Let us turn again to God's Word
and turning to the book of Revelation. We're turning now to chapter
19. We read those earlier chapters
4 and 5. I want now to direct you to words
that we find in the 19th chapter here in the book of the Revelation.
And we read the first six verses. After these things I heard a
great voice of much people in heaven saying, Alleluia, salvation
and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God. For true
and righteous are his judgments, for he hath judged the great
whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath
avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said,
Alleluia. And their smoke rose up for ever
and ever. And the four and twenty elders
and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on
the throne, saying, Amen. Alleluia. And a voice came out
of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants,
and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard, as it
were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth." And I want to center your attention
with the Lord's help more particularly upon these words that we've just
read at verse 6. Here in chapter 19 of the Revelation,
verse 6, and I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude,
and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundering,
saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Here then we're told something
with regards to the worship of heaven. The worship of heaven
in those previous chapters that we read, chapter 4, We have a
description of the throne of God, and those who are about
the throne, the 24 elders, the four beasts, or the four living
creatures, and then also a great multitude, which no man can number. And then, there in chapter 5,
we see that it is the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne,
who is the one who reigns, he has power to open that seven-sealed
book. He is that one then who is the
Lord's God Omnipotent that reigneth. But I want us to consider this
worship of heaven as we have it described here in this particular
verse in the 19th chapter. John says, I heard, as it were,
the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia for the Lord
God's omnipotent reign. This is that worship that is
true and pure. It is that real spiritual worship
of which the Lord Jesus himself speaks to the woman of Samaria
there at the well in John chapter 4, God is a spirit and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. And so first of all this morning
to say something with regards to the object, the one who is
to receive this worship. and we see how in the text he
is spoken of as the Lord God. It is only the Lord God who is
to be worshipped. Remember the words of the Lord
Jesus to Satan when he comes to tempt him there in the wilderness
recorded for example in Matthew chapter 4 when Satan would have
Christ to fall down and worship him. How the Lord answers and
says, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt
thou serve. How the devil is clearly that
one who is a usurper. He would seek to put himself
in the place of God, but thou are to worship only the Lord.
That is the word of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And why
so? Because God, of course, is that
One who is unique. He owns us. He alone is the Creator
of all things. We just sang in the 100th Psalm,
in the mythical version, and there, of course, we have that
verse, Know ye that the Lord, He is God, It is He that made
us, not we ourselves. And all the children of Israel
are reminded of that One who is their God, not only their
Creator, but the One who had come and delivered them out of
the bondage which was Egypt. And so there in the sixth chapter
of the book of Deuteronomy, Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is
one Lord. God is one, and yet God is three. There is a tri-unity, or as we
say, a trinity in God. And as those who are Christian
believers, those of us who have made that profession of faith
publicly It is made of course in the name of the triune God
as the Lord Jesus himself instructs his disciples with regards to
baptism. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to absorb all things whatever
I have commanded you and I am with you even unto the end of
the world. Amen. But the baptizing is to
be done in the name, and the name is singular, and yet God's
name is three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so when we come
to worship God, even here upon earth, we're mindful that God
is a Trinity. So many times we conclude our
service of worship with that apostolic benediction that is
recorded at the end of the second epistle to the Corinthians where
Paul speaks of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love
of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost the three persons
or the three persons who are one God and again in that fourth
chapter that we read we see that those in heaven are such as are
worshipping this God. He is the only living and the
only true God. There at chapter 4 verse 8, And
the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they
were full of eyes within. And they rest not day and night,
saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and which
is to come. And when those beasts give glory
and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth
forever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before
Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth forever
and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne. They are all
worshiping the thrice holy Jehovah all the uniqueness that belongs
unto God. How can we begin to explain God? How can we begin really to even
comprehend just who God is? And when God is rebuking the
children of Israel because of their foolish idolatry, how God
there, through His servants the prophets such as Isaiah, challenges
them. He challenges them in chapter
14 And there at verse 18 of Isaiah, To whom will ye liken God? is the question. Or what likeness
will ye compare unto him? To whom then will ye liken me,
or shall I be equal saith the Holy One? God is that One who
is altogether different. As I said, He only is the Creator. He is the Eternal One. And we
who are His creatures know all the limitations of time and of
space. For this is the One that we are
truly to worship. Again, there in Isaiah 46, at
