Holy, Holy, Holy


Sermon by David Strain on September 4, 2016 Revelation 4-5

Download Audio

 

Before the summer, we began to work our way through the book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament Scriptures. We had been working in particular through the seven letters to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3. And we concluded that part of the book and then Dr. Gabe Fluhrer has been taking us through the book of James and tonight we resume our studies in Revelation. So if you would, take a Bible and turn to Revelation chapter 4 and 5 on page 1030. Before we read the text together, would you please bow your heads with me as we pray. Let’s pray together!

 

Lord Jesus, in the book of Revelation You spoke to the suffering, struggling church, beleaguered, hard-pressed, sometimes compromised, often persevering through many trials, and yet You spoke to show them Yourself and to give encouragement and comfort and strength that, like You, the Church militant might conquer and sit with You on Your throne. We pray that as we read Your Word that You would speak and do the same great work among us here this evening, for the glory of Your name. Amen.

 

Revelation chapter 4 at verse 1. This is the Word of God:

 

“After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had 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 behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

 

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

 

‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’

 

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

 

Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will, they existed and were created.’

 

Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?’ And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,

 

‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood, you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’

 

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

 

‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’

 

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

 

‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’

 

And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped.”

 

Amen, and we praise God for His holy Word.

 

Well, some of you will remember, as I said before we took our break at the beginning of the summer we were working through the letters of the risen Christ to the seven churches of Asia Minor with which the book of Revelation opens. And they offered a penetrating, sometimes uncomfortable, examination of life in these seven representative congregations. These were churches struggling with false teaching. For some, their first love for Christ had grown cold. Still, others were dealing with moral failure or with worldliness or with materialism. Some were facing persecution or acute suffering. But in each situation, as we saw toward the end of each letter, they were called upon by Christ to conquer and overcome. If you’ll look, for example, at the end of chapter 3 at verse 21 you will see precisely that; “To the one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne as I also have conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” That’s Jesus’ call to us! – “Conquer; persevere, do not get side-tracked; do not be overcome. Press on, cross the finish line, and win the prize.” We hear that instruction, that exhortation, and so we survey our burdens, our hurts, our wounds. We look at the sin that still festers in our hearts and we see the opposition of the world to the Christian Gospel that we proclaim. We see a hostile culture around us and a fickle, rebellious heart within us and the command to conquer and overcome doesn’t seem so easy, does it? And just as we feel our knees begin to buckle under the weight of Christ’s call, just as we feel that there is no way, no way that we can do this, a door is opened in heaven and a voice says, “Come up here and I will show you what must take place after this!”

 

It’s like the incident in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 14. You remember when Jesus came walking on the water to the disciples who were toiling in their boat in the middle of the night, darkness around them, the storm blowing, the waves crashing. And after their shock and fear, as Jesus identifies Himself to them, Peter says to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water?” And Jesus said, “Come!” So Peter gets out of the boat and he begins to walk across the surface of the waves to Jesus. And you remember what happened next, don’t you? He saw the storm swirling around him, fear overtook him, and he began to sink into the sea. Jesus has to rescue him and calm the storm. Isn’t that how we are? Isn’t that how we are? We look at the wind and the waves and we begin to sink. “You want me to walk on water? Have You seen the storm? You want me to conquer? Have You seen my sin? Have You seen my insecurities? Have You seen the people that I work with? The pressures that I’m under? The opposition that I face?” And so we start to sink. How shall we overcome? How shall we conquer?

 

Well, we must fix our eyes on Jesus who rides upon the storm. We must fill our gaze to the utter limits of the horizon with a vision of the greatness of God in His sovereignty and grace. And that is what Revelation chapters 4 and 5, show us – the throne and One seated upon it. We step into the command and control center of the universe and we see the Lord who reigns over all and now suddenly the sin and the sorrow, the hurts and the hostility that we endure that seemed a moment ago so all-encompassing, have been put into a larger context, and we learn that the true measure of whether we shall overcome is not the strength of our own arm or the wisdom of our own judgment or the conviction of our own belief, after all, but the power of the infinite, eternal, and unchangeable God.

