Revelation 4,5 June 7, 2009
Summer Sermon Series on The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Part 3
“Group Hug”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
Revelation 4
1After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! 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.” 2At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! 3And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. 4Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. 5Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; 6and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.
Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. 8And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,
“Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.”
9And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,
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 existed and were created.”
Revelation 5
1Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals; 2and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. 4And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. 8When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9They sing a new song:
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;
10 you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving ◙ our God, and they will reign on earth.”
11Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12singing with full voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,
“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
14And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
I want to tell you a story. It is a true story from nearly 8 years ago. A dear friend of mine was a patient at the Hershey Medical Center. He was very sick at only 44 years of age. This was a person who was in John’s class all through his school years; someone I came to know in high school. He was a wonderful friend to Ken Brookens – in fact I came to know Ken through our mutual friendship with this man. His name was Steve.
Steve and I both played the piano for school groups, and we became good friends. He was a really fun person. In fact, God used Steve to bring me to a realization of my sin and God’s grace. It was while Steve was singing a solo at a concert I was attending, that my resolve to run my own life broke apart, and I opened my life to God’s plan from that day forward. And so, you can imagine what it was like to see Steve so sick in Hershey nearly 8 years ago.
One morning as I was getting ready to go to work at the church in Shippensburg, all of sudden I knew that I should go to Hershey instead. I had just been there several days before, but I knew I needed to pay attention to what I was hearing in my spirit. When I got to Hershey, I went to Steve’s room. The room was empty, and I got that horrible feeling deep in my gut. I went to the nurse’s desk and asked where he was. Just her look was enough to verify the way I was feeling. “He’s been moved.” She gave me directions to where I would find him. When I got to that area, I could see my friend through a big glass window. His bed was on an incline, with his head at the lowest end. More machines than I had ever seen before were around his bed. I asked the nurse at that station if I could go in. “You may go in, but you have to wear a gown, gloves, and a mask.” “Ok,” I said. “And ma’am,” “Yes?” “You may not, under any circumstances, touch him.”
Well, I put everything on I was supposed to put on, and went into his room. All his other loved ones weren’t there yet, and so I was alone with him. How I wept. I talked to God and to Steve non-stop. I told God how broken-hearted I was that I couldn’t hold Steve’s hand or even touch his forehead with anointing oil. I begged God to make sure Steve knew he was being touched with love. I begged God to firmly hold him himself in a way that Steve would know it and be comforted by it. And I sang. Steve loved to sing, and though my voice could never match his, I sang and sang, and prayed and prayed, and talked and talked so he would know how much he was loved by us all.
I wanted to sing the hymn “Fairest Lord Jesus.” I started it, but I kept getting stuck on the verses, which was unusual for me with this hymn. It is one of my favorites. So, I kept singing the same verse over and over. You have to realize that I was shaking all over – inside and outside. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing happening to my friend. Beautiful Savior, Lord of all nations, Son of God and Son of Man. Glory and honor, praise, adoration, Now and forever more be Thine.
As I was singing this, all at once, I knew I had to step back. I’ve heard people say they actually heard an audible voice telling them to do something, claiming it was God’s voice. I don’t know if God’s voice would have been audible to anyone else in that moment, but to me, it was loud and clear. “Back up.” I absolutely had to obey. I took several steps back with a clear revelation that the very holiness of God had come to the room around that bed, and it wasn’t for me to be in that space. Within seconds, all the alarms on all the machines went off, as Steve was invited out of his broken body and into the full, healing presence of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I just stood against the wall, amazed, shocked, and comforted by what I had just seen and heard.
I cannot read these two chapters in Revelation without going back to that hospital room. There was something holy going on there that was far beyond my comprehension. And in a sense, that’s what was happening to the writer of Revelation: there is something going on here that he is trying to explain, but is beyond human comprehension. The apostle John says as much every time he says I heard something like, I saw something like…
Several biblical commentators that I read insist that chapters 4 & 5 form the dramatic focal point of the whole book, sort of like the two towers of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco – the cables, steel network, and roadbed of the bridge are completely dependent upon the two towers from which the whole bridge “sways and stays.”
