We have given much thought to
worship in this conference and what a worthy topic this is because
worship is our ultimate priority. God has created us for His own
glory and we want to worship God in a way that brings Him
greatest glory. And as we bring this wonderful
conference to a conclusion, I want you to take your Bible and turn
with me to the last book in the Bible. to the book of Revelation,
Revelation chapter 5. And in this final session of
our G3 conference for 2020, I want to bring you a message entitled,
The Worship of Heaven. Revelation chapter 5, I want
to begin by reading at least the beginning of this chapter.
This is God's inerrant, inspired, and infallible Word, and we would
never be able to see the worship of heaven except John was taken
to heaven and gave us this record of the worship in heaven that
we would see and sense what worship in its purity looks like. Beginning
in verse 1 of Revelation chapter 1, And John writes, in the right
hand of Him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and on
the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel
proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book
and to break its seals. And no one in heaven or on the
earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look
into it. Then I began to weep greatly
because no one was found worthy to open the book and to look
into it. And one of the elders said to
me, stop weeping, behold the lion. that is from the tribe
of Judah. The root of David has overcome
so as to open the book and its seven seals. And I saw between
the throne with the four living creatures and the elders, a lamb,
standing as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which
are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him
who sat on the throne. When he had taken the book, the
four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the
Lamb, each one 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 book and to break its seals,
for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood, men
from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made
them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign
upon the earth. In this passage, we read about
a worship service that has already taken place in heaven 2,000 years
ago. This explosion of praise occurred
upon the ascension and exaltation and enthronement of the Lord
Jesus Christ back into glory when He was seated at the right
hand of God the Father following His crucifixion and resurrection. What we see in this passage is
worship in its purest form without any addition of man-made traditions
and impurities. Here is worship in heaven that
is undefiled and unstained by the contaminations of men's corruptions. It is good for us to examine
this worship scene in heaven. Because many today are looking
in all the wrong places to influence their corporate worship. Many
churches are looking horizontally rather than vertically. Many
churches are looking around rather than looking up. They're looking
around to the patterns of this world and adapting their worship
so that it would mimic the world around. And in this new way of
doing church, exposition has been replaced with entertainment. And preaching is being replaced
with performances. Congregational singing is being
replaced with concerts. Doctrine is being replaced with
drama. And theology is being replaced
with theatrics. This is why we need to revisit
this passage again if we are to understand what worship looks
like and what are the distinctive hallmarks of worship in its purest
form. So in this final session, I want
to take us up to glory. I want to take us up to the inner
throne room of God within the palace of God, and I want us
to observe the worship there in this scene that took place
2,000 years ago upon the return of the King of kings and the
Lord of lords to the right hand of God the Father. As we look
at this chapter, I want to give you several headings upon which
we will hang our thoughts as we walk consecutively through
this passage. And the first thing that dominates
this worship scene, number one, is the sovereignty of God. We
see this clearly in verse 1. This worship scene begins where
every worship service must begin with the recognition that God
is upon His throne and that His sovereignty rules and reigns
over all. John begins in verse 1, I saw
in the right hand of Him who sat upon the throne. The hymn refers to God the Father
and He is seated upon the throne. That He is seated upon the throne
means that He is presiding over the affairs of the universe.
