The Worship in Heaven

Introduction

______________________ loved the worship of God.

She/He loved the music.

She/He loved the lyrics.

She/He loved the sound of the church singing.

FOR TERRY KERN:

Terry loved to serve in the worship ministry.

Terry loved to sing in the choir.

Terry loved to help with the administrative side of the worship ministry.

Toward the end of her life, she said, “I am just not going to be able to sing in the choir again, I guess.”

But praise be to the living God that she has joined a better choir.

For her voices has joined in with the elders and the angels around the throne of the King.

Text—these are the very words of God

Revelation 4–5 ESV

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. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, 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.” Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you 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, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Outline

1) The Focus of Heaven’s Worship

2) The Sound of Heaven’s Worship

3) The Lesson of Heaven’s Worship

1) The Focus of Heaven’s Worship

My goal is not to give you an in-depth study of this passage of the Bible this afternoon.

Instead, I just want to point out a few things that stand out for us.

We begin with The Focus of Heaven’s Worship.

Revelation is the final book of the Bible and it tells us how things have been, how things are and how things will ultimately be.

Some parts of it explain history

Some parts explain the here and now

Some parts look to the future

But the words we just read in chapters 4 and 5 are words depicting a timeless scene.

It is a passage written by the Apostle John and this man is seeing the worship of heaven.

He gives us a glimpse of what ____________________’s are beholding at this moment.

There are so many vivid and beautiful pictures in the passage:

There are worshippers—24 elders, representing the redeemed people of God.

Four living creatures—likely angels—reflecting the attributes and glory of God.

And many other angels—myriads and myriads

But what is the focus of these worshippers?

There are two places for us to look...

A) God on His Throne

The seated Sovereign Lord who rules the Universe

This throne that stands in heaven has a rainbow around it, speaking to the faithfulness and mercy of the One who sits on it.

Also speaking of the fact that for those in His presence, the storm is over.

Flashes of lightning and peals of thunder issue from it

Seven torches of fire are before it—representing the Holy Spirit of God

And a sea of crystal glass stretches out in front of it to demonstrate the pure holiness of the One that the throne belongs to

The One on the throne is indescribable, but the Apostle John tries.

He has an appearance of precious, beautiful stones.

And we know He is the focus of the scene of worship because glory and honor are given to Him.

Song are sung to Him.

Crowns are cast before Him.

He is the focus of worship because He is worthy of worship.

B) The Standing Lamb

The One who is seated on the throne has a scroll which has all of history written on it.

This is because all of history are in God’s hands.

A mighty angel cries out wanting to know who is worthy to open this scroll, but there seems to be no one.

The Apostle John weeps.

But then one of the elders says, “Weep no more,” and directs attention to “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David.”

The One who has conquered and can open the sealed scroll.

John’s eyes then focus on a Lamb—who though He was slain—is now standing.

HE is the worthy One.

He takes the scroll of history from the One on the Throne.

And the elders and the living creatures now fall down before Him.

The angels and the elders and the living creatures form a choir and they sing about Him.

They worship Him.

This is Jesus.

This is the One sent by the Father because the Father so loved the world that He gave His only Son.

The Son who died on the Cross for sin.

The Son who rose from the grave and conquered sin and death.

Focusing on the Father and the Son

As all of heaven worships, THIS is their focus.

They are zoomed in on the One on the Throne and His slain, but standing Lamb.

They are zealous to worship Him and call Him worthy.

They are zeroed in on the One who deserves glory, honor and thanks.

And this is now ______________________’s focus as well.

All the distractions of Earth...

All the hard dealings in the body...

All of the anxieties of the mine...

It is all gone.

Now, in total wholeness, our brother/sister is in the midst of this great scene.

Now, in total peace, he/she rejoices with the elders and angels.

He/She sings the songs of heaven with the living creatures of heaven.

The sights must be unimaginable, but the Bible gives us a glimpse—a preview.

But it is an effective one that makes the heart long for what has become reality for ______________________.

2) The Sound of Heaven’s Worship

There is not just something for us to see in this passage—there is something for us to hear.

We have five songs in this passage.

The songs tell us something of the God who receives ______________________ fully devoted worship now.

Song 1

God is holy, holy, holy.

Repeated and emphasized to the third degree—the highest level of emphasis in Jewish culture

God was, is and is to come.

He is eternal.

Song 2

God is worthy to receive glory, honor and power.

We would not and should not speak of anyone else this way.

God stands alone in His worthiness.

God created all things and by His will they exist and were created.

Therefore, all things owe their existence to Him and should esteem Him and praise Him.

