Pastor Martin expounds Revelation 4, presenting it as a vision of God's sovereign throne and its occupant, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. He argues that this vision, given to John amidst persecution, provides profound comfort and ballast for the suffering church by reminding them that God is eternally holy, almighty, and changeless, orchestrating all events according to His inscrutable will. The sermon contrasts this foundational truth with the kingship of Christ in redemption, emphasizing that Christ's rule rests upon God's sovereignty in creation. Martin concludes with a word of instruction and consolation for believers, urging them to root their faith in God as Creator, and a frightening warning for unbelievers who defy the enthroned God.
Primary Texts
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Revelation 4:1-11This entire chapter is expounded as the central vision of God's throne and its occupant, forming the core of the sermon's argument about God's sovereignty as Creator.
The Multi-Dimensional Salvation and Christ's Offices0:02
Kingship of Christ in Revelation: A Review2:23
Introduction to the Vision of Chapters 4 and 54:23
The Setting of the Vision: From Dictation to Direct Sight6:12
The Substance of the Vision: The Throne and Its Occupant13:50
The Fundamental Significance: God's Sovereignty as Creator17:01
Consolation for the Suffering Church26:32
Instruction and Consolation for Believers35:12
A Frightening Word for Unbelievers38:03
Closing Prayer and Admonition42:24
Key Quotes
“If we contemplate what we are as sinners in our native state of rebellion, in our continuous weakness and all of the unconquered enemies in our lives, then there is great consolation and strengthening of faith to contemplate Christ as our great prophet, to contemplate Christ in his office as a king.”
“It is essential for the suffering, struggling church militant always to remember that there is one who walks in the midst of the lampstands, resplendent in the glory of his mighty person and his offices.”
“What comfort, what direction, what consolation is to be found in this opening vision? Well, as I try to underscore the fundamental significance of the vision, try again to keep the whole picture in focus.”
“He did precisely what the people of God so desperately needed. They needed to come to grips with the significance of that first vision. They needed to come to grips with the reality that the One who orders all of the events and all of the circumstances of the world, who governs all the affairs of the nations of the earth, was indeed at that very moment in the midst of all their tribulation and suffering and trial and anguish and agony, He was seated upon a throne.”
“Now when you bring that together, my friends, do you see what a message of consolation it would be to the struggling saints? In that second great general persecution under the Roman authority, while Domitian has set his sights upon the church, and while John has been exiled to that lonely isle of Patmos, and he anticipates that he will be given visions of things to come, now his eye in this spirit of elevated, or in this condition of elevated relationship to the Spirit and to the world of spiritual reality, there is not a literal throne in heaven with literal creatures. No, no, my friend, this is all in vision, representing tremendous realities. And the great reality is spoken by those nearest to the throne. And it's as though the Lord is saying, O my struggling people upon the earth, who when you look about you, all you see is wicked men triumphing in their wickedness, evil men, carrying out their evil designs. The church rent from without, crippled by its own sins from within. Where will it all end? He says in essence, come and see what I've seen.”
“now do you see why it's wicked positively wicked for people to say, well chapter 4 of Revelation is the rapture and John represents the church being caught away from the earth and now the church can, as it were, look into the crystal ball and see what's going to happen to the Jews in the tribulation My friends, it's positively wicked positively wicked because the church in her deepest hour of struggle needs to know what the throne is set and God is holy and just in all His ways and even when He allows His church to enter into periods of great trial”
“O child of God never lose sight of the doctrine of creation without it your consolations rooted in redemption will wear thin at the edges and ultimately crumble and all you'll be left with is some kind of an existential Jesus kick and you'll need more than that to face what these believers face so it's a word of instruction come back again and again to this foundational perspective the throne set in heaven is occupied by the glorious God who is Creator and King of all things”
“you don't like it that a throne is set in heaven and that the one who sits upon it is God and he has unqualified rights over you his creature you don't like that your basic problem is an unconverted man or woman boy or girl your basic problem is that there is a non-negotiable sovereignty exercised in this world and the language of your heart is I will not have this one to reign over me”
Applications
All listeners
Contemplate Christ's offices of prophet, priest, and king to hold together the glory of multi-dimensioned salvation.
Read and meditate much upon Revelation 4 and 5 together throughout the week.
