Scripture reading: Psalm 150.

Sermon text: Revelation 4.

Can you remember the greatest, most beautiful and meaningful worship experience of your life? For many, this question reminds them of vast sanctuaries with soaring ceilings, filled with the sound of music and perhaps the scent of incense. For others, this question takes them to simple buildings and music, or perhaps no building at all. Every human, however, probably can answer this question by recalling at least one memorable event in our lives.

Now, think of this: Nothing we’ve ever imagined can match what we’ll witness in heaven.

Jesus has spoken to the churches; He has given them both stern warnings to repent as well as encouragement to persevere. These admonitions speak only to life as we know it. Unfortunately, as with the first century churches addressed in chapters 2 and 3, the Church today faces persecution in places and temptations everywhere. Many people look around at our society and think, with good reason, that the battle against evil has never looked more desperate. As with the first-century Church, we sometimes need reminding that God controls all human history, and that His reign over the universe remains secure. John’s experience as recorded in the rest of the Revelation should assure us of God’s worthiness of our worship. “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD” in this life — and in the life to come!

After hearing Jesus’ words to the churches in Asia, John received an invitation: “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” This reminds us of another invitation extended to John. In chapter 1 of the Gospel of John, Jesus told John to “come and see” where He was staying. When he accepted the first invitation, John saw where Jesus stayed during His visit with John the Baptist. At this invitation, John would see where Jesus will remain for all eternity.

Jesus wasn’t inviting John simply to see heaven. Rather, Jesus told John that he would see “what must take place.” In other words, John would see the end of history up until the return of Jesus to earth.

This fact alone would help both John (who was enduring exile on Patmos) and the saints who were suffering persecution from Rome at this time. God still controlled human events. Regardless of what the enemy may try, no matter what he does to attack the Church, God continues to guide human history to a glorious conclusion.

John would not witness history first, however. History would wait! When John arrived “in the spirit” in heaven, his eyes first landed on a glorious throne “with one seated on the throne.” This vision reminds us of Moses and the elders of Israel, who saw the throne of God at Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:10); Isaiah, who saw the throne of God in the temple (Isaiah 6); and Ezekiel, who saw the throne of God at the Chebar river in Babylonia (Ezekiel 1). Each time anyone saw the throne of God, they responded with worship. Moses and the elders of Israel ratified the covenant before God. Isaiah received a call to prophesy and responded by saying, “Here I am, send me!” Ezekiel received such a shock at God’s presence that he remained silent for days.

A “sea of glass… like crystal” surrounded the throne. John could see through this “sea” down onto the earth. Nothing on earth is hidden from God’s eyes. God sees every event that happens in the universe. A rainbow surrounded the throne. When God made the covenant with Noah, He used the rainbow as a symbol of His care for humanity. The rainbow, here on earth and in heaven, reminds us that God always fulfills His promises to humanity.

Next, John saw two groups of beings around the throne. The first group John saw consisted of 24 “elders,” the title of an office of the Church. In St. Paul’s writings, the elders served as church pastors and administrators. We know these “elders” were not human, however, because they are distinguished from saints later in the book. Most scholars and pastors throughout Church history believe the elders represent the entirety of God’s people in both Old and New Testaments: 12 for the tribes of Israel, and 12 for the Apostles (although the elders and Apostles are separate beings). These elders represent everyone who has confessed Jesus as Lord. As such, they play an important role in the events of the Revelation.

The next group consisted of 4 supernatural beings that guarded the throne of God. These beings appeared also in the visions of both Isaiah and Ezekiel. The early Church saw the 4 Gospels in the faces of these creatures (Mark for kingship, Luke for priesthood, Matthew for humanity, and John for the Spirit). These creatures observe everything that occurs in heaven, but their primary mission is to praise God. We still sing their song: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” The three-fold “holy” demonstrates the perfect holiness of God.

Their declaration of God’s holiness compelled the elders to bow before God, casting their crowns at His feet and singing, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” The Psalms tell us, “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19). In the book of Job, God challenged Job by asking him, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? (Job 38:4). Read the rest of Job 38 and see how God describes the creation of the universe. God’s position as Creator of the universe earns Him the right to our praise and worship.

The Church recognized early that this honor also belonged to Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father Almighty. St. Paul told the Colossians that by Jesus “all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17). In his Gospel, St. John wrote of Jesus that “all things were made through Him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3).

The elders’ worship around the throne demonstrates a key mission for the Church in this life: To worship God before all creation. Do people in our lives know we gather weekly for worship? Do they understand why we worship God? The elders worshiped God because He created us and granted us the privilege of approaching His throne through the sacrifice of God the Son, Jesus Christ. The Church exists today because of Jesus Himself and His love for us. He is worthy of praise!

I see several lessons in this passage, all of which describe both the ways we should worship and the reasons why we should worship the Lord our God.

God’s holiness always awed those who witnessed it in Scripture. He rules over creation because He created everything that exists. If He rules over creation, He can certainly work in creation to bless those who worship Him.

We also see that everyone who approaches God in faith through Jesus Christ receives access to the throne. Without Jesus’ sacrifice, we were separated from a holy God with no hope of approaching the throne. Now, because of Jesus’ sacrifice and our belief in Jesus as the Lord of all creation, we, like the elders, can approach the throne of God with our petitions.

However, the elders do not simply approach and ask God for favors. The Church militant, those of us in this life who still fight temptation and evil, must praise God for His work in our lives. The elders’ worship in chapter 4 only presages the worship of all the redeemed by the end of the book. God controls all history and works history to His glory and the good of His saints. He deserves our worship.

We worship Him in our services by praising His name, both in song and in testimony. We worship Him in our lives by telling others how He has brought us through the trials of life and by living holy lives before the world. We cannot praise God for delivering us in life without remembering our deliverance from sin. We must demonstrate holiness before the world that they, too, may understand the God we serve.

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Jesus will come again. All creation will give Him true worship, as St. Paul told the Philippians: “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). Let your worship begin in this life, so others may come to worship the God who created us and redeemed us.