 

And so let’s go with John, shall we, up into the throne room and look where he points us, or rather where the angelic voice points John. In chapter 4, we will see a revelation of the glory of God the Creator. A revelation of the glory of God the Creator. And then chapter 5, which in structure at least, parallels chapter 4, we see a slightly different though overlapping theme, this time, the glory of Christ the Redeemer. The glory of God the Creator and the glory of Christ the Redeemer.

 

The Glory of God the Creator

 

Let’s look at chapter 4 first of all – the glory of God the Creator. John begins his account of this vision in verse 2. Look there with me. “At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, and one seated on the throne.” We could stop right there and meditate for the rest of our time on that phrase and not exhaust its importance or its wonder. There is a throne in heaven and it’s not empty; it is occupied. Don’t we need to keep hold of that truth in these days of political turmoil and moral chaos and global war? “Behold, a throne and one seated on it.” Whatever the pundits may say and whatever your secret fears may insinuate, God has not abdicated His throne.

 

And I love John’s description of the One who is seated on the throne, don’t you? Verse 3, “He had the appearance of jasper and carnelian.” There’s a rainbow around the throne like an emerald. We need to be careful not to over-read that, not to find hidden meanings in each precious stone. John is simply trying to find some way, some way to put into words something of the radiance and the beauty and the majesty and the glory shining directly from the One seated on the throne. But it is important to know, I think, that later on in the book, in Revelation chapter 21, when John describes the glorified, perfected Church at the end of the age, the holy city he says, coming down out of heaven from God, he says the Church had the glory of God, it’s radiance like a most-rare jewel, like a jasper clear as crystal. So as we look at the throne with John and we see something of the glory of God, the thrilling promise of the book of Revelation, stunning promise, is that one day this glory like jasper clear as crystal that blazes from the throne, this glory will envelop us. We will reflect its radiance. You will reflect, you will shine with the reflected beauty of the God of infinite glory one day, believer in Jesus.

 

The Believers Access to the Throne of Grace

And around the throne, notice in verse 4, there are twenty-four elders. They represent the whole people of God, one Church across both the Old and New Testaments, the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve apostles of the Lord Jesus. And like at Mount Sinai, you remember at Mount Sinai as Israel gathered around the mountain in Exodus 19, there are peals of thunder and flashes of lightening that emanate here from God’s throne. But whereas at Sinai, no one was permitted to draw near to the mountain, do you see here the people of God are right up close, aren’t they, surrounding the throne. Isn’t that beautiful? If you’re a child of God, however weak, however, unworthy you may feel yourself to be, you have a place right up close, the transcendent majesty and glory of God notwithstanding. You get to draw near the throne of glory because to you it is always a throne of grace; always a throne of grace. We’ll see why when we get to chapter 5.

 

But did you see also that before the throne there are seven burning torches of fire? John tells us they are the seven spirits of God, or better, the sevenfold Spirit of God. Seven, you know, is the number of completeness, the number associated with deity. Here is the Holy Spirit in whom the fullness of God dwells. And remember, there are seven representative churches to which the book of Revelation is written. So here is the Holy Spirit perfectly sufficient for the needs of the whole church, the sevenfold Spirit for the seven churches, so that in our God there is no lack for His people.

 

The Calming of the Sea

And then there’s something before the throne. Do you see that? Something, John says, “is like a sea of glass, like crystal.” The sea in Jewish thought was emblematic of chaos and evil. Even in the book of Revelation itself, it seems to have that connotation. In Revelation chapter 13, for example, it is from the sea that John sees the beast rising to speak blasphemies and deceive the nations. The sea is a symbol of evil. But here it is utterly calm; still and at rest before the throne of God. There remains evil in the world, to be sure, but God reigns in sovereign majesty over it all. The sea is calm at His feet. Chaos comes to heel at His decree. Here is a safe harbor for us amidst the apparent uncertainties of life. God is on His throne and before Him the raging sea is like a millpond, still and calm like crystal. One day, of course, Revelation 21:1, there will be no more sea. That is to say, one day all things will be made new and evil and chaos will be gone forever. Until then, let’s remember that the Lord our God reigns, even over the raging waves of chaos that surge at times around us. The Lord is on His throne.

