the time in your life that you recognized you were a sinner and you were desperate apart from Jesus, and you turned
10:28 from your sin, and by faith trusted Christ? If you haven't done that, make this moment right now where you're seated the moment that you can know the Lord because everything we're about ready to talk about hinges on the
10:38 fact that Jesus Christ is Lord over all. The reason John's being invited up is because he himself repented of his sins and trusted the Lord. He was a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ during
10:50 Christ's earthly ministry. He followed the Lord all the way to his death, and we know that he's in heaven with the Lord right now. John says, after these things, looked. He sees this door open in heaven, and the first
11:00 voice which he had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, come up here. You remember in Revelation 1 10, the voice he heard, the first voice he heard like that of a trumpet. You're gonna hear the word
11:12 like all throughout this message. It was kinda like that. It was like that. Like that. I mean, I I picture like a valley girl writing this. It's kinda like, you know, was like, it was like. It's like. And the reason it's
11:23 like, and the reason he's making similes and metaphors is because what he's seen, he can't give earthly words to to describe the magnificence of what he's seen. And he saw this door open, and he heard
11:35 this voice like the sound of a trumpet. He didn't hear a trumpet. He heard the same voice he heard in Revelation 1 10, which we know is the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christ's voice to him sounded like a trumpet. And here's
11:45 what his voice said, come up here. Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things. He's gonna show John how the end is all gonna be culminated and how it's all going to come together,
11:58 and he invites John up. Now think about this. If you were invited into heaven, what would you expect to see? What are you looking forward to when you get there? I mean, I've heard people talk about all sorts of things.
12:08 The home I'm gonna get. Right? Jesus said in John 14, behold, I go and prepare a place for you, and if it were not so, I would not have told you, but I go and prepare a place, and because I go and prepare, I'm gonna come
12:19 back and take you to where I am. So that's true. We can look forward to that. Some people look forward you know, they have these ideas since we don't know, since no mind is seen, no no eye is seen, no ear is heard, no
12:29 mind is conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. 1 of my young life leaders 1 time tell me about 30 years ago, he pictures, like, this huge vat of chocolate that he's gonna be able to jump in and swim in
12:39 for 100 years or something. I mean, we come up with all these ideas, and we really don't know everything that heaven is gonna be like. We don't, but I'm gonna tell you 1 essential that you're gonna find when you get
12:51 to heaven is the worship of the Lord. Because notice verse 2. After John is invited up by Jesus, verse 2, immediately, I was in the spirit and what? And
13:02 beheld a throne was standing in heaven and 1 sitting on the throne. What's central to everything that John sees? 1 that's
13:14 on a throne and 1 that's in control of the whole world. It's the worship of our God. That's what's essential. And whether you study Ezekiel that's been to heaven or Isaiah that got to see the glory of the Lord or
13:26 Paul that gives revelation to what he saw when he was in the body or out of the body he doesn't know. Whether it's John, what are they talking about? The centrality or what's paramount or what's most essential is the
13:38 worship of our God. It's the worship of God. Many people think that evangelism is the most important thing that we can do here and now, and I wouldn't necessarily disagree if we understand the purpose of
13:49 evangelism. You see, the purpose of evangelism, the end game of evangelism is worship. The end game of leading more people to Christ is that more people will worship the Lord Jesus Christ. How you know that you actually
14:01 got saved is you went from not worshiping Christ, and because you're now in Christ, there's a desire to worship God. If there never is a shift in your life from sinner to worshiper, in all likelihood, you haven't been
14:13 saved. That God wants to see more people saved. God desires all people to be saved. Why? So that they can worship him. Worship is the central activity that is taking place in the heavenly
14:24 realms. Now think about this. What do you see when you read this text? John said that he was in the spirit. We're called to pray in the spirit. We're called to be in the spirit. It's in the realm of the spirit. Clearly,
14:36 John was taken to heaven in the spirit, which means, in all likelihood, his body was still on earth. His spirit is in heaven, and he's witnessing all of these great and marvelous things. And what's he
14:48 see? He sees a throne standing in heaven and 1 sitting on the throne. But what you're gonna find as we go through this text, nothing's written about what the person on the throne looks like and nothing's written about
14:59 the throne itself, but the first thing John sees is a throne. Now here's my question. How big is the throne? What's it look like? I mean, is it as big as this platform? Is that how big it is?
