What True Worship Actually Looks Like (Revelation 4)

Well, it is Memorial Weekend, which means that here in Michigan, summer unofficially begins tomorrow, right?

So come on, warm weather.

We could use you.

It's also probably a good time to remind you of some commitments, some promises you made to yourself back in January when we did our Dear Future Me series.

And for those of you who weren't with us then, we started 2026 with a preaching series we called Dear Future Me, where we imagined what the end of this year would look like if we spent the whole year taking next steps with God.

And so many of you wrote letters to yourselves and you sealed those up.

And for the past five months, our staff have been praying over those letters and the commitments you've made.

So I want to remind you of those and just know we're we're still planning to mail those back to you at the end of the year.

And I also want to invite anyone who did not participate in that to join on in.

We're still in May, so you got some time to make some commitments.

And you can find the letter writing prompts online at the QR code if you want to scan that, or if you are here in person in our next steps area here in Brighton or in Saginaw, you can pick up the paper and pencil version.

We have an envelope you can you can self-address.

And I should probably now say uh hello to our friends in Saginaw.

Thank you for joining us for this memorial weekend for week two of a preaching series on the book of Revelation.

And for the next couple months, we're gonna be unpacking this, I don't know if I should call it intriguing or confusing book of the Bible, this often misread book of the Bible, often unread book of the Bible.

We're gonna be studying this together.

And and our lead pastor Tony last week, he kind of unpacked how we're gonna approach the book.

There will be no tinfoil hats, I promise you that.

Uh we're we're not gonna lay out a perfect description of all the timeline of events of the end times, but what we are going to do is we're going to study this book to be formed into people who are prepared for what is coming.

Because in Revelation, it's clear that that two realities are painted.

One is a current reality where things are not as they are intended to be.

They're not as they should be.

And there is a future reality, one where there is coming a final battle that Jesus will win.

And on that day, every tear will be wiped away.

There will be no more suffering, no more pain, no more death.

There will be a new heaven and a new earth.

And so, all series long, we're we're asking this question okay, if this is what's coming, how do we live today in light of what we know is is coming, but is not yet.

And the simple direct answer to that question is follow Jesus.

Follow Jesus.

And what does it look like?

That's what the book of Revelation really reveals for us.

The book of Revelation is many things.

We're gonna cover as many of these topics as we can, but at its core, the book of Revelation is a call to radical discipleship to the way of Jesus.

And today we're gonna be hanging out in chapter four, and we're gonna see in Revelation chapter four, one of the one of the clearest steps that we're called to take in that discipleship journey is to live into who we were created to be.

That had our core, God created us to do primarily one thing: the we were created for worship.

So Revelation chapter four, if you want to follow along, um what happens in this chapter is Jesus actually takes John to the throne room of heaven, and he gives him a glimpse of what true worship looks like there.

So let's get into this.

Revelation chapter four, starting in verse one, it says this.

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven.

And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, Come up here, and I'll show you what might take what must take place after this.

At once I was in the spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven, with someone sitting on it.

And the one who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and Ruby, a rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.

Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders.

They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.

From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder.

In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing.

These are the seven spirits of God.

Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes in front and in back.

The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle, each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings, and day and night they never stopped saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.

Can you picture that scene?

If so, you're better than me.

I mean, I've been I've been I've been wrestling with this for weeks, and I'm still like, what did John see?

What did it actually look like?

Um before we get into the worship that's happening and what it means for our lives, I do want to at least kind of present to you some understanding of what is happening.

Because everything that John saw in the throne room of heaven, it communicates something about reality.

And we'll start with with the one who is sitting on the throne.

Okay, this is God.

God, all of the explanations of what he looks like and the rainbow around that's shiny like all this is is displaying his holiness, his glory, his authority, the thunder and lightning, they they communicate his majesty.

The sea of glass that's in front of him, a sea in that time would have represented chaos, but because it's like he's calm and in charge, even though chaos is happening before him, like he's got this.

Okay, so that's that's the one on the throne.

And then there were the 24 elders sitting on the thrones around him.

These represent the redeemed people of God.

These these actually represent who you and I are becoming in Christ.

The number of them, 24, it echoes the priesthood described in the Old Testament in the book of 1 Chronicles.

