Can You Praise Me Through Your Pain

Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. praise ye the Lord.

This is your call to worship.

Let us pray

In my last message, I spoke with you about grief, pain and sorrow, and the pain that death brings. I told you that if you had not experienced loss, just wait. I also told you the message may be strange on a Sunday morning because it was one that was usually preached at a funeral or homegoing service. Then I told you if you experienced loss in the future, I hope you’ll remember this message and that something I said would bring you comfort.

Well, this past week I experienced the loss of two close family members, one very unexpected who was fully vaccinated yet still contracted COVID and the other had been battling illness for a while and so, as I grieved, Holy Spirit reminded of the message He had just given me to give to you. He said I prepared you for this; and so I had to go back and listen to His words spoken through me.

And then I heard a question, “Can You Praise Me Through Your Pain?”

Turn in your Bibles to the book of The Revelation to John. It’s very easy to find, it’s the last book of the Bible.

It was penned by the Apostle John

the one whom Jesus loved,

the one who was in Jesus’ inner circle

the one who was with him on the Mount of Transfiguration

the one Jesus left his mother in the care of

…that John who was now exiled to the island of Patmos. He finds himself taken to heaven in the Spirit, not to stay but to bring back a message to we who remain on this Earth; a message that let’s us know there is life after death, to tell us about heaven, a place he found too wonderful for words, but he did his best to record what he saw.

And this passage is part of what he experienced. We’re going to the fourth chapter

Rev 4:1- 5, 10-11 KJV - After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. 4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. 5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

God wants to know, “Can You Praise Me Through Your Pain?”

The book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ, given to John in a vision. He was told to write it down, so those who follow, can read about it.

It’s a book of prophecy that at times, can be challenging to read because of all the symbolism. But your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find a translation that you can better understand, preferably one with a commentary, have a note pad and something to write with, carve out a time and a place to sit down, pray for understanding and read, read it again and read it again.

In chapter four there is a scene in which a door opens and John receives an invitation that sounded like a trumpet talking to him. His invitation was inviting him to “Come up to heaven and see what will be after this, after the present time.

And immediately his spirit enters heaven, because flesh cannot inhabit the Kingdom of God. Now, I need you to engage your imagination as John describes what he sees. The first thing he sees is God sitting on a glorious throne. It was a seat of honor and authority and judgment.

He says his countenance was as jasper and a sardine-stone. The jasper he speaks of is a transparent stone, that reflects a variety of vivid colors and is symbolic of the glory of God. The sardine-stone is red and signifies the justice of God.

He saw a rainbow around the throne that was the color of an emerald. Surrounding that throne, was 24 smaller thrones with 24 elders all dressed in white robes, a symbol of purity, with gold crowns on their heads. They represented the church, the people of God.

Flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder came from the throne and there were seven lamps of fire burning in front of it. These lamps of fire are the seven Spirits of God and are the gifts, graces, and operations of the Spirit of God in the churches of Christ. These are the gifts God dispenses according to his will and pleasure. The gifts he gives to the church to accomplish the mission it has been given.

Then he saw a sea of glass that sparkled like crystal. This corresponds to the place where the priests washed themselves before entering the Holy of Holies to perform their service. Can you see it?

Verses six through eight of the chapter give you a description of four creatures surrounding the throne, but what is important is what they’re doing. Day after day and night after night they cry “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—the one who was and is and is to come.” The number of times they cry holy corresponds— holy as He who was; Holy as He who is and Holy as He who is to come.

And as they cry out, when they give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, something interesting happens, the twenty-four elders; the ones representing the church, fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne, they lay their crowns before the throne. There was no miracle that had taken place, they are simply praising God.

There are times we find it easy to praise God. You know, those times

When we get what we want

When we’re blessed with something we’ve been longing for like

a child

a house

a car

when we pass an important test or

graduate from any level of schooling

When our children do well

When we survive an accident

It’s not that we shouldn’t praise God during those times; but what the Apostle John sees and is telling us takes our me-centered praise and turns it to a God-centered praise.

