Scenes of Worship
Selected Passages in Revelation
Opening
· Songs - Forever, Chosen
· Opening prayer
· Introduction to service theme/structure
Intro
1. What comes to mind when you think about the book of Revelation?
2. For many the first thought is judgment. They would say it is a book of God’s wrath.
3. For some it is about heaven and hell. It is a book on mankind’s final destiny.
4. For others it is the return of Christ. It is a book of Jesus returning to rule the earth.
5. For almost everyone it is confusing. It is a book that is too difficult to understand and therefore best left alone.
6. I must admit that before this week I simply saw it as a book that says ‘we win’. It is a book about our salvation through Christ.
7. I must confess; I have never been more wrong, more man-centered in my thinking.
8. I now firmly believe that there are two aspects to the book of Revelation. They are two sides of a coin that can not be separated.
9. First it is a book about God’s salvation for man. We often think of “our salvation” and yet all through out Scripture salvation is said to belong to God. We think of it and how it benefits us and yet God says it is for His glory. There is nowhere in Scripture where this is more evident than in the book of Revelation. Revelation is a book of God’s salvation for mankind.
10. Second it is a book of worship. I believe it should not be viewed as a book that revolves around a series of incredible events but rather as a book that revolves around the worship of the one true God. All throughout the book are scenes of worship. And all the events of the book revolve around the God who is worshipped. Revelation is a book of worship.
11. This morning just as in the book of Revelation we are going to look at God’s salvation for man and then respond in worship.
12. Rather than the normal sermon, we will take short looks at five scenes of worship and respond in kind.
13. May God bless us as we attempt to preview what our worship in Heaven will be like.
Scenes of Worship – 2
Selected Passages in Revelation
Creator
· Scene 1 – Rev. 4:1-11–
In Rev. 4 a scene before the Throne of God is described. God is seated on His throne and around God’s throne are twenty-four thrones with twenty-four elders sitting upon them. Four living creatures, day and night, without ceasing are saying – Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. All of a sudden the twenty-four elders fall down before God, cast their crowns before God’s throne, worshipping Him saying –
Rev. 4:11 – “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
· Explanation:
Here God is worshipped as the Supreme and Sovereign Creator of all things. This is evident from the word that is translated created. In both the Old and the New Testament there are several words that can be translated create, build, make, form, or shape.
There is something unique about the word that is used here and its Old Testament equivalent.
It is a word that implies and refers to something which is created out of nothing. However, it is not limited to this. It also emphasizes that which is new and fresh. And whenever this word and/or its OT counterpart are used, God is always the subject. Man is never the one who creates something out of nothing; something that is new and fresh. Mankind never has and never will create something out of nothing. Only God can create something out of nothing. He created the heavens and the things in the heavens; He created the earth and the things in the earth; He created the seas and the things in the seas; and He created them all from nothing! When he finished those, He created you and me!!!
God is the Supreme and Sovereign creator of all things.
Just as all created things begin with God, so too worship in Heaven has its foundation in worshipping God as the Supreme and Sovereign Creator.
Rev. 4:11 – “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
We as created creatures are to worship God as the Supreme and Sovereign Creator.
· Song - All Creatures of our God and King
· Sentence prayers of praise from congregation
· Prayer for offering
· Song - Thou Art Worthy (during offering)
Scenes of Worship – 3
Selected Passages in Revelation
Redeemer/Lamb
· Scene 2 – Rev. 5:1-14–
· Explanation:
The Second scene picks up where the first one left off. God is seated on His throne holding a scroll that is sealed shut in His right hand. An angel loudly asks – who is worthy to open the scroll? And no one was found worthy. Just listen as I read Rev. 5:6-7.
6 And in the middle of the throne (with the four living
creatures) and the elders was 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.
7 And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the
throne.
The focus is turned to the Lamb of God. If you try and remove the Lamb, you might as well do away with the Revelation. Everything revolves around the Lamb. Jesus is referred to the Lamb some 28 times in Revelation. There is the blood of the Lamb; the salvation of Lamb; the wrath of the Lamb; the marriage of the Lamb; the bride of the Lamb; the song of the Lamb; the rule of the Lamb and most of all the worship of the Lamb.
In order to more fully appreciate the effect of what will actually take please, please listen as a I read a summary of the worship scene found in Rev. 5:8-14. I have used only the words found in the passage.
And the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the scroll 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 will reign upon the earth.”
Then the voice of many angels around the throne, the number of them was myriads
of myriads, and thousands of thousands, and the living creatures and the elders;
began saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive
power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
And then every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the
earth and on the sea, and all things in them, began saying, “To Him who sits on
the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion
forever and ever.”
O Lamb of God we worship you as the worthy Lamb who shed His blood in order to save us from eternal death to eternal life.
O Lamb of God we worship you as the worthy Lamb who will rule over all the earth.
