Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] The what has become an addiction of doom scrolling dramatically increased in 2020. And we all know what that is. Like that year of our life, we seem to constantly be checking our phones, the latest news feeds for the latest worst news ever about COVID riots, elections.
[00:00:29] It was during that time many, if not most of us became addicted to angst.
[00:00:38] Experts say that negative words increase by 30% every headline.
[00:00:46] So if you want to get enough clicks online, all you have to do is include one negative word and the clicks, the traffic of whatever online article or news headline will receive 30% more clicks if it had nothing negative in it.
[00:01:07] Our brains now seem to crave this cycle of dopamine and cortisol that goes on when we see negative things.
[00:01:18] We open up our phone, we see a notification, and something goes off within us. Yes, this is great new information, something I've never seen before.
[00:01:28] We open it up and we see the worst thing ever that could possibly ever happen in the history of the world is happening today.
[00:01:37] And we get anxious, adrenaline flows. There's that fight or flight reaction within us. We have to do something, but we can't do anything.
[00:01:50] And so we are addicted to angst, worry, anxiety.
[00:01:56] We seem to love to see the words breaking unprecedented, record high, record low, fatal tensions rise.
[00:02:15] Experts warn, even as I say those things, some of you are getting excited.
[00:02:21] Study finds we are addicted to these things in our current culture.
[00:02:31] Tragically, experts have also said findings show spending just three minutes on your phone leads to at least three hours of living in fear and anxiety.
[00:02:47] And that's where most of us spend our day.
[00:02:50] In this fake world of angst created by panic porn, which isn't real at all.
[00:03:01] But the reality is, it's even more twisted than just an addiction to our phone. It's more twisted in that it has something to do with who we are deep inside of us, the way our minds and our hearts work.
[00:03:16] We enjoy hearing the world is falling apart because by nature, we reject a God who is in control.
[00:03:27] And if the world is falling apart, then there must not be a God who is in control. And deep down within us all. Although it sounds counterintuitive, we kind of like that idea.
[00:03:40] Why?
[00:03:42] Because we want to be in control.
[00:03:45] We want to be the one calling the shots.
[00:03:48] We genuinely believe that if we were in charge, we would do the right thing.
[00:03:54] If we were God, we would do what's best.
[00:03:58] And so our hearts gravitate to this idea, even if it doesn't make sense, dense to us, even if it's clouded to us. We Gravitate to the idea that there is no one in control.
[00:04:13] Because if there's one in control, who's God, we are accountable to Him.
[00:04:18] And what's the most difficult thing for all of us to do? We must trust him.
[00:04:25] If it's God, who we know is good and right, he's the one in control. We have to trust him. So as things go haywire, maybe he's not in control.
[00:04:36] And we end up living in this fake world of worry. Not just on our phones, but in our minds. That's where most of us live, in this fake world of worry, doom scrolling through our thoughts and our feelings constantly.
[00:04:54] Well, we realize so far that the Apostle John is not in a fake world of angst. It's a very real world.
[00:05:03] John and the churches in 90 AD are going through the worst case scenario. And it's real. It's not clickbait.
[00:05:14] It's true.
[00:05:16] By 96 AD, 40,000 Christians were killed for not worshiping the Emperor Domitian, for not declaring that the emperor is Lord and God, but clinging to the truth and reality. No, Jesus is Lord. By 96 AD, 40,000 Christians had been killed. The church planter that we know, Timothy, that Paul wrote letters to, he was beaten to death by this time.
[00:05:52] But in 98D, John is in the midst of such persecution and suffering.
[00:06:00] For declaring the Gospel, he has been sent to the island of Patmos. And there there are mines where he is to work. In all the days of his life, he has been sent there, one theologian said, to bleach and die on the rocks for preaching the Gospel.
[00:06:19] And so he's at the heart of suffering and persecution. And while he is on that island, this island, God sends him a vision through an angel, a vision of the risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, which is meant to encourage him. And he is to send this letter to seven churches to encourage them as they endure persecution.