Never lose hold of the elementary truth of God as Creator; without it, consolations rooted in redemption will crumble.
Come back again and again to the foundational perspective that the throne in heaven is occupied by the glorious God who is Creator and King of all things.
Suck sweetness from this vision by deliberate meditation and prayer, standing by that open door and seeing by the eye of faith the great reality that God is enthroned.
Recognize that your basic problem as an unconverted person is rebellion against the enthroned God and His unqualified rights over you.
Find refuge before that throne while it is yet a throne of mercy and ask God for Jesus Christ's sake to pardon and cleanse you of your sins and receive you as His own.
A full transcript is available on the
tab. 65 paragraphs, roughly 45 minutes.
Machine transcription
The Multi-Dimensional Salvation and Christ's Offices
The salvation of God in Jesus Christ is a vast and a many-sided or multi-faceted or multi-dimensioned salvation, and it is so because the need of sinners is multi-dimensional, and God's gracious salvation answers in all its parts to some of those specific needs of guilty sinners. One of the great problems which a Christian faces is the problem of how to hold together in his mind so that he may believingly respond to those various facets of God's salvation in Christ. Well, one helpful way to at least...
to at least make an effort at holding together something of the glory of this multi-dimensioned salvation is to contemplate the work of the Savior under the headings of his offices of prophet, priest, and king. For example, it is as our great priest that his work answers to our guilt, our pollution, and our defilement as sinners. If we think of our need because of ignorance and darkness of mind, then we contemplate Christ as our great prophet, making known to us the mind and the will of God. If we contemplate what we are as sinners in our native state of rebellion, in our continuous weakness and all of the unconquered enemies in our lives, then there is great consolation and strengthening of faith to contemplate Christ as our great prophet, to contemplate Christ in his office as a king. Now, having examined his office as our great priest and prophet, we are drawing to a conclusion our consideration of his office as a king. Having traced out the lines of biblical truth pointing to his kingship beginning way back in the Old Testament, we have arrived at last to the last book in the Bible, the book which sets forth the conflict and...
Kingship of Christ in Revelation: A Review
Conquest of Christ and his people, even to the hour of consummation. And so, for several Lord's Day mornings, we have been meditating upon the great theme of the kingship of Christ in this book of conflict unto consummation, the book of the Revelation. In our two previous studies, we examined, first of all, some principles by which to understand and interpret the book of the Revelation. And then we studied...
We studied the opening greeting, verses 4 and 5, in which the climactic note is one of Christ's kingship. The church is to conceive of grace and peace coming down from God the Father, God the Spirit, and God the Son, who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. And then last Lord's Day, we contemplated his kingship in the opening vision, which is...
which is, as it were, sets a framework within which the entire book unfolds. John sees this unique personage in the midst of these seven golden pedestal lamps. He sees a representation of Christ in his majesty and power and glory, ministering to his church as its great king, its great prophet, and its great priest. And we must never lose sight of that vision of Christ, or that representation of what Christ is in that vision of one like unto the Son of Man.
It is essential for the suffering, struggling church militant always to remember that there is one who walks in the midst of the lampstands, resplendent in the glory of his mighty person and his offices. Well, we come this morning to begin the consideration of...
Introduction to the Vision of Chapters 4 and 5
of the vision of Chapters 4 and 5, which we could well entitle a vision of the throne of God and of the Lamb. The concluding verse of praise in Chapter 5 is, as it were, a summary statement of all that has transpired in the vision. Unto him that sitteth on the throne and unto the Lamb be the blessing and honor and glory and dominion for ever and ever. So we have then in Chapters 4 and 5 this vision of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Now, as I've already intimated, it's unfortunate that there is a chapter division between Chapters 4 and 5. The vision is a unity. The vision sets forth a glorious truth, not one part in isolation, from the other. But it is convenient in the sense that it is broken down, because if I were to try to expound the vision in its entirety this morning, at least for my purposes, I would show both a lack of good judgment and a lack of grace, because you would for sure get a full hour-and-a-half old-fashioned Puritan sermon.
And I've only preached one of those in my life, all of the joking notwithstanding about the length of Pastor Martin's sermons. You usually get 40, 45, 45 minutes Sunday morning and a little bit more than that Sunday night. I did on one occasion preach an hour-and-a-half sermon, but only once in 25 years, I assure you. So I don't want to demonstrate either a lack of good judgment or a lack of grace, and so we must focus our attention this morning upon Chapter 4.
