Sermon: Revelation 4:1-3: Behold, a Door Standing Open In Heaven

New Testament Reading: Revelation 4:1-3

“After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald” (Revelation 4:1–3, ESV).

Introduction

It was about a month ago that our family was driving through town late at night (I think it was probably 9:00 or 10:00) and I noticed that while almost all of the businesses were closed, the psychics and palm readers were open. Their “Open” signs really stood out shining brightly in the darkness. I would argue, of course, that those bright signs were a mirage, promising way more than they could deliver. I remember saying, “how many people go to these palm readers anyways, let alone at this hour of the night?” Well, apparently the answer is enough to keep these people in business, right?

Really, it does not surprise me. It is not uncommon for people to want to know something about the future. We humans are limited creatures. We are limited in more ways than I can list right now, one of them being that we do not know what the future holds. This limitation can make us feel very vulnerable. Some will even find themselves petrified – unable to act – when faced with a major life decision for fear that they will choose the “wrong path”. If only they could know the future, or at least something about the future, they could act with confidence. It is no wonder, then, that they are willing pay these charlatans to read read the palm or the cards or the stars or to consult the spirits on their behalf so that they might know something about the future to help discern which direction they should go.

A Christian would never to think to visit one of these establishments. It is not that we see the future with greater clarity than our fellow human beings, for we too are limited in our knowledge of the future. And it is not that we are immune to the feelings of vulnerability that sometimes overwhelm finite creatures living in an unpredictable world. The difference is that we look elsewhere for help.

We look to God. We trust in him. Really, we do not need to know the future for we know the One who has ordained all things and who has promised to bring his purposes to pass. We trust in him to bring about what is best, both for his glory and our good. We trust in him to sustain us through every season of life. The follower of Christ is comfortable with his finitude. He is at peace despite his limitations. He is content with not knowing the future. Why? Because he knows the One who knows all things, who has decreed all things, and who has all power to bring all things to his desired end, who’s name is Love.

Not only do we look to God himself and to the person of Christ, trusting in them, we also look to the word of God. God’s word does not reveal everything to us, but it does reveal enough. It reveals, among other things, who God is, so that we might trust in him. It also reveals how we are to live in this world so that we might obey. The Christian, then, is not to be consumed with speculations about the future. Instead, we are to trust and obey. You know the old hymn, Trust and Obey:

“When we walk with the Lord
in the light of his word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will,
he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

Friends, we do not need to know what tomorrow holds. Instead, we need to know the one who holds tomorrow in his hands. It is he that we are to trust and obey. This is this thing that Christians should be preoccupied with, not with speculations about the details of our future.

With that said, is should be recognized that God has not left us to wander in total darkness concerning our knowledge of the future. He has revealed something of himself to us so that we might trust in him. He has revealed his will for us so that we might obey him. And he has also revealed something about the future to us so that we might walk according to the light of that revelation. He has not revealed all things. But he has revealed some things so that we might live accordingly.

Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law”. There are two main principles communicated in this verse. One, this verse clearly states that some things are “secret” – only God knows them. He, in his infinite wisdom, has chosen not to reveal everything to us. The secret things are things that we sometimes wish we knew: When exactly will Christ return? Who will I marry? Which career path should I choose? Why did this bad thing happen to me – what good can possibly come of it? Etc. But we are to be content with not knowing. We are to trust God, and we are to obey what he has revealed. That is the second principle communicated in this verse. God, though he has not revealed all things, has revealed some things. The things that he has revealed “belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

These two principles are important for us to keep in mind as we continue our study of the book of Revelation. It is here in the book that God reveals to us some things about the future. We should be grateful for the light of this revelation. It should help us to trust in God and to obey him. We are to walk in the light of what has been revealed. But we must also be content to allow what God has kept secret to remain secret.

Brothers and sisters, the book of Revelation has been badly abused in our day. Actually, it has been tortured. It is has been tortured by futurist interpreters who interrogate it with the text of Revelation in one hand and the newspaper in the other. The futurists insist that Revelation say something specific about todays headlines – “What do you have to say about this?”, the futurist asks – but Revelation will not be pushed around. What is says, it says clearly. But it is also stubborn to say not a word more. It is the futurist interrogators who wind up flustered and frustrated, looking rather foolish in the end.

And so here is our objective: to allow the book of Revelation to speak where it speaks, and to allow the book to remain silent where it is silent. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law”.