15:11 I mean, the more and more I studied this this week, the more and more overwhelmed I got because I started asking questions like this and the text doesn't say. But I was asking, okay, God, how big is the throne? Like,
15:22 what did John see? Think about some of these texts. How about the book of Isaiah chapter 66 and verse 1? Isaiah 66 and verse 1.
15:35 Listen to what it says. Thus says the Lord, heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where then is a
15:47 house you could build for me and where is a place that I may rest? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. That's the universe. What's his footstool? It's the
15:58 earth. Now this week, I went skiing with my kids, and every year we go back for the first time, we have to get refitted for boot sizes because my kids are still growing. So we have to see, is your foot the same size or
16:08 has it gotten a little bigger? And inevitably, most of my kids grow a size or 2 every year, so we have to exchange boots. But they're not that big, they're kid sizes. I mean, imagine if
16:20 Jesus' foot, his left foot came and he set it down on Denver and it covered everywhere from the north side of Denver all the way down through Castle Rock. And that's not how big his throne is. Because the
16:32 earth is his footstool. Heaven's his throne. Now how big is that? Whatever God created and however big the universe is, he's bigger than that. So
16:43 whatever your view is of the throne room of God, it's much smaller than what it actually is. So when John comes through that door into heaven and he sees a throne, he sees a throne.
16:56 He sees 1 that's bigger than the entire universe. He sees 1 that's spirit. He sees a throne standing. Now, is it standing? Because the throne is unmovable. The throne is sovereign. The throne is working out everything in
17:07 human history. The throne is in control and is bigger than anything John has ever seen before. Think about some of these other verses. How about Psalm chapter 11 and verse 4? Psalm chapter 11 and verse
17:19 4 says it like this. The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold. His
17:31 eyelids test the sons of men. However big your view of God is, I'm telling you, your view of God, it's not big enough. First Kings chapter 8 and verse 27 tells us at the prayer
17:43 of dedication when Solomon was dedicating the temple, says to God, but will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you. How much less
17:55 this house which I have built. Whatever you think that you can build to contain God, it's just too small. God is spirit. God stands outside of space and time. However vast
18:07 the universe is that we find out someday, everything that he created, he's more vast than that. John comes through an entry point into heaven, sees a throne that's bigger than the universe, and there's 1 on the throne.
18:19 What would be your response? What you would realize is what's most central to everything and every activity going on in heaven is the worship of our God. Let me say it another
18:30 way. If you don't wanna worship God now, here's a question. Why would you ever wanna go to heaven? The worship of God is central to everything that heaven
18:42 is. God was designed to be worshiped. You were designed and made to be a worshiper. And here's what we see in Revelation chapter 4 and verses 1 and 2. Now a
18:54 couple things, and we'll we'll spell this out in the coming weeks as we get into Revelation 6 and 7. There's some people that would say, in Revelation chapter 4, this is the this is where the church has been raptured,
19:06 that the every believer in Christ has been taken up into heaven, and we know that we've been taken up into heaven because after Revelation chapter 3, we no longer see the word church until we get to Revelation 22
19:18 16. So you don't see that word anymore. So clearly, we've been raptured. Some would go as so far to say, you know what? John is representative of the church. When John goes to heaven, we all go to
19:30 heaven. I think that's an allegorization of the text. I don't think we would just read Revelation chapter 4 and verse 1 and say, yep, that's the raptured church. To say that, well, because we don't see the word church,
19:41 it's not for the church, is not very solid exegesis. Think about this. In Matthew's gospel, God only uses the word church 2 times. In Matthew 16 18, where he talks about
19:53 building his church, and in Matthew 18 17. That's the only 2 times the word church is used in Matthew's gospel. It's not used anywhere else. Would we go be so bold as to say, well, nothing else in Matthew's gospel is for
