Sermon

Today's sermon was from Revelation 4:1-11. It was entitled "Enthroned, Encircled, Extolled"! It was an amazing sermon!

What is happening in heaven right now? Literally, John was given a vision that answers this question, and the portrait it provides is as true today as it was nearly 2000 years ago.

Enthroned:

In Revelation 4:3 we see God in a resplendent blaze of unapproachable light, the jewels refracting the glory and majesty of God's luminous beauty.

• The One on the throne has the appearance of jasper,  an opaque stone that is usually red, but can be yellow, green, and grayish blue. It suggests the quality of majesty and holiness and is used later in Revelation as an image for the overall appearanace of the New Jerusalem, which manifests the glory of God (21:11).
• The sardius , or carnelian was a red stone that evokes the image of both divine jealousy and righteous wrath.
• The rainbow reminds us of the faithfulness of God when He first set this sign in the heavens as a pledge to Noah following the great flood.

** John was not saying that God is a jasper or a sardius, but that His appearance was like such precious stones.


Encircled:

In John's vision the throne of God is, as it should be, at the center of all heavenly activity. The throne is the focus of a series of concentric circles made up first of a rainbow, then a circle of the four living creatures, then a circle of the 24 thrones which the 24 elders sit. A great host of angels also encircled the throne (Revelation 5:11, 7:11), and eventually all creation joins the worshipping throng (Revelation 5:13)

The description of the four living creatures may be designed to suggest qualities in the God they serve: the lion pointing to royal power; the calf/ox, a symbol of strength; the man, an expression of intelligence and spirituality; and the eagle, an embodiment of swiftness and action.


Extolled:

The word "worship" means to fall prostrate at someone's feet. The elders fell down before God, because it was the only reasonable and sensible thing to do! They fall because they are overwhelmed!

Why do the four living creatures not cease day or night from praising? What else could compare with the joy of unending adoration and delight in the splendor of God? It is not an expression of mere "duty". It's that nothing can compete in its capacity to fascinate and fulfill and satisfy and entrance them.

Practical takeaway:
 *** Spiritually stunned people are not easily seduced by sin. People in awe of God will always find sin less appealing. When you are dazzled by God it is difficult to be duped by sin. When you are enthralled by His beauty it is hard to become enslaved by unrighteousness. People whose attention has been captured by the beauty of Christ find little appeal in the glamour of this world. People whose hearts are enthralled with the revelation of God's greatness turn a deaf ear to the otherwise alluring sounds of sin, the flesh, and the Devil.