So why all of this talk about the future today?

Well, we have come to the place in the book of Revelation where things begin to transition from a focus upon how things were in John’s day to how things will be from that day forward. Please know that I chose those words very carefully. I will repeat them: We have come to the place in the book of Revelation where things begin to transition from a focus upon how things were in John’s day to how things will be from that day forward.

Notice the words “after this” both at the beginning of verse one and also at the end. “After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this’” (Revelation 4:1, ESV). The words are the same in both the English and the Greek. In both occurrences the words obviously communicate something about sequence – first this, and then after this, that. But the two occurrences – the one at the beginning of the verse and the one at the end – refer to different things.

The first “after this” refers to the sequence of the visions that John received. First, he saw a vision of one like a son of man walking in the midst of seven lamp stands who commissioned him to write to the seven churches. After that he saw another vision. This new vision is described beginning in chapter four.

The first thing that John saw was a “door standing open in heaven”, but he also heard a voice. It was the same voice that he heard at the beginning that spoke to him like a trumpet. This is a reference back to chapter 1 verse 10 where John said, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying,’“Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea’” (Revelation 1:10–11, ESV).

Do you remember how last Sunday I made much of the idea that the whole of the book of Revelation was for the seven churches, and not just chapters one through three? I tried to demonstrate that the letters to the seven churches were intimately related to chapters four and five conceptually. The concepts communicated in chapters four and five correspond to the concepts communicated in chapters two and three. Chapters two and three say, “live in this way, Christian” and chapters four and five (indeed, the rest of the book of Revelation) say, and here is why you should – it will be worth it in the end!

Here we see a more concrete literary connection. In chapter one John was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, [he] heard behind [him] a loud voice like a trumpet, saying, ‘Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches” (Revelation 1:10, ESV). Here in 4:1 John hears the same voice, and in 4:2 he is again said to be “in the Spirit” before describes the visions that follow. What is crystal clear is that the whole of the book of Revelation was addressed to the seven churches alive in 90A.D.. The whole thing was a for them, just as the whole thing is for us. The point I am making is that our interpretation of the book of Revelation must not violate its fundamental unity. It seems clear to me that the futurist interpretation violates the unity of the book by driving a huge chronological wedge in between the end of chapter three and the beginning of chapter 4.

Clearly, 4:1 marks the beginning of a new section in the book of Revelation. But it is equally clear that this new section goes along with the previous one. The first section says, “persevere, conquer, overcome, endure, even to the point of death.” The second section begins to say, “here is why it will be worth it.”

The second “after this” – the one at the end of verse one – refers to the sequence of history. The vision that John saw at first had to do with how things were in his day. Chapters two and three had to do with the condition of seven particular churches alive in 90 A.D. when he wrote. True, those churches represent all churches then and now, but the letters were written concerning how things were with them back then. In 4:1 the focus begins to shift to describe how things would be from that day forward. Christ spoke to John saying, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this”, that is to say, in the days to come and until the Lord returns.

The words “after this” at the end of 4:1 should remind us of what was said by Christ to John back in 1:19. Christ spoke to John saying, “Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this” (Revelation 1:19, ESV).The book of Revelation is indeed broken into two main parts. The letters to the seven churches described things as they were in John’s day, and chapters four and onward begin to describe how things would be from the time of John’s writing on to the end of time.

The futurists – that is to say, those who interpret the book of Revelation as if chapters four through twenty-two describe things that will happen yet in our future – make much of the words, “after this” both in 1:19 and also at the end of 4:1. The weight of their system rests heavily upon the word’s “after this”.  But it should be recognized that when they read the words “after this” they do not simply think, “after this”, but rather, “a long, long time after this”. Remember, their view is that almost 2,000 years of history come in between the events described in chapters two and three and the events described in chapters four through twenty-two. They do not read “after this”, but the imagine the text to be saying, “a long, long time after this.”

I’ve come to see this futurist view – which is the majority view today (or it is at least the most popular view) as incorrect for many reasons. I’ll mention only two reasons now.

One, this view reads into the text something that is not really there. True, 4:1 marks the transition from a focus upon how things were in John’s day, to a focus upon how things would be in the future, but the futurist makes the text to say more than it says when they cram their huge chronological gap into the text. The gap is not there – they force it into the text. The futurist position, which produces the pre-millennial position that is so popular today, has as its foundation the gaps in scripture. We might ask the futurist, “where do you find support for this idea that chapters four through twenty two describe things that will happen in our future, 2,000 years removed from the original audience?” They will have to admit that they see it in the gap between 3:22 and 4:1. Never does the text actually say it.

