Called Up to Heaven pt. 3
What in the World is Going on? • Sermon • Submitted
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The book of Revelation is not without controversy. In the fourth chapter we have a record of what John saw, as confusing as it may seem to us. Understand, he is overwhelmed. He is seeing sights no mortal has ever seen and been told to write about. He describes the throne of God and the elders robed in white. And then he describes something that is even further beyond our comprehension: four living creatures.
Some claim these are angelic beings and they certainly bear similarities to both the cherubim and seraphim, but what is striking about these creatures is that they appear to characteristics of both classes of angels. Notice the seraphim as described in Isaiah 6:1-3
1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: The whole earth is full of his glory.
Notice also the cherubim described by the prophet Ezekiel 1:5-10
5 Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. 6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. 7 And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. 8 And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. 9 Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. 10 As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
Now read our text...
6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. 8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
I admit, his description is a bit confusing. May I offer an explanation? John is doing the best he can. Put yourself in his shoes, you are taken from earth to as unearthly a spot as you can ever go, you are seeing things that you have never seen before, and to top it off, you are being asked to describe them.
What do you do? Simple: You use things you are familiar with to describe something you are not familiar with. That is what John is doing as he tries his best to describe these living creatures. Notice the Bible calls them “Beasts”? The word here is not the same used later in Revelation referring to the Antichrist. There the word means “wild beast”, here the word means, quite simply, “Living creature”.
These are created beings, and quite possibly, these are the only four of their kind, in other words they resemble and yet are different from the cherubim and seraphim because they are different!
What do we hope to grasp from this vision? Simple - Heaven is going to be an amazing place!
There are some important lessons we can learn from John’s description of these living creatures. We, as believers can learn first, from their...
Focus
Focus
The first thing we notice of these living creatures is their:
Awareness
“Full of eyes, before and behind”
Understand these are not monstrosities - God is not in the monster making business!
The thought of their having many eyes speaks of their intelligence
These creatures are not “dumb animals”
They are fully aware of their position
They are fully aware of what is going on around the throne
They are fully aware of the One seated upon the throne
They are fully aware.
Because they are fully aware, their focus us undivided
They have their eyes on the throne, and they are enraptured by it
Won’t it be wonderful when we get to heaven, when we enter the throne room, I would like to think when we see God on the throne, then we will give Him our undivided attention!
I want to point out that their focus, their awareness of the holiness of God led to their desire for...
Closeness
The Bible says that around the the throne there was a “sea of crystal”
Picture this, in palaces across the world, there are thrones sitting on priceless rugs and carpets
But in heaven the throne of God is sitting on clear glass! Speaking of His majesty and His purity!
These creatures, the Bible tells us, are not just in the throne room, but around the throne!
Why?
Becasue that is where God is!
They have a desire to be where God is!
Church, we ought to have a desire to be where God is!
I can’t speak for you, but I don’t want to have to die to worship God!
I want to worship Him now!
I’m looking forward to heaven and being in His presence physically, but I want to worship God now. I want to experience God moving in our midst. I want to leave here today having said “God showed up!”
The first lesson we learn from these living creatures is there focus: There focus was on God!
What is your focus on? What has your attention?
Let me tell you something, if you intend to spend eternity worshiping God, then you better get in practice now!
As believers, we can learn from the focus of these living creatures, and just one more lesson, this one we can learn from their...
Features
Features
You understand that when John was describing these creatures, he was using figurative language. By that I mean he was describing real creatures that he had never seen before the best way he knew how. No one here could have done a better job. Here is what we notice about their features:
Their Countenance - four different creatures, four different faces, four different representations, all centered around creation and the gospel!
Lion
Represents the king of wild beasts
There is no other beast more noble than the mighty lion
This representation is that even the fiercest predator is obedient to God
Represents that Jesus is the rightful king as presented in the gospel of Matthew
Aren’t you glad we serve a God who is King?
As king one day, every knee is going to bow, that includes even Satan and all the demons of hell!
Next...
Calf (ox)
Representative of domestic beasts
The calf, some refer to it as an ox, represents beasts of burden
These beasts work for the glory of God’s creation
This servant of creatures, represents Jesus as the suffering servant of Jehovah as laid out in Mark’s gospel
Man
The highest of God’s creation - interesting enough, man is the only one of God’s creations that ever argues with their Creator!
Luke presents Jesus as the Son of Man
Jesus uses this title over 80 times to refer to Himself
As the Son of Man He proves that He is not only God, but man
Eagle
Represents the mightiest of the fowls
Symbolizes the deity of Jesus Christ as put forth in the gospel of John
The eagle soars higher than any other bird, making it “closest” to God
The eagle is the only Creature that can stare directly into the sun!
Interesting, Jesus said that He is the only one to behold the glory of His Father!
Church, I want you to understand today that these creatures are remarkable because they are Christ-centered! That is a goal each and everyone of us should strive towards today! We notice their countenance, notice lastly...
Their Ceaselessness - we gather this from their
Wings and eyes
Their wings refers to their swiftness in carrying out God’s orders
These creatures, unlike us, do not hesitate to workout the will of God
Our desire should be to see Gods will “done on earth, as it is in heaven”
Their eyes again refers to their wisdom
Lastly we see their...
Worship - so many truths here...
They cry “day and night”
Now, I know what you’re thinking:
I thought there was no day or night in heaven?
God put this in here, not for Him, but for us!
You need to know today that whether you are awake or sleeping, in heaven, there is worship going on!
In a few weeks I’m going to bring a message on the worship that will take place in heaven, let me simply say this now and I’ll be done: There are many Christians in churches today that when they get to heaven, are going to be in culture shock.
Conclusion: Heaven is going to be an amazing place!
I want you to know that heaven is not some made up story, it is real. These creatures are real creatures, and they are there now. We will return to that thought in the next message, but before we leave this message today I want to ask you, “do you believe heaven is real?” If you do say amen.
Listen to me, if you believe that heaven is real, then you MUST also believe that hell is real. You cannot believe what God says about heaven and reject what He says about hell.
Let me ask another question, is heaven your home? You say, “How can heaven be my home?”
Jesus died to make it your home. Heaven is perfect and holy just like God is perfect and holy. Sin cannot enter heaven and since you are a sinner you cannot enter heaven. That is why Jesus died to pay for your sins so that you could be with Him in heaven.
You can make heaven your home today by admitting your sin, placing your trust in Jesus, and calling on Him to save you.