The Setting of the Vision: From Dictation to Direct Sight
But as I do, let me remind you, it's the entire section that forms the thrust of the message of God, and I trust you will read and meditate much upon these two chapters together throughout the week in preparation for the exposition of next Lord's Day morning. Well, as we think through then the vision as it is given to us or the part of the vision given to us in Chapter 4, we should consider first of all the setting of the vision. Having done that, we will consider the main substance of the vision, and then thirdly, the major significance of the vision. And we will no doubt follow that outline through the entire study this morning and again next Lord's Day morning, God willing. First of all, then, the setting of this vision. John has received the shattering vision recorded in Chapter 1, the vision of this one like unto the Son of Man, that majestic, soul-shattering sight of the great King and mighty victor who walks in the midst of the Lamb's table. And then, in the second part, John is given the commandment to write the things that he both hears and sees.
Having heard his words of comfort, John then obeys the command to write the things that he both hears and sees. Then John is given a very prodigious dictating responsibility. All the way through chapters 2 and 3, John is simply writing what he hears. Notice chapter 2 and verse 1.
Unto the angel of the church in Ephesus write, These things sayeth. And each of the messages to the various churches begins with, These things sayeth. So after that initial shattering vision in which John's eye was very active as he was caught up in the Spirit and made the recipient of direct revelation, the primary organ of activity or receptivity was the eye. Then, for two chapters, it is John's ear that is the primary organ of the reception of revelation.
Unlike the Apostle Paul, when he would write a letter, his own mental processes would be involved in thinking through the subject, in structuring his argument. Not so. John, at this point, is simply doing what a secretary does when she's called into her boss's office and he says, Now will you take this down? And she takes it down.
That's precisely what John is doing. So in the letters to the seven churches, we have the dictation of the exalted Lord to the seven churches. And of course, the great point of all that is given in that dictation is that the church in its present state, on to the consummation, is under the care of its exalted Redeemer King. He is the ruler of the kings of the earth.
He is the Lord who reigns with absolute power. He has the keys of death and of hell. And he dictates, then, this expression of his concern for his church. And he says, in essence, I walk in your midst.
I know you, my people. I care for my own. I enter into your sufferings and your struggles. I reprove you for your sins.
I admonish you for your waywardness. I encourage and support you with gracious promises that as you overcome, you will join me in the triumphs of my overcoming. And it's not without significance that the final word of promise to the overcomers, which is given not just to the last church, but to all the churches, ends with the note of a shared position of authority. Notice it in verse 21 of chapter 3.
He that overcometh, I will give him to sit down with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and sat down with my Father in his throne. Now, can you feel something of the situation? John has been feverishly dictating. The ear has been the primary organ of reception.
The messages are now written down. John, no doubt, feels something of the tremendous glory and power of those messages. Christ is in the midst. He knows his churches.
He cares for his churches. He sees the church in its suffering. He anticipates her further conflicts. He promises blessings to the overcomers.
And then, suddenly, the eye again becomes active as the organ of receiving revelation. Verse 1 of chapter 4. After these things, that is, this extensive work of dictation, after these things, I saw. Now the eye, you see, is active again.
And behold, a door opened. Now he's not saying that as he looked, the door was swung open. But as he looked, he saw a door already having been and remaining open. That's the force of the tense of the verb.
I saw a door having already been opened and remaining open in heaven. And now the ear comes into play again. And the first voice that I heard, a voice as of a trumpet speaking with me, that is, it was the same voice I heard recorded in chapter 1. This voice says, Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter.
Or it could be translated, the things which must come to pass, period, after these things, straightway I was in the Spirit. That's a linguistic problem, and I'll not involve you in the problems of Greek grammar this morning. Suffice it to say that after the ear being the exclusive organ of receiving the revelation, the eye again comes into play. And it beholds now, not a strange personage, but an open door into the heavens.
And then a voice that beckons John, Come up hither, and I will show you the things which must come to pass. I have demonstrated that I am in the midst of my church. I've assured the church of my living presence, of my compassion, of my concern, of my determination that my church shall be what I died to make it. I've comforted it.