These first two songs in Revelation 4 are focused God the Father—seated on the throne.

The last three in Revelation 5 are focused on God the Son—the worthy Lamb.

Song 3—A new song

The Lamb has been given all power in heaven and on earth.

He is worthy to open the scroll and the seals.

He can execute all that God has planned.

Including dying for sinners and purchasing a people for God from every tribe, language, people and nation.

He will make them a kingdom—a holy nation set apart for God’s service

He will make them priests to God—people with direct access to God

And He will give them the reward of reigning on earth—they will share in Christ’s victory forever

Song 4—the angels are stirred up by song of the elders and they respond

The Lamb who was slain is worthy to receive power, wealth, wisdom, mighty, honor, glory and blessing.

Why?

Because this is who the Lamb has shown Himself to be:

He was slain, but now He is risen

The angels know that Jesus the Son has saved His people.

He shed His blood to save them from their sin.

He rose from the grave to crush their sin and their death

Therefore, He is worthy of all the worship heaven can give

Song 5—The Doxology

Doxology is just a fancy church word that means:

A praise to God.

In the final song, every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth say:

To both the One on the throne and His Lamb, be blessing, honor, glory and might forever and ever.

It is not just the angels and the elders.

All of creation knows that God and His Son are completely, totally and overwhelmingly deserving of worship

These are the songs that ___________________ has joined in on.

FOR TERRY KERN: Right after Terry passed, her daughter got her phone and started going through it because we knew that she had notes about what she wanted in her service

When the phone was opened, it was on the Seaford Baptist Spotify page.

She was listening to sermons and songs from our church.

She was worshipping.

Now _________________________ has joined in on the greatest worship service that’s going on at the moment.

The singing surpasses our own because the songs match the sights.

_____________________ and the elders and the angels are looking upon a worthy God and His worthy Son.

How the heart of his/her soul must be moved at this most wonderful sight.

3) The Lesson of Heaven’s Worship

But there is a lesson to be learned here.

The Amens and the songs of praise and falling down and worshipping is not something enjoyed by everyone.

It is specifically reserved for God’s angelic servants and God’s redeemed people.

The worship of heaven is for those who trust in the blood of Jesus Christ the Son.

The blood of Christ is the love of Christ, poured out for you in the Good News of the Gospel.

We need that Good News.

When God created the world, everything was good.

God then created Adam and Eve—the first two people and gave them a Garden filled with countless trees.

But He told them not to eat of one tree.

This was a law.

If they kept it, they would live and rest.

If they broke it, they would die and be judged by a holy God.

But Adam and Eve are from that tree.

When that happened, they sinned.

They fell short of God’s standard.

They became separated from God and death entered into the world.

We have all inherited a sinful nature from our first parents.

The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

This is a result of what Adam and Eve did.

We are sinful because we got it from them.

They handed it down the line.

God is just.

And this is a problem for our souls because God is a good Judge and He will uphold His law and punish sin forever.

This leaves our souls in danger of judgment.

God is love.

And He proved this love by sending His Son Jesus Christ to die on the Cross.

When Jesus died, He received the punishment that you and I deserve for our sin.

He died so we would not have to.

The Lamb was slain so you would not be slain.

Christ overcame the grave.

But remember in our passage that the Lamb who is slain is standing!

This is because He rose again.

This proved He is the Son of God.

This proved His sacrifice for us sinners was accepted.

This proved that He is the Conqueror of sin and death.

And now He offers you eternal life.

We must agree with God that our sin that Jesus died for is evil.

We must turn from it.

This is called repentance.

And—we must believe with all our hearts and trust in the fact that Jesus has died and rose again as the only way to salvation.

You will be forgiven of your sin and you will inherit eternal live earned for you by Jesus.

These are the people who join in on the worship of heaven.

People like __________________.

They aren’t there because they are worthy, but because they trust in the Lamb who is worthy.

They aren’t there because of their work, but because of His work.

So this is the great lesson of Heaven’s worship—We must trust in the Lamb, in order to join in the choir of angels and elders.

We must forsake our sin and trust in the Son, given by the One on the throne who SO LOVES THE WORLD.

_________________________’s voice has joined the choir because he/she was joined to Christ by faith.

Today he/she gives glory to God and His Lamb, because he/she gave her heart away to Him years ago.

Conclusion

Have you turned from your sin and believed in Him today?

Will you?

When you die, will you join ________________________ in the great choir, giving worship the Lamb who is a Lion?

John wept because he found no one worthy of the task of opening the scrolls and saving the world.

But he wept no more when he laid eyes on Jesus.

Will you look at Him today?