The throne is occupied. And God is reigning and ruling
every moment of every day. And as Romans 8, 28 says, He
is causing all things to work together for our good. As Ephesians
1, 11 says, He is working all things after the counsel of His
will. There are no more sabbatical
rests for God as He had on the seventh day. Every moment of
every day, God is upon His throne in heaven, and He is orchestrating
all of the events upon this earth. What is remarkable is that John
writes this during the darkest hour of the church. As the church
is under the oppression of the dominance of the Roman Empire,
as believers are being scattered about by the end of the first
century, and emperor worship is exploding onto the scene. There is recognized in heaven
that it is not Caesar upon his throne in Rome, but it is God
upon his throne in heaven who is in control of the universe. We note that in His right hand,
in this omnipotent strong hand of God, this hand of supreme
authority, this hand that upholds the entire universe, this hand
that holds the whole world in His hand, there is a book, literally
a scroll, an official document. It becomes one of the dominant
features of this fifth chapter of Revelation. This book is mentioned
eight times. It's like a thread that runs
through this chapter. And as John looks at this book,
he is given insight in that he records that in this book, it
is written inside and on the back. This is very unique because
in ancient times, official documents like this that would be sealed
shut had only writing on the inside. Yet this book has writing
not only on the inside but on the outside, and this indicates
to us how comprehensive this document is. How detailed and
precise this document is, that the inside of this book cannot
contain the whole of what is written here, and it is written
by the hand of God. No man has ever looked at the
contents of this book. This book is known by God alone,
who is the author of the writings of this book. This book is a
sealed mystery and is unknown to human eyes. It is sealed up,
it says, meaning hidden from the eyes of any man. It is sealed
up. It cannot be edited. It cannot
be changed. It cannot be altered. What is
written in this book is already predetermined for the future. It is irrevocable. And it is
sealed up with seven seals, meaning it is perfectly sealed up. It can never be broken open by
another except one who would be worthy to do so. And we ask,
what is this book? And this book is mentioned again
in Revelation 6 verse 1, verse 3, verse 5, verse 7, verse 9,
verse 12, again in Revelation 8 verse 1. What is recorded in
this book? that will set heaven erupting
with worship and praise. Contained in this book is the
unfolding world events and coming judgments upon this earth that
will be brought by Almighty God Himself. In this book is God's
pre-written, predetermined final act for this age, it is the eternal
purpose of God for the end of the age. And this book is pre-scripted,
the end of all things, as well as the means to accomplish those
ends in the end. God is sovereign, and God has
already recorded with infinite and precise detail everything
that will unfold in the future. The only reason that God would
know the future is because God has foreordained the future. Here is the sovereignty of God.
This is how Revelation 4 began. When John first enters into heaven,
what captures his attention is not who's there or who's not
there. It's not loved ones. It's not
streets of gold or gates of pearl. As soon as John enters into heaven,
what dominates his vision is a throne standing in heaven. This is where every worship service
starts at the highest point with the reign of God over all of
His creation. This is where the scene began
in Isaiah chapter 6. In the year that King Uzziah
died, Isaiah writes, I saw the Lord high and lifted up and the
train of His robe filling the temple. Worship in its purest
sense begins with the elevation and the exaltation of God over
all things. Psalm 97 verse 1 says, the Lord
reigns. Let the earth rejoice. Let the
many islands be glad. Psalm 99 verse 1, the Lord reigns. Verse 5, worship at His footstool,
that all worshipers would come to His presence, bowing and submitting
themselves under the authority of this great God. But as this
scene unfolds, we see not only the sovereignty of God, we see
the inability of man. We read in verse 2, John writes,
and I saw A strong angel. We are not told who this angel
is because it doesn't matter who this angel is. Everything
in this scene is not revolving around angelic beings. It is
revolving around sovereign God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is inconsequential who this
angel is. But this angel is proclaiming
with a loud voice. It is so loud that it is revibrating
throughout the corridors of glory. And the angel is crying out,
who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals? In other
words, who is able to bring human history to its appointed end?
Who is able to overturn evil with good? Who can usher in the
kingdom of God on the earth on a grand scale? Who is powerful
enough to grab the reins of human history and to bring it to the
God-appointed end? In verse 3, we read, and no one
in heaven and on the earth And under the earth was Abel. And
here we see the total, complete inability of any created being
to carry out with perfect fulfillment the predetermined plans of God
for this world. A large-scale search was conducted
and no elect angel was found, no glorified saint was found,
no earthly ruler was found, no church, no pastor, no government
leader was able to take the book and to break it open and to execute
its contents. Quite frankly, beloved, it is
still the same today. The answers to our problems lie
not in this world. The answers and the solutions
to our problems lie not in Washington. They lie not in New York. They
lie not in Hollywood, nor in London, nor in Moscow. There
is no one on planet earth who can bring the kingdom of God
to its appointed end. And in verse 4, the magnitude
of the emptiness of this search came down hard on John. In verse 4, John records, "...and
I began to weep greatly." He had an emotional meltdown in
heaven. How strange. Here are tears in
heaven. And the Word describes the weeping of one over the death
of a loved one. And the futility of the world
seen was too bleak for John to face. The present hour seemed
completely out of control to John. God's future kingdom appeared
to be canceled and unable to reach its appointed end. It appeared
that evil would triumph over good and that sin would triumph
over righteousness. Here we see the complete inability
of man to solve his own problems and to carry out the will of
God on his own here upon the earth. And in every worship service,
there must be this recognition of the sovereignty and the sufficiency
of God and the total and complete inability of man. Jesus said
in John 15 verse 5, apart from me, you can do nothing. And so we see after the inability
of man, third, the supremacy of Christ. We read in verse 5,
in the midst of John's weeping, there is an interruption. It
is unexpected. And we read in verse five, and one of the elders
said to me, one of the elders cannot bear to see John weeping
anymore and interrupts and breaks in and actually rebukes him,
actually gently somewhat rebukes him in heaven and says, stop
weeping. which is to say, John, this is
totally inappropriate given what I'm about to show you. There
is no need for this. John, this is the wrong response. I'm reminded of Martin Luther
one day when the weight of the Reformation was just upon him
and was crushed in spirit and had become subject to great discouragement. And in the midst of the Reformation,
despite the victories, there were also defeats. And Luther
came to the breakfast table and plopped down in his chair in
a sad state of gloom. And his wife walked in with breakfast
and she was dressed in black from head to toe as if she's
going to a funeral. And Luther said, who died? And
Katie Luther said, apparently God by the way you're acting.