20:03 the church? Sermon on the Mount, that's not for the church. Great commission, that's not for the church. That was for somebody else. If we say if the word church isn't there, it's not for the church, then we also can't
20:13 use Matthew I'm sorry. Mark, Luke, or John, second Timothy, Titus, first John, second John, or Jude. If you add all those books up, that's 9 different books. That's 1 third of the New Testament we say is not for the
20:23 church. Nobody would be willing to say that. Even in the book of Galatians, the word church or churches is only mentioned 3 times in the first chapter, and chapters 2 through 6 doesn't mention the word church. We would
20:33 never be so bold to say, well, Galatians 2 through 6, that's not for the church. These same people that claim that because the church is not listed, that means it's gone, would never go so far as to say the same about
20:43 Israel. The word Israel is last time you see it mentioned is in Revelation 7 and verse 4, and you don't see it again till Revelation 22. Nobody would be so bold as to say, well, it's not about the Jews either. It's not
20:54 about the church. I don't know what God's doing or who he's working with. Right? There's nothing that you would see here. I think it's a strained reading in the text to say that the church was raptured here. Now many
21:05 people, majority of evangelical scholars would say, that's when the rapture occurs. Hang on for a few more weeks. We'll talk about different positions of the rapture, how the rapture's gonna happen, when the rapture's
21:14 gonna happen. We'll use the plain meaning of the text to show you what it is, and you may have a different opinion than I do, and like we went on from the beginning, and if you do, you're just wrong, and that's cool. But
21:24 no. I'm kidding. The point is we can hold the different positions, but just let's make sure that the positions that we hold to are for biblical reasons, and I see no way that I would read this text and say, oh, yeah. The
21:34 church is up in heaven. If John is representative of the church and took and that's why the church is in heaven, in John chapter 17 and verse 3, we see him carried away to the wilderness. So does the church go from
21:45 heaven back to the wilderness? In chapter 10, does the earth come does the church come back down to earth so it can see the the great angel of the Lord coming down? In chapter 13, is it back on is the church back on the
21:55 earth so we can see the beast coming out of the sea? It's just bad exegesis. It's bad exegesis. And I don't see the rapture there. Many people do. We'll talk about that as we go. But here's what the text is really
22:05 saying, that God is central. And when it comes to worship, it's not a how, it's a who. I mean, think about how Satan works in churches. When people talk about worship and
22:17 we say, hey. We worship at our church. What do most people ask? What kind of worship do you guys do? Is it traditional or contemporary? Like, what does that even mean? Like, compared to what? First century or 19 80
22:29 or like, what is contemporary? What what is traditional? Does it mean you're supposed to have musicians or not musicians? Can you worship acapella? Can you there's a variety of ways to worship, but
22:41 there's only 1 that can receive the worship. And the purpose of worship is giving glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ, who's the king of kings and the lord of lords, and that's what this text is pointing out. And so
22:53 John is invited up into heaven, and the first thing he sees is a throne, and then he sees 1 sitting on the throne. And what he's learning is is that the worship of God is paramount. It's chief in importance.
23:04 Second thing he's gonna understand about worship is the second component in this text, which is this. God designed worship to be awesome. Awesome. He said, it doesn't sound like a theological
23:16 term. It's a theological term. It's the only place we can really use the word awesome and be authentic. Awesome means causing or inducing awe, inspiring an overwhelming feeling of
23:27 reverence, admiration, or fear. God is awesome. I grew up in the eighties, y'all. We use awesome for everything. What do you think of that restaurant? It's awesome. You know, what do think
23:39 of that food? Awesome. Did hear the game? Yeah. It was awesome. Did see that movie? Awesome. Everything was awesome. Biblically, awesome is God who is worthy of all of your reverence and praise.