[00:06:44] This is what the letter of Revelation is about, enduring persecution to the end.
[00:06:52] And we've seen the first cycle in this letter. The letter is really made up of different cycles. We go through one cycle, which so far has been the seven churches. And today we begin another cycle. And some people say there are up to seven cycles in Revelation. And they all tell us what's going to happen to during the last days, the time from the resurrection until Jesus comes back. And so Revelation just tells that story over and over and over again in cycles. And here we begin the second cycle. All of these cycles begin with the authority of Christ. Remember how Revelation 1 started, John sees the risen Lord, this priestly king standing before him and he falls out as dead.
[00:07:44] Here we are ushered into the throne room of God to see Jesus, who has defeated sinned sin and death and is worshiped at the throne of God.
[00:07:56] And this worship is to replace our angst.
[00:08:01] Notice, first of all, we are called by heaven, this scene that we read about, to live in reality. Notice verse 1 after this, after what we've seen this vision of Christ who's speaking to the seven churches. After this vision was given to John, we're about to start another vision or cycle. He says, I looked and behold a door standing open into heaven. Here he is called to see a portal before him, a door into heaven before him. Now realize notice he's not transported somewhere else. We often think about heaven in the spiritual realm, as in this galaxy far, far away above us.
[00:08:50] The reality is there is a spiritual realm all around us right now. There are angels and demons. There are forces that are all around us in this spiritual realm that we don't see.
[00:09:03] And so what God is going to give John here is a door to see into this realm that he calls heaven here. And notice in the first voice which I heard speaking to me like a trumpet. Now this refers back to the angel that is giving him the vision. Angels announce the arrival of kings, trumpets announce the arrival or a message from a king. And here this angel comes back to announce part two of this vision of Christ.
[00:09:38] And where is it? Notice he says, come up here and I will show you what must take place after this. Come up here, we're going to see. He goes up into the throne room of God, in this spiritual realm, into heaven. But notice what he's going to show him what must take place after this. Again we are starting this second cycle. We're going to see these cycles over and over in revelation of the last days. And he's going to give him a perspective of this last stage in human history from where heaven, this is where everything will begin to unfold from. Why? Notice verse two. At once I was in the spirit. And behold a throne in heaven stood before me with one seated on the throne. What he wants John to understand in this spiritual realm in heaven, as the events of earth unfold, that they are unfolding from this place, the throne room of God, specifically the throne of God.
[00:10:45] He's overtaken here by the spirit. To see into heaven.
[00:10:51] He's called to see a reality that is in front of him.
[00:10:56] This isn't a fantasy world, this isn't a fairy tale, John, as You endure persecution. And as you hear of famine and wars and plagues and disaster on the earth, I want you to know who has authority over all of that. I do.
[00:11:16] I want you to see reality. The world is not chaotic. The world is not falling apart.
[00:11:23] God is ruling. And so as you see disaster, understand there is one ruling over it all. And it is God. He's called to see reality. Here you see, you're not anxious today because you're realistic.
[00:11:40] That's what I tell myself.
[00:11:42] People say, why are you so worried? Why are you so anxious? I'm just being realistic. The worst possible thing could happen. It really could. That's being realistic.
[00:11:50] And then the response is, well, it hardly ever does. So it's not very realistic.
[00:11:56] But we think, I'm just being realistic.
[00:11:59] No, we're anxious because we don't live in reality.
[00:12:03] We live in unrealistic thoughts in our mind.
[00:12:07] And the most unrealistic thought is, God is not in control.
[00:12:11] God is not in charge.
[00:12:13] And so heaven calls us to see reality. The world's not falling apart. Whatever's going on in your life is not falling apart. It looks as though it is, but heaven opens up the curtain and says, no, no, no, look, it's not falling apart. God is still ruling and reigning. And this is how we fight anxiety in our own life.
