Sermon - Your Ultimate Reality: The Overcomers Series

Listen, faith isn't pretending the problems of life aren't real.

Let's be honest, there's sickness, there's suffering, there's evil, there's grief.

Those are real things.

But hear me, they are not the ultimate things.

Behind everything we see stands ultimate reality.

Again, there is a throne in heaven, and someone is sitting on it.

So the first thing you have to remember is simply this: look beyond what you can see.

Welcome to the Church of the Lakes weekly sermon podcast.

We're so glad you've joined us, and we're honored to be part of your spiritual journey.

This year, Church of the Lakes is focusing on having a kingdom mindset, and all we do by living counterculturally to the world to become more like Jesus.

Today, Pastor Jared Preset continues our sermon series called The Overcomers, which comes from the book of Revelation.

The title of today's message is Your Ultimate Reality.

And now, here's Pastor Jerry.

Be blessed.

Welcome into a special episode of Kingdom Conversations.

Today we're releasing our second week in which we were going through Matt Chandler's study, Overcomers, and what that means in terms of relation to the book of Revelation written by the Apostle John.

And to help give us this week's sermon via our podcast, Avenue Kingdom Conversations, is my friend Pastor Jared.

And listen in as Pastor Jared walks us through Revelation chapters four and five.

Well, church, last week we began our journey through the book of Revelation.

And notice how I said Revelation and not Revelations.

It is only one revelation.

And we said something that I want really hanging over the entire series, these eight weeks, and that is simply that revelation wasn't primarily given so Christians could construct timelines, even though some may think that.

Really, revelation was given so Christians could develop courage in whatever generation that they would read this revelation in.

What revelation does is it pulls back the curtain.

It shows us that what we can see with our physical eyes is not at all, it's not all that is happening.

And that's important.

Because if they only look at what we see with our eyes, we might start to believe everything around us is falling apart.

I mean, let's be honest.

You watch the news, you look at culture, you see wars and political division, families struggling, their sickness, their suffering.

And then if that's not enough, you look at your own life, and sometimes you wonder, God, where are you in all this?

Again, I asked this last week, let me ask again, have you ever asked that question?

God, where are you in all of this?

Because sometimes what we see and what we believe, they seem to be in conflict with one another.

For instance, we believe God is good, but life hurts.

We believe God is powerful, but evil seems to prosper.

We believe Jesus is king, but sometimes it doesn't look like he's winning.

And so Revelation encourages us by saying keep looking, because what you see is not ultimate reality.

For there is another reality behind everything you see.

And today in Revelation four, John is going to give us a glimpse of ultimate reality.

Listen to God's word as I read for you today from Revelation chapter four verses one to eleven.

John says under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open.

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 soon take place.

At once I was in this spirit, and there in the heavens stood a throne, with one seated on the throne, and the one seated there looks like Jasper and Carnel Carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald.

Around the throne are twenty four other thrones, and seated on those thrones are twenty four elders dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads.

Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God, and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass like crystal.

Around the throne and on each side of the throne are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and back, the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature like the face of a human, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle, and the four living creatures, each of them with six wings are full of eyes all around and inside.

Day and night without ceasing they sing, Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne, and worship the one who lives for ever and ever.

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

This is indeed the word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Will you pray with me?

Lord, as we dive into this text to understand and unpack what John is revealing to us in these words, I just ask that you bless the words of my lips, the meditation of all our hearts, that they be of profit to us and acceptable to you, for you indeed are our rock and our redeemer.

Amen.

Well, church, where do we go with this?

Well, suddenly, John, what he's giving us here in Revelation 4 is a glimpse into heaven.

And if that happened to you, what would you be looking for?

John, what's heaven like?

Who's there?

What do you see?

And John says in verse 2, At once I was in the Spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne.

The first thing John sees and articulates that he sees is a throne.

In fact, John can't stop talking about the throne.

Fourteen times in those short verses he mentions the throne.

Why?

Because God is because God is showing John what ultimate reality is.

He's saying, John, I know you see Rome, but Rome isn't ultimate.

John, I know you see Caesar, but Caesar isn't ultimate.

John, I know and you see and have also experienced persecution, but persecution isn't ultimate.

So look again.

There is a throne, and someone is sitting on that throne.

Church, here's what I want you to remember today.

Really a very short phrase to think of, in the midst of some of your hardship and struggle, that the throne is occupied, and that the one who sits on that throne is good.

God is there, God is reigning, God is sovereign, and nothing happening in this world will ever cause God to get up off his throne.

And so as I look at Revelation 4, there's three things I want us to understand in regard to the throne.

And the first thing is simply this that we must, even in the midst of hardship and struggle in life, is look beyond what we can see.

So John is on the island of Patmos.

He's exiled, he's isolated, the church is under pressure, Rome, this massive empire seems unstoppable.

And if John evaluates reality only by what he can see, guess what?

Things don't look very promising.