The white robes that they wear are the righteousness given to them by Jesus, and the thorn, the the the gold crowns that they wear on their head, are the authority that's been given to them by God.

Any sort of thing that they've been entrusted with, any sort of honor or or success and faith that they've been given.

Okay.

And then there are those four strange creatures.

And if you want to study this for yourself, there are as many interpretations about what they mean as there are interpreters.

But what I see in this is that there are four kind of, they cover a swath of creation.

There's a wild animal, a lion, there's a tame animal, an ox, there's a face like a man, there's an eagle, so they get the burst.

They cover this kind of wide swath of creation.

And the eyes all around them are demonstrating God's omniscience, that He is all seeing within creation, and they are constantly, these created beings, are constantly, day and night, giving worship to the one who created them.

Okay, so that's the scene.

And then those 24 elders move.

And when they move, we get a picture, the clearest picture we can get, of what true worship entails.

Here's what John saw next.

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.

They laid their crowns before the throne and say, You are worthy our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.

And everything John sees after this, so this is chapter four, five through twenty-two, all the strange things that if you've read this book, you you know, you you're you're getting ready, be buckling up for in this series.

Everything he sees after this, he sees in light of what he experienced in chapter four.

And this is gonna be important for us because everything that we read, everything that we unpack in chapters 5 through 22 of Revelation, we have to understand it begins with God is on the throne, and he is in control.

And this and the elders get this.

It's why they worship the way they do.

And so I want to just share with you kind of what I want, I want to just show you three things that they did, and and we'll call them three movements of worship.

Um, they're sequential in order, and and they are intentionally so.

The first movement they do, the first thing they do is they bow before the one on the throne.

In verse 10, it says, the elders fall down before him who sits on the throne.

There is um something important about the posture of our bodies that that communicates our reverence for anything.

I mean, we we see this.

In most situations, you don't need words or titles to know who's in charge and who is submitting to the one in charge.

The posture says everything.

Bowing is one way that we communicate God is God and I am not.

Um bowing used to be a regular part of pretty much every gathering of the church, every every weekend service.

This was this was something you just did.

You kneeled, you got up, and you and and you you bowed down low, and then you stood up, and everyone was kind of wondering when am I supposed to stand and when am I supposed to kneel?

This was this used to be a regular part of, but bowing in our culture now, it's it's an unfamiliar posture.

And we don't we don't like to think of God lofty and on the throne like that.

If we did, it would be a lot easier to fall down on the ground before him.

But we don't like, we don't like to see because it makes him seem like far off and unapproachable relationally.

So there's been a shift in our culture of worship, especially in the American Church, where we we just don't bow anymore.

We've we've opted for a more, you know, come as you are way to worship, which is there's nothing wrong with that attitude, but but I wonder if the pendulum is shifted a little too far.

And we don't have kneelers anymore, those wooden pews that we were grateful for the opportunities to kneel, so we didn't have to sit on them.

They've been replaced by slightly more comfortable chairs.

I mean, many of us we we stroll into church a little bit late, you know, gotta get that coffee, and we we'll sit down and we'll judge how loud the music is.

We'll judge, you know, every time they play a wrong note, oh, I heard that.

We'll judge how engaging the host moment is, how average to below average the preaching is, you know, and then and then after service, so we gotta scoot out before the last song's done so we can smoothly get out of the parking lot, right?

And we refill the coffee on the way.

This, what does that posture, what does that posture say about our heart in worship?

Because there's nothing wrong with the come as you are approach, but if it means that we've lost reverence for God, man, what does that tell us?

There's a reason why Jesus wanted John to see the throne room of heaven first.

Because when we see God in all his glory, we will all be brought to our knees.

And when we stop seeing God as God, we have a tendency to recreate him in our image rather than the other way around.

So bowing reminds us God is God, and I am not.

It's the first thing that the elders do, but it's not all they do, okay?

After they bow, the next thing that it says, right after it says, while they're on the ground, it says they worship him who lives forever and ever.

And I want to make a distinction here about this idea of worship.

Um, worship isn't simply acknowledging God as God with your words, it is allowing God to be God in your life.

It's allowing him to lead the decision-making in your life.

It's why the Apostle Paul instructed Christians in his letter to the Romans.

