True Worshipers Anticipate - Worship and Eternity

Over the last several weeks we have looked at what it means to be a true worshiper.

Week 1 we looked at True Worshipers Matter; Worship and reality

Week 2 we looked at True Worshipers Receive; Worship and our inability

Week 3 we looked at True Worshipers Exalt; Worship and humility

Week 4 we looked at True Worshipers Gather: Worship and community

Week 5 we looked at True Worshipers Edify; Worship and maturity.

Week 6 we looked at True Worshipers Sing; Worship and Music.

Week 7 we looked at True Worshipers Keep Singing; Worship and Perseverance.

Week 8 (last week) we looked at True Worshipers Encounter; Worship and the Presence of God.

Tonight, we wrap up our look at this book with True Worshipers Anticipate; Worship and Eternity.

When we think of eternity, we tend to think of the book of Revelation. That’s where we’ll start tonight.

Revelation 22:1–7 ESV

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. 6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” 7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

I hope that we all understand that no worship gathering we have here on earth will ever rival the splendor of what is to come, but I also hope that each of you has experienced something in a worship service where you’ve gotten just a glimpse, just a sliver of hope of what Heaven will be like.

One thing that will set apart our eternal future from our present existence is that we will never not be worshiping God.

I’m reminded of the dumb Head and Shoulders commercials with Troy Polamalu and Patrick Mahomes, talking about how the shampoo doesn’t stop working. In those commercials, Troy Polamalu pops up in the most random places, usually saying “Never not working!”

In heaven, we will always be worshiping God. Just as we looked at in Colossians 3:17, where we are to do all things for Christ:

Colossians 3:17 ESV

17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

See, Paul was trying to prepare us for how eternity will be. In heaven, every word, deed, thought…everything will be done in pure devotion to the Savior who redeemed us for His own Glory.

I know it is crazy to think about, but we won’t have debates on which music style is best. Or which preaching style. Or which translation of the Bible. Or Calvinism and Arminianism. There will be no arguing over pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib, or anything like that. No denominational or cross-denominational squabbles.

Heaven is where God’s will is always done - perfectly, immediately, and joyfully. (p146) We won’t bicker and argue over things, we will be in perpetual praise of the Lamb who was slain.

But one thing that we maybe should also understand is the idea of being so heavenly minded we are of no earthly good. We have to be careful to balance our desire for perfect union with Christ with our command to make disciples.

So what will heaven be like? Is this something we can wrap our brains around?

Scripture is clear about a couple things regarding our eternity. To start, we will not be winged angels playing harps on clouds. That is most decidedly NOT what scripture portrays.

In fact, we might even recognize some of the places we see in Heaven, just free from bondage and decay. There will be a “better country,” a “new earth,” and a “new city.” Because sin will be fully and finally defeated, pain, decay, mourning, death, and all of those things will be no more. We will be in the ultimate Garden of Eden.

And that is…great.

But that isn’t what makes it heaven. Look, I am sure Mister Larry is gonna be stoked at those perfect tomatoes, but that isn’t the ultimate part of this.

The best part is that we will be with Jesus. We will be in the physical presence of the Savior who left His throne to redeem us. We will be fully engaged with His love. We will be with Him. (p147). That is what will make it glorious. That is what will make it heaven.

And apart from that, some of what we experience in heaven will be similar to what we experience here on earth. There will be worship. And it will be similar, because our worship is a response to God’s revelation of Himself, the celebration of His Word, His worthiness, and His deeds. We will focus on the sacrifice of Christ as the Lamb that was ransomed for many. We will find our fulfillment in worshiping together. These we all do (or should do) now. (p147-148)

The difference is that, in heaven, we won’t be looking to a day when we worship fully in God’s presence; we will be in His actual presence. We will be in the actual, unveiled presence of God. (p148)

Wayne Grudem, the theologian, has noted it this way:

“God is present in a special way in heaven, present especially there to bless and to show forth His glory. We could also say that God manifests His presence more fully in heaven than elsewhere.” (p148)

While it is not patently true that God is more present in heaven than anywhere else, that is where His presence is most strongly felt.

Here on earth, our experience of God’s presence is limited to what God chooses to show us, and to what we can perceive. However, in the new Jerusalem, God’s complete and immediate presence will be everywhere. Where we were separated from God and could not enter the Holy of Holies before, now we will live, breathe, eat, sing, work, and rest forever in that Most Holy Place where God dwells! (p148)

In heaven, we won’t have to confess our sin, evangelize the lost, or seek justice for the oppressed. We will certainly understand our need for a Savior there, but we will be finally and fully sanctified and therefore will not live in guilt or shame. We won’t have to advocate for the unborn or the oppressed, because there won’t be injustice! (p149)

In heaven we’ll worship God with glorified bodies. We won’t have to worry about having breath to sing, or strength to stand. Our eyes will see clearly and our voices will be crystal clear and pitch perfect. We will be able to grasp and respond to God’s greatness like never before! (p149)

One of the awesome things to think about in regards to worshiping with glorified bodies is that we will be shown the immeasurable riches of God’s grace and kindness towards us in Christ. That means that God will freshly display aspects of His power, character, and love; we will offer up in response new songs of praise, exaltation, and thanksgiving! (p150)

In heaven, there will be no separation between adoration and action. That is a struggle here. We have a fundamental disconnect between worship as an event and worship as every moment. We know that we are to be living lives of active worship, but if we’re honest, we really sort of look at our Sunday meetings as “real” worship. I mean, how many of us have talked about coming to church to refuel, recharge the batteries, or refill my cup? And look, that’s not bad, in the sense that it is very difficult to truly worship God while also working at your job. And we struggle to be aware of God’s presence when we are not at church. But that won’t be an issue in heaven.