John is invited to “come up here,” to heaven and see something that God wants him to see. Others we read about in the Bible have had similar experiences. In Exodus 19:20, Moses was invited to the top of Mt. Sinai to meet with God and receive the revelation of the commandments. Certainly we cannot get more than a few words into the book of Ezekiel before we see similarities to John’s experiences. Both were given a vision of a throne with living creatures, wings, eyes, faces, fire, lightning, sparkling colors and jewels . . . (If I haven’t mentioned it in the last 2 weeks, let me say it now – the book of Revelation has more allusions to the Old Testament than any other New Testament book. I could do nothing more than cite the references for 20 minutes in each sermon, and still not complete the list!)
When we went with our grandchildren to Disneyworld in February and walked into the main park, the Magic Kingdom, with all it’s sparkle, the colors, the flowers, the music (all of a sudden a band would start playing), and all the people – for an adult it is a lot to take in. For a child – easily sensory overload! Can you imagine a child trying to describe everything at the end of the day? They would stumble and stammer, and use their hands, and maybe finally just give up in pure delight and exhaustion.
Thanks be to God that John didn’t give up. He gives us as well as he humanly can, a picture of what he saw. I’m going to pick out a couple of the images and tell you what I’ve learned in my study (but please study on your own, too.)
Much is said about the 24 elders. Who are they? Some insist it is those who represent the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 disciples – thereby representing all believers. But the most common conclusion is that the 24 elders refer to the 24 priestly divisions who conducted the worship of Israel (1 Chron. 24:4). In other words, these are the ones who have been trained as worship leaders. Even in Heaven (especially in Heaven), corporate worship is decently ordered!
The 4 living creatures with eyes everywhere may represent all of living creation as symbolized by the lion, ox, man, and bird. There is an old Jewish rabbinic saying that dates to 300 A.D., “The mightiest among the birds is the eagle, the mightiest among the domestic animals is the bull, the mightiest among the wild beasts is the lion, and the mightiest of all is man.” If we go back to Ezekiel, the same faces are on the creatures in his vision!
I think back to presidential inauguration days, or perhaps (I’m dating myself here) the wedding of Charles and Diana, or the funeral of a dignitary. Think about the pomp and circumstance. Think about how the reporters seem to whisper a bit as they report what they are seeing. Folks, these events are NOTHING in comparison to what’s going on in Heaven. John is trying to describe it. He’s trying. But one thing he can do without saying, “It was like…” is that he can, and he does, tell us what is being said in the crowd of elders, creatures, and angels –
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come! “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
In many ways this is putting to song the two creation accounts in Genesis 1 and John 1.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.”
Worship in this vision is much like worship here in that what we are saying as we pray, as we sing, as I preach is similar to what is being said there: We are declaring what is revealed in God’s Word about what was, what is, and what is to come; we are repeating the truth; we are reminding ourselves of God’s decent order in the midst of an indecent world where it is acceptable and even celebrated when we do or say whatever we want as long as we are “feelin’ it.” When we gather in worship, we are reminding ourselves what God says is for our good and His glory. Every week, we’re not opening up a new door to a new truth. Every week, we come hungry for the same truth to be told in the same ways and in new ways so that we can keep on living the life of freedom, peace, joy, and eternal purpose!
As we move into the 5th chapter, we move compellingly into worship of the One and Only - the only one who can open the scroll.
It was first century tradition to secure communications with a clay or wax seal that was a particular mark of the sender. Only the one to whom it was sent was allowed to open it. Often in the case of royalty, the seal was the top-side of a signet ring.
Some believe that the scroll represents the Lamb’s book of life, which would then hold God’s judgments throughout history. Others believe the scroll (because it follows the song of praise about the whole of creation), holds the meaning of all of created order.
When no one there in the throne room is found worthy to open the scroll, John breaks down. If you’ve ever been in a synagogue for worship, the scrolls of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) are held in reverence. When the scroll is brought out to be read, there is a hush as reader and listener alike become alert to this fact: THESE are the very words of GOD. If something would happen sometime that a scroll was sealed and could not be opened, it would cause great anguish for the congregation. Think about if we came to worship some Sunday, and all of our pew Bibles, and Bibles everywhere in the building were sealed and we could not open them.