[00:12:36] Angst, worry, panic that the world creates is we look behind the door and we see God is ruling.
[00:12:45] That's the way you have to fight worry and anxiety is to look behind the curtain and see who's ruling and reigning in heaven.
[00:12:55] We're to do this informed by scripture.
[00:12:58] This isn't just some weird mystical meditation to think and let me open up the eyes of my heart to see.
[00:13:07] No, this is real. It's informed by scripture and the truth of God, which is reality.
[00:13:13] God is ruling with sanctified imagination.
[00:13:17] You've got to see that over your problems. Whatever your problem is, you see over it. God ruling. You see beyond what you see to God ruling. What Psalm 103 says in verse 19, the Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his kingdom rules over all.
[00:13:43] That's reality.
[00:13:45] We gotta hide that in our heart. Psalm 103, verse 19. Memorize it this week.
[00:13:51] The Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his kingdom rules over all.
[00:13:58] And the moment you begin to worry, remind yourself of this.
[00:14:04] See this by faith in the Word of God.
[00:14:08] So we're to live in reality, and then we are to look for his splendor.
[00:14:12] Notice verse three. The one who sat there is not, not, not telling us who this is just yet. We're to assume it's God. It is God.
[00:14:22] But he has the appearance of Jasper carnelian and this emerald rainbow color. Now we could say Jasper, which is crystal, like it's translucent, refers to God's purity. This carnelian. I know I'm not saying it right. Some of you are critiquing me on that, saying the best way I can.
[00:14:47] The easier way to say it, Sardius. I'll just say that. Sardius.
[00:14:52] But it's this deep red jewel that often refers to justice.
[00:14:58] And then we have this emerald that is rainbow colored, which we know from Genesis refers to God's covenant faithfulness.
[00:15:08] And so he sees one who is seated on the throne, who is pure, who is just, and who is faithful.
[00:15:17] He sees God's appearance, which is like fine jewels.
[00:15:23] We got to understand these aren't the colors of God.
[00:15:27] This is what it would be like to see God if you saw God, all of his perfect attributes all at once, it would be indescribable. And so he's doing the best he can to describe what seeing God is like.
[00:15:45] Seeing complete purity and holiness, seeing justice and righteousness before him, seeing faithfulness.
[00:15:53] It's overwhelming. I don't know how to describe it.
[00:15:57] The Bible uses a term that we don't use very often called splendor.
[00:16:04] The splendor of God, which is beauty. But it's more than that.
[00:16:11] It describes who the person is and it brings about fascination and wonder and awe.
[00:16:18] He's saying if you saw God, his appearance, his beauty would overwhelm you.
[00:16:26] And not just, not just his appearance, his face, his presence, but who he is would overwhelm you.
[00:16:39] There are times where my wife Danae will be doing things. She will be serving the church, she'll be taking care of our family, she'll be fellowshipping and laughing. And just her personality is just kind of overwhelming the room. And you know her, you know how that, you know what I'm talking about.
[00:16:59] And there are times where I will notice this and just go, wow, she's absolutely amazing.
[00:17:08] And I'm just kind of struck and stunned.
[00:17:13] Yes, she's beautiful.
[00:17:17] I'm being serious. This really is true.
[00:17:20] I tell her this, this isn't fake.
[00:17:24] She is beautiful. But also her person is amaz. She's amazing.
[00:17:31] All of who she is, all of her attributes that are wrapped up into this person. And I know her better than I know anyone. And I'm overwhelmed by that.
[00:17:45] Well, what God is trying to show us here is if you could see him, you could see him in all of his unhindered splendor and beauty, and you could see him for who he is, unveiled before your eyes.
[00:18:01] You would be overwhelmed if you saw his purity, his justice, his faithfulness.
[00:18:07] If you could see all of that, you would not worry.
[00:18:11] All of your problems would fade away at the sight of Him.