While it doesn’t seem that heaven is one continuous “worship service” in the sense that we think of worship services (music, gathered praise, and proclamation), it will be a continuous environment of praise. Every action, every choice, every thought will be shaped by and compelled by a desire to delight in, magnify, and draw attention to Jesus. Idolatry won’t be an issue. Nothing that competes with God’s glory will be present. Everything will be brought into subjection to Christ.

In heaven, our knowledge of God will be no longer by faith but by sight. One of the difficult things on this side of eternity is that we have to live by faith. We can’t see the Spirit. We haven’t seen Jesus. We know that faith is the key component of Christianity, but still, sometimes it is hard.

We know that Jesus is Lord, but we see people refusing to bow to Him, we see culture spinning seemingly off the rails. We know God is good and sovereign, but we see unquestionable evil, like mass shootings or genocides. We see dictators and autocrats ruling with an iron fist and hate-filled hearts. We can find ourselves much like the psalmist in Psalm 10:

Psalm 10 ESV

1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? 2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. 3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. 4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” 5 His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. 6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.” 7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. 8 He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; 9 he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. 10 The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might. 11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” 12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. 13 Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”? 14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless. 15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none. 16 The Lord is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land. 17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear 18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

But in heaven, we won’t have to rely on faith, because, as Horatio Spafford put it in “It is Well With My Soul:”

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight The clouds be rolled back as a scroll The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend Even so, it is well with my soul

In that day, we’ll finally gaze on what our eyes have longed to behold more than anything - the face of God. (p151)

So, what difference does it make?

We have glimpses of heaven here, but that is it. Sometimes our lives, our services, our struggles don’t seem heavenly at all. It is good for us to think on these things, to hope and to look toward them. To look toward the end because of the finished work of Christ.

Some specific ways it is helpful to reflect on the worship we will offer in heaven are:

Reflecting on the worship or heaven opens our eyes to the cosmic battle for true worship.

If we fully understand what is at stake when we talk about or participate in worship, we will have a much harder time treating it casually. (p152)

Corporate worship is a regular opportunity to remind ourselves of the forces arrayed against God’s people, forces constantly seeking to rule our affections, thoughts, and choices. And it is a time to remember we serve an omnipotent God who will crush all opposition to His reign. (p153)

Reflecting on the worship or heaven causes us to pursue holiness.

Sometimes we have to remember that the destination ultimately determines the path. If I get invited to the White House, no matter the politics of it, I will need to make preparations for that meeting. I’ll need to shave/clean up my beard. I’ll have to get a suit that fits properly. I’ll need to make the right travel arrangements.

The invitation just said, be at the White House at such-and-such time. But the destination determined the path that I had to take.

Knowing that Christ, who is pure Himself, has made us pure (1 John 3:2-3), we should live in a way that brings our lives into alignment with who God is, how Jesus lived, and how the Spirit is guiding us to be.

Believers have a place reserved, a white robe, a seat at the table. If we are believers, there is nothing more we can do to attain heaven; Christ has already done that for us. But as we live our lives out on this side of eternity, we should pursue that holy life now.

Heaven won’t be a place where God pours our His love on those who never wanted it. Heaven is for those whose greatest desire in this life is to know and be like the Savior who redeemed them. The age to come won’t be the opposite of what we seek now, but the fulfillment of it. That is why we pursue holiness. (p154)

Reflecting on the worship of heaven fills us with joy and confidence in the midst of suffering.

Think about the book of Revelation. Who wrote it? (John, the apostle) Who did he write it to? (the seven churches in Asia Minor; Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea) What were they going through? (Roman persecution under Domitian, AFTER being cruelly ruled by Nero earlier)

The recipients of the Revelation were in intense persecution. Christianity was about 60 years old at this time. Things looked bleak. But in spite of that, the church is called to worship. How were they to worship? Where would they find the strength to press on? In the midst of these trial, God gives the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John through visions and the Holy Spirit. And in the middle of this revelation is what? A THRONE. The Roman emperors “breathed out threats” (to use Luke’s wording about Saul) against anyone who wouldn’t worship them. But the emperor was unaware of another King. The final, true King. Unlike the emperor, King Jesus rules over all. At His name, on the final day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

See, in every age, God’s people are called to suffer for the sake of the Gospel. This isn’t news, or it shouldn’t be. The bible is super clear on that. History is clear on that.

Yet, we in our time in the USA haven’t really had to face pronounced persecution. We haven’t been threatened with death because of Christianity. Yet we know that in other areas, that is indeed the case. I have read stories of pastors who have given everything to the work of the Gospel. Including their lives or the lives of their families.

And when trials come we are tempted to abandon our trust in God as the one who is sovereign. We turn to false gods or other means of comfort. But these perceived comforts are lies. Because we know that on the final day, all of the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of Christ. And Jesus shall reign forevermore.

In heaven, there will be no persecution. On this earth, when we experience it (however great or small), it should point us more toward Christ and give us the joy and the confidence to continue on the midst of persecution.

I’ll close with this quote from Noel Due:

We look forward to that day when the great multitude stand in the nearer presence of Father, filled to all the fullness of God the Spirit, through whom they are united with the Son. There they will look around and within, and find only worship. Despite all the attacks of the evil one, the drag of indwelling sin and the seductive power of the idols throughout their long history, their song will be one of praise drenched with wonder. In them the commandment will be completely fulfilled: they will have no other God but him. And in them the promise will be fully realized: he is their God and they are his people.

As we think on these things, let us be reminded of how John closes Revelation.

Revelation 22:20–21 ESV

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.