John somehow understands the importance of what is going to be revealed in the words on the scroll, and he wants to hear them. Just think graduates, if you had a sense of expectation that the answers for your future about what to do next, where to go, and what your life is all about were written on this scroll, most likely you would want it to be opened so that you could hear what is written there, wouldn’t you? When no one is found to open the scroll, John breaks down weeping.
To me, I am taken back to Genesis 2 when God is parading the animals in front of Adam right after he says, “It is not good for man to be alone.” God gives Adam all these options. How about the parrot, the elephant, the cow, the dog, the swan? God raises a sense of anticipation within Adam – allowing him to see that nothing else created will meet his need for companionship. And then seemingly after all other options have been explored and rejected, “Voila!” Eve is created and brought to the man to be his partner.
In some way, I see the same thing going on here. John is given this amazing vision of worship activity in the throne room, and yet with all who are there, with his anticipation at the highest level, he sees that even of all these, none can do what needs to be done. “Don’t cry,” one of the elders says to him. “There is One who can do what needs to be done. There is One who lives and dies, and lives again who can break the seal.”
Jesus alone, the Lion of Judah, and the slain Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, can open the scroll. This word, “lamb” will occur 29 times in Revelation. This Lamb bears the marks of death, but he has overcome death! He is able to see all 7 of His churches and the whole world through the Holy Spirit (the seven spirits). Talk about a tower of importance on which everything else rests – here it is:
This scroll, which is of utmost importance, is in the hands of Jesus Christ,
the Lion and the Lamb.
The devil doesn’t have it, college professors don’t have it, the presidents or kings of the nations don’t have it. Oprah doesn’t have it. Dr. Phil doesn’t have it. No pastor has it; the pope doesn’t have it. Jesus Christ alone holds history in his hands. Romans 8 shouts it out (New Living Translation), 33Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! He is the one who has given us right standing with himself. 34Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No, for he is the one who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us.
35Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? 36(Even the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. 39Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As we conclude, I think it is important for us to consider this: The picture we have of worship in Heaven is a picture of a community at worship. Yes, many places in the Scriptures we find people having an intense one-on-one with God, but if they are being true to God’s call on their lives, that solitary experience always sends them back to engage with God’s people in worship which compels them to go into the world to share God’s truth and love.
You’ve heard it said, and so have I, “I don’t need to go to church. I believe in God. I can worship better up in the mountains by myself than I can ever worship in some stuffy church with a bunch of hypocrites.”
We can, and should worship wherever we are because worship is a way of life. It is submitting our will to God’s will for our lives. Worship is supposed to be 24/7 – certainly when we are alone on a hike in the mountains or sitting on our porch swing. However, we are called to worship together in a group (as is the pattern in Heaven) because by God’s knowledge of us, he knows that when we do not submit to gathering with the fellowship of believers, our tendency is to focus not on the Lamb and what he has already done for us, but on ourselves and everything He has not done yet to make our lives easier.
God alone is purely holy. He is beautiful beyond description. His plan for all of history and his power to bring it forth is without a legitimate rival. In that moment in Steve’s hospital room when I was asked to stand back, it was clear I didn’t have any power to do anything to save my friend. Surely I would not have been able to open anything sealed that would have brought relief. But I did have one thing, given to me by our dear Savior – I had love. I had love for God, even in the midst of a terrible moment in time, and I had love for Steve. Now, I could have kept that moment to myself – truly a moment of intense worship beyond anything I could conjure up. But instead, I shared this moment at Steve’s funeral, and have shared it numerous times since. Because true worship is meant to be shared – both the experience and doing of it; it is not meant to be a lone experience. True worship changes us, and changes the people around us. It doesn’t matter what style of music, it doesn’t matter where we sit, it doesn’t matter what we’re wearing. True worship is all about Jesus, who was, who is, and who is to come. Knowing Him as he is – the Lion and the Lamb – is knowing where you’re going, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. And to get to the Father, is to get everything.