The creatures worship day and night and the 24-elders fall down before the throne and worship.

Yes, it’s easy to praise God in the good times, when everything is going our way, when the bills are paid, and the kids are good, and the dog isn’t messing up the house.

But what about when your world seems to be falling apart? What about when a loved one dies unexpectedly or even if it is expected, what about when your marriage ends in divorce, what about when earthquakes and hurricanes and floods and tornadoes come and destroy homes and take lives? What about when your business fails or you lose your job? What about when a plague comes and over 700,000 people die. God wants to know can you praise me through your pain?

God wants to know can you praise me just for who I am and not for what I’ve done or can do? Can you recognize that I am sovereign? That I can do what I want, when I want and that everything I do is for your good? Even when you can’t see it at the time, even when you don’t understand my purpose or my plan. Can you praise me in your pain.

Even when life seems unfair, when you didn’t get the promotion that you were the most qualified for, when someone else got the solo you wanted, or is heading the ministry department you wanted, or even pastoring the church you applied to pastor? Can you be like the 24-elders who not only fall down and worship, they cast their crowns before the throne and declare You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power.

They declare God is worthy; He deserves what comes next. He is worthy because he created all things, God created everything. He spoke and everything came into existence, for his pleasure or by his will they were created. So He is worthy to receive glory and honor and power. God is sovereign.

So often we want to define a limitless God by our limited knowledge and that, my dear brothers and sisters, is a formula for failure. What we believe and what we think will always and forever fall short of who God truly is. His ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than our thoughts.

And so John gives us just a glimpse of what’s to come when we see God, because if we live long enough, and Jesus doesn’t come first, we will all see death and then there is life.

But here’s the great news, for those who have accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior,

even when we don’t get everything perfect every time and we won’t

even when we fall and we will

even when we…he will

When we repent, which is to be truly remorseful about our sin, turn away from it and don’t do it again, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin.

When we repent, we are washed in the blood of Jesus, we are cleansed by his sacrifice, we are redeemed by his death on the cross. Because when there is sin, there must be a sacrifice for that sin, blood must be shed. And so, Jesus did.

And when we who have made the declaration that Jesus is our Lord, when we come before the throne of God, all he sees is his Son. All God sees is the pureness, the glory, the perfectness that is Jesus the Christ who willingly gave his life for sinners. Jesus willingly gave his life for us,

even before we knew him,

even before we cried out to him,

even before we recognized how much in need of a savior we were,

while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

And because Jesus did what he did we have the opportunity to cry out, You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power.

Because Jesus did what he did, you have the opportunity to see what John described, firsthand.

Because Jesus did what he did, you have the opportunity to rejoice in heaven with the angels.

Because Jesus did what he did, you can spend eternity in glory.

To have this expression of praise, to have those opportunities, the One seated on the throne must first be your God. He’s not just a god to be lumped in with all the others; He is the one and only true God, the Creator of everything that exists.

And all it takes is a prayer, Father I know that I am a sinner, I believe that Jesus is Your Son and that He died for my sins. Jesus please come into my heart and be Lord of my life. In Jesus name I pray. Amen

If you prayed that prayer for the first time, welcome to the family of God. Now find a Bible believing, Bible teaching church where you can work out your soul salvation, where you can exercise the gifts God has placed in you and where you can learn to not only be a disciple, but you can be a disciple maker.

If you have accepted Christ, tell somebody, share the good news and share this message. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Love Christian Center, Douglasville and if you feel so led to support this ministry financially please go to our website www.lovechristianctr.org and click on the giving page.

If you haven’t been vaccinated, please talk to your doctor and unless there is a medical reason not to, please ma’am, please sir get your COVID vaccine and let’s eradicate this terrible plague that has taken too many lives. And until it’s handled, wear your masks, socially distance and wash your hands.

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.