Well, that's exactly where John is. And this elder must tell
him to stop weeping. Get a hold of yourself, man.
Behold. In other words, set your gaze
and narrow your focus upon this, behold. The lion that is from
the tribe of Judah. You need to focus upon this lion. We know who this lion is. It
is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, represented here as a lion that
is ferocious and kingly and aggressive. and dominant and conquering and
stalking after His prey and ready to pounce upon His enemies and
to devour them. This is none other than the King
of kings and the Lord of lords, who is seated at the right hand
of God the Father. He is from the kingly tribe,
from the tribe of Judah. He is the legal heir to the throne. He has overcome. so as to open
the book and its seven seals. He is already overcome by the
victory of His death upon Calvary's cross and by the power of the
resurrection and the triumph of His ascension to the right
hand of God the Father and all authority in heaven and earth
has been given unto Him. He has many diadems upon His
head. Revelation 19, 11, and 12 says,
unlimited sovereignty. Sovereignty stacked upon sovereignty
upon sovereignty. And He has overcome so as to
open the book. He alone will be able to bring
human history to its appointed end. He can break open the seven
seals, what no man can do, what no committee can do, what no
church can do, what no denomination can do, what no government can
do, Jesus has overcome. And this is the message that
we must bring in our worship service. It is the supreme authority
of the Lord Jesus Christ. When someone comes into our churches,
there should be a dominant victorious note of the supremacy of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I'm reminded of Psalm 2, verse
2. The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers of
the earth take counsel together against the Lord and against
His anointed. saying, let us tear their fetters
apart and cast away their cords from us. All of the world rising
up in cosmic treason against Almighty God and saying, we do
not want to be tied down by the moral restraints that are in
the Word of God. We want to redefine family. We
want to redefine gender. We want to redefine how we want
to live our life. Verse 4 says, he who sits in
the heavens laughs. It is not the laughter of hilarity,
it is the laughter of scorn and mockery. He who sits in the heavens
laugh, the Lord scoffs at them. You puny little man, think you
can overturn my omnipotent right arm and I have invested all authority
in my son? John is catching a renewed vision
of this supreme dominance of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so
John wants to see this lion. And in verse 6, And I saw between
the throne With the four living creatures, these are four angelic
beings. Literally out of the Greek, it's
four living ones. These are the four guardian angels
that guard any access to the throne of God. Between the throne with the four
living creatures and the elders, and as John looks to see a lion,
he sees a lamb. What is this? A defenseless lamb,
a lowly lamb. Lamb here is in what we call
the diminutive form, meaning a little lamb, a defenseless
lamb, a pet lamb, standing as if slain. Slain speaks of His crucifixion. The word slain here means to
be mutilated. to be cut up as by a butcher.
to be cut up as a sacrificial animal, and the scars of that
mutilation upon Calvary's cross remain in His hands. The only
man-made thing there is in heaven are the scars in the hands of
the Lord Jesus Christ still visible. And here throughout all of the
ages to come will be the centrality and the primacy of the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ as we observe His nail-pierced hands. That is why Paul said in 1 Corinthians
2 verse 2, For I determined to know nothing among you except
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's why Paul said in 1 Corinthians
1, We preach Christ crucified. That is why we come to the Lord's
table again and again and again to be reminded of the supreme
importance of the sin-bearing, substitutionary death of Jesus
Christ upon Calvary's cross in which He bore the sins of His
people and carried them far, far away. This sin-bearing death
that propitiated the righteous anger of God, this death of Christ
that has reconciled holy God and sinful man and brought the
two together through the blood of the cross, this death of Christ
that has redeemed those who are enslaved to their sin and to
Satan and has bought them with the price of His own blood. Forever
and ever throughout all of the ages to come, we shall be staring
upon those nail-pierced hands in His glorified body, and it
will cause our hearts to rise in worship and to declare His
greatness throughout all the ages to come. It will never be
forgotten by us. And this must be dominant in
our worship services. Not us, Him. That Christ's death
and resurrection be in the spotlight. But it says, though slain, in
verse 6, He's standing. Though slain, He is standing.