But God opens a door and essentially says, John, I want you to look up.

And maybe somebody listening today needs to hear that.

Because you've been looking around so much so that you have forgotten to look up.

For instance, you've been looking at a diagnosis or a bank account, or your children, or your marriage, or your circumstances or news.

And maybe you started allowing what you see to determine just what you believe.

Well, revelation compels us to do is reverse that.

Friend, let what you believe determine how you interpret what you see.

I'll give you a biblical example of this in 2 Kings chapter 6.

2 Kings 6 · chapter mention

There's a prophet named Elisha.

Elisha has a servant who travels around the area with Elisha, and one morning Elisha and the servant wake up and there's an enemy army that has surrounded the city in which they're staying.

All the servants sees are the enemy soldiers with horses and chariots.

Like they're everywhere.

And then the servant begins to panic, and he says to the prophet Elisha, What are we going to do?

But Elisha prays, O Lord, will you please open his eyes that he may see?

And so God opens the servant's eyes, and suddenly what he sees is that the hills surrounding this enemy nation are filled with horses and chariots of fire, synonymous to heaven's army.

Now don't miss this.

God didn't create the army when the servant's eyes were opened.

It was already there.

He just couldn't see them.

His problem wasn't that God wasn't working, his problem was that he couldn't see what God was doing.

Oh friends, how often is that us?

We assume God isn't working because we can't see him working, or we assume God isn't present because we can't feel his presence, or we assume that God has lost control because it life feels out of control.

Revelation says again, look again.

Listen, faith isn't pretending the problems of life aren't real.

Let's be honest, there's sickness, there's suffering, there's evil, there's grief.

Those are real things.

But hear me, they are not the ultimate things.

Behind everything we see stands ultimate reality.

Again, there is a throne in heaven, and someone is sitting on it.

So the first thing you have to remember is simply this look beyond what you can see.

The second is remember who is on the throne.

So John looks through the open door in this text and he sees a throne in heaven and someone who is seated on it.

Notice in Revelation 4 that John doesn't really describe God, the one sitting on the throne.

He describes everything around God.

Jasper, carnelian, a rainbow, lightning, thunder, a sea like glass.

Okay, why?

Why does he describe everything around and not actually God?

Could it be because it's so hard to describe the indescribable?

Like John is reaching for human words to describe the glory of Almighty God.

Then he sees twenty-four elders and four strange living creatures.

They're covered with eyes, one like a lion, one like an ox, one like a human face, one like an eagle.

And some of you are thinking right now, Pastor, Revelation just got weird.

And you'd be right it did.

Welcome to Revelation.

But please hear me.

Don't get so distracted trying to decode every detail and revelation that you miss what they're doing, what these elders are doing.

Because that's the actual point.

The scriptures say day and night they never stop saying holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.

Holy, holy, holy.

Not worried, worried, worried.

Not overwhelmed, overwhelmed, overwhelmed, but holy, holy, holy.

Like there is no darkness in him, no corruption, no weakness, no deficiency, no rival, no equal.

He is God.

Oh church, don't we desperately need a bigger vision of God?

Because one of the reasons our problems become so enormous in our minds is that our vision of God becomes so small.

Listen, if your God is small, then your diagnosis becomes enormous.

If your God is small, then your financial problems become enormous.

If your God is small, your family problems become enormous.

If your God is small, your fears become enormous.

Revelation doesn't primarily make your problems smaller.

What revelation does is make your vision of God bigger.

The Almighty they call him, the holy one, the creator, the one who was, the one who is, and the one who is to come, the one sitting on the throne.

And notice the throne isn't empty.

The throne isn't up for election, the throne isn't contested.

God isn't nervously watching world leaders today wondering what they'll do next.

The throne is occupied.

Church, listen, governments rise and fall, presidents come and go, empires emerge and collapse, but through all of human history the throne remains occupied.

And if God is on the throne, here's good news.

You don't have to be.

I think some of us we're exhausted because we're trying to sit somewhere we were never created to sit.

We're trying to control our children or our future or other people.

We're trying to control circumstances or outcome, and then we wonder why we're so doggone anxious.

Friend, let me nudge you a little bit.

Get off the throne because it was never yours to sit on.

You don't have what it takes to hold the universe together, but you do belong to the one who does.

Second thing John wants us to remember is who's on the throne.

Here's the third thing.

Give the one who is on the throne your worship.

Again, watch what happens in Revelation 4.

Wherever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to God, the scriptures say the twenty-four elders fall down.

Let me read to you again verse ten.

The twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever.

And then they do something fascinating.

They cast their crowns before the throne.

Like they have crowns.

They have authority, they have honor, but when they see God, the one who is ultimate authority, they take their crowns off.

Again, why?

It's because there's only one true king, and their crowns belong at that king's feet.

And church, this is where revelation in my mind stops being something merely to understand and actually becomes something we have to respond to.

Because every one of us has a crown.

