True Worship

Transcript

GR 2003
05/14/2017
True Worship
Revelation 4:8-11
Gil Rugh

We're studying the book of Revelation together and we're going to continue our study this morning in chapter 4 where we are talking about heaven. And there is no more wonderful subject, glorious subject than the subject of heaven. In the midst of a world in confusion and unsettledness, tragedy, we have heaven. Revelation 4, and it will continue into chapter 5, reminds us whatever is going on in heaven puts in perspective what is going on on earth. There is a settledness and a sureness in heaven that keeps us focused and stable as God's people in the turmoil of this earth.

Chapters 4 and 5 are preparing us for the subsequent chapters in the book of Revelation. Chapters 6-19 will talk about an awesome, terrible time of tribulation on this earth, something like the world has never seen. A time so terrible as I remind you, that Jesus said during His earthly ministry, if He didn't limit it to seven years there wouldn't be anyone left alive on the face of the earth. Literally billions of people will die within that seven-year period. That raises questions about the sovereignty of God, the control of God, the love of God. So we are given a proper perspective in chapters 4 and 5 as we are carried into the very presence of God in heaven, where we have seen Him sitting on the throne. And that is the focal point of all that takes place in chapter 4. God is sitting on the throne. Whatever happens on earth, whatever is taking place, there is a sovereign God in control. No matter how confused, how out of control things may seem, there is a settledness in heaven because God is working His purposes so that ultimately when we get to the conclusion, not only of the book of Revelation but the final act, the finality of God's purpose and plan, His throne will be on a new heaven and a new earth, dwelling among those He has redeemed.

So that's what we are talking about in chapter 4. The central focus is God's throne in heaven. Around the throne there are three different groups or individuals, however you might put them. There are twenty-four elders, we have noted that they are representative of the church of Jesus Christ that has been raised, transformed and brought into His presence. Represents the church and its future which is in the glory of God's presence in heaven. There were seven spirits before the throne, that's found in Revelation 4:5, the end of the verse. We identify those seven spirits as a manifestation of the presence of one person, the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit. We looked at passages pointing to that and His sevenfold perfection and completion of His ministry. And then we were looking into the matter of four living beings that are stationed around the throne. Revelation 4:6 says, “Before the throne there was something like a sea of glass like crystal,” that's around the throne on which God the Father sits. “In the center and around the throne were four living creatures.” And we were talking about these four living creatures. They are a category of angels called the cherubim. The singular is cherub, in English we call them cherubs with an “s” on the end but the plural in Hebrew is “im.” So they are the cherubim. They are not identified by name here, they are described. But when we look back in Ezekiel, the prophet writing some 600 years before Christ, he can tell us about that, 500 years or somewhere in there for Ezekiel before Christ. We will look at that in a moment.

They are described in an unusual way. “They are in the center and around the throne,” the end of verse 6. “Four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.” And we talked about this. The eyes symbolize knowledge, intelligence. They are creatures that have wisdom and knowledge so that they can serve the God on the throne. They are not like some we would say sometimes, we are slow to learn, slow to grab onto it. These are creatures of great intelligence and knowledge that can respond instantaneously to the will and purpose of God. They are described in strange ways to us. The first creature, verse 7, “was like a lion, the second creature like a calf, the third creature had the face like that of a man and the fourth creature like a flying eagle.” So strange, in one sense, looking beings. But we can identify with the description because they each had faces that are part of God, what we call animate creation. Human and animal life, not life like trees and plants but life like we identify that humans have and life like animals have. So each has a different face. The first had a face like a lion, the second like that of a calf. And we noted, better translation would be an ox. The third like the face of a man and the fourth like a flying eagle. And as we compare through Scripture what might be represented here. Because God doesn't need anyone to serve Him, God doesn't need anyone to carry out His instructions. He is a sovereign all-powerful God. He could do whatever He wants without any “help. So these beings here serving in His presence representative are part of our being able to know and understand more about God, His purposes and His workings.

So if you would put up the Four Living Creatures chart on the screen here. What is represented by each of these? And we don't have the time to look through various Scriptures that may connect these, but you can see generally from what we know about the animals, why they would have this face, this face? The lion, nobility, the king of the beasts and he is the representation of that preeminence above all. There is something majestic about him and so on. The calf, better translation is the ox, pictures strength. Man among these creatures has the intelligence and wisdom. And man can plan, man can decipher and so on, in contrast to the other creatures mentioned here. The eagle picture swiftness, a readiness and quickness to carry out God's will. These beings represent God and these creatures' readiness to represent Him. And they are noble creatures to be recognized. They have the strength to do what God would have done; they have the intelligence to carry out His will; and they will be swift, we'll see this, to do what He desires to have done.

