Sermon Cloud

Who's on the Throne?

• My babysitters & I
o Hard candy & chipping tooth
o Soccer ball & picture frames
o Locked babysitter outside, had a squirt gun fight inside my house with my friends.
• Babysitters got more than they bargained for
• John got more than he bargained for
o Serving his time on the Island of Patmos

• Reading these chapters, it sounds more like something out of the Chronicles of Narnia than anything in the Bible
o Crazy winged creatures with eyes everywhere...
• With chapter 4, we are right on the edge of what becomes quite a journey into John's visions that are depicted throughout the book of Revelation
• This all begins very simply with a door standing open for him - look at the parallel
o Remember from the end of chapter 3, Jesus asking the community to open their door to Him
 Now, Heaven's door is being opened to the community through John's writings
o Certain places and moments, our world and the heavenly realm interlock
o John is being motioned to enter this doorway

• Throne
o All of a sudden, John is standing before a throne
o Thrones do not have much of a meaning for us today - especially Americans
 Nobody really sits on thrones nowadays
 More common usage in America is slang for the toilet
o Had great significance for the people of John's day
 World rulers occupied the throne
• Most powerful people in the world used these as chairs
 Had to be important to sit on a throne
o We are not directly told who is sitting on the throne
 "someone"
o This "someone," may not be named, but we are given hints throughout
 4:3 is our first attempt to describe the One on the throne
 However, instead of a name, we are given a brilliant picture
• When describing someone, you generally give specific features...
• That will simply not due for the One on the throne
o The One sitting on the throne is so amazing, they can only be described in dazzling jewels
o Jasper - diamond
o Carnelian - fiery red
o Emerald rainbow circling the throne- symbolizes God's covenant to Noah in Gen.
 His mercy
 John continues on
 He is not only beautiful, He is powerful
• Thunder and lightening
o Announce God's presence
o Much like in the OT on Mt. Sinai
o With this description in mind of the One on the throne, John describes what's going on around the throne.
o 4:6 - Sea
 Shown a sea before the throne
• Interesting way to describe the sea
 A sign of chaos in the Bible - "monster of chaos"
• Biblical stories: Red Sea, sea Jesus calmed, etc.
 Before the One on the throne, the water is calm
 Smooth as glass
o Next, we witness that not only does creation "bow" before Him, so do the creatures
 24 elders
• Signify 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles
• Multiples of 12 usually means "God's people" - Boone
 Four living beings: lion, ox, human, eagle
• Focus should not necessarily be on what they are, but what they represent
• Wild animals, domestic animals, humans, and birds
 All of creation worships
• Brings all of creation together for one unitary reason
• Not until verse 8 is God actually named
o We are in the very throne room of God
o God Almighty is on the throne
o John's words seem to have a deeper meaning; even the way the name of God is used is for a meaningful parallel
 John is contrasting these words to the words used for the Roman emperor Domitian - who was in charge of putting John on the island to begin with
• "These are the words that greeted the emperor in triumphal procession; and `our Lord and our God' was introduced into the cult of emperor worship by Domitian," the exact words of this passage being used.
o Recorded that he would command people to use the term
 John is saying, "What is happening on earth is simply a cheap imitation of what is taking place in heaven."
 People on earth are being forced to worship this emperor, those in Heaven freely worship God
o This is demonstrated through the casting of crowns
 Nothing forced about this
 Done through their own free will
 Symbolizes that all authority is given over to the One on the throne
o Throne is not empty
 That "Someone" in charge, is God.