23:51 Awesome means when you experience God, you will be in awe, fear, reverence, joy, everything, all of this. You you you can't describe it. It's the 1 word
24:03 that we have that says I it's indescribable. It's overwhelming. He's amazing. He's beyond words. He's awesome. You say, well, how do you say that? Well, notice what he sees.
24:16 And he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and and a sardis in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance. I mean, he can't even describe what God looks
24:27 like. The only thing he could talk about is the colors that he sees because it's so overwhelming. I mean, he sees this stone, this jasper stone that we read about in Revelation 21
24:39 11 that's this clear, transparent stone of some kind. Many scholars think it's reflective of a of a diamond in nature, clean and pure. And then you have this sardis in appearance, which
24:51 is ruby red, and then guess what you have? There was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance. Remember rainbows at all? Does anybody remember anything about rainbows in this series? Remember all
25:02 the way back in the part of the Alpha series in Genesis chapter 9, where after the flood, what did God do? What did he provide in the sky as a sign of his faithful promise? What do we see? We see
25:14 a rainbow. Because God wanted to remind the people, every time you see a rain rainbow, it'll be a reminder to you and to me that I will never ever flood the earth again and destroy it that way. What
25:26 does seeing a rainbow around the throne of God mean in this text at the end of time? It means God is always faithful to the promises he makes. Isn't it awesome that around God's throne, he's not gonna get upset
25:38 someday and be like, I'm done with them. I'm flooding them after all. No. He's got a rainbow around the throne reminding him of this, and all John can see is color. This majestic color, it's got green
25:50 and clear and red and all these things going on, and different interpreters have tried to say, well, the white's for purity, and the red's for judgment, and the green's for mercy, and okay. I
26:02 mean, the bible doesn't tell us what they're for. I mean, all we're doing is making stuff up. I think what we're saying is God is so indescribable that John can only describe God with colors that he
26:13 sees. He's beyond words. I can't tell you. He's just amazing. He's awesome. Then what does he see? He says around the throne were 24
26:25 thrones. And upon the thrones, I saw 24 elders sitting, clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their head. So who are the 24 elders? You guys know? It's pretty obvious from
26:37 the text. We don't know. We can make speculation, and it really falls into 2 different categories. Some think that they're people because they're wearing crowns.
26:49 Some think it represents the ideal church. Some believe it represents the 12 apostles as well as the 12 tribes of Israel coming together as representation of of everything. Some believe
27:01 it's the raptured church who's there, that those 24 elders represent the raptured church. On the other side, some people believe that they're angels, that they're heavenly beings, that they're part of
27:12 God's divine council. As we go through the book, we'll get into this more and more. I tend to take the latter view that these are angels or angelic beings that are around the throne. And let me tell you this, if you
27:23 disagree with me, I'm totally okay with that. There's good reason to leave a church. There's bad reasons to leave a church. Leaving the church because we disagree on who the 24 elders are, that's a bad reason to leave
27:33 the church. Okay? Well, I'm not going there anymore. They don't even understand the 24 elders. Right? You can have your own opinion about who they are. Even the best scholars that I've read differ in opinion. That's
27:44 okay. We're not gonna die on a hill for this. But I think there are some reasons why I tend to go towards their angelic beings and not the church, and we'll get into some of them as we continue to go. But if
27:56 you look in Revelation chapter 5, what we're gonna study next week, it's really interesting because in verse 8 and following, it says, he had taken the book, it's Jesus, the 4 l 4 living creatures and the 24
28:08 elders fell down before the lamb, each 1 holding a harp and golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. You're gonna see in Revelation chapter 8 and verse 3, that's an angelic job to take the prayers of
28:18 the saints to to Jesus. The the 24 elders are always linked with the 4 living creatures and other angelic beings, and they're distinct from the redeemed because even when they sing their
28:30 song, they sing a song to God and they say, worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You
28:41 have made them to be a kingdom and priest to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. What's their worship song? God, you saved people. God, you delivered them. They're not saying, God, you redeemed us, and God, you
28:53 delivered us. They're they're praising God for what he's done in the world and what he's going to accomplish and what he's gonna bring to fulfillment. So I see him more as heavenly beings of some sort. Also, you'll
