True Worship

Have you ever had something that was not the real version of something? I can think of a couple of examples of this in my own life, for example, eating authentic mexican food vs eating at pedros. There is nothing wrong with pedros at all. I love the chips and queso, and they have the best birthday song of anywhere I have ever been. But, its not the same as getting real, authentic mexican food from a small food truck that was made with love. Once you understand what true authentic mexican food tastes like, there is no going back.

Another example I have seen in my own life is from a little website called dhgate. For just a little backstory, I go through tennis shoes like there is no tomorrow. I cannot get shoes to last for a long time. Well one day, I learned that I could order fake hokas from dhgate for like $40. They looked real, they were super comfortable, and for the first month or so, I thought I had really cracked the code. These shoes looked great and felt great, but they weren’t the real thing. After about a month, I began to notice things breaking on the shoes. First, there was a spot where the sole of the shoe was starting to separate. Then, the little tag on the back broke. Then the grip started coming off the bottom. By the time I was three months in, these shoes looked like shoes I had been wearing for a year and a half. They weren’t bad shoes, but they weren’t the most authentic form of themselves.

Tonight what I want us to see is that our worship of Jesus can look a lot like that. There is some worship we give that isn’t bad, but if we were honest, it isn’t our best. We let distractions take over, we let our circumstances define our praise, and ultimately we aren’t giving Jesus the best and most authentic worship we have.

What I want you to see:

A true understanding of Jesus will shape our worship to its most authentic form.

We will be in Revelation 7 tonight, and we are going to get a glimpse at the throne room of heaven. this is our end goal as Christians. This is what we want to see when our faith becomes sight. I know Revelation can seem like a scary book to read from, but what we are going to see tonight is a beautiful picture of what eternity will look like for a Christian.

As you finish turning there, I am going to pray.

Revelation 7:9–17 CSB

9 After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! 11 All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen. 13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. The one seated on the throne will shelter them: 16 They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; he will guide them to springs of the waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

As we read this passage, we get a great reminder of all the things we are promised in eternity. We see that everyone before the throne of God was captivated in worship because of the awe of God.

The first thing I want you to see tonight is that:

A true understanding of Jesus transcends all labels.

look back with me at verses 9-10

Revelation 7:9–10 CSB

9 After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

In verse 9 we see that this vast multitude gathered around the throne was from every nation, every tribe, every people, and every language. There were so many that they could not be numbered. What does this tell us about the throne room of God?

There are no boundaries! There is nothing that is separating or dividing the people of God gathered around the throne. People from every country, people from every nationality, people from every background, people from every social class, people from every economic status, people from every race, people from every label or divider you could put them in are all unified by one thing:

Worshiping Jesus.

We as Christians so often get caught up with all of the labels that the world uses to divide us. We don’t sit with certain people at church because they aren’t the same as us. We don’t open up about our faith because we are scared of being judged or labeled something. We let all of the things the devil places in our life to divide us do just that.

But yet, the Bible says the kingdom of God is not so. We see in the scripture that all of God’s people will be unified around worshipping in front of the throne.

The Gospel does not divide, it unifies.

If we will not be divided in heaven, why do let labels and circumstances divide us now. When Jesus was on earth, He told the people that the kingdom had come to the earth. We will not be separated in the end, so why would separate ourselves on the earth?

The people around the throne weren't just unified because they decided to be, they were unified because of who Jesus is. This unity is not something that they just got together and decided they weren’t going to argue or be divided.

They were unified because every ounce of their being, every bit of focus and energy they had was focused on worshipping their King. We see two aspects of Jesus in this passage that show us WHY we worship him with everything we have. We see that Jesus is the King because He sits on the throne, but then we also see that Jesus is the Lamb.

Jesus being King means He is the one we follow, and the ruler of our life. This aspect of Jesus commands awe and reverence, almost commanding us to give our full attention to Him.

Jesus being Lamb means He is the one who bought us access to God for all of eternity. The sacrifice Jesus made on the cross is what gives us access to stand before the throne and worship.

When we understand both aspects of this, we will be fully caught up in worshipping Jesus where we won’t have the attention span to focus on division. This unity comes from all of us understanding that Jesus deserves our reverence, and that we are called to worship Him because He was the perfect sacrifice.

Once you really understand those two things, you have no choice but to ignore all the labels the world puts on us, and to full put all of your energy into worshipping Jesus.

As we keep going, the next thing we see is:

2. A true understanding of Jesus causes a response of worship.

Look back with me at verses 11-12:

Revelation 7:11–12 CSB

11 All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

The people standing around the throne were overwhelmed with the awe of who God is, and their response to that was worship.

It is a common thing that in Christian circles, people always want to ask “What are you going to ask God when you get to heaven?” or “What will you do first when you get to heaven?”.

Look, I totally understand where this is coming from because I have questions too, but there is nothing more I want when I get to heaven than to sit in front of that throne and see my King in all His glory.

If the angels who have been with God since they were created, and the elders who were people of spiritual significance fall on their face and worship because of the majesty of God, what makes you think you won’t?

This is not the first time the angels or the elders have stepped into the throne room, which means this is not a first time response to Jesus. This is what genuine or authentic worship looks like. It is not a one time response to the gospel, or an isle walked one time, or even raising your hands to your favorite song.

True authentic worship is an every time response to who Jesus is.

The angels and elders have been to the same place, and done this multiple times, yet in the awe of who Jesus is as both King and Lamb, they found themselves on their face worshipping with everything they had.

They fell facedown and said Revelation 7:12 “12 saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

These words are not some special formula for having real worship. This is a cry from our heart that says everything I have is God’s.

This is falling on your face before God and saying all I have, my blessing, my glory, my wisdom, my thanksgiving, my honor, my power, and my strength be to God forever. Everything I have is for God.