But there is much yet to come. There are further conflicts. There are further wars. There are further upheavals, even to the consummation.
Now, John, come up hither, and I will show you the things which must come to pass. And now we read in verse 2 straightway, I was in the Spirit. John is once again brought into that peculiar state where he will be the organ of direct revelation. This in the Spirit terminology being technical language with respect to the receiving of direct revelation.
The Substance of the Vision: The Throne and Its Occupant
Now that's the setting of the vision. You see it, you feel it, and you sense what it was like. Alright, now let's move very quickly to the substance of the vision. Now the substance of the vision in chapter 4 is made up of two major ingredients.
Verses 1 to 7 is taken up with the throne and its occupant. Look at the language. Straightway I was in the Spirit and behold, there was a throne set in heaven. Now again, it doesn't mean that John actually saw a throne come and set.
No, when he beheld, it was already there in place. I beheld the throne set in heaven and one sitting upon the throne. And all the way through verse 7 you have these details concerning the throne and the one who sits upon it. And everything else that is in the vision takes its point of reference from the throne.
It is never described as a thing in isolation, but a thing in relationship to the throne. Notice this in verse 4. And round about the throne were four and twenty thrones. Verse 5, And out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and thunders.
Verse 6, And before the throne, as it were, a sea of glass. And then in verse 10, And the four and twenty elders shall fall down before the hymn that sitteth upon the throne. And further on, And shall cast their crowns before the throne. Twelve times, the throne is mentioned in this very short chapter of 11 verses.
And then you have several references to the thrones of the four and twenty elders, but twelve times, the throne, the throne, the throne, the throne. What is God saying? Well, whatever He is saying, the key to it is found in this dominant element of the throne and its occupant. And then the second major division of this chapter is the response of those nearest to the throne as they contemplate the occupant of the throne.
And that takes us from verses 8 to the end of the chapter. And the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings or full of eyes round about, and they have no rest, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy. And then you have the elders who chime in before the throne and they give forth this tremendous hymn of praise, Worthy art Thou, our Lord, and our God. Now, whereas you thought to come to the book of the Revelation was to enmesh yourself in a hopeless and intricate maze of symbols and abstruse things that you could never sort out, that's not too difficult, is it?
The Fundamental Significance: God's Sovereignty as Creator
In chapter four, the first part of this vision of the throne of God and the Lamb, you have the dominant emphasis upon the throne and its occupant, and then the response of those nearest to the throne as they behold the occupant of the throne. Now, that's basically the substance of the vision. Now then, what is the fundamental significance of that vision? This was given to John's companions in tribulation. It was the issue of the confusion of the large heart of the Lord Jesus for His suffering, struggling saints, not only in the seven churches specifically mentioned, but all of the churches existing at that time and all of the churches that shall exist in struggle and conflict down to the consummation. What comfort, what direction, what consolation is to be found in this opening vision? Well, as I try to underscore the fundamental significance of the vision, try again to keep
the whole picture in focus. Having read the account of the glorious personage in the first chapter, Christ in regal and priestly power caring for the church in all the spectrum at its need, it doesn't take much for us to ask the question, yes, Christ is in the midst of His church, caring for her needs, commanding, rebuking, and succoring, but the church is in the midst of a world, a world at times filled with evil men, a world that often is governed by evil men and evil forces. The church does not carry out its mission and ministry in an island insulated from the world. Yes, it's wonderful to know Christ in all His regal power and priestly compassion is in the midst of the church, but what about the church in the midst of the world? What is her comfort? What is her consolation?
What is to be, as it were, the ballast in her hull as she sails through troubled and tempestuous waters? Well, you see, here's the answer to that. John hears with his voice, his ear a voice saying, come up hither and I will show you the things which must come to pass. Well, you would expect then that the next vision will unfold in symbol those things which form the cycle of the interaction between the forces of darkness and King Jesus and His church.
But John does not see such things until chapter 6. The voice says, come and I'll show you the things which must come to pass. And he says, behold, I was in the spirit and I saw a throne and I saw one upon the throne. Now, is God throwing a curve at John?
He promises things to come to pass and instead He shows him a thing, a throne, and a being upon that throne and many other beings around that throne rendering homage in worship. No, He didn't throw him a curve, my friends. He did precisely what the people of God so desperately needed. They needed to come to grips with the significance of that first vision.