He says, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

And then he adds this This is your true and proper worship.

Um many people praise God with their mouths on Sunday and then practically manage the rest of their lives without him on Monday.

I mean, I mean, you did I've been there.

I've done that.

And that ain't worship.

Worship is God, you lead my life.

God, you are God in my life.

There's no gap between Sunday and Monday.

There's no gap between Sunday and Thursday.

God is God in my life.

True and proper worship is not an event on a weekend.

It's not even an event every morning, you know, before you get the day going.

It is an it is a surrendered life to God.

So these are the first two movements.

God is God in my life.

And then the third one, we see next, it adds this next piece.

God is God in my life, importantly, on his terms.

As the elders worship on their knees, it says they lay their crowns before the throne.

I said earlier that these crowns represent all the authority, the honor, anything that has been given to them by God to they've been entrusted with this.

So these elders receive these crowns and then they give them back to God.

They lay them at his feet.

Is that what you do?

Is that what I do?

What have you done with what's been entrusted to you?

Because many of us are comfortable saying, oh, yeah, God is real.

We want God's presence.

As long as we can hold on to all of the control about how things turn out.

Now, I'm gonna nerd out here just a little bit because the verb tense in this line is important, where it says that the elders lay their crowns down.

That word lay, okay, the verb tense is present continuous, which means we could interpret this as saying they are always laying their crowns down.

This is not a one-time act for the elders in the throne.

This is a lifestyle, it's a way of being.

For them, that's what life is like.

Is it that way for you?

With every decision we make, every relationship, every circumstance, we are either tightening the chin strap to keep the crown on our own heads, or we're laying it at the feet of the one on the throne.

2005.

Um, I was driving west on 94 in December.

I was near Kalamazoo, hit a patch of ice, and my car started spinning, probably going 75 and the across, across, I was um probably in the left lane, going too slow, I know for some of you.

75.

I started spinning out across the highway.

If you've ever been in a situation like that, it was slow motion.

Everything is slow motion.

And at first, I grabbed the wheel and I'm like, I'm trying to like force it back to go straight, and and it's making it worse.

And and at some point I had I had a true like Jesus take the wheel moment.

And I just like let go.

And the car went flying off into a snowbank about 50 feet off, and and and by the grace of God, I walked away from it.

By the grace of God, I drove away from it, the car was fine, I was fine.

This this is why I bring it up though.

Many of us feel like life is like that out-of-control car.

We like what we we have no control over what's happening, and yet we're trying to grab the steering wheel of our life and like force it back into oh, our decision's gotta be right.

Maybe try letting go.

Maybe try letting go.

What what might it look like for you allow God to be God in your life on his turn?

What the elders show us in the throne room of God is the true worship.

It looks like a fully surrendered life to God.

And chapter four closes with the only thing that John heard in the throne room of heaven.

He says all the stuff he saw.

I read this earlier, but I want to zero in because what the elders say tells us why they worship the one who sits on the throne.

This is so important.

Here's what they say: He says they say, You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for here's the why.

You created all things, and by your will they were created, and have their being.

The reason why the elders say that God is worthy to receive glory and honor and power is because he created all things.

This is the okay, you you know, you you created, and and he sustains all things.

They have their being, so they continue to exist.

And that everything that's ever been created was created because God willed it.

Here's why this is so important.

What it means is that before anything ever existed in the world, anything ever existed in the universe, it first existed in the heart of God.

Or the NIV Bible says the will of God.

Which means that if you like you don't start learning about who God is, and then all of a sudden he loves you.

No, no, no, no.

Long before, long before that.

You were in his will, you were in his heart, and so was the person next to you, and the stranger across the world, your enemies, people who look different than you, think differently than you.

What he's saying is that every single one of you was loved by God even before you were conceived.

Which while we're here, okay, um, if you've ever wondered to yourself, what does 242 think about the sanctity of life, or what does this church teach about abortion?

Okay, you might want to take note of this, all right?

We believe in the authority of Scripture, because this is how God chose to reveal Himself.

And what's clear from beginning to end is that anything that's ever existed, especially anyone who's ever existed in this world, was first in the will of God before we were ever even in our mama's womb.