29:05 see in Revelation chapter 7, 9, and 10, they're grouped with other angelic beings. And in Revelation 7 13, when John sees the great multitude come out of the great tribulation, and 1 of the
29:17 24 elders asked him, do you know who these are? And he's like, sir, you know. Sir or lord is not how we would approach each other in heaven. We're brothers and sisters in Christ. It seems that he is giving reverence and
29:27 honor to some of these. We see angels wearing white garments in John chapter 20 and verse 12, Matthew 28 3, acts 1 10, Mark 16 5, and what we read about in the book of Colossians is
29:39 rank in order of what God created. For the Lord created all things, things visible and invisible, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities, all things were created
29:51 by him and through him, that God created all of this. And while we don't get a full understanding of all dimensions of angelic beings and what they look like, it seems to fit what God's done. Some people say it can't be
30:03 angels because they're wearing crowns, but you'll see even in the book of Revelation, in Revelation 6 2, when you see the Antichrist going out to make war, you see him wearing a crown. You see the locusts in Revelation 9
30:12 7 who are really demons wearing crowns. You see a woman in Revelation 12 1 wearing a crown, and you see Jesus in Revelation 19 in another place. He's wearing a crown. Be wearing a crown doesn't depict that you have to be
30:23 a person. So I tend to go that way. I also look at the Psalms in the Old Testament. In Psalm chapter 82 and verse 1, it says, God takes his stand in his own congregation. He judges
30:35 in the midst of the rulers. It could be translated gods or judges. And in Psalm chapter 89 and verse 7, we read, a God greatly
30:46 feared in the counsel of the holy ones and awesome above all those who are around him. Now, what does all this mean? It simply means that there are angelic beings that we cannot describe that
30:58 are around the throne giving worship and honor to God. In the same way, he set up the priesthood in the old testament. I believe it's in first chronicles 23 and 24 with 24 orders of priests. Perhaps, perhaps, you know,
31:09 it's similar to what he had already set up in heaven, and that what they were doing on the earth, let it be done on earth as it is in heaven. Perhaps he set it up that way. Again, no matter who you see the 24 elders
31:20 being, they're doing worship of our God. I see them as angelic beings because I see that as being most aligned with scripture and what the text of God would would teach. But
31:32 notice what they see. They have crowns on their heads. They're they're clothed in white garments, and notice what happens in verse 5. You think that's awesome enough? Now out of the throne comes flashes of lightning and
31:42 sounds and peals of thunder. K? When you came to worship today, for those of you that have been here before, you're aware of how we lead worship, you're aware of the instruments we have, how would you feel if coming out
31:52 from the platform were bolts of lightning and clasp of thunder? Right? Don't cheer. You'd be writing me an email saying it's way too many decibels. I know. I get them. I agree
32:04 with you sometimes. Right? Whatever it is, it's intimidating and it's loud. I mean, what we see coming from the throne, we see God's terror, and every time we see flashes of lightning, peals of thunder, and all that
32:16 in the book of Revelation, we're gonna see God's judgment. Later, you're gonna see an angel put a sensor in there and cast it to earth. We're seeing that God is holy, he's righteous, he's good, he judges. Now picture who
32:27 you are. If you're John, you've been taken up into heaven. Jesus says, come up here. He gets up there. He sees a throne bigger than he's ever seen, 1 sitting on the throne. He sees all these colors. He's got around this
32:37 throne 24 elders. They're all sitting on thrones, and they're all going down on their face, and while they are out from the throne comes flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. What are you gonna do? Probably not
32:49 this. This is pretty cool. I mean, it's engaging. It's getting our attention that this god is worthy of being worshiped. And there were also 7 lampstands
33:01 of fire burning before the throne, which are the 7 spirits of God, and we talked about this in Revelation 1. I'm interpreting that as 7 as the number of completion, the spirits of God being the the completed spirit, the
33:12 holy spirit of God right there around the throne. And before the throne, there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. It didn't say there was a sea
33:23 of glass. It didn't say it was crystal. It said, I saw something that looked like a sea of glass. It was like crystal. I mean, picture the lake you're getting ready to water ski on that's just calm. I mean, with all of
33:35 this judgment going on, there's a calm in front of God. I mean, isn't that awesome? He doesn't even know how to describe it. It's like this calm crystal. It's like this sea of glass. It's amazing.