[00:18:16] It is his splendor that he calls us to pursue here. It's what we read earlier in Psalm 27. 4. The Psalmist says, God, I'm asking for this and I'm seeking it. What is it? To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple, the beauty of the Lord. And it's not just the appearance of the Lord, it's who he is. I need to see him in the temple. Why? He is full of holiness. He is full of faithfulness. He is full of justice. And if I can see all of that, I wouldn't worry about anything. Psalm 27 the enemies are after the king, and he says, I've got to see the Lord and see him ruling, see him reigning in all of his splendor so that I would trust him.
[00:19:07] So how do we do that?
[00:19:09] Well, until we get to heaven, we open up our Bibles and by the Word of God, we see the splendor of God from Genesis to Revelation. We see his just faithful rule, we see his covenant faithfulness to us. And as we see it, we go, oh Lord, you are beautiful. Who you are for me is splendid. And it's amazing. And we stand in awe of who he is and who he's revealed himself in the Word of God. That's how you fight angst and worry as you get in the word of God.
[00:19:45] But another thing that's been helpful in my own life to kind of short circuit the power and cycle of worry in my life. What I do is I often focus on the worst case scenario and I just over and over and over and over. It's called ruminating on it over and over.
[00:20:05] And what's been helpful to me is to stop and consider different attributes of God that relate to what I'm thinking about.
[00:20:15] We have to mine the scriptures, we have to mine our theology to pull out these jewels that distract us from the angst and worry.
[00:20:26] There are a few books that I would recommend to do this. One of them is enjoying God by R.C. sproul.
[00:20:32] It just lists different attributes of God to help you enjoy God.
[00:20:38] There was a book I read in Bible College and I honestly Cannot remember the guy's theology. It could be really, really bad theology.
[00:20:46] So you can just file this away. The book is the God you can know.
[00:20:50] And I remember being a Bible college student and worried and anxious and just going through this book on the attributes of God, Knowing God by J.I. packer. List out the attributes of God so that you can know God.
[00:21:08] And this is how we fight worry in our lives.
[00:21:12] When we are suffering, we're worried about the diagnosis.
[00:21:17] We remember God is sovereign. He's king. He's in control.
[00:21:22] And we zero in on that and we remind ourselves of that. We have verses that we memorize that remind us that God is on his throne. And we recite those things to us that the sovereignty of God, while we suffer, when we doubt, we remind ourselves that God is immutable. What that means is he doesn't change.
[00:21:44] My feelings change from one day to the next, but God never changes. And so I remind myself of these things.
[00:21:52] When I am fretting and I'm worried about what is about to happen, I remind myself that God is omniscient.
[00:22:01] As I am learning things, they're unfolding. God's not learning anything.
[00:22:06] He's God. He knows the end from the beginning.
[00:22:10] And he loves me so I can trust Him. He's omniscient.
[00:22:15] Focus on the attributes of God who God is his splendor wrapped up in this one person.
[00:22:22] Worship him instead of worry. Next we see we're to make God center. Notice verse four, make him the center.
[00:22:33] Around the throne were 24 thrones. And seated on the thrones were 24 elders. They're clothed in white. This symbolizes purity.
[00:22:42] But they had golden crowns on their head, which also represent authority.
[00:22:48] And notice they set God apart in heaven.
[00:22:53] They're around the throne. And so God is set apart in the center of their thrones.
[00:23:00] Now, there's a lot of ink that has been spilt over who these 24 elders are.
[00:23:06] Many believe they are representatives of God's people.
[00:23:10] They represent the 12 tribes of Israel and then the 12 apostles.
[00:23:14] I personally believe because of the scene here that this is just another level of heaven's court.
[00:23:23] In Romans and Ephesians, Paul talks about rulers and dominions and authority that are beyond what we can see, that could never separate us from the love of God.
[00:23:33] And so in the spiritual realm, there's authority and there's power.
[00:23:38] And this would be the highest angelic authority in heaven.