Every one of us has something that we want to control, something we want to build our identity around, something that gives our lives significance and purpose.

Maybe it's a career for you, or money, or reputation, or family, or plans, or accomplishments, or comfort or your future.

But worship is taking whatever crown you've been wearing and laying it at the feet of Jesus.

Really declaring, you are God, Jesus, I am not.

You are King, I am not.

You own my life and my family and my resources and my future.

It all belongs to you.

And listen to what the elders 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 existed and were created.

Okay, why is God worthy?

Well, it's because everything exists because of Him.

Like, think about it.

Your lungs breathe because of Him.

Your heart beats today because of Him.

The universe exists because of Him.

Everything comes from God, therefore everything belongs to God.

And that means worship is bigger than singing.

Yes, singing is worship, but worship is bigger than singing.

What worship really is, is the orientation of your entire life around the worth of God.

It's saying, God, you are worth more.

You are worth more than my comfort, my preferences, my reputation, my plans, my success.

You are worth more than anything and everything.

Friends, that's worship.

And here's where it gets a little uncomfortable for us.

Because human beings are always worshiping something.

So the question isn't do you worship?

The question is what are you worshiping?

Is it money?

Is it success?

Is it your family or politics?

Is it approval or control?

Whatever sits on the throne of your heart eventually controls your worship.

And again, Revelation 4 says there is only one worthy of that throne.

Can you imagine how this vision would have landed on John's first readers?

Rome says Caesar is Lord.

But Revelation says no, God is on the throne.

Rome says we, as an empire, control your future.

Revelation says no, God is on the throne.

Rome says we can take everything from you.

But Revelation says you cannot take the kingdom of God from someone who belongs to the king.

Church, that's why revelation creates overcomers.

Not because Christians become tougher than everyone else, not because we become fearless superheroes, but because we've seen the throne.

And once you've seen the throne, you face what's in front of you differently.

The diagnosis might still be there, but so is the throne.

The grief might still be there, but so is the throne.

Your child may still be wandering, but there's still a throne.

The world may still feel chaotic, but the throne is still occupied.

In church, that means ultimate reality is not chaos.

It's not cancer, it's not Washington, it's not Wall Street, it's not your circumstances.

No, ultimate reality is God, holy, almighty, creator, eternal, seated on the throne.

So here's my question as we begin to conclude.

What have you been looking at?

Maybe have you spent so much time looking at what's wrong that you have forgotten what's true.

You've been staring at your circumstances or your fears or the news, everything you cannot control.

And today God opens the door of heaven through his word and says, Look up.

Look again.

There's a throne and someone is sitting on it.

Listen, the God who was on the throne when John was exiled on Pantmos is on the throne today.

The God who was on the throne through wars and plagues and empires and revolutions is on the throne today, and he will be on the throne tomorrow.

So what are you afraid of?

What are you trying to control?

What crown are you still clutching?

Maybe today you need to lay it down.

Your children, your future, your finances, your health, your plans, your fear.

Friend, lay the crown down.

Because here's the greatest irony of the Christian life.

The safest place for your life is not in your own hands, it's in his.

But there's something else I don't want us to miss this morning.

John looks into heaven, and what is happening at the throne?

It's worship.

Church, when we gather on Sunday morning, we're not simply starting a service with a few songs.

What we're doing is joining something something already happening.

Like before you arrive at a church building, heaven is worshiping.

While you slept, heaven is worshiping.

And when you leave, heaven will still be worshiping.

Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, who was and is in his to come.

So what do we do in worship?

We step out of a world screaming, Be be angry, be afraid, take control, make life about you.

And together we declare in worship, no, there is a throne, there is a king, and he alone is worthy.

Like when you worship while afraid, what you're declaring is fear is not your king.

When you worship through suffering, you're declaring that pain is not your king.

When life seems chaotic and you still worship, you're declaring that chaos is not my king, Jesus is king.

And next week in Revelation 5, John will see why.

You see, there's a scroll no one can open.

And when John sees that scroll, he begins to weep, and while he weeps he hears a voice say, Do not weep, for the lion of the tribe has overcome.

But when John turns he sees a lamb who has been slain.

Yes, you heard that right.

The king we worship did not remain distant from our suffering.

No, he stepped into it.

Jesus entered our broken world, he carried our sin.

He went to the cross, he shed his blood, he entered the grave, and on the third day he walked out.

Church, that's why we worshiped.

Not because life is easy, not because everything makes sense.

We worship because God is worthy, we worship because Jesus has overcome, and because he has overcome, we will overcome.

So friend, look up.

The door is open, the throne is occupied, God is still God, Jesus is still king, heaven is still worshiping, and one day every fear, sickness, tear, empire, power, and enemy will be gone, but the throne will remain.

Therefore, let's do now what we will do forever.

Let's lay down our crowns, lift up our voices, and worship the one who sits on the throne.

Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come.

The throne is occupied.

Praise be to God.

Amen.

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