They needed to come to grips with the reality that the One who orders all of the events and all of the circumstances of the world, who governs all the affairs of the nations of the earth, was indeed at that very moment in the midst of all their tribulation and suffering and trial and anguish and agony, He was seated upon a throne. And from that throne in mighty, unflinching power He would accomplish all of His sovereign designs. And this is brought out so beautifully when we consider the substance of the praise of those nearest the thrones. Let's look at it just briefly. And the four living creatures, preachers, whoever they may be, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within, and they have no rest day and night, say, this is what they perceive the being upon the throne to be. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.
What are they doing? They are first of all acknowledging the identity of the One on the throne. It is the Lord God. And then they acknowledge what they understand of His attributes or His being.
He is holy. He is without moral imperfection. He is completely apart and separate from all other beings. All of those ideas are bound up in this designation, holy.
God is completely apart from all other beings and no little part of that apartness is that He is without moral stain. And then they worship Him as the Almighty. He is without equal in strength and power. There is none that can rival Him nor threaten His purposes, for whatever power would rise up against Him and His throne, the One upon the throne, is Almighty and can restrain and put down that power.
And then they worship Him as the Eternal One. Look at the language. Who was and who is and who is to come. There is no growth nor development in God.
There is no evolution of perfection nor devolution away from perfection. He has no beginning and no end. All that He ever has been, He is and ever shall be. And these creatures, whether they represent the entire creation, whether they represent something else, and the commentators all differ, one thing is sure.
Whatever they are or represent in this vision, what they discern of Him upon the throne is unmistakably clear. It is the Lord God and He is upon a throne and He is holy in Himself and in all His works and ways. He is Almighty in the outgoing of divine energy. And He is the eternally changeless One.
And then when we read the response of the four and twenty elders, and here we can say with a greater degree of certainty, in all likelihood and with little possibility of debate, representing the church of the old and the new economies, you have the twelve tribes of Israel, you have the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Later on when there is that vision of the perfected church, you find that those are the foundations of that perfected church. Now what do they see in Him that sits upon the throne? What is the focal point of their praise?
Look at it. They fall before the throne, casting their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they were, that is, they continued to exist and were created. They behold in the One upon the throne that One who is infinitely worthy of ascriptions of highest praise and honor, particularly in the light of what He is, as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, whose creation and sustaining of the universe is to be found in the exercise of His own inscrutable will. Because of Thy will they were, that is, they continued to be, as well as initially began to be. Now when you bring that together, my friends, do you see what a message of consolation it would be to the struggling saints? In that second great general persecution under the Roman authority, while Domitian has set his sights upon the church, and while John has been exiled
Consolation for the Suffering Church
to that lonely isle of Patmos, and he anticipates that he will be given visions of things to come, now his eye in this spirit of elevated, or in this condition of elevated relationship to the Spirit and to the world of spiritual reality, there is not a literal throne in heaven with literal creatures. No, no, my friend, this is all in vision, representing tremendous realities. And the great reality is spoken by those nearest to the throne. And it's as though the Lord is saying, O my struggling people upon the earth, who when you look about you, all you see is wicked men triumphing in their wickedness, evil men, carrying out their evil designs. The church rent from without, crippled by its own sins from within. Where will it all end? He says in essence, come and see what I've seen.
See the door opened in heaven. And what is there? A nervous God biting His nails because things are getting out of hand? A nervous God because some of His ways don't appear quite just and righteous to the creature?
No, no. Then He gives to us that which He was privileged to see and to hear. All of creation most likely represented in those four living creatures. All of creation acknowledging that the God who is presently enthroned is infinitely and unchangeably holy.
He is infinitely and unchangeably almighty. He is eternal. He is the great I AM. And furthermore, because the church is in God's world, standing on God's earth, interacting with the world of men and things, He says get your minds riveted upon this great truth.
All of this has come to pass because God willed that there should be a world. And there is a world with which you may now interact because the same God who made it sustains and upholds it by His own mighty power because of Thy will they were ever being as well as came into being. I think the best commentary upon the main significance of this part of the vision is Romans 11.36.