I mean, in the very beginning, we see God spends He spends special attention on humans that we were created uniquely in his image to be in relationship with him and and to be and to to worship him.

And then all throughout in the Old Testament, the the King David says, Your eyes saw my unformed body, all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

It's the Old Testament, in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul says that God chose us in him before the creation of the world, and then here in in Revelation 4, the elders say the reason why God deserves the glory and honor and power is because nothing has ever come into existence except it was first by his will.

And church, this is good news for us because it means that you were loved by God before you had being, before you had.

Achievements or failures before you had a form to your body, before you had breath, you were known by God, you were loved by Him, you were in His heart, and that is why God alone is worthy of all glory and honor and power.

It is why He is the only object of Christian worship.

And just one more thing on this.

We believe that if you've ever participated in an abortion or the ending of someone's life, God's love is still towards you.

He sent his son to die for you, no matter what you've done, how you wound up here.

Man, God created you in his will before he put you in your mother's womb.

And you are so loved by him.

I can't overemphasize that.

Is that clear?

And this is why we say all the time no one belongs here more than you.

Because you are loved by God, you belong in God's church.

Not because of who you are or what you've done, because of who he is and because of what he's done.

And just bring it all the way back.

This is why we worship him.

Because God is God.

We are not.

And God in his sovereignty has given us the choice to either express that with our lives on his terms, or to reject it and deny it and choose to live our own way.

Which have you chosen?

And more importantly, which will you choose?

Are you living a life of worship?

Or you're allowing God to be God in your life on God's terms.

That's what Revelation chapter 4 is calling us to.

Revelation 4 · chapter mention

And I told you, we we're gonna get through this book, and there's a lot of things we're gonna unpack, but at its core, Revelation is a call to radical discipleship to the way of Jesus.

And one step for all of us in that discipleship journey is worship.

So what's the next step for you to take in worship?

I think it would be wise for all of us to start with the example of the elders in the throne room.

And start with bowing our lives before God.

This could look like literally bowing, beginning our days or throughout the day, literally on our knees, on our faces before the Lord.

That's the example of the prophets and the saints before us.

I mean, they did this several times a day.

God on their faces and they prayed.

And maybe maybe for you it's it's praying a bowing sort of prayer.

And if you need an example, I think we have one.

Pray something like, God, you are God and I am not.

Today belongs to you.

My life belongs to you.

What would it look like to start each day like that?

What does it look like to bow your life before God?

But but then don't stop there.

Let God lead your life.

This is the next step.

Because when we let God lead our life, it's you know this bowing is not just a moment, it becomes the a lifestyle, a posture that our life is centered around, okay, God, whatever it is that I have in front of me today, I'm I'm giving it to you.

And maybe for you, you're like, okay, well, how do I how do I organize my life like that?

Well, pray this prayer.

God, what does obedience look like today?

What does it look like right now?

And then pause after you pray that long enough to hear from God.

Worship, we can bow, we let God lead our life.

And then here's the third step in this.

Whenever you feel yourself trying to get control back, lay down the crown.

What is the crown in your life?

What has God entrusted you with, given you some authority over?

Maybe it's your future.

Maybe if you have a family, it's your family, your kids, maybe it's your finances, maybe this is your your appearance, whatever it is, your image.

What have you been given authority over?

And laying your crown down just looks like open hands.

For some of us, deep breath.

God, you can have this.

God, I trust you with this.

And then here's the key in this you gotta actually trust him.

Because our worship, our laying down of the crowns, has a lot more to do with our obedience than it does our words.

What's your next step in worship?

Bow your life, let God lead.

When you feel the desire to take control, lay down the crown.

Because, because you were created by the will of God to worship.

Let's pray.

God, you are so awesome and mighty, and you are the one and the only one that's worthy of all power and and authority.

And God, may our lives reflect that.

God, thank you so much for demonstrating your love for me, in that when I was far from you, you didn't, you didn't, you know, punish me and condemn me.

You you set your son for me.

God, may the may your love ever be before me to remind me of what compels me to lay down my crowns, to worship you, to get on my knees, and to surrender my life.

And God, for everyone who hears my voice today, may you compel us with your love to get a little bit lower, to trust you a little bit more, to lay our crowns down one more time and grow in worship.

And may you receive all the honor and the glory and the power in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.