Sermon Revelation 4 and 5 – Worship

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

Sermon Revelation 4 and 5 – Worship

April 10, 2016

            I am continuing today with our look at a hidden spiritual reality revealed to us by God through the testimony of Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation.  We saw last week the spiritual reality that Jesus is with us when we gather for worship.   Today Jesus will invite us to enter through a door into heaven to reveal to us what takes place there when we worship here.  This will reveal to us what is really happening spiritually when we are worshiping physically here at First Presbyterian Church.  We will get to this, but first let’s pray.

            “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”  Amen.

            When I was young, my father worked for RCA.  As an RCA employee he received a discount on television sets.  Therefore I had one of the first color televisions on the block.  And all of my friends came over to watch the Wizard of Oz.  This movie, as you undoubtedly remember, is about a young girl, Dorothy, who is swept into heaven by a whirlwind.  When she gets to heaven she finds it is named Oz.  And in Oz there is a great wizard who can help her go home.  So she makes her way to the Emerald City where this great wizard lives.  But then she is disappointed to find out that the great wizard is just an old man pulling levers and pushing buttons.  This “wizard” has no ability to help her get back to Kansas.  But Dorothy finds out that she doesn’t need a wizard because she can get back home with her own abilities. 

            Sadly, several generations have grown up with the idea that heaven is like the mythical Oz and God is no more real than the false wizard Dorothy found.   This is not the truth.  The Wizard of Oz is fiction. The creator God really lives in heaven.  We can’t see God in our physical world.  But God exist in a hidden spiritual reality in heaven. 

            Many Christians today deny the spiritual realty revealed in the Book of Revelation.  They read Revelation as a mythical story the way one might read the Wizard of Oz.   Other Christians deny this spiritual reality by saying that the Book of Revelation reveals not a spiritual reality today, but a physical reality sometime in the future.  They would argue that what we read in the Book of Revelation is not a hidden reality but a future reality when the world comes to an end.         But I think that what John of Patmos and the prophets of the Old Testament saw, and what

Jesus revealed, was a true spiritual reality that is hidden but does exist today.  Jesus is alive today.  He is with us spiritually today.  He is seated on God’s throne today.  This is the spiritual reality we believe and is revealed to us in the book of Revelation.  So let’s turn to the fourth chapter of Revelation and see what it reveals.

Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

            Jesus has invited John of Patmos and us to see heaven for ourselves.  And so in the context of worship on the Lord’s Day, John and we pass through the door between heaven and earth to see worship from the perspective of heaven. 

 ² At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. ³ And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. ⁴ Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. ⁵ From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. ⁶ Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. ⁸ Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings.

            What we see here is God sitting on his throne in heaven.  In front of him are all the heavenly creatures.  Directly in front of God are four creatures called cherubim or seraphim by the Old Testament prophets.  Behind them are 24 angels which in Revelation are called elders.  All of these heavenly beings worship God continually.

Day and night the cherubim never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”

To which the angels respond:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

            What is being revealed to us is worship from the perspective of heaven.  As Christians gather together for worship on the Lord’s day we are joining the cherubim and the angels in praising God.  Christians  never worship alone.  We worship as part of a church, of all churches on earth , and of with all Christians who have ever lived.  We are the church universal.  And when we sing we join our voices with the heavenly choirs of angels and cherubim.  If this was a myth then there would be no reason for us to worship.  Why bother?  But it is not a myth.  It is a hidden spiritual reality.  We worship the living God in heaven who receives worship from all creation.

            Let’s get back to John’s eye witness account from heaven.

Revelation 5:1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.

            So John has seen a scroll in heaven held in the right hand of God.  The ancient prophets received similar scrolls containing vital information for God’s people.  The prophet Ezekiel was told to eat the scroll, memorize it, so he could give the exiled Israelites instructions of what to do when they returned from Babylon to Jerusalem. 

            But the scroll John sees is sealed completely, seven seals.  And no one is worthy to break the seal.  Let’s talk a bit about being “worthy”.  In the first century only one man could be called worthy, Caesar.  Worthiness was an attribute of a king.  No one else could be worthy.    So who could possibly be worthy to open the seals?  It would have to be a most powerful king.  Who might this king be?  One of the 24 angels told John not to worry.  There was someone worthy enough to open the seals.  Here is what he said.

5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

            This is good news.  The messiah has come as a mighty Lion, descendant of King David.  He had defeated Satan and power of evil.  And with his power he is worthy and able to open the seals and reveal the prophecy inside the scroll.  So let’s watch this awesome display of power.

6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

            A slain lamb?  We were expecting a great Lion, but all we get is a dead bloody lamb?  What is this all about?   Is that all we get?  Jesus did not come as expected.  We all thought he would confront Satan with the power of Lion.  But instead Jesus showed up as a sacrificial lamb.  He defeated Satan not with power and might, but with love and forgiveness.  And that is what made Jesus worthy to open the scroll.

7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.

            And so whenever we worship our prayers are carried by angels and cherubim to heaven where they are presented to God and to the Lamb, who was sacrificed for our sin.  And when our prayers are received by God we join with all of creation bursting  into a new song.

9 …“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.  10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

            This is really good news for us.  We have been ransomed from evil.  Jesus paid the price for our slavery to sin.  He purchased us from the Devil.  And so we are free to glorify God and enjoy him forever.   Then all the heavenly angels and cherubim from all over creation return to heaven and sing.

12 … “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

            And then all the Christians in all the churches and all the creatures on earth join with all the choirs in heaven in the singing.

13 … “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power,

for ever and ever!”

            This is the reason we worship.  We join our voices with the cherubim and angels, and all of creation to sing praise to God and to our savior Jesus Christ.

            The heavenly worship service John witnessed was coming to a close.  The four Cherubim said “Amen”, and the 24 angels fell face down in worship.        This is the spiritual reality that happens every time we worship.  We may think that worship is limited to what we see and hear.  We may think worship is only singing hymns and anthems, reading God’s word, praying and preaching the good news.  But worship is far more than that.  We worship the living God with all of creation.  Our prayers are delivered to God in heaven where our savior is continually praised.  And we join with all the heavenly creatures singing praises to our God.  Let’s pray.

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power,

for ever and ever!”  Amen.