For of Him and through Him and unto Him are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. As I was meditating upon this passage my mind began to go off into a flight of imagination and I hope it was sanctified imagination. Can you imagine what it would have been like that first morning when the lector, the man appointed to read the epistle or the letter that would come from John from the Isle of Patmos came say to the church at Ephesus or Smyrna? And the lector is standing and he's reading. John, unto the seven churches that are in Asia Minor he's reading along. He reads of that amazing account of that vision that John saw. And then the reader comes to this part of the vision.
I saw a throne opened in heaven. There are believers tossed to and fro many of them perhaps crippled with doubts wondering where will it all end? Where will it all come to? And then as the reader reads this section and comes to the part where these living creatures are found before the throne ascribing holiness and all mightiness and eternality to God the four and twenty elders are before the throne saying He is worthy to receive glory and honor and power because of His will all things exist and came to be.
I can just picture one saint who is perhaps a bit more volatile in his response raising his hand and saying to one of the elders Sir, Sir, will you have the lector stop for just a moment? Just have him stop for a moment? Is it possible that we could join them in that chorus of praise? Oh, how we've dishonored our God because we've seen that steel-like heel of Rome tromping out its vengeance upon the saints and because we've seen the struggles and the setbacks of the church we've been practical atheists we've acted as though God were not upon His throne we've conducted ourselves in a way that's been a disgrace to Him and perhaps a torrent of exhortation poured forth from this brother as he admonished his fellow believers in the midst of every circumstance which caused the doubt totally unchanged to say My friends, things are not what they appear to be to these eyes they are what they appear to be to the eye of John when he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day the throne in heaven is still set and the one who sits upon that throne is glorious both in holiness, in majesty and the rainbow surrounding the throne in covenant faithfulness
that rainbow that harks way back to Genesis in which God committed Himself to a covenant with His creatures and there was the living reminder He's the God of covenant faithfulness and what is happening about you, tossed, tried, tempted believers there has been no obliteration of that rainbow about the throne He exercises His sovereignty consisting with every covenant commitment He's made to His world and in particular to His church now do you see why it's wicked positively wicked for people to say, well chapter 4 of Revelation is the rapture and John represents the church being caught away from the earth and now the church can, as it were, look into the crystal ball and see what's going to happen to the Jews in the tribulation My friends, it's positively wicked positively wicked now I did not say the men who teach that are wicked men I did not say that but I said that teaching is positively wicked because the church in her deepest hour of struggle needs to know what the throne is set and God is holy and just in all His ways and even when He allows His church to enter into periods of great trial
when He allows her opposers to take some of her number and put them to death when He even allows heresy to invade the church and to defile, as it were, the altars of proclamation within that church God is still upon His throne and the very creatures that spew out their heresy and the very creatures that carry on their enmity against the church they are sustained by the very arm of omnipotence even as they pursue their wicked designs this is the essential message of this first part of the vision and though it does not focus primarily upon the kingship of Christ the kingship of Christ in redemption exists upon the reality of the sovereignty of God in creation and that's why God as Creator perceives the vision of the Lamb as Redeemer both chapters focus upon the throne both chapters have to do with rule and authority and kingly power but the vision begins with the throne of Him who is Creator before there is introduced that dimension of Him who is Redeemer
Instruction and Consolation for Believers
and I want to say in closing there is contained then in this vision and in its essential message both a word of instruction and comfort to every true believer the word of instruction is child of God never lose hold of the elementary truth the doctrine of the Bible which focuses upon God as Creator you see the moment you lose sight of that truth that fact then the world seems to be a meaningless jumble of unrelated and cruel events but if all things are here because He willed it and they are sustained because He wills it then though I cannot untangle the strands I can say bless God there are no tangled strands in the mind of the infinite and eternal God O child of God never lose sight of the doctrine of creation without it your consolations rooted in redemption will wear thin at the edges and ultimately crumble and all you'll be left with is some kind of an existential Jesus kick and you'll need more than that to face what these believers face so it's a word of instruction come back again and again to this foundational perspective the throne set in heaven is occupied by the glorious God who is Creator and King of all things