[00:23:43] And it represents. The scene represents what we see in 1st Chronicles, chapter 24, where David assigns these priests to Gather around the tabernacle. And there are 24 orders of priests. And they are protecting the tabernacle. They are the gatekeepers of the tabernacle.
[00:24:06] And throughout Revelation, these elders are distinguished from humans. They actually take the prayers of the saints and offer them to God. So they have that sort of authority. They interpret dreams and visions. They seem to be different than humanity, but whatever you think they are, they set God apart. There is this rule, there is this authority, and God is at the center of it. And notice as we continue the sights and sounds of heaven, from the throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings or sounds pills.
[00:24:44] Some of y' all make fun of the way I say mill. So sounds of thunder, y'. All. Y' all don't get the jokes immediately, but that's fine.
[00:24:55] Some of you go back and listen. You say, oh, that was really funny what you said.
[00:25:00] It's good.
[00:25:02] Sounds of thunder. And before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God. And here we also see this sea, like glass or crystal. Now all of these sights and sounds really take us back to Mount Sinai. Remember when God is giving the people of God his law.
[00:25:28] And what is this mountain doing? It is shaking, it is quaking.
[00:25:33] There's lightning, there's thunder to the point where Israel, the people of God, say, no, no, no, Moses, we're not going up there.
[00:25:42] You go up for us.
[00:25:44] And so all of these sounds and sights are to keep us away from God in some sense. This sea, like glass.
[00:25:53] He's at the center of it.
[00:25:55] He's unapproachable in all of his glory.
[00:25:58] You don't want to tread lightly into the presence of God.
[00:26:02] And we see even here these seven torches which represent the spirit of God. Remember we said it's not seven spirits of God. This is the way to communicate the fullness of God. But there's seven here. We've talked about seven churches. So the witness of the church is setting God apart. That's what we are to do. We're to say Jesus is Lord and we set him apart as Lord through our witness.
[00:26:26] We also see this idea of this controlled sea.
[00:26:30] Water represents chaos and destruction. But this is under control. It's smooth like glass. But off of all this glass and crystal would be the lightning and the sounds of heaven. It's awe inspiring.
[00:26:44] And it's to remind us that God is holy, that in many ways he is dreadful. He is a consuming fire. You don't just walk up on this God and notice we continue and around the Throne. On each side of the throne are four living creatures. This is really gross.
[00:27:02] Full of eyes in front and behind.
[00:27:05] So there's these creatures, they have eyes everywhere.
[00:27:10] Eyes are disgusting. We just see eyes on these creatures. We go, oh goodness.
[00:27:18] And the first living creature was like again like a lion, the second like an ox, the third like the face of a man. And the fourth living creature like an eagle.
[00:27:31] Now we first of all notice that these are creatures of heaven.
[00:27:36] And if we go back to Isaiah 6 or Ezekiel chapters 1 and then chapters 10, we see these same otherworldly creatures that are messengers or angels from God. And so immediately we need better angel ology because we often think about angels as our dead loved ones or naked babies.
[00:28:00] That's not at all what these creatures are.
[00:28:06] They're not cute, they're scary.
[00:28:09] They're wraith like creatures.
[00:28:12] They're ugly and they're flying around heaven like fighter jets. Notice verse eight, the four living creatures, each of them had six wings. And again, he just wants to emphasize they have eyes everywhere, all around them.
[00:28:29] So they're flying around heaven like jets.
[00:28:34] But what is the significance of the eyes?
[00:28:37] First of all, these creatures are allowed to see everything in the throne room of God.
[00:28:45] Meaning they are totally set apart.
[00:28:48] They are totally pure and perfect. God created them that way that they would be able to take all of heaven in.
[00:28:56] But also with all of these eyes, there's the idea of surveillance.
[00:29:01] They are protecting the throne of God.
[00:29:05] You don't just walk up on the throne of God in the same way. There was an angel in the garden with a flaming sword. These angels, these creatures are protecting the the throne of God, His Holiness. He is set apart to the center of all of heaven and protected in that way.