Come back to Ezekiel 1, we were looking at this in our last study. Ezekiel 1 is an unusual chapter and it should be a chapter that all of us take time to become familiar with because Ezekiel 1 is the fullest description of God and the glory of His heavenly presence that we have anywhere in the Old Testament. Now it's not the only time it is talked about, but this is the fullest. And you put this with Revelation 4 and 5 and then what we will see in Revelation 21 and 22, we have the most insight that will be given on what it is like to be in the very presence of God. And that is to have impact upon us.

In Ezekiel 1 Ezekiel is given a vision. Now Ezekiel is in Babylon, he says that in verse 1. He has been exiled in 597 B.C., carried with other Jews from the land of Israel to Babylon. And while he is there by the River Chebar, he is given a vision, and in this vision in verse 4, “a storm is coming, a great cloud, fire flashing forth continually, bright light around it. In the midst something like glowing fire.” And here we have the throne of God coming to be seen by Ezekiel. And we noted this is of interest because the presence of God has been manifested in one place in a special way and that has been in the land of Israel, in the tabernacle and then the temple. Remember the glory of God would come down. Now He is manifesting the glory of His presence to Ezekiel in this foreign land and He is coming on His throne.

Verse 5, you see within it this glorious display. There were figures resembling “four living beings.” Their appearance, they had human form, the overall form is like humans. But they have what we call animal associations. Each of them had “four faces and four wings.” Now it is a little different than what we had in Revelation 4, there each of the four beings had a single face. Here each of these living beings has four faces and also has wings. Verse 7, their legs are described. Verse 8, “Under their wings on four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, their wings touched one another, their faces did not turn when they moved.” Since they have a face facing all four directions, they don't have to turn their head to move. They can move at the will of God immediately. They are faces, verse 10, “the face of a man. All four had the face of a lion on the right, the face of a bull on the left, the face of an eagle.” So you have basically the same representation with a variation. And these will be called cherubim and it seems they are part of this class of angels that are associated with the throne of God in a special way. Obviously all angels serve in the presence of God, all unfallen angels. But the cherubim are particularly related to the throne. But within this category of angels, cherubim, there are variations. We don't know why. Why do each of those spoken of in Revelation 4 only have one face? Why each of the four in Ezekiel have four faces? We don't know. We'll see here they have four wings, in Revelation they have six wings. And that's like the seraphim in Isaiah 6. So there are variations, we don't know why, they are not all the same. It seems the cherubim are a category of angels that serve in particular closeness to the throne of God, among the angels. Within that category there are variations that God has created them to have. Why the distinctions? It is hard for us to know. What is represented by the faces would be similar, though, since the faces are basically the same. Whether they are all four on one being, these are called living beings as we have in Revelation, or whether it is one face on four different living beings. So what might be represented there would be the same.

We don't have time to go through, you can see we have 28 verses in Ezekiel 1, you might read through those, you might want to take a commentary to work through the details, but these cherubim are associated with the throne of God and its movement and carrying out its directives. Now I want to just draw your attention to something important. As I mentioned, when God chose the nation Israel He had them construct the tabernacle in the wilderness and then when Solomon became king, they built a permanent temple. In that tabernacle and then the temple there was what was called the Holy of Holies, that inner sanctum where God manifested His presence on earth among His people. Didn't manifest it in that way in Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, other places. Here it is unique, we see God coming in His glory in this vision to Ezekiel. And what He is going to do then is take Ezekiel in a vision and transport him back to Jerusalem. There are still Jews left in Jerusalem. There are three different times that the Jews are deported by the Babylonians from their land. And the last one is devastating and only the poorest are left in the land. But what Ezekiel is seeing is the coming judgment of God. And it is interesting, what John is going to see is the coming judgment of God. In preparation for that you get a scene of God enthroned in glory, a reminder that the terrible that are going to happen are a result of the action of God. And then in the book of Revelation we'll conclude with the glory of God among His people. Do you know where we will end in the book of Ezekiel? The glory of God on earth among His people. So as we have noted the book of Revelation picks up so much of what God had revealed previously but now He is going to structure it and put it in order so it can be more understandable to us.