33:47 So all these things are going on, and yet it's calm all at the same time. That's who our God is. And if that's not awesome enough, check out this next passage. And in the center and around the throne, 4 living creatures
33:58 full of eyes in front and behind. What? I'm not a big sci fi person. My family is. I like all the Star Wars, all the Harry Potter, all that kind of stuff. I mean,
34:10 what would you think today? I mean, you come in to worship here at Brave Church and all of a sudden, you see 4 flying creatures all over the room with eyes all over them. I mean, and
34:22 you've got lightning and thunder coming out from the throne and there's a calm in front of it and there's all these different colors and there's a rainbow. I mean, you'd be in awe. You would think to yourself, that's
34:32 awesome. I mean, woah. That's what it's gonna be like to worship our God. What is coming and the worship we're gonna experience in heaven is beyond
34:43 anything that we've ever experienced here. And John, as he's describing this, he would keep saying it's kinda like this, and there was that, and there was there was noise, and there were lights, and there were flashes,
34:54 and thunder, and there's these creatures floating all around these angelic beings, and it's too hard to describe. See, God's worship, he designed it to be paramount. He
35:06 designed it to be awesome, but notice what else God designed. God designed the worship of him to be transcendent. Transcendent. Transcendent means going beyond ordinary
35:17 limits, surpassing, exceeding, superior, supreme, great, majestic. He's saying this, whatever you think worship is and the best worship you've ever been
35:29 a part of, it's way better than that. Like, all the time, it's better than that. He's gonna go ahead and describe these creatures. Notice what he says. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a
35:41 calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. What? I mean, you get a picture here that this is just overwhelming,
35:53 and they have eyes all over them, and they're flying around? I mean, if you see Ezekiel's vision, you'll see he saw similar things. He had a slightly different picture. If you see Isaiah's
36:05 vision in Isaiah chapter 6, you're gonna see that he was ruined by what he saw. Now, notice these creatures. There's these 4 creatures flying around, and the 4 living creatures, each 1 of them had 6
36:17 wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night, they do not cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.
36:29 It is glorious. Now picture how big the throne is. We don't know, but whatever we think it is, it's bigger than that. And god's on his throne, and then there's these 4 creatures. 1 like a lion, 1 like a
36:40 calf, 1 had the face like a man, and 1 looked like an eagle. And they're all floating around with eyes all over them going all through this, and they have 6 wings floating around. What are you gonna do?
36:54 I mean, when Isaiah saw something similar that had 6 wings, with 2 they covered their faces and with 2 they covered their feet and with 2 they flew. Because no 1 could see the face of God and live.
37:06 So they were covering themselves because God is so holy and they were covering their eyes because God's too holy and they were flying. I mean, can you imagine worshiping in an environment like that? Mean, even if we
37:18 tried our best to put a picture like that on the big screens during worship, I can't imagine how many emails I'd get. What in the world was that beast flying around for? Just getting you ready for heaven, bro. It's
37:30 gonna blow you away. See, most of us think we're gonna enter heaven, and there's this throne room little over there, like, if you wanna go into church, you can go to church, but I'm here for the chocolate, and I'm here
37:39 for the music, and I'm here for all that fun stuff. I mean, the throne room's central. The throne room is it. The throne room is paramount. The throne room is awesome. The throne room
37:51 is transcendent. The throne room is bigger, better than anything that we could ever picture. Now being human, most of us like to find out, well, what's who's the lion? Who's the calf? Who's the man? Who's the eagle?Show more
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