[00:29:25] And we're to realize that if God is at the center of heaven and in the center of heaven, he is so protected.
[00:29:35] Our life only makes sense when God is at the center of it. When we're in line with reality, this is the center of reality, and God's rule is at the center of it. All your life doesn't make sense when God is not at the center.
[00:29:54] It's like the center of a will. When the weight or gravity is perfectly placed, the will turns and everything functions properly. But if the center of the will is moved in the slightest and the weight unbalanced, that will begins to be disrupted. And what does that will eventually do? It begins to destroy things because it's bouncing and it's wobbly and it's destructive.
[00:30:22] And the same thing goes on in Your life. When we replace God as the center of our life with our fears, with our worries, it doesn't work right. We're out of kilter when we're ruminating on those things. The worst case scenario. And so the church here is scared to death. They're scared of Caesar. They're scared they're going to be imprisoned. They're scared they're going to die. And he says, don't let the center of everything, Jesus is Lord, move away from the center, because you won't make it. You won't make it to the end.
[00:30:58] When we fixate on our fears, we replace God as the center of our life. When we fixate on politics and money, church stuff, our kids, our family, some of us ask, why am I. Why do I feel depressed?
[00:31:15] Well, who is at the center of your life right now? It may be a spouse.
[00:31:20] And you're trying to fix their problems for them. A kid. You're trying to fix their problems. And you've moved that to the center of your life. And everything is wonky and it's out of sorts and. And you just don't feel right. It's because you're not in line with reality, where God is at the center. And so we fight to make God the center of all things through worship. We talked about last week. Every day in the word of God and in prayer. Every week we gather on the Lord's day. What are we doing?
[00:31:52] It's not just begrudgingly kind of going through the motion. No, I have to make sure that I don't forget the center of the universe, which is God, who is ruling and reigning. So I gather with his people, and we're reminded of reality.
[00:32:09] And so I gather, because I have to be reminded of that week after week after week.
[00:32:16] And so we live in reality. We pursue the splendor of God.
[00:32:22] We make him the center of our life, and then we confess that we're not God.
[00:32:26] Notice what these creatures never cease to say.
[00:32:31] And so this is the echo of heaven right now.
[00:32:37] John gets a glimpse what's going on in heaven.
[00:32:42] These creatures are declaring, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. It's a constant, thunderous refrain that again sets God apart.
[00:32:57] No one else in heaven is worthy of such a declaration, only God.
[00:33:03] And this is what worship is. I don't have time for this today, but it would help us to have a better theology of worship. We move ourselves to the center of it, and God is to worship us and serve us.
[00:33:20] That's not what's going on in Heaven, only God is worthy of worship and notice. He is holy, holy, holy. The word holy means to be set apart. It does refer to purity or sanctification.
[00:33:34] But that means to be set apart from the world, set apart from everything else. It means God is other than he's unlike anyone or anything.
[00:33:46] He's set apart. But notice three times his set apartness is set apart and that's set apart three times.
[00:33:58] No other attribute of God is described this way. He's emphasizing he is so set apart. He is uniquely goddess and nothing else compares to Him. There's no one else like Him.
[00:34:14] And all of his other attributes are set apart because he's set apart.
[00:34:20] We don't say of God, he's love, love, love.
[00:34:25] But we can say that God's love is wholly set apart love because he is set apart.
[00:34:32] So in him we experience love like we could never experience love from anyone else. Because he's holy, he's just. He's right. He always does what is just and right.
[00:34:43] Because he's set apart unlike anyone else. He does what is right.
[00:34:48] But notice he is the Lord God Almighty. Now what is interesting is Caesar had a similar way in which he demanded the people to refer to him.
[00:34:57] And so in heaven, heaven's not declaring that Caesar is Lord, declaring that God is Lord.
[00:35:04] And this phrase, Lord means master. God Almighty refers to his sovereign power. He is in control unlike anyone else. He's holy, holy, holy. He is sovereignly holy, in control of all things.