He has come back from the dead. He is alive. And He is standing
in triumph. standing in dominion over this
world already. We are not waiting for the second
coming of Jesus Christ for the Lord to begin to reign. He is
reigning this very moment at the right hand of God the Father.
And He assumed this position upon His return back into glory
2,000 years ago. Jesus said, I will build my church
and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. Jesus Christ
has all authority in heaven and earth. He has authority to send
the Holy Spirit. He has authority to convert His
enemies. He has authority to open spiritually
blind eyes. He has authority to overcome
circumstances, authority to answer prayer. He is standing. It says He has seven horns. horns on an animal were their
power to inflict wounds, to butt an opponent, and to exert dominance
over all its foes. Here Jesus is represented to
us with seven horns, the number of perfection, that He is all-powerful. and that He is omnipotent and
able to conquer all in combat. None can stand up against Him
when He exerts His will. And He has seven eyes, which
are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Seven eyes, meaning He sees in
every direction. Nothing occurs behind His back
that He does not see. He has omniscience. Nothing surprises
Him. Nothing catches Him off guard. We inform Him of nothing when
we come to Him in prayer. He receives no news from the
earth of which He did not already know. This is an invincible combination. Seven horns, seven eyes. He is
omnipotent and omniscient. He is all-powerful and He is
all-knowing. He is all-sovereign and all-seeing. In verse 7, And He came, meaning
He boldly approached the throne of God. He advances through the
four living creatures. He comes to the very epicenter
of the universe, the seat of all power and all authority. He came and approached the throne
of His Father and took the book. out of the right hand of Him
who sat on the throne. And with this, He is assuming
the reigns of human history and every life and every nation and
every event and every circumstance, He holds in His right hand. He
possesses it all. And even at His second coming,
when He comes back, He will simply say, This is the worship seen in heaven. In the ultimate sense, the universe
is not being run by democracy, by majority vote. It is being
run by a theocracy, by the vote of one, the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. It is a government in heaven
that is of the people, excuse me, of the Lord, by the Lord,
and for the Lord. This is what is dominant in this
worship service in heaven. It's not the announcements. It is the reality of Christ upon
His throne. And so it should be in our worship
services that anyone who comes in would be overwhelmed with
this extraordinary message of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lion,
Lamb, with seven horns and seven eyes." Fourth, I want you to note the
humility of worshipers. In verse 8, we see the response
of the people and the angelic beings as Jesus now takes the
book. in verse 8, and when he had taken
the book, and let me just add this, in chapter 6, he will break
open the seals of the book one at a time. And with each seal
that is being broken open, it will be the unleashing of divine
vengeance and divine wrath upon this God-rejecting world. When He had taken the book, the four living creatures, again,
these are the guardian angels, the four living ones, and the
24 elders representing all of the redeemed of all of the ages,
perhaps 12 from the Old Testament, 12 from the New Testament, fell down before the Lamb. All heaven is like cut timber. It just falls. to the floor of
heaven, humbled, brought low, overawed. No one left standing. No one unmoved by this reality. Everyone breathlessly overwhelmed. They just fell down. Each one holding a harp. There
are no empty hands in heaven. Each one holding a harp, which
is an instrument of joy and gladness and celebration. They are celebrating
what will take place here upon the earth in the vindication
of the Lord's justice. And golden bowls. Golden because
they're valuable. Valuable because of what they
contain. which are full of incense, a sweet-smelling aroma that arises
from the bowl representing the prayers of the saints ascending
upward to God, a sweet-smelling aroma to His holy nostrils."