Two, I have come to reject the futurist interpretation because it ignores what is clearly stated in the text. I’ve already demonstrated that the chapters four and following are tightly linked to chapters one through three both literarily and contextually. But we should also remember the clear statements found in Revelation concerning the nearness of the events described in this book. Remember what was said in 1:3: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3, ESV). And the same truth is repeated near the end of the book where John was told in 22:10, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near” (Revelation 22:10, ESV). So the futurist reads into the text something that is not there while ignoring what the text clearly says. Most of the things described in the book of Revelation were near. And remember that they were near, not first of all to us, but to those who originally read the book in 90A.D. More could be said – indeed, more has been said in past sermons and lectures – but we must move on.

If I had more time I would also make a case against the preterist, partial-preterist, and historicist position.  The full preterist position is so wild that I don’t fear any of you falling for it. The historicist position is rather uncommon today – you’ll probably never encounter it. The partial-preterist position is not all that different from the one that I hold to – I would not be too concerned if you came to hold that position. I speak against the futurist position strongly because it is both very wrong and also very popular today.

I hold to what is called the idealist, or the modified idealist, position. To state it very simply, the idealist position admits that revelation 4:1, and the words “after this” at the end of 4:1, marks a major transition in the book of Revelation. Things begin to transition from a focus upon how things were in John’s day to how things will be from that day forward.  But we recognize that the rest of the book of Revelation will describe, not just the things that will happen at the very end of time – things yet in our future – but rather how things will be in the world in the whole time between Christ’s first and second coming. The thing that the book of Revelation primarily reveals is how things will be in the last days, which are the days between Christ’s first and second comings. Yes, the book tells us us about the future! But is said just as much to the 90A.D. Christians concerning their future, as it does to us concerning ours. Revelation reveals how things will go concerning the redemption of God’s people and the judgment of God’s enemies throughout the church age (that is the story contained within the scroll in God’s right hand that the Lamb was worth to open). It also reveals what will happen in the end – the second coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the judgment, and the ushering in of the new heavens and the new earth. Indeed, “after this” does have do with the chronology of history, but there is no gap there. The Christians who read the book in 90 A.D. saw and experienced the things revealed in this book, with the exception of the bodily return of Christ, the bodily resurrection of the dead, the final judgement, and the consummation of the new heavens and earth – the kingdom of God.

Here’s the thing I want you to take away from these introductory remarks (Yes, this was all introduction. I have three points for you, but they will be rather brief): I want for you to recognize that God has not left us in the dark concerning the future. He has revealed something to us concerning how things will go until Christ returns, and how things will go when and after he returns.  Really, this has been true from the beginning of time God has always been gracious to reveal something about the future to his creatures. It was true in the garden. It was true immediately after the fall. And it has been true throughout the history of redemption. God has given us warnings and promises and prophesy so that we might walk according to the light he has provided. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29, ESV). What a gift this is! He could have simply said, trust and obey! But he, in his mercy and grace, has revealed something to us concerning the reality of things now, the trajectory of human history, and things that will certainly happen in the end. What a gift it is!

Friends, we would be wise to believe what God has said concerning the future. We would also be wise to take comfort in what he has revealed and to walk according to that light. We would be fools if we didn’t.

If you knew that the stock market was going to crash tomorrow what would you do with your investments today? You’d be wise to sell! You’d be called a fool if you didn’t. Why? Because you knew what was going to happen but you failed act accordingly. In the same way, we would be fools if we failed to live our lives today in light of what God has revealed concerning tomorrow.

To believe what God has revealed concerning the future should move us to live accordingly, and it should also produce peace within our hearts along with steadfastness, faithfulness, consistency, and confidence in our way of life.