who is Creator and sustainer of His world not only is it a word of instruction I trust you've sensed it is a word of consolation as you think of your life with its present disappointments its sins, its frustrations, its unanswered prayers its unrealized ambitions even some of the holiest ones ambitions that grow out of the fact that you're a new creature in Christ and yet you seem to be frustrated in the fulfillment of those ambitions what do you need child of God? you need as it were to suck sweetness from this vision go with John not in some elevated state of direct revelation but by the feet of deliberate meditation and prayer stand by that open door and see by the eye of faith not a literal throne with literal creatures and with literal elders but the great reality that they represent God is enthroned this morning if we could but see as they see instead of our whys and oh God explain and oh God tell me we with them would cry holy, holy, holy is the Lord God the Almighty who was and who is to come and we would rise above the tangled seeming
A Frightening Word for Unbelievers
meaninglessness of our present circumstances and be lost in wonder love and praise oh child of God that's where your comfort will lie but I say there's a frightening word for you who are not in Christ you see your basic problem as an unconverted man has to do with that throne that's your basic problem you don't like it that a throne is set in heaven and that the one who sits upon it is God and he has unqualified rights over you his creature you don't like that your basic problem is an unconverted man or woman boy or girl your basic problem is that there is a non-negotiable sovereignty exercised in this world and the language of your heart is I will not have this one to reign over me but my friend that throne exists and the one seated upon it this morning is full of compassion and long suffering as we saw last Lord's Day evening in contemplating the conversion of the Ninevites to God's response to their repentance but my friend it is by His sovereign will that He exercises His infinite mercy none of God's attributes regulate Him I will have mercy upon whom I will
His mercy is dispensed by the inscrutable dictates of His own will and God wills to extend mercy to you while you defy Him as the enthroned God but my friend the hour is coming when God will say I will to drive from my universe to some part that the Bible calls Gehenna the lake of fire the devil and his demons and every son and daughter of Adam who would not embrace me as the enthroned one through the merits of the land that was slain you see you saunter about thinking there is no throne in the universe but the throne of your own notions and your own ambitions and your own desires and this God who could send you back into nothingness if He chose to He bears with that and you completely mistake that long suffering you think because no thunders and lightning come from the throne to consume you that no such thunders and lightnings exist but my friend they do when John was taken up in vision he said thunders and lightnings proceed from that throne symbols of the fiery majesty of God and the one who sits at the right hand of that being is going to come
and the scripture says in flaming fire to take vengeance on all that obey not the gospel vengeance from the Lamb? yes chapter 6 says hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb what a strange combination if He had said from the wrath of the Lion of the tribe of Judah but it's the wrath of the Lamb my friend the Lamb will come in fiery vengeance oh may God grant that you'll find refuge find refuge before that throne while it is yet a throne of mercy and ask God for Jesus Christ's sake to pardon and cleanse you of your sins and receive you as His own well I feel impoverished this morning in trying even to set forth in a little measure something of the glory and the majesty of the passage if I could have preached on anything else I would have but I trust that God who takes the weak things to confound the mighty will take the feeble effort to at least distill something of the consolation of this great truth to the heart of His own and to strike terror to the hearts of those of you who are strangers to grace
Closing Prayer and Admonition
as we consider Him who sits upon that throne let us pray our Father we thank You for the great realities set before John's eye in the visions of lonely Patmos and we thank You that as the church then received this word of consolation that we this day may receive it just as fresh as though we had the original scroll in our hands upon which John wrote what he saw we thank You that the Spirit as it were is not bound by time and that this word comes to us from our exalted Lord to comfort and console and to warn us as surely as it came to those original seven churches O Holy Spirit may we be given ears to hear what the Spirit would say to the churches God seal the word we know not what else to pray but that You would attend Your own word to the prophet of each hearer
and above all to the everlasting praise of Your name we do desire we do desire to join those living creatures crying holy, holy, holy we do desire Holy Spirit to join the four and twenty elders who cry out worthy art Thou O Lord our God to receive the blessing and the honor and the glory and power because You have made all things and because of Your will they are and were created we worship You this morning and we pray that amidst the fitful scenes of our own individual lives we may have again and again occasion to come back and to behold that door opened in heaven and that throne set and the one seated upon it O God seal the word to our hearts we plead through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen
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Passages Expounded
Revelation 4:1-11
This entire chapter is expounded as the central vision of God's throne and its occupant, forming the core of the sermon's argument about God's sovereignty as Creator.
Texts Expounded
auto_stories
The entire chapter is the focus of the sermon, detailing the vision of God's throne and its occupant.