Come over to Ezekiel 9, He transports Ezekiel back to Jerusalem and He shows Ezekiel the wretched spiritual condition that characterizes Israel, that has necessitated judgment—corrupted worship, corrupted conduct. It is despicable. They were even worshiping Tammuz which becomes a variation down through history that culminates in our day of the worship of Mary, and the honor given to her, worship given to her. Just in the news this week, the pope was at the shrine of Fatimah, and so the corruption and so on associated with that. That is going on here. You note the end of Ezekiel 8:14, the Jews, the women were sitting weeping for Tammuz. We can't go into that now, we've talked about it on other occasions that corrupted worship system.

Come down into Ezekiel 9. Here is what Ezekiel now, in his vision he is back in Jerusalem and he sees the glory of God that was resident in the temple at Jerusalem. Note verse 3, “The the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been to the threshold of the temple.” There is movement here. Remember the cherubim have wings and there are wheels associated also in Ezekiel 1. Come over to Ezekiel 10:4, “Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherubim to the threshold of the temple, the temple was filled with a cloud, the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.” Verse 18, “Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple, stood over the cherubim.” We have movement here, God is leaving the temple in Jerusalem. Verse 19, “When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them.” Remember these wheels within wheels, they can go any direction without turning. “They stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord's house, the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.” Here the importance of the eastern gate. God is departing from Jerusalem through the eastern gate.

Come over to Ezekiel 11:22, “Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them,” with this sea of glass under which they on the four sides hold it up, and now the movement, pictured with the movement of the wings of the eagles and the movement of the wheels. And it says in verse 23, “The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city. The glory of the God of Israel no longer dwells in the midst of His people in Jerusalem.” It's the picture, and He departs through the valley to the mountain east of Jerusalem, which we have a group visiting Israel today and they will go to the Mount of Olives. This is the Mount of Olives. This is God leaving and He departs from the Mount of Olives, His glory is gone, His resonance is no longer in the midst of His people Israel. They are under judgment. The final devastation coming with the Babylonians deporting the final peoples, the destruction of the temple and so on. Interesting.

Come over to Zechariah 14. And as I mentioned and I remind you so many of the hundreds of references to the Old Testament in the book of Revelation make it necessary for us to at least spend some time in the Old Testament to appreciate what God is doing. He is taking all these pieces that He has revealed, just like in the Old Testament all these pieces of the puzzle have been laid out. But it is hard to understand with clarity the order. But when you get to the book of Revelation, now every piece is put in. In the Old Testament some of the pieces are connected, like when you are doing a puzzle. Then with the coming of Christ more of the pieces get connected. But it's not until the book of Revelation that the puzzle is complete for us to understand.

In Zechariah 14:4, this is the day when Christ will return to establish His kingdom. “In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,” where the glory of the Lord departed from Israel, “which is in the front of Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives will be split in the middle” and so on. It's like for those of you who have been to Israel, you know that the Muslims built a cemetery in front of the eastern gate, it's a high eastern gate now but the original gate in Jesus' time would have been below ground level because of the building upon it. But there is a cemetery there because they understood when Jesus returned He is supposed to come to the Mount of Olives and return through the eastern gate. But He wouldn't go through a cemetery, so they think the cemetery will be an obstacle. Makes sense to somebody.

We have to look at another passage, then we'll get back to heaven. Come over to John 1. Remember Jesus Christ is the second person of the triune God, He is God in human flesh. Colossians tells us all the fullness of the deity dwelt in Him in bodily form. John 1 begins, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The Word is a reference to Jesus Christ, He was God, He was in the beginning with God, He created with His Father, brought everything into existence. Then you come down to verse 14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” In your Bible you probably have a marginal note, a little number 1 in front of the word dwelt, and you'll see in the margin it's “tabernacled.” That is specific to draw our attention back to the Old Testament, the glory of God dwelt among His people in the tabernacle in the Old Testament. Now the glory of God has come to again dwell among His people Israel, and you understand Jesus spent His entire life basically, with little exception, in the land of Israel. He came and tabernacled among us, John said. And note, “we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The return of God to be present among His people to again offer them redemption and a kingdom, but they again reject Him. So He will depart from the Mount of Olives in Acts 1 and then He will return again there at His Second Coming. So, the way the Bible proves these things, they are woven together and the glory of God's presence.

So let's come back to Revelation 4. I had a homiletics professor in seminary who said you should never take your people to