He says, full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Every prayer has been collected
in heaven. No prayer forgotten by God. No
prayer left unanswered. Every prayer important to God
in heaven. Every prayer answered, either
yes, either no, or wait, but every prayer answered. And this posture of submission
in heaven before Christ must be the lowly posture of every
church. as it humbles itself beneath
the mighty hand of God. We come not to church into the
worship service strutting like peacocks. as though we're doing
God some wild favor to show up on Sunday, but we come into His
presence acknowledging our own unworthiness and our lowliness
of heart and the recognition of our submission under His right
to rule over our lives. This comes through so clearly
in this worship service. It must come through clearly
in our own churches. When I was in seminary, I attended
First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, and I remember walking
into that church, having come from another Baptist church in
Memphis, Tennessee, before I went to seminary, and what struck
my attention was that the pastor, W.A. Criswell, had installed
kneelers in the pew. looked like almost you were in
a high church of England sanctuary. But he had them installed so
that everyone in the congregation would be on their knees before
God in the worship service. And then old Dr. Criswell, who
pastored there for over 50 years, would get on two knees on the
platform next to the pulpit with a microphone down here, and he
would give the pastoral prayer from his knees while the whole
congregation was kneeling before God. I realize our body posture
is not always an indication of the inward heart reality. I understand
that. But many times it does represent
the inner heart. Last Sunday I preached at Grace
Community Church in Los Angeles, as well as the Sunday before
that. I went into the elders' prayer room before the service
began. Forty elders there, and when it came time to pray, the
chairman of the elders said, let us pray, and every man dropped
to his knees and bent over a chair in prayer, recognition of our
humble submission and lowliness and surrender of life under the
mighty hand of God. That is exactly what we see taking
place in heaven in verse 8. I wonder as you go to church
tomorrow, you go back to your local congregation, will there
be this same posture of lowliness in your heart under the supremacy
of the Lord Jesus Christ, not coming with my will and my agenda
and my plans, but saying, not my will, but Your will be done. We come finally in verse 9 to
the fervency of praise. There's more than just quiet
submission, but there is loud singing to the Lamb. Christianity
is a singing religion. Heaven is a place of loud worship. And we read in verse 9, and they,
referring to all the redeemed of all the ages, and the angelic
hosts of heaven, sang a new song. It is a new song sung with new
meaning, a new awareness of Christ's honor and glory. And they began
to sing, worthy are you to Christ and Christ alone. Here is Solas
Christos. Worthy are you to take the book
and break its seals, meaning to execute the contents of what
is written in this book. Worthy are you to direct human
history to its God-ordained end. Worthy are you, for you were
slain." That was your qualification, to be the executor of human history,
that you humbled yourself unto death, even death upon a cross.
And it is by this death they sing, and purchased for God with
your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. This does not say that He purchased
Every man in every tribe and with every tongue and every people
and every nation, but that He purchased out from among. people
from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation." Here we see a direct
allusion to the definite atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ for
all of the elect around the world. Not a drop of His blood was shed.
He purchased the church with His own blood. He died for those
who would believe in Him, who had been given to Him by the
Father in eternity past. Dying not for those already in
hell, not dying for those who would be in hell, it was a triumphant
death upon the cross. There upon Calvary's cross, Jesus
was not shortchanged by the Father. He did not die for everyone and
then only be given believers. No, He was not gypped upon the
cross. He was not gypped at Golgotha,
but there is the effectiveness and the efficiency of His death
upon the cross, all for whom He died, He saved. He did not
make the world reconcilable. He actually reconciled. He did
not make the world merely redeemable. Upon the cross, there was a transaction
between the Father and the Son, and He actually redeemed a people
with His own blood. What a mighty Savior we have! A glorious Savior! It was the
triumph of His death upon the cross as He crushed the head
of the serpent, as He broke the power of sin that once reigned
in our lives, as He propitiated the righteous anger of God toward
us. Hallelujah, what a Savior we
have. in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
fulfilled a successful mission of salvation. You shall call
His name Jesus because He will save His people from their sin. I am the Good Shepherd and I
lay down my life for the sheep. And they continue to sing in
verse 10, you have made them to be a kingdom. They are brought
into the kingdom, out of the kingdom of darkness, now into
the kingdom of light and priests to our God, meaning a community
of worshipers who have access to the throne of God. Verse 11,
then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the
throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number
of them was myriads of myriads. That's the highest number in
the Greek language. There is no higher number. It means 10,000,
but please note it's in the plural, meaning 10,000s. Myriads of myriads
means 10,000s times 10,000s. The number is way up into the
millions, if not billions upon billions. Heaven is so populated,
though the way is narrow and few that be that shall find it.
But over the centuries and over the drama of redemption, there
is a flock of God that is enormous in the heavens. And then he adds
on top of that in thousands of thousands, again in the plural,
thousands times, thousands plural. In other words, millions upon
millions. Can you even imagine? We think
this is a large throng that has gathered for this conference.