verse 9, He says, I am God, and there is none else. I am God,
and there is none like me. And we cannot begin to understand. Canst thou by searching find
out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? It is high as heaven, what canst
thou do? Deeper than hell, what canst
thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth and
broader than the sea. The language of Zophar there
in the book of Job. For we cannot comprehend this
great, this glorious God and yet because He is the unique
one He is the one that we are to come and worship. He is the Lord God, the one spoken
of here as the real object of the worship of heaven. And our God, when He comes to
give His commandments to the children of Israel, in Exodus
chapter 20, He reminds them that He is the One that thou shalt
worship you are familiar with the first commandment the first
of those ten I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of
the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage thou shalt have
no other gods before me there is the first commandment
thou shalt have no other gods before me nothing is to be put
in God's place. He only is to be worshipped. Worship God says the angel here
when we come to the end of the Revelation and all that the angel
has shown unto John we read at chapter 20 verse 8 I John saw
these things and heard them and when I had heard and seen I fell
down to worship before the feet of the angel which show me these
things, then saith he unto me, See thou do it not? For I am
thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of
them that keep the sayings of this book. Worship God." The
very last chapter, and that word of exhortation, that word of
command that comes from the angel, worship God. And what do we see
here? Back in chapter 19 at verse 5,
a voice came out of the throne, this is the throne of God in
heaven, a voice came out of the throne saying, praise our God! or ye his servants, and ye that
fear him both small and great." God is the one that is to be
praised. God only is the one that is to
receive that worship. God is unique and there is nothing
that can be compared with him. But then also, of course, here
We are in particular reminded of the sovereignty of God. What do the multitudes say? Alleluia, for
the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Now it is so obvious really that
if he is God, he must be that one who is reigning. If He is
God, He must be that One who is sovereign over all things. If He is not sovereign, then
surely He is not God. And now God humbles men to bring
them to that recognition, the absolute sovereignty of God.
Now the Lord God, there in the days of Daniel, deals with Nebuchadnezzar,
one of the great emperors of the ancient world. the man responsible
for one of the seven wonders of the world, the hanging gardens
of Babylon. And now he's filled with pride
and God humbles him to the dust, takes his reason from him and
he begins to behave like a brute beast of the earth. And then
he's brought to recognize when God restores his sanity to him. There in Daniel 4.35 all the
inhabitants of the earth are as nothing and he doeth according
to his will among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants
of the earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him what
doest thou that's not the language of Daniel that's the language
of Nebuchadnezzar that ancient heathen monarch he confesses
the sovereignty of God that God is that one who rules the psalmist
time and again In Psalm 115, for example, verse 3, Our God
is in the heavens, he hath done whatsoever he pleased. God is
that one who is sovereign. And of course, when we think
of the sovereignty of God, it's no surprise that God is that
one who has every right to prescribe the way in which he is to be
worshipped. We're not free to worship God just as we please,
or to introduce into our worship those things that we imagine
might be acceptable to God. No, God must prescribe the very
manner of our worship, and we see it. We see it in the commandments. That first commandment, He declares
Himself, They shall have no other gods before me. And then what? In the second commandment, do
we not see God going on to command the children of Israel with regards
to the way in which they should worship Him. Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that
is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that
is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself
to them, nor serve them. For I the LORD thy God am a jealous
God. visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation
of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them
that love me and keep my commandments. Or we're not free to introduce
elements into God's worship, lest that tends to idolatry,
no idols. how we must be careful how we
take his name upon our lips when we come to to pray to him and
to praise him he goes on in the third commandment thou shalt
not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain no God is sovereign
and God says then just how he is to be worshipped and you will
remember the language of the Lord as we've already referred
to it there in John chapter 4 in that discourse that the Lord
has with the woman of Samaria. And what does the Lord say? Verse 23 The hour cometh and
now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a
spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth. Worship is to be spiritual worship. All that means that those who
know nothing of the Spirit of God can never worship him in
an acceptable manner, and yet all are obliged to worship him
as his creature. Well, God would remind us of
our great needs. He must help us, He must come
by His Spirit, He must work within us, He must quicken us. If we
are going to worship Him at right, we must be those who have known
that grace of God in the new birth, born again by the Spirit
of God. The true worshippers worship
in spirit, they also worship in truth. All their worship is
governed by the Word of God. Everything is measured. by Holy
Scripture. And we see it here in this book
of the Revelation. Look at the language back in
chapter 11. John says, There was given me
a reed like unto a rod, and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and
measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship
therein. Now the language is symbolic.