[00:35:22] Who was and is and is to come. He's eternal.
[00:35:26] So he is the sovereign, eternal, holy, holy Lord of Heaven.
[00:35:33] He's eternal king. What this means is God was ruling and reigning and in control of everything before anything existed. In eternity past, God was in control. Things didn't just happen chaotically or out of control. God decided that they would. He decided he would create. He decided he would redeem humanity. He's always been in control of what's going on. He's been in control in the past, and he's in control right now. He is sovereign Lord overall and he will be in control as these last days unfold. Caesar's come and go.
[00:36:07] The Lord's always been ruling, and we are to confess that we're not Him.
[00:36:14] That could be the most sanctifying thing that you do each day of your life.
[00:36:18] It's just to stop and say, I'm not God. He's holy, holy, holy.
[00:36:25] You're going through something right now and it's revealing that you are really weak.
[00:36:31] You can't fix the Problem.
[00:36:33] You're not in control.
[00:36:35] You're going through something right now that is revealing, that you are foolish.
[00:36:40] You don't know how this is going to turn out. You don't know the future.
[00:36:43] And instead of fighting that, instead of trying to figure out the future and manipulate things, you should just stop and go, thank you, God, for reminding me that I am not like you.
[00:36:57] And just take a moment in worship, in reverence, and confess, I am not God.
[00:37:05] I'm not like you. And then move from reverence to joy and celebration. Because when that really hits you, I'm not God.
[00:37:15] It overflows in worship. Yes, I'm not God.
[00:37:19] I don't want to be God.
[00:37:22] What would I do if I was? I would make a wreck of my life. So praise you, God. I am not like you. You've ruled all things past, present and forever. And you will handle this issue.
[00:37:38] So whatever it is going on in your life, confess I'm not God.
[00:37:44] And you've ruled humanity eternity, so you'll rule over this situation. I just need to trust you. How do we do that? Well, we give God our crowns. Notice as we begin in verse nine, we confess we're not God. And then we give God our crowns. Now, the Bible, to communicate what worship is, often puts these words of scales before us, the scales that weigh things. Some have never seen these things before, but. But you, you have what something weighs on one side. You want to know what it weighs? Well, you put the poundage on the other and it evens out.
[00:38:23] And so this idea of worship is communicated the same way in the Bible. You have God who is on the scale. And so what can we put on the other side that is worthy of him or. Or declares his worth or declares his value?
[00:38:40] While we praise God, we worship God, we give him our life to declare his worth. And that is the picture that's going on here at the end of this chapter.
[00:38:50] What goes on in heaven is they are declaring the worth of God. They are putting everything in heaven on the scales to declare the worth of God. At one time, the church called worship worth ship because it was declaring the worth of God.
[00:39:07] And in verse nine, whenever the living creatures notice, give glory. You can translate that word, glory, weight. Whenever they give God the weight, all of heaven is declaring and praise God is worthy. They are showing his weight and honor. That just means he is exalted as the center. He's esteemed and thanks. They praise Him. We're going to see later in Revelation, he is praised for redeeming a people for himself.
[00:39:36] But notice to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, they are giving him weight, honor, glory and praise to declare his worth in heaven. But notice also how his worth is declared. Verse 10.
[00:39:52] The 24 elders fall down.
[00:39:56] So they're led in worship by the living creatures.
[00:39:59] They hear the echo throughout heaven. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. And what do they do when they hear this word? They face plant.
[00:40:13] So again, if this is what I believe, just sort of a heavenly court of rulers.
[00:40:18] The highest of highest angelic rule.
[00:40:23] Hear the echo. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. And the highest rule falls on their face.
[00:40:31] What are they doing? They're declaring the worth of God. They're declaring the glory of God. He is only the only one that is worthy of such worship. But notice what they also do.
[00:40:45] They fall down before him.
