Revelation Series

Our Response in View of a Great God!

Introduction:

*As we have looked through the eyes of John over the past couple of weeks, as he is being shown a glimpse of the greatness, the power, and the justness, of our God in Revelation 15, we have been shown the response of those who have endured, and persevered in the TRUTH until the end of life on earth when they see God’s greatness!

*Today, I ask you to evaluate your response when you get a glimpse of the greatness of your God.

*In Review, lets read Revelation 15:1-4

*Revelation 15:1-4 “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.””

*Here in this passage, we see all those who have endured to the end given a musical instrument by God (Interesting that God Loves Music) and then they sing to their own accompaniment. Did you notice....THEY SING!!!!

*They sing and there is “harmony” between the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb. Moses and the Law is beautifully connected to the Gospel....In fact, the Apostle Paul speaks of the Law bringing us to Christ in Gal. 3:24 “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”

*The Law was the teacher of the fact that we cannot measure up to the Holiness of God....we need a Savior who purifies us in the Blood of the ultimate Sacrifice - Jesus Christ!

*Now, in Exodus 15 we read about the Song of Moses recorded for us in the OT after the crossing of the Red Sea and God’s deliverance from the Egyptian army. Exodus 15 “Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name. “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble. At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them…”

*Here in Revelation 15, we see many references made to this OT account! Something else to notice in comparison between these two passages, is that the initial focus of the songs are on the Awesomeness of God!

APPLICATION:

*1.When we recognize God for who He is and...

*2. when we begin to see Him as described in His Word and...

*3. when we experience Him in His Greatness, there is always a human response - and it is WORSHIP!!

*If there is not a response of worship, I would seriously consider observing and questioning if you have genuinely trusted Christ as your Savior.

*Let’s review John 9:1-39 “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and s…”

*In this passage, this blind man had an encounter with Jesus of Nazareth (Jesus Christ). While testifying in front of the Pharisees, He said this: “One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see”.

*This former blind man suffered immediate persecution from the Religious Leaders of his day because of his encounter with THE Truth - that is, his encounter with Jesus healing his eyes. He was thrown out of the accepted (politically correct) religious organizations of his day.

*When this took place, Jesus caught up with this former blind man and ask him if He believed in the fact that He Himself -Jesus - was God (The Son of Man).

*When the Blind man believed, he recognized experientially the fact of both Spiritual Healing along with the former physical healing. So, when this former blind man recognized the greatness of who God is....what did he do? John 9:38 “He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.”

*HE WORSHIPPED JESUS CHRIST AS GOD!

*So, as we go back to Revelation 15, we see this large group of “endurer”, now with musical instruments, singing first about the Greatness of God.

1.God’s Power!

*“Great and amazing are your heeds, O Lord God the Almighty!” They reference God as the ALMIGHTY - all powerful because He is more powerful than the Beasts who the people of the world marvel at.

*What they were singing about is that the works of God are incomparable to anyone and thing else. Some think that they have power, but only God truly holds the power that transcends the Universe as Creator God! Ps. 92:5 “How great are your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep!” Ps. 139:14 “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

*They also sang about...

2.God’s Justice!

*From singing about the awesome power of God, the singers transition to singing about God’s justice which is “clothed” in TRUTH! God’s ways are just and true Ps. 145:17 “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.”

*One cannot separate God Justice and the essence of who He is - He is TRUTH!! John 3:21 “But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”” I John 1:6 “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

*God is TRUTH and because God is TRUTH, He is also Just in all of his ways. There is no darkness, evil, or ill intent in anything He does. Jer. 10:6-7 “There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you.”

*Transition:

*So, the singers sing about the greatness and awesomeness of the all-powerfulness of God and they sing about God being TRUTH and because of this, He is a Just God.

*God is named as King of the Nations - the all-powerful one!

*THEN, the song comes to its end with a call to respond.

*IMPORTANT: All human kind will respond....the question is when!

*A rhetorical question is asked within the conclusion of this song...

**Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? When one sees the greatness of God, there will always be a response.

1.When a believer recognizes the greatness of God, his response is: WORSHIP (which encapsulates both Fearing God and Glorifying God).

**Fearing God is coming before God in recognition of

a.His Position,

b.His Power, and

c.His Provision.

*It is being filled with Reverence, Respect, and Awe - all at the same time.

**This Fear of God and this Glorifying of God is a natural result of seeing God as Holy (Perfect Purity / “Just and TRUE are your ways” - verse 3) and recognizing the Righteous acts of God (“Great and amazing are your deeds” - verse 3)

2.The UNBELIEVER’S RESPONSE:

-You can often times recognize someone who does not view God as truly Great and Awesome.

-You can often times recognize someone who has a low view of God and does not truly FEAR God or Glorify God.

-You can often times recognize someone whose life is reflective of the fact that God is not central to them / or the focal point of their lives.

*Oftentimes the true test is someone’s response to the TRUTH - The TRUTH of God’s WORD which reveals God as TRUTH!

*BUT, as this song in Revelation 15 comes to a close, we see the fact that ALL NATIONS will worship God as the ALL-MIGHTY, CREATOR, SAVIOR GOD! Ps. 86:9 “All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.”

*The Problem is where!!! Romans 14:11 “for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”” Philippians 2:9-11 “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Revelation 20:10-15 “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Conclusion:

*So, as we come to close today, I ask you again....

*To evaluate your response when you get a glimpse of the greatness of your God.

*Do you respond in awe and worship - fearing and glorifying God for Who He Is?

*Or, Is your response mediocre at best, or careless at worst?

*With this song, we are called to worship. NOTE ALSO, that this song sung by these VICTORS, did not sing about themselves or the way they overcame. Those who triumph in Christ fix all their attention on HIM!!

*Heaven is heaven because in it at last all self, and self-importance, are lost in the presence of the greatness and the glory of God! - Barclay

* The immediate response of the Blind man when he could see both physically and spiritually was to worship God.

*I challenge you today…what is your worship like of your Great and Amazing God?

Close in Prayer!