All were signified unto God's servant John, as we are told
at the beginning of the book. It's all signs and symbols. And so this reed, like unto a
rod, that John is to take and to measure the worshippers, all
is measured by the Word of God. That's what the reed like rod
represents, God's Word. All true worship then is that
that God as a sovereign as himself prescribes. And when we come
to heaven, oh will it not be seen that God is the one who
rules and reigns in an absolute sense. There of course the great
mystery of God's providences will be once and for all revealed. There is a mystery in the way
in which God deals with us. there are those things that come
into our lives that seem to be so contrary to us but there everything
will be made plain as we have in that lovely hymn the sands
of time are sinking based on the words of Samuel Rutherford
with mercy and with judgment my web of time he wove and I
the Jews of sorrow mingled with his love are blessed The hands
that guided are blessed, the heart that planned. When crowned
where glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's land, all will be made plain.
The sovereignty of God will then be revealed to us. That's good
and perfect will that God has executed in our lives here upon
the earth. Well that really brings me to
the second point, having said something with regards to the
object, the one who is worshipped, God, in all his uniqueness, in
all his sovereignty. Let us come then to consider
the reason, the reason why he is worshipped. And he is worshipped
not only because of who he is, but he is to be worshipped because
of what he does. we're told here that he reigneth
hallelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth and how does God reign? well
we see something of what that reign entails in the in the song
that they sing if we go back to chapter 15 Versely, they sing
the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,
saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are thy ways, thou
King of saints. All God's works, all God's ways,
are the reason why they choose to worship Him. And when we think
of the song of Moses, of course we have the songs of Moses in
the Old Testament. In Exodus chapter 15, and again
in Deuteronomy chapter 32, and in those songs are we not reminded
how God displays his power, his sovereignty over all the enemies
of his children. Remember that song of Moses in
Exodus 15, it comes after God has brought the children of Israel
out of Egypt and brought them to the Red Sea and not only brought
them to it but taken them through the midst of the sea and they
had seen the pursuing armies of the Egyptians destroyed as
they came after them and as they went into the sea, oh God causes the waters to return and
they see the Egyptians dance upon the seashore and then in
Exodus 15 we have that great song of Moses as he rejoices
in what God has done for Israel. In verse 9 he says, the enemy
said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my lust
shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword, my hand
shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind,
the sea covered them, they sank as land in the mighty waters,
who is like unto them? O Lord among the gods, who is
like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in prizes, doing wonders. Or do we come to sing the song
of Moses? And it's not only there, as I
said in the 15th chapter of Exodus. When we come to the end of the
life of Moses, we have that second song that's recorded at the end
of the book of Deuteronomy. And there in chapter 32, Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse
39 the following see now this is God speaking as Moses comes
to worship God with this song It's as if God's speaking through
his servant Moses, See now that I, even I am he, and there is
no God with me, I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal, neither
is there any that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up
my hand to heaven, and so I live forever. If I wet my glittering
sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance
to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make
mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh,
and that with the blood of the slain, of the captives, from
the beginning of revenge is upon the enemy. Rejoice, O ye nations,
with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. and will render vengeance to
his adversaries and will be merciful unto his land and to his people. Again, it is God, you see, as
he avenges his children. Vengeance is mine. I will repay,
says the Lord. And so here, when we come to
consider this worship of God in heaven, the saints rejoice. as God is vindicated over all
His enemies even in the opening part of this
particular chapter the first two verses after these things
I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying hallelujah
salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God
for true and righteous are His judgments for He hath judged
the great war which did corrupt the earth with her fornication,
and that avenged the blood of his servants at her hands." They
rejoice as God destroys all his enemies. And here the great war,
the great mystery of iniquity, the false church destroyed forever. And the language is interesting
because it appears to be taken from the Old Testament. It's
what we're what we're told back in the books of Kings or remember
that wicked king Ahab and his evil wife Jezebel and how the