 

The Four Strange Living Creatures

And then there are these four strange living creatures in verses 6 and 7. They’re covered in eyes. One of them has the face of a lion, the second of an ox, the third of a man, and the fourth of an eagle. They have six wings echoing the angelic seraphim that Isaiah saw in Isaiah chapter 6, that sing the praise of God before His throne. The faces of the different creatures in John’s vision, on the other hand, mirror the vision of Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 1, where the prophet sees something very similar to this. But what’s the message of these strange beasts? There’s an ancient saying of the Jewish rabbis that seems to reflect the same tradition that John is building on and it may offer us some help as we try to understand what we’re being taught here. There are four mighty creatures, the rabbi said. The mightiest among the birds is the eagle. The mightiest among domestic animals is the ox. The mightiest among the wild animals is the lion. And the mightiest of them all is man. And God has taken all these and secured them to His throne. So each face represents a different category of God’s created order. Calling them living creatures underscores that fact. It’s the language of Genesis chapter 1. When God created animal life He called them in Hebrew, “nephesh chayyah” – living creatures.

 

And so now, picture the scene, around the throne, are twenty-four elders representing God’s saved and redeemed people, His Church. And there are the four living creatures representing God’s created order. And what are they all doing here? What is their great business and their primary preoccupation? Verse 8, – “Day and night the four living creatures never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” And whenever the living creatures give praise to Him, seated on the throne, verse 10, “the twenty-four elders fall down before him, they worship him, they cast their crowns before the throne and they say, ‘Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.’”

 

What is the purpose of the common creation represented by the living creatures? What is the eternal task of the Church represented by the twenty-four elders? It is to adore and exult in and give glory to Almighty God. He is the thrice-holy, everlasting, Creator and sustainer of all things and He is infinitely worthy to be praised. Our catechism teaches us, remember, that “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Romans 11:36, reminds us that, “of God and through God and to God are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” So let me ask you, “What ought the reflex response of our hearts to be when we grasp something, even just a little of the glory of God with the apostle John here? When we get a glimpse, however slight, of His grandeur and power and majesty, what should our heart’s response be?”

 

The Queen’s Lord Chancellor

Let me use one of my favorite illustrations to answer that question. It’s a great story! It may be apocryphal. I really hope not! It’s a great story! If you’ve heard it before, I’m sure I’ve told it to you before, please indulge me. Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham, was Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom in the 1970s. There had been some formal occasion that day in the houses of parliament and so he was walking through the wide, gothic corridors of the House of Commons bedecked in the full regalia of a peer of the realm and Queen’s Lord Chancellor. Coming toward him down the same corridor was a group of tourists being shown around the parliament buildings. And they’re drinking in, as you might imagine, the finery and the history of the building. And here they are, they see this imposing figure coming toward them, decked out in his regalia, and they’re agog at this imposing, striking figure of Lord Chancellor. But at the far end of the corridor, unbeknown to the tourists, behind them all was a member of Parliament that the Chancellor had not seen for some time. And so raising his hand above the heads of the tourists so as to attract his attention, he raised his voice and called his name. “Kneel!” he shouted. And of course, every one of those tourists immediately fell to their knees in the corridor before this splendid and imposing figure.

 

You see what happens? You see what happens when you come into the presence of glory, even earthly glory? What is our heart hard-wired to do when we come face to face with majesty? We are made to bow down. We are made to bow down. The happiest place a Christian finds in this world, you know, ought always to be among the Lord’s people on the Lord’s Day singing the Lord’s praise. That’s what we were made to do! That’s what even the birds and the beasts are designed for. That’s what John is teaching us and we never will find our deepest joy until we find it in the praise of our great and awesome God. The glory of God the Creator.