[00:40:48] And then they cast their crowns before the throne. So this highest rule of heaven, they surrender their crowns. They say, he is worthy of our rule. We don't deserve any authority before the Lord. Before the Lord, we have no weight, we have no glory. And so they give it to God. And they say, worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. You are worthy to receive all of the weight of heaven, all of the praise, all of the honor, all of the thanks, all of the crowns.
[00:41:25] You're worthy of it all, and only you in heaven are worthy of it all.
[00:41:30] You see, these were often shouts or chants that were directed at Caesar as he moved through the city.
[00:41:38] They would say, worthy are you, Caesar, of all glory and power and honor.
[00:41:44] You deserve it.
[00:41:46] You deserve the right to rule. But here, behind the veil, we see, no, it's only God.
[00:41:52] He's the only one. And notice, for you created all things, and by your will they were created. You're the Creator of everything. Everything comes from you. So everything ultimately is yours. You deserve it all.
[00:42:06] And one of the points here is only the Creator can handle it all.
[00:42:11] Who can handle the rule and authority of the world? Who can rule the world?
[00:42:18] Only God, who created the world.
[00:42:21] And so they hand over their authority and power to God over and over in heaven. Again, this happens over and over in heaven.
[00:42:30] And this is our greatest sin, that we think we deserve the glory.
[00:42:36] This is what it means to say, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. You know what that means?
[00:42:41] We think we deserve the glory. We deserve the power. God, I deserve the authority to tell you how my life should go. I deserve that. Glory.
[00:42:52] I deserve God to be able to tell you what I want and do it anyway.
[00:42:57] I deserve that glory.
[00:43:00] Now there's only one who deserves that glory, and it's God.
[00:43:05] And here's the reality.
[00:43:07] We're not capable of handling that glory.
[00:43:11] The weight of our life, the weight of the world, if it were placed on your scales, it would crush you, it would destroy you, it would devastate you.
[00:43:25] And repentance means I turn from trying to hoard glory from God, I give him my crown and say, you are going to be king.
[00:43:41] So one act of worship today would be for you to repent of control, because you're not king.
[00:43:49] And the good news is you don't need to be king.
[00:43:52] You're not a good king, and so you repent of that.
[00:43:57] You do understand that your greatest source of angst and worry are the things you're trying to control, right?
[00:44:08] We don't. And we think if I could just control them a little bit more, that would help.
[00:44:16] We think if I could just grab them a little tighter, that would help.
[00:44:21] Your greatest source of angst is that you are trying to handle your stuff and you can't.
[00:44:29] And so an act of worship today would be to take that situation that you're grabbing on tighter to and putting that crown down before the Lord in repentance and say, God, I've tried to handle this issue. I've tried to take care of this, and I can't. And you repent of that and you give it to the Lord today, confessing you're not Lord and giving up your crown.
[00:44:56] Well, I'm going to bury the lead as we come to the end of this chapter, and it's not negative clickbait, notice that this throne is unapproachable.
[00:45:10] You can't get to it.
[00:45:13] And that sets us up for chapter five.
[00:45:17] Because we see, while it's unapproachable, there is only one who can approach the throne. And in chapter five, Jesus takes his place at the center.
[00:45:28] And we see that it is Jesus who is ruling. It is Jesus who is beautiful. It is Jesus who is worthy of worship.
[00:45:38] And it is Jesus who has handled our greatest worry, which is sin and death.
[00:45:44] And it is Jesus who we must worship.
[00:45:47] You see these same angels that are worshiping in fear and trembling.
[00:45:52] There's a day where they are aghast and awe that God would.
[00:45:58] That God will allow humans that are created in dirt to approach this throne.
[00:46:05] But that's what the writer of Hebrews says, that through Christ we come boldly before the throne of God so we don't stand at a distance from. We get close to it. How do we get close to it? We worship Jesus.
[00:46:19] And so instead of doom scrolling the bad news in our minds and the angst of our hearts, we bow before Jesus.
[00:46:28] Instead of bad news, we embrace good news.