When we truly understand the power and awe of Jesus, we have no choice but to respond this way. The important thing is that we realize this is not just a one time response. This true worship is not just found at the moment of salvation, or at camp, or dnow. This true worship is found every time we encounter the presence of God.

And guess what, we have he presence of God living inside of us if we have been saved, which means there is nowhere we go that God is not with us. Even more than that, the Bible promises that where two or more are gathered, God is there, which means that every time we meet at church, God is there with us.

We have no excuse to not respond in worship.

The reason we often don’t respond in worship is because we either take our gaze off of Jesus, or we let our circumstances and the things around us make us forget God is present with us.

I’m not saying that everytime you walk into a church and a song plays that you should lay on your face with your hands high because “that’s what your supposed to do”, but what I am saying is that if you truly realize who Jesus is as both King and Lamb, that will be the desire of your heart.

True worship is much more than music or raising our hands. True worship is found in the heart. Just as we saw the angels and elders cry out that everything they had is for God, that should be our response.

The best part about true, authentic worship never gets old. It is the response of our heart EVERY TIME we encounter the presence of God.

True worship will last for eternity, not just the spiritual moments in our lives.

The final thing we see in this text is that:

3. A true understanding of Jesus recognizes this life is not the end.

Look back with me at verses 13-17

Revelation 7:13–17 CSB

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. The one seated on the throne will shelter them: 16 They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; he will guide them to springs of the waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Just for some context, the book of Revelation is written by the Apostle John, as he was given a vision to write down from Jesus. John writes that one of the 24 elders turns to him and asks who the people in white robes are that were discussed in verse 9. John answers the elder and tells the elder “you know”. John was thinking, “its my first time here, and I know nothing, you have more answers than I do.”

The elder tells John that the people in the white robes who we saw are from every walk of life, are martyrs from the time of tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of Jesus.

What this means is that these were people who were killed for their faith. They went to the end, there was no thing they would not endure for Jesus.

This can sound like a scary and intimidating thing, and it definitely can be, but for the martyrs, this was their dream.

You don’t die for something you don’t truly believe in. These people who paid the ultimate price for their faith knew that it was much bigger than what was in front of them. They knew that eternity had been promised to them, and they would be able to walk with their King.

If we truly understand Jesus, we understand that it is much bigger than what we can lose in this life. We will understand what we have to gain after this life.

I am not saying that we should all go try to die for our faith, that’s not my heart at all, but are you willing to?

Do you truly believe that worshipping Jesus is the end goal, and that we have everything to gain after this life?

If you do, it will shape how you live now, not just your eternity. You see, the martyrs knew that no matter what happened, there was only gain. There was nothing that could be done them that would not end in eternity to Jesus.

And yes, it is encouraging for us to know that we will go to heaven, but if you truly understand what is waiting for you, it will shape the way your life looks now.

There will be nothing that you won’t do for your King. There will be no question of wanting to read the Word or sing His praises. You will want to serve, and have your whole life look like a preview of what is to come.

That’s really what our life on earth is for as Christians, it is supposed to be a preview of what eternity with Christ will look like.

This is why we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us as a “deposit”, meant to give us a taste of what living in God’s presence looks like.

This is also why we are called imagebearer’s, meant to walk on this earth as people who are in the image of Jesus.

Your whole Christian walk is meant to radiate “I am ready for heaven, and am preparing myself for a life with my King.”

The Bible says because they were willing to die for their faith, they serve in the temple and are sheltered by Jesus.

We then see promises that are given to those who will one day inhabit heaven.

Scripture tells us in verse 16 that we will no longer hunger. We will no longer thirst. We will no longer be struck by the sun, nor any scorching heat.

And then the best promise, Jesus will shepherd us to the springs of the waters of life and will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

If that does not make you excited for eternity with our king, I dont know what will.

We are given these promises to look forward too, because we often get caught up in what is in front of us.

We too often forget how much better everything will be when we stand before the throne of our King.

Again I say that a true understanding of Jesus recognizes that this life is not the end.

I talk to a lot of people at UWF who think that being good will get you into some kind of heaven. I often ask them “What do you think heaven looks like?”, and most of them have never thought about that.

Here, we have a beautiful picture of what heaven will be like. I normally explain to them that heaven is not what is normally depicted in movies, but it is an eternity full of worshipping King Jesus.

Once you understand what heaven looks like, most people want to know what it takes to get in. We have already seen that heaven is a place of perfection. There are no more tears, no more sorrow, no hunger or thirst, only a perfect eternity of worshipping King Jesus.

What it takes to get in to heaven is perfection. Nobody can enter without meeting this perfect standard. I think almost all of us in this room would admit that we aren’t perfect.

Because of that, none of us deserve to go to heaven. But, Jesus died on the cross for us and rose again three days later, paying the price for your sin and buying you perfection.

Jesus has bought you access to the presence of God, which is why we worship Him as the Lamb. Jesus was the perfect sacrificial lamb that paid for the sin of the world.

That is the only way that you get to encounter the presence of God. All Jesus asks of you to accept this gift is that you give him everything you have. Jesus wants your good and your bad.

Scripture says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. It’s that simple.

Does your life show a preview of your eternity?

(no matter what direction your life is going, it will often show where your eternity lies)

Bow your heads.

Some of you have never accpeted the sacrifice that Jesus made for you as the perfect Lamb, and if you want to make that deciusion tonight, raise your hand.

some of you have made that decision, but the way you are living your life right now doesn’t show that. Your life is not a preview of heaven. You are not unified with other believers, your life does not picture a life of authentic worship, or you have forgotten that there is something bigger to live for than right now. No matter what has been holding you back, Jesus is inviting you tonight to come back to Him and to walk in a life of authentic worship. Wherever you are, you respond.

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