 

The Glory of God the Redeemer

 

Then secondly and more briefly, look at chapter 5, the glory of God the Redeemer. The scene opens this time with a crisis. Do you see that in verses 1 to 4? There’s a crisis. John sees a scroll in the hands of God covered in writing but it’s sealed shut. An angel asks for someone worthy to open the scroll and break its seals and there is no one, not in heaven or earth or under the earth. No one can open the scroll. And John just loses it, doesn’t he? He weeps loudly. Now, why is he so distraught? Well, because he knows the meaning of the scroll. It is the script for the great drama of human history. It’s the masterplan of God for the salvation of sinners and the overthrow of evil. It’s the scroll of the divine decree. But if the script is never read, the drama cannot proceed. If the masterplan is not revealed, God’s purposes surely must fail. And so John is devastated because it looks like there will be no plotline for history, no direction for our lives.

 

You know there really is something terribly wrong with us, by the way, if we can face the thought of an aimless, purposeless existence without John’s reaction. If you believe there is no script, no plotline, no masterplan, you ought to be a basket-case right along with John because that means there is no point and no hope and no purpose and no meaning, and that way lie madness. Well, John is sobbing his heart out because no one can execute the saving plan of God. Chaos wins, evil wins, Satan wins. And then one of the elders comes to John and does what good elders should always do. He comforts John by pointing him to the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, who has conquered so that He can open the scroll. The imagery of Judah’s lion comes from Genesis 49:9. The Root of David from Isaiah chapter 11. Both are understood to be prophecies of a coming Messiah. They emphasized His strength, His royal dignity. He will be great King David’s greater heir. And so John turns with understandable excitement to see this triumphant, Messianic conqueror.

 

The Lamb That was Slain

And look at what he sees; Verse 6, “Between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the world.” Who is the Lion of Judah, the Root of David? He is the slain Lamb. It’s the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world; “His wounds yet visible above, in beauty glorified,” as the hymn puts it. Brothers and sisters in Christ, when you get to heaven, think of this. When you get to heaven, you will be able to look at Jesus’ hands and feet and see the nail marks that redeemed you. Our greatest contentment, the chief happiness of heaven I think, will be generated by that sight – my Savior’s glorified wounds. Behold, a Lamb, standing as though it had been slain. See how He loved me! Here’s how He conquered! He conquered by dying. He triumphed by losing. He died that I might live. I owe it all to those wounds. How captivating that sight will be! I wonder if we’ll ever be able to take our eyes from it. Down all the long ages of eternity, the Lamb, looking, standing as though He had been slain.

 

Opening the Scroll

And it’s He who takes the scroll and opens the seals. This is vital that we see and grasp clearly the unfolding of God’s plan of judgment and deliverance. The drama of history playing out at the decree of God, all represented by that scroll, is accomplished not by an unfeeling, uncaring, distant deity. Neither is your destiny shaped and ordered by cold, impersonal fate. No, it is the Lamb who was slain who opens the scroll. It’s Jesus who endured the cross who brings the plan of God for the world, for your life, to realization. Doesn’t it make our crosses easier to bear when we know that the hands that send them to us have been pierced by nails themselves? Doesn’t it make it easier to endure when we know that the One who orders our trials, Himself endured such opposition from sinful men and sat down at the right hand of God? The Lord who executes the Father’s plan is the One who has been touched with the feeling of our infirmities, who has plumbed the depths of the darkest suffering for us all.

 

Between the Throne

And did you see where He’s standing? “Between the throne,” our translation says. I think it’s better to translate it, “in the midst of the throne.” That’s where Jesus Himself says He is at the end of chapter 3, remember? Look at 3:21 again. “To the one who conquers I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, just as I also conquered and sat down with my Father” – where? “On his throne.” On the same throne, occupying the same space we might say as the Creator God of chapter 4, is the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Seven Horns

And notice He has seven horns. Seven is the symbol, remember, of fullness and completeness and deity. Horns are emblems of power. And He has seven eyes which is the sevenfold Spirit of God. Jesus, the God-Man, exercises the same omnipotence the Father enjoys and is possessed of the same sevenfold Spirit, the Holy Spirit that blazes before the Father’s throne. Christ, the nail-pierced slain Lamb, Christ, the Man of Calvary, is the eternal Son of God, the glorious second Person of the Trinity who, together with the Father and the Spirit, is to be worshiped and adored. Not three gods but One blessed forever. And so when He goes to take the scroll and open its seals, it’s like a rock thrown into a calm pond. There’s a ripple effect; actually, a tsunami we might say, erupting of praise that sweeps outward from the epicenter in concentric circles.