Thank you, Lord, for giving us the way back to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Summer Sermon Series on The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Part 3
“Group Hug”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer
Revelation 4
1After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! 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.” 2At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! 3And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. 4Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. 5Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; 6and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.
Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. 8And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,
“Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.”
9And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,
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 existed and were created.”
Revelation 5
1Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals; 2and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. 4And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. 8When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9They sing a new song:
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;
10 you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving ◙ our God, and they will reign on earth.”
11Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12singing with full voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,
“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
14And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
I want to tell you a story. It is a true story from nearly 8 years ago. A dear friend of mine was a patient at the Hershey Medical Center. He was very sick at only 44 years of age. This was a person who was in John’s class all through his school years; someone I came to know in high school. He was a wonderful friend to Ken Brookens – in fact I came to know Ken through our mutual friendship with this man. His name was Steve.
Steve and I both played the piano for school groups, and we became good friends. He was a really fun person. In fact, God used Steve to bring me to a realization of my sin and God’s grace. It was while Steve was singing a solo at a concert I was attending, that my resolve to run my own life broke apart, and I opened my life to God’s plan from that day forward. And so, you can imagine what it was like to see Steve so sick in Hershey nearly 8 years ago.
One morning as I was getting ready to go to work at the church in Shippensburg, all of sudden I knew that I should go to Hershey instead. I had just been there several days before, but I knew I needed to pay attention to what I was hearing in my spirit. When I got to Hershey, I went to Steve’s room. The room was empty, and I got that horrible feeling deep in my gut. I went to the nurse’s desk and asked where he was. Just her look was enough to verify the way I was feeling. “He’s been moved.” She gave me directions to where I would find him. When I got to that area, I could see my friend through a big glass window. His bed was on an incline, with his head at the lowest end. More machines than I had ever seen before were around his bed. I asked the nurse at that station if I could go in. “You may go in, but you have to wear a gown, gloves, and a mask.” “Ok,” I said. “And ma’am,” “Yes?” “You may not, under any circumstances, touch him.”
Well, I put everything on I was supposed to put on, and went into his room. All his other loved ones weren’t there yet, and so I was alone with him. How I wept. I talked to God and to Steve non-stop. I told God how broken-hearted I was that I couldn’t hold Steve’s hand or even touch his forehead with anointing oil. I begged God to make sure Steve knew he was being touched with love. I begged God to firmly hold him himself in a way that Steve would know it and be comforted by it. And I sang. Steve loved to sing, and though my voice could never match his, I sang and sang, and prayed and prayed, and talked and talked so he would know how much he was loved by us all.
I wanted to sing the hymn “Fairest Lord Jesus.” I started it, but I kept getting stuck on the verses, which was unusual for me with this hymn. It is one of my favorites. So, I kept singing the same verse over and over. You have to realize that I was shaking all over – inside and outside. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing happening to my friend. Beautiful Savior, Lord of all nations, Son of God and Son of Man. Glory and honor, praise, adoration, Now and forever more be Thine.
As I was singing this, all at once, I knew I had to step back. I’ve heard people say they actually heard an audible voice telling them to do something, claiming it was God’s voice. I don’t know if God’s voice would have been audible to anyone else in that moment, but to me, it was loud and clear. “Back up.” I absolutely had to obey. I took several steps back with a clear revelation that the very holiness of God had come to the room around that bed, and it wasn’t for me to be in that space. Within seconds, all the alarms on all the machines went off, as Steve was invited out of his broken body and into the full, healing presence of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I just stood against the wall, amazed, shocked, and comforted by what I had just seen and heard.
I cannot read these two chapters in Revelation without going back to that hospital room. There was something holy going on there that was far beyond my comprehension. And in a sense, that’s what was happening to the writer of Revelation: there is something going on here that he is trying to explain, but is beyond human comprehension. The apostle John says as much every time he says I heard something like, I saw something like…
Several biblical commentators that I read insist that chapters 4 & 5 form the dramatic focal point of the whole book, sort of like the two towers of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco – the cables, steel network, and roadbed of the bridge are completely dependent upon the two towers from which the whole bridge “sways and stays.”