O Lamb of God we worship you as the only one worthy of our worship.
Worthy is the Lamb!!!
· Song - Agnus Dei
· Transition with Rev. 8:1 - Silent Prayers
· Song - Worthy is the Lamb
· Song - Nothing but the Blood
Scenes of Worship – 4
Selected Passages in Revelation
King/Justice
· Song - Holiness (Take my Life)
· Scene 3 – Rev. 11:15-18; 15:1-4
God desires our holiness. As a matter of fact He desires it of all mankind. And yet we live in such an unholy world, a world filled with evil, a world filled with injustice. I don’t know about you, but sometimes it is easy to ask – where is God in all of this? Where is God in the exploitation of children or the neglect of the elderly; where is God in the mistreatment of women; where is God when people in authority abusing power for personal gain; where is God when one is wrongfully accused and imprisoned anyway; where is God in countless thousands of laborers not getting their wages for months and months; where is God in the persecution of His children; where is God’s and His justice in the midst of this unjust world?
Hasn’t God promised to bring justice to those who are abused, neglected, mistreated and oppressed?
· Explanation:
The third worship scene at which we want to look is found is actually two scenes, two scenes that book end an event, an event born out of the worship of God.
Rev. 11:15-18 – Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
This is a song of praise for the justice of the Lamb. He is worshiped for being a God of justice. His justice continues forth and culminates with the following scene of worship:
Rev. 15:1-4 – Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished. And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For all the nations will come and worship before You, For Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
Here the Lamb is praised because he judges righteously. You may be thinking – Okay it is true that God is just and that He judges sin and sinners, but should we praise Him for it?
Scenes of Worship – 5
Selected Passages in Revelation
From Real Worship – If we worship the Lamb that was slain, then we must believe in God’s holy judgment of sin. If God could judge His sinless Son, Who became our substitute, why can He not judge sinful nations and rebellious sinners who destroy His earth? A sentimental view of the cross leads to a sentimental view of sin; and the result is a condescending God Who is complacent toward sin and tolerant of sinners. This is not the God who elicits the praises of the hosts of heaven. If we can not worship God as the God who judges righteously, then either we have forgotten what sin really is like, or we have lost our vision of the holiness of God.
You say I am still not convinced we should worship God as the God who judges. Please keep in mind God’s greatest act of love was also his greatest act of judgment. For on the cross, God, in love for man, poured out the fullest extent of His judgment on Christ. Thus we proclaim now, as we will one day in heaven – Great and marvelous are Your works O Lord God for your righteous judgments have been revealed.
· Song - Rejoice the Lord is King
Bridegroom
· Scene 4 – Rev. 19:1-7
· Explanation:
The fourth scene is actually a final culmination of the third worship scene. This one begins with a great multitude worshiping God for His righteous judgments. In part they say –
Rev. 19:1b-2a – “Hallelujah! Salvation
and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and
righteous.
The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures then join in the worhip.
The great multitude concludes their worship with the following:
Rev. 19:6b-7 – “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”
Here the Lamb is worshiped as the Bridegroom, who has come for his bride. The final preparations are being made. The Lamb is ready to receive the Bride of the Lamb; Jesus, the Lamb, is ready to usher His Church, the Bride of the Lamb, into eternity.
What is most often lost here is the phrase “and His Bride has made herself ready”. It is glorious and wonderful to think of our Lord’s return, we are commanded to in Scripture. However, are we truly preparing ourselves for it? What we as Believers should be doing to properly prepare ourselves for the glorious return of the Lamb can be summarized into two commands: one – eagerly await His Coming; and two – be holy, be set apart for Christ. Our focus this morning is on the Lamb and now specifically the marriage of the Lamb, but we must not forget that He is coming for a bride that has made herself ready. Eagerly await; be holy; for the Lamb is coming!
· Song - I Give You my Heart
· Song - Soon and Very Soon
Scenes of Worship – 6
Selected Passages in Revelation
Closing
· Scene 5 – Rev. 7:9-12
· Explanation
The final scene needs little explanation. Though it is found in Rev. 7, it describes the culmination of all things in Eternity. This is the only scene that includes in the worshipers people from every nation, tribe people and tongue. Prior to this the worshipers were the twenty-four elders, the four living creatures, angels, and/or a great multitude.
Listen as I read –
Rev. 7:9-12 – After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen, praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
In short, they worshiped God saying –
Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” “Amen, praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
What did we say at the very beginning?
Revelation is a book of worship. Revelation is a book of God’s salvation.
Please read with me (put words up on powerpoint)–
Salvation belongs to our God,
Who sits upon the throne,
And unto the Lamb,
Praise and Glory,
Wisdom and thanks,
Honor and power and strength,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen
· Song - Salvation Belongs to our God
· Closing Prayer