 

Worthy is the Lamb

Look at those various concentric circles, those giant ripples in the pond, emanating outward in every direction in verses 8 to 14. Jesus takes the scroll and first the twenty-four elders fall down in worship. They offer up incense, a symbol of the Church’s prayers because they represent the Church, remember. And they sang an amazing hymn of praise – “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood, you ransomed people for God.” And as they begin their song, immediately the tidal wave sweeps outward and on to the next concentric circle and the living four creatures take up the hymn and along with them, verse 11, a countless army of angels, thousands of thousands are swept up in the chorus, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and glory and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And then as the tidal wave expands to its widest possible reach, every single creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea join in, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the living creatures shout, “Amen!” and the elders fall down and worship.

 

What a scene! What a destiny waits for the people of God! And what has been the great theme of their hymn this time? Not creation; that was chapter 4. What is it this time? It’s redemption, isn’t it? Jesus has saved sinners from all over the world by His blood and so He is worthy to be adored. That’s the spark that enflames their devotion and sets their praises alight – the cross of Christ. Let me ask you this, those of you who have been Christians for a while! Does the old, old story of Jesus and His cross roll past you without much of a second thought these days? Is it old news? Perhaps you think that, after all, it’s just the basics, right? The cross. Elementary Christian truth. The mature move on to deeper things, don’t they? Well, what a rebuke the worship of heaven will be to us if that’s our attitude. The wonder-filled choirs of heaven never cease to find material for their anthems in the cross of Jesus Christ. You don’t get past the cross. You don’t move on from the cross. You move deeper down into the wonder of the cross. You get more of the glory of what was done at the cross. He loved me and gave Himself for me! There’s a thought to keep the fire of joy burning forever, surely.

 

So we’ve seen with John something of the glory of God the Creator and the glory of Christ the Redeemer and the great worship of heaven that almost involuntary, like a reflect when confronted with glory, ensues and sweeps all things up into it. And as we close, let me ask you if you remember the question with which we began this evening. “How shall we conquer in the face of all our trials?” That was our question. What’s the answer of our passage, of these two chapters? We will conquer by filling our eyes, the eyes of our faith, with a sight of the God who sits as sovereign Lord over all things, before whom the waves of chaos come to heal, in whose presence every child of God is welcome. We’ll do it by looking, perhaps like John at times, through our tears. But by looking for the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the Lamb who was slain standing in the midst of the throne we will look there and see the One who opens the scroll of God’s decree for you with His own nail-pierced hands. We will look there and see the One who shed His blood to give you a place among the ransomed Church of God, saved to sin no more. Look there and you’ll find yourself joining the heavenly choir, even here and now, giving Him praise, perhaps in the midst of trials because you know and you understand at last that He is the One who has conquered so that by His grace as you rest on Him, you too might conquer and sit with Him on His throne. Cling to Him, rest on Him, and a conqueror is what you will be. Amen.

 

Let’s pray together!

© 2024 First Presbyterian Church.

This transcribed message has been lightly edited and formatted for the Web site. No attempt has been made, however, to alter the basic extemporaneous delivery style, or to produce a grammatically accurate, publication-ready manuscript conforming to an established style template.

Should there be questions regarding grammar or theological content, the reader should presume any website error to be with the webmaster/transcriber/editor rather than with the original speaker. For full copyright, reproduction and permission information, please visit the First Presbyterian Church Copyright, Reproduction & Permission statement.

To view recordings of our entire services, visit our Facebook page.

caret-downclosedown-arrowenvelopefacebook-squarehamburgerinstagram-squarelinkedin-squarepausephoneplayprocesssearchtwitter-squarevimeo-square