• Lamb who occupies the throne
o Sealed scroll - Who can open the scroll?
 Royal decrees or wills
• You didn't seal it unless it was important
 Seal was a piece of wax melted over the edge of the scroll and imprinted with the ring of the sender.
 The seal stated that whatever was contained in this scroll was authorized and no one had messed with its contents
• Seal was a personal imprint
o "I stand behind whatever is in this document."
• 7 seals convey extreme importance
 Many conjectures as to what was contained in the scroll
• Some scholars believe it contained the very will of God
 Not just anyone was able to open it
• Looked like no one would be able to open it...
o John wept and wept
 The will of God would not be known
• What does this mean for my life?
• Does this mean sin and Satan will rule the world forever?
o Just then, John hears one of the elders talk about the Lion
 Lion used to signify the Messiah from the early days of Israel
 Images of King David are conjured up
• Legends had been told of the power of King David
o His conquests
• And this "lion," was of his offspring
 Seems right - power and majesty
• You need power to overthrow the evils of the world
• What else would strike fear into the enemy than the King of the Jungle?
 The Lion has come to save us from the oppressive powers of our world
 No need to cry
o However, when John looks for the Lion, he instead sees a Lamb
 Slot reserved for the Lion has been filled by the Lamb
 First occurrence of "lamb" in Revelation
• Signifies this moment as a grand entrance
o Becomes the dominant image for Christ throughout the rest of Rev.
 Not the cute, cuddly lamb we think of (Serta mattress)
• "lamb that had been killed" is actually translated "as though it had been newly killed"
• The listener is being asked to remember the crucifixion
o "The definitive act which stamps its character on the identity of the Christ, and is thus definitive for the identity of God."
 Sits on the throne with God
• 5:6 - sits "in the very middle of the throne"
o Throne is occupied by both God and Jesus
 One and the same
o God is revealed in the crucified Christ
 This would have rocked the people's world!
• God is supposed to be all-powerful
• He cannot be linked to a seemingly weak and pitiful Lamb
• He should not be identified with death
o However this death was not in vain
 This sacrifice purchased humanity's freedom from death (5:9)
• Slaughtered lamb was commonly associated with sacrifice, which is death for a purpose.
o Listener would have had visions of Passover
o "Passover sacrifice commemorated the way that God liberated Israel from slavery and made of them a ‘priestly kingdom and holy nation.'"
 Human beings conquer through death and damage
• Roman armies killed and enslaved many under such conquest
• Roman Empire was advanced through destruction & power
 This Lamb is not devoid of power: 7 horns and 7 eyes
• Fullness of power and insight
• Attributing deity and power to the Lamb
 Lamb's power conquers in a different way
• Faithfully enduring death on a cross
• Broke the powers of slavery
• Brought into new relationship with God
• The Kingdom of God is advanced
o John is showing his people a place where their ideas of power have been flipped upside down.
 Completely changing what has been viewed as powerful
 Good news for those persecuted churches
 Reason enough to praise God
o Breaks into a musical
 Why song?
 When emotions are so overwhelming that plain words will not due.
 Grand scene of Worship - join in with creation, with one another
• Continues to get bigger and bigger, louder and louder
• Starts off with the creatures/elders, then millions of angels, and finally everything in Heaven, in and beneath the earth
o Ending "amen"
 Amen means "yes"
 "Saying yes expressed the conviction that not only would prayers be fulfilled by God in the future, but that the fulfillment was already present in Christ."
 It is the worshipping affirmation to the God who affirms us.
Conclusion: "The One who sits on the throne is worthy of our worship."
• Who's on the throne for you?
o Who do you worship?
• The throne is always occupied, but who/what inhabits it?
• In the throne room of our life, we allow many things to sit on the throne
o Money, job, body image, etc.
o Just like in John's day, whatever sits on the throne rules our life
o We become like what we worship. - Wright 148-149
 We begin to take on some of the characteristics of the object we worship.
 When you worship money, you become a human calculator
 When you worship body image, you become superficial and shallow
 When you worship power, you become more and more ruthless
• Bombarded with stuff vying for our worship
o We allow so many things into our lives that shouldn't be there, and our lives become crowded and foggy
 Everything is empty and hollow, so we either need more and more of what we've already got, or we go onto something new hoping that will fulfill our desires
 Pretty soon those ideas/possessions no longer satisfy us
o Jimi Hendrix's story
 Real truth
• The Truth is where many would least expect it
• Truth is found in the worship of the slaughtered Lamb/crucified Christ.
o Power was the currency of society during John's life
 Still the currency
 To have a slaughtered lamb on the throne does not make any sense
 The lion made sense, but not the lamb
• Lamb is perceived as weak
o We've learned that God has completely changed what is viewed as weak and what is deemed as strong through His Son
 The Lamb changes that
• Brings about redemption of all of creation
• Not by destroying, but by suffering and dying on a cross
• In this sacrificial act, He ended death's grip on our lives
• The Lamb was slaughtered for us
o HE was the sacrifice for our sins
o This is why we worship Him
 Worship means acknowledging the worth of something or someone.
• Recognizing they are worthy to be praised
 Christ gives us HOPE for the future through His life, death, and resurrection
 "Knowing the future is not a matter of obtaining information but of knowing God who holds the future. The ultimate future is not an item of information to be analyzed but a person to be encountered." - Boring 103
 This person is the Lamb, the Christ who sits on the throne with God
• Mercy, forgiveness, and hope rule His Kingdom
• 7 churches are being asked this question and so are you:
o Who's on the throne for you?
o Who do you worship?