prophet Elisha comes and speaks to Jehu who was Ahab's general
And what does he say? 2nd Kings 9.7, Thou shalt smite
the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of
my servants, the prophets, and the blood of all the servants
of the Lord at the hand of Jezebel. All God hath avenged the blood
of his servants at her hand. So much of the imagery in the
Revelation is taken from Old Testament history. And that is
the case here. There's an allusion to how God
avenges his true Israel against him who was the king of Israel,
Ahab, and his wicked wife, Jezebel. And how God will also avenge
himself against the false church. He will preserve that true spiritual
people. And so they rejoice, true and
righteous are his judgments, for he hath judged the great
whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and
hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. These are remarkable words, but
there are remarkable things here in this book. Again if we go
back into the 18th chapter we have
the the fall of Babylon the Great being described there in verse
2 of chapter 18 he cried mightily with a strong voice saying Babylon
the Great is fallen is fallen and he's become the habitation
of devils and so forth and then at verse 20 Rejoice over her
thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophets for God hath avenged
you on her." And there is, in the works of Jonathan Edwards,
a sermon on that text, Revelation 18-20, and it has his title,
The Torment of the Wicked in Hell, No Occasion of Grief to
the Saints in Heaven. Hard for us to believe that.
But there we see the saints in heaven rejoicing over God's works
of judgment. What they witness, and it appears
the way in which Edwards opens up that text, that those in heaven
are aware of the sufferings of the lost in hell, and it's no
occasion of any grief to them. No, they rejoice in all that
God is, and all that God does. But of course, first and foremost,
that work of God that is the glory of heaven is really the
work of salvation. It is salvation that they glory
in. And we see it here in the first verse of the chapter. I
heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Alleluia, salvation,
and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God. We read not only chapter 4, but
we read also that 5th chapter that speaks of the Lamb in the
midst of the throne. What does it say? Verse 9, They
sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy. Where is the new
song, Thou art worthy? To take the book and to open
the seal's head off where thou wast slain? and has redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation. It is the Lamb that is all the
glory in Emmanuel's land. Oh yes, they sing the song of
Moses, the servant of the Lord and the Lamb. They sing the song of Moses and
of the Lamb. and we know that the law was
given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ but
clearly the law is ever subservient to the gospel Christ must have that preeminence
the law serves the gospel The promise of the gospel was
given 430 years before the law was promulgated at Mount Sinai.
That's what Paul says in Galatians 3 verses 16 and 17. Wherefore then serveth the law,
he asks. It was added because of transgression.
It's a schoolmaster. Its purpose to bring us to the
Lord Jesus Christ. And so, it is the Gospel that
must have the preeminence and we see it in that fifth chapter
where we were reading earlier. Look at the language that we
have at the end of that chapter. Verse 12. All they say with a
loud voice worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power
and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and
under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that
are in them, heard I saying, blessing, and honor, and glory,
and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb, for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. and the four and twenty elders
fell down and worshipped him that liveth forever and ever. Here is that worship then that
must be rendered unto God and it centers in him who is
the only mediator for there is one God and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And it is by Him that God now
reigns. It is Christ who is the mediator
of the New Covenant. It is Christ who is the head
over all things to the Church, which is His body. All God's
works, they reach their perfection in all that Christ Himself has
done here upon the earth. And He is worthy then. of all
the prizes, and we are to worship God in His Son as the hymn writer
says in 789, worship God then in His Son. There is love and
there alone. And then coming in the third
place to observe something with regards to the manner of this
worship. He thought of Him who is the great object the uniqueness
of God, the sovereignty of God, the reason why He is to worship
because of that revelation that He has given to us and given
us ultimately in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus. But
what of the worshippers? What of the worshippers? Well,
they are a multitude. I heard, as it were, the voice
of a great multitude They are beyond number. Again, look at
the language that we have previously in chapter 7. And there at verse 9, John says, After this
I beheld a lower great multitude which no man could number. of all nations, and kindreds,
and people, and tongues stood before the throne, and before
the Lamb clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, and
cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." It's a multitude. It's
innumerable. It's thousands, and thousands
of thousands. And yet, though a multitude,
it is a particular number. as we see in that same 7th chapter. It is the whole company of the
elect. We read there at verses 9 and
10, but look at the previous verses. Verse 4, I heard the
number of them which were sealed, and there were sealed 140,000
of all the tribes of the children of Israel. and in the following verses it's
12,000 out of each of the 12 tribes it's all the election of Christ it's a specific people, a perfect
number and yet it is such a multitude that no man can number them but
all their names have been written in the Lamb's Book of Life from
the foundation of the world. And what of the manner of the
worship that is given by this multitude? Well, how voluminous
it is! What does it say? In the text,
I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as
the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings. How loud it is! In the hymn Benjamin
Bedarm says, shout for the blessed Jesus Christ. And that's what
they do. Oh, they shout, they praise him
day and night, the shout of a crowd we have here, the roar of waterfalls,
the booming of thunder. And what are these worshippers
doing? They are in a sense re-echoing the very voice of God. Our God's
voice is spoken of by the Psalmist in Psalm 29, verse 3, the voice
of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of glory thundereth,
the Lord is upon many waters, the voice of the Lord is powerful,
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty, the voice of the
Lord breaketh the cedars, yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars
of Lebanon. And these are, as it were, re-echoing
that voice of God, as they come to worship Him. And as it is
a voluminous sound, this worship of heaven, so here we see also,
in a sense, it is didactic, it's teaching. What do they say? They say, Alleluia! Alleluia for the Lord God omnipotent
reign." And what is the significance of the words? Well, it literally
means, Praise ye the Lord. And we have it time and again.
In verse 1, after these things, I had a great voice of much people
in heaven saying, Alleluia! Again at verse 3, they said,
Alleluia! Verse 4, The four and twenty elders and
the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the
throne saying, Amen! Hallelujah! Constantly they are
addressing one another in that sense, they are saying to one
another as they worship God, Praise ye the Lord! In that sense
you see, it is deductive. It was so with the angels when
Isaiah sees the throne of God there in chapter 6 of his prophecy
and he sees the Seraphim, the burning ones, the angels about
the throne of God and he tells us how they cried one to another
They cried one to another there, encouraging one another, instructing
one another, and what did they say? Holy, holy, holy Lord God
of hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory. All friends, as we come to worship
God Sabbath by Sabbath, are we those who want to anticipate
heaven? that place where congregations
near break up, where sabbaths have no end. Do we really want
to taste something of heaven upon earth? We are to consider
one another, Paul says, to provoke one another to love and to good
works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the
manner of some is, but exhorting one another and encouraging one
another. That's what we're to be about.
When we come together to worship there is this aspect to our worship. We address God. He is the only
proper object and yet it's corporate worship. It's an encouraging
of one another. We are to say our hallelujahs.
Praise ye the Lord. Remember how the Apostle speaks of the significance
of the singing of God's praises in the service of worship. There in writing in the epistle
to the Ephesians, verse 18, it says, Be not drunk with wine,
wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to
yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. singing
and make melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always
for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ." As we come to sing God's praises, there is
that didactic element. We see it so wonderfully, really,
in that hymn of Joseph Hart. Sadly, here in Gadsby's only
three verses of the hymn are given but it's one of those hymns
in which we see God's people exhorting and encouraging one
another, come ye sinners poor and wretched, weak and wounded,
sick and sore Jesus ready stands to save you full of pity joined
with power he is able, he is willing, doubt no more there's
an address one to the other we encourage each other to be those
who would be coming coming to the Lord this is the worship
of heaven they address one another they say their hallelujahs their
praise ye the Lord or the manner of their worship it's loud praises
but it's also that worship that doesn't only echo the voice of
God as we seek to address Him and worship Him in that manner
that He Himself has prescribed to us but we are also to be those
who are mindful one of the other we see the importance of the
place of corporate worship. Oh God grant in that we might
know what it is to have that foretaste of heaven even in the
manner of our worship, of the Lord our God. John says, I heard,
as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of
many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying,
Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Amen.