I mentioned last Sunday that Lindsay and I had gone to a Chinese New Years celebration with some of her co-workers the day before. I had no idea what to expect. I’d never been to one before. And so a few days before the event I ran into Mr. Wynn, Lindsay’s boss, and said, “tell me about this thing. When will it start? What will it cost? How should I dress?” I felt completely in the dark before that conversation. I had no idea what would happen. And so I felt uncertain concerning what I should do in preparation. When did we need to leave? How much money did I need to bring? How should I dress? Paul answered those questions for me. He did not attempt to describe the event in detail – I don’t know that it would have helped anyways. There are somethings that you just need to experience to understand them. But he told me what I needed to know. He gave me enough information to get me to the event prepared. It was interesting to note the psychological effect that that little bit of information had upon me. It set my heart at ease. It gave me confidence. It freed me to make good and wise decisions. I was able to go prepared. It was only after experiencing the event that I can say that I understand it, but I was given the information that needed to go with confidence and well prepared.

The book of Revelation does this for us when it comes to life in general. How exactly will things go in the end? God has not given us all the details – “Concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36, ESV). But he has given us enough information so that we might walk with wisdom in this world. He has revealed enough so that we might walk confidently in this world, with steadfastness in our steps and peace in our hearts. He’s told us enough so that we might prepare.

So let us consider briefly the first three verses of Revelation four.

It is interesting to notice that chapters four and five of Revelation do not describe events that would happen in the future from John’s perspective, but rather how things already were when he wrote.

You might be thinking to yourself, “but that contradicts what has been said about the words ‘after this’ at the end of 4:1!” Listen again to what I said about 4:1. This is “the place in the book of Revelation where things begin to transition from a focus upon how things were in John’s day to how things will be from that day forward.”

Chapters four and five do not describe things that would happen in the future from John’s perspective – they set the stage for the unfolding of human history. In chapter four John describes his vision of God enthroned in heaven. When did that happen? Not in John’s future or ours, but long before that! If you know your Old Testament, Revelation chapter four will sound very familiar to you, for what John describes sounds a lot like what the prophets of old had seen. And chapter five comes to focus upon Jesus Christ who is seen at the Fathers right hand, appearing like a lamb that had been slain. He is the one who is found worthy to take the scroll from the Father and to break it’s seals, revealing it’s contents. When did that happen? Not in John’s future or ours, but when Christ ascended to the Father after his life, death, burial and resurrection. That happened some sixty years before John wrote. Notice the song that the twenty-four elders sang? “Worthy are you [Jesus] to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9, ESV).

The vision that John saw as it is described to us in chapters four an five reveals how things already were at the time of John’s writing. He was given a glimpse into the present heavenly reality of things. The Father was already enthroned, of course. And Christ was already at his right hand and found to be worthy to receive the scroll and open it because he had finished the work of redemption through his death on the cross. Chapters four an five reveal to us how things already were in heaven at the time of John’s writing – God was (and is) enthroned, and Christ was (and is) at his right hand and is found worthy to open the scroll because of his finished work on the cross.

What’s in that scroll? That’s the question. Well, the rest of Revelation will make that clear. When Christ begins to break the seals of the scroll – when he begins to open it (chapters 6-8:5) – we will see laid out before us God’s plans concerning the salvation of his people and the judgment of his enemies.

Do you see, then, that Revelation four and five do not describe things that would happen in John’s future, but things as they already were in heaven at the time that he wrote. Revelation 4:1is the place in the book of Revelation where things begin to transition from a focus upon how things were in John’s day to how things will be from that day forward. These two chapters function like a hinge. They set the stage for what will follow, namely, the unraveling of the scroll seen in God’s right hand which Christ alone is worthy to open. The unraveling of this scroll will, in turn, reveal how things will go concerning the salvation of God’s people and the judgment of his enemies from the time of Christ’s first coming on to the end. Chapters four and five present us with an invaluable picture of how things really are in heaven.( The same pattern can be observed in Daniel 2:27-45. The vision that Nebuchadnezzar saw was concern things that would happen “after this” (2:29;45) from Daniels perspective, but the vision and it’s interpretation begin by describing Nebuchadnezzar’s present reign.  (The same pattern can be observed in Daniel 2:27-45. The vision that Nebuchadnezzar saw was concern things that would happen “after this” (2:29;45) from Daniel’s perspective, but the vision and it’s interpretation begin by describing Nebuchadnezzar’s present reign.)

Three things are to be noticed:

There Exists A Heavenly Realm That Lies Beyond The Realm That We Can See

One, notice that there exists a heavenly realm that lies beyond the realm that we can see with our natural eyes or perceive with our senses.

Look again at 4:1 where John says,  “After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this” (Revelation 4:1, ESV).