It's but a speck of dust. It's but a grain of sand on the
beaches of the world compared to the enormity of the worshiping
community in glory. And they're saying with a loud
voice, a loud voice, if not shouting, screaming, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom. That is a recognition of the
power and wisdom and riches that He already possesses. And honor
and glory and blessing is what we will give to Him as scribe
glory and exalted praise. and every created thing which
is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the
sea, and all things in them." This is anticipatory at the end
of the age. Philippians 2 verse 10, when
every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father, you will either
bow the knee to Jesus in this life, or you will bow the knee
to Jesus in judgment in the world to come. But here, verse 13,
anticipating the end of the age when all of humanity will confess
Jesus Christ is Lord. And they start back up to Him
who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And here we see the
co-equality of God the Father and God the Son, two distinct
persons, yet ruling together. And the same worship that is
directed to the Father is directed to the Son. To Him who sits on
the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory
and dominion forever and ever. And the four living creatures
They kept saying amen. They can't stop saying amen.
And perhaps in antiphonal form on both sides of the throne,
one side of the throne, the angels, amen. And the other side responding,
amen. And the volleying back and forth
as heaven is just alive and sounding with the amens of the angels
as the saints are singing this new song. What a worship service
this is. And the elders fell down. They
could not remain standing in the presence of this lion, lamb,
in the midst of the power of this worship scene. They're not
standing up erect. They're not running around in
circles. They are falling down on their knees and worship. The theme of this
conference. What we've gathered for these
last three days is where this scene ends and they worship. The Greek word for worship, proskuneo,
means to kiss toward face-to-face. That prefix pros means face-to-face,
used in John 1 verse 1, in the beginning was the word and the
word was with God, face-to-face with God. And here it is used
to speak of the intimate affection that we will show to the Lord
Jesus Christ and to the Father to give them homage. to prostrate ourselves before
Him as we recognize with yet greater realization that we are
in the presence of Him who is infinitely holy, as the seraphim
are crying out, holy, holy, holy in the midst of this scene as
well. Revelation 4 verse 8, and we
will be overcome with emotion in our glorified bodies. as we
will have a greater capacity, our heart will be enlarged yet
greater to love God in Christ, to express our praise and our
worship. But now, we must do so in this
body of flesh that is perishing day by day, yet our inner man
is being renewed. Let us give glory to this Father
and to the Son who hold the world in their hands, and to Christ
who has shed His blood upon the cross for our sins. The worship
in heaven should be the template should be the overlay, should
form the structure of our worship in heaven, and the tone of the
worship in heaven should be the tone of our worship as the people
of God gather day by day, saints on their face, God upon His throne,
Christ with the book in His hand, ready to break open the seals. and to unleash His holy fury
upon this Christ-rejecting world. Beloved, let us worship as these
worship in heaven. You're here today and you're
not a Christian. You cannot come into the presence of God the
Father except through the mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the Savior of the world. I call you this day, this moment,
to confess your sin. Jesus only came into this world
to save one kind of person, and that is sinners. He is a good
physician who has come not for those who are well, but for those
who are sick. Tell Him how sick you are in
your sin. Tell Him what a great Savior
you are. Tell Him you are the chief of
sinners. He will gather you in if you
will come by faith and entrust your life and your soul to Him.
Him who comes unto me, He said, I will not reject, I will receive. He calls you this moment through
the preaching of His Word to come to faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. If you have never taken that
decisive step of faith and entrusted your soul into the saving arms
of Jesus Christ, you may never have another moment like this
in your life. where you are gathered with so
many believers, where you've heard the Word of God preached
in its purity and with power and with passion, you may never
have an opportunity like this again with God. The Bible says,
behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, today is the day of salvation. If you have never entrusted your
life to Christ, if you have never thrown yourself upon His mercy,
I urge you to do so this very moment. Come to Christ who died
for sinners upon the cross to make the only way to the Father.
Come to Christ whose blood alone can wash away your sin. Come
to Christ who is the only Savior. He is your only hope. How shall
we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Come to God through
His Son, Jesus Christ, and you will find a glad reception. As
He is the friend of sinners, He has come to seek and to save
that which is lost. May you be found today by this
seeking Savior and may you be brought into His kingdom. Let
us pray. Father in heaven, this worship
scene that took place 2,000 years ago continues to revibrate within
our souls as though it took place this morning. The reality of
all that is represented in that scene must dominate our individual
lives. It must dominate our churches.
May the worship of heaven be the worship upon the earth. May
the worship of heaven be the worship of our churches and of
our personal lives. Your kingdom come. Your will
be done on earth. as it is in heaven. In Jesus'
name we pray. Amen.