John is invited to “come up here,” to heaven and see something that God wants him to see. Others we read about in the Bible have had similar experiences. In Exodus 19:20, Moses was invited to the top of Mt. Sinai to meet with God and receive the revelation of the commandments. Certainly we cannot get more than a few words into the book of Ezekiel before we see similarities to John’s experiences. Both were given a vision of a throne with living creatures, wings, eyes, faces, fire, lightning, sparkling colors and jewels . . . (If I haven’t mentioned it in the last 2 weeks, let me say it now – the book of Revelation has more allusions to the Old Testament than any other New Testament book. I could do nothing more than cite the references for 20 minutes in each sermon, and still not complete the list!)
When we went with our grandchildren to Disneyworld in February and walked into the main park, the Magic Kingdom, with all it’s sparkle, the colors, the flowers, the music (all of a sudden a band would start playing), and all the people – for an adult it is a lot to take in. For a child – easily sensory overload! Can you imagine a child trying to describe everything at the end of the day? They would stumble and stammer, and use their hands, and maybe finally just give up in pure delight and exhaustion.
Thanks be to God that John didn’t give up. He gives us as well as he humanly can, a picture of what he saw. I’m going to pick out a couple of the images and tell you what I’ve learned in my study (but please study on your own, too.)
Much is said about the 24 elders. Who are they? Some insist it is those who represent the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 disciples – thereby representing all believers. But the most common conclusion is that the 24 elders refer to the 24 priestly divisions who conducted the worship of Israel (1 Chron. 24:4). In other words, these are the ones who have been trained as worship leaders. Even in Heaven (especially in Heaven), corporate worship is decently ordered!
The 4 living creatures with eyes everywhere may represent all of living creation as symbolized by the lion, ox, man, and bird. There is an old Jewish rabbinic saying that dates to 300 A.D., “The mightiest among the birds is the eagle, the mightiest among the domestic animals is the bull, the mightiest among the wild beasts is the lion, and the mightiest of all is man.” If we go back to Ezekiel, the same faces are on the creatures in his vision!
I think back to presidential inauguration days, or perhaps (I’m dating myself here) the wedding of Charles and Diana, or the funeral of a dignitary. Think about the pomp and circumstance. Think about how the reporters seem to whisper a bit as they report what they are seeing. Folks, these events are NOTHING in comparison to what’s going on in Heaven. John is trying to describe it. He’s trying. But one thing he can do without saying, “It was like…” is that he can, and he does, tell us what is being said in the crowd of elders, creatures, and angels –
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come! “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
In many ways this is putting to song the two creation accounts in Genesis 1 and John 1.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.”
Worship in this vision is much like worship here in that what we are saying as we pray, as we sing, as I preach is similar to what is being said there: We are declaring what is revealed in God’s Word about what was, what is, and what is to come; we are repeating the truth; we are reminding ourselves of God’s decent order in the midst of an indecent world where it is acceptable and even celebrated when we do or say whatever we want as long as we are “feelin’ it.” When we gather in worship, we are reminding ourselves what God says is for our good and His glory. Every week, we’re not opening up a new door to a new truth. Every week, we come hungry for the same truth to be told in the same ways and in new ways so that we can keep on living the life of freedom, peace, joy, and eternal purpose!
As we move into the 5th chapter, we move compellingly into worship of the One and Only - the only one who can open the scroll.
It was first century tradition to secure communications with a clay or wax seal that was a particular mark of the sender. Only the one to whom it was sent was allowed to open it. Often in the case of royalty, the seal was the top-side of a signet ring.
Some believe that the scroll represents the Lamb’s book of life, which would then hold God’s judgments throughout history. Others believe the scroll (because it follows the song of praise about the whole of creation), holds the meaning of all of created order.
When no one there in the throne room is found worthy to open the scroll, John breaks down. If you’ve ever been in a synagogue for worship, the scrolls of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) are held in reverence. When the scroll is brought out to be read, there is a hush as reader and listener alike become alert to this fact: THESE are the very words of GOD. If something would happen sometime that a scroll was sealed and could not be opened, it would cause great anguish for the congregation. Think about if we came to worship some Sunday, and all of our pew Bibles, and Bibles everywhere in the building were sealed and we could not open them.