John saw a door standing open in heaven. He was invited to by Christ to “come up” so that he might see what was to take place from that day forward. There exists a heavenly realm that lies beyond the realm that we can see with our natural eyes or perceive with our senses.

This idea is fundamental. It is a most basic feature of the biblical worldview.

Do you remember the first verse in the Bible? What does it say? “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, ESV). “Heavens” here is not a reference to the stars, but to the heavenly realm where God and his angelic hosts dwell. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. Paul the Apostle says the same thing. Speaking of the Christ he says, “For by him 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” (Colossians 1:16, ESV). There exists a heavenly realm that lies beyond the realm that we can see with our natural eyes or perceive with our senses.

Knowing this changes everything. This world is not all that there is. We would be fools to live for the things of this world. We would be wise to live our lives on this earth being ever mindful of the heavenly reality. We are to be heavenly minded.

The non-believer is blind to the heavenly reality. He looks at this world and thinks to himself, “this is all there is”. It is no wonder, then. that he lives for the pleasures of this life. “What more is there!”, he says.

The Christians is aware of this heavenly reality, for God has revealed it. She looks at the world and thinks to herself, “this is not all there is.” It is no wonder, then, that she denies the desires of the flesh and lives for the world to come.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19–21, ESV).

Cultivate a heavenly mindset, friends. See what God has revealed to us, believe it, and live accordingly.

God Is Enthroned In The Heaven

Two, notice that God is enthroned in heaven.

What was the first thing that John saw in this vision after he was taken up into heaven? Verse 2: “At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne” (Revelation 4:2, ESV). God is in heaven, and he is enthroned.

What does a throne symbolize? It symbolizes power. God is the sovereign King. And he is sovereign, not over this nation or that, or over this thing or that, but over all things. Nothing is outside of his control. What happens on earth happens because he has decreed it. He brings what he has decreed to pass by his providential care, through either permission or action, either directly or indirectly.

Through Isaiah the prophet God said,

“Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it” (Isaiah 46:9–11, ESV).

God is the King of Kings, and Lord of lords! He is God most high. He is sovereign over all things.

This is why Christ could speak to John as he did, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this” (Revelation 4:1, ESV). Christ can show John what must take place in the future because the future has been decreed by God and he will certainly bring it pass. It’s written in the scroll. It’s written in his book. He will accomplish it.

Brothers and sisters, develop your understanding of the sovereignty of God. Though it might at first perplex the mind, it will eventually bring comfort the heart. The world seems out of control. The events of history seem random, pointless, and unpredictable – from our vantage point they are! But has revealed to us that he is in heaven, and he is enthroned there. Nothing is outside of his control. Trust him and obey.

God Is Glorious Beyond Our Ability To Comprehend

Three, notice that God is glorious beyond our ability to comprehend.

Do you see how John describes the one who is seated on the throne? He struggles to find the words. Human language is poorly suited for the task of describing the divine. John uses the most beautiful things on earth to describe what he saw, saying, “And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald” (Revelation 4:3, ESV).

John did not see a man sitting there on the throne. God is not a man – he is not flesh and blood, but is a most pure spirit. The appearance of God was like precious stones – jasper, and carnelian – radiant in glory. Around the throne “was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.” What John saw was glorious.

Friends, we must learn to think thought about God that are true. We are prone to reduce him – to pretend that he is like us, or like the things of this earth. He is not. He is transcendent. He is the creator, we the creature. He is beyond us in every way, beyond our ability to fully describe or fully comprehend. What he has revealed to us about himself is true, but he not revealed himself exhaustively. Our minds cannot comprehend him.

Conclusion

My dear brothers and sisters, do you see how what John saw is of great value to us as we sojourn in this world? Do you see how encouraging this is for those suffering persecution, being threatened even with death? Do see how beneficial these revelations are to the one who is tempted to abandon Christ to live for the pleasures of this world? Don’t do it, friends! It’s not worth it. Stay true to God and to Christ! Remember that there is more to God’s creation that what you and I can see with our eyes. There is a heavenly realm. Store up your treasures there! And remember that God is enthroned in heaven. The things that we suffer in this world are not meaningless or lacking in purpose. God is working all things together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, ESV). And remember that God is glorious beyond compare. Nothing in this world can compare with him. Trust in Christ, friends, and worship God though him, for he indeed is worthy of all glory, honor, and praise.