John somehow understands the importance of what is going to be revealed in the words on the scroll, and he wants to hear them. Just think graduates, if you had a sense of expectation that the answers for your future about what to do next, where to go, and what your life is all about were written on this scroll, most likely you would want it to be opened so that you could hear what is written there, wouldn’t you? When no one is found to open the scroll, John breaks down weeping.
To me, I am taken back to Genesis 2 when God is parading the animals in front of Adam right after he says, “It is not good for man to be alone.” God gives Adam all these options. How about the parrot, the elephant, the cow, the dog, the swan? God raises a sense of anticipation within Adam – allowing him to see that nothing else created will meet his need for companionship. And then seemingly after all other options have been explored and rejected, “Voila!” Eve is created and brought to the man to be his partner.
In some way, I see the same thing going on here. John is given this amazing vision of worship activity in the throne room, and yet with all who are there, with his anticipation at the highest level, he sees that even of all these, none can do what needs to be done. “Don’t cry,” one of the elders says to him. “There is One who can do what needs to be done. There is One who lives and dies, and lives again who can break the seal.”
Jesus alone, the Lion of Judah, and the slain Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, can open the scroll. This word, “lamb” will occur 29 times in Revelation. This Lamb bears the marks of death, but he has overcome death! He is able to see all 7 of His churches and the whole world through the Holy Spirit (the seven spirits). Talk about a tower of importance on which everything else rests – here it is:
This scroll, which is of utmost importance, is in the hands of Jesus Christ,
the Lion and the Lamb.
The devil doesn’t have it, college professors don’t have it, the presidents or kings of the nations don’t have it. Oprah doesn’t have it. Dr. Phil doesn’t have it. No pastor has it; the pope doesn’t have it. Jesus Christ alone holds history in his hands. Romans 8 shouts it out (New Living Translation), 33Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! He is the one who has given us right standing with himself. 34Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No, for he is the one who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us.
35Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? 36(Even the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. 39Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As we conclude, I think it is important for us to consider this: The picture we have of worship in Heaven is a picture of a community at worship. Yes, many places in the Scriptures we find people having an intense one-on-one with God, but if they are being true to God’s call on their lives, that solitary experience always sends them back to engage with God’s people in worship which compels them to go into the world to share God’s truth and love.
You’ve heard it said, and so have I, “I don’t need to go to church. I believe in God. I can worship better up in the mountains by myself than I can ever worship in some stuffy church with a bunch of hypocrites.”
We can, and should worship wherever we are because worship is a way of life. It is submitting our will to God’s will for our lives. Worship is supposed to be 24/7 – certainly when we are alone on a hike in the mountains or sitting on our porch swing. However, we are called to worship together in a group (as is the pattern in Heaven) because by God’s knowledge of us, he knows that when we do not submit to gathering with the fellowship of believers, our tendency is to focus not on the Lamb and what he has already done for us, but on ourselves and everything He has not done yet to make our lives easier.
God alone is purely holy. He is beautiful beyond description. His plan for all of history and his power to bring it forth is without a legitimate rival. In that moment in Steve’s hospital room when I was asked to stand back, it was clear I didn’t have any power to do anything to save my friend. Surely I would not have been able to open anything sealed that would have brought relief. But I did have one thing, given to me by our dear Savior – I had love. I had love for God, even in the midst of a terrible moment in time, and I had love for Steve. Now, I could have kept that moment to myself – truly a moment of intense worship beyond anything I could conjure up. But instead, I shared this moment at Steve’s funeral, and have shared it numerous times since. Because true worship is meant to be shared – both the experience and doing of it; it is not meant to be a lone experience. True worship changes us, and changes the people around us. It doesn’t matter what style of music, it doesn’t matter where we sit, it doesn’t matter what we’re wearing. True worship is all about Jesus, who was, who is, and who is to come. Knowing Him as he is – the Lion and the Lamb – is knowing where you’re going, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. And to get to the Father, is to get everything.
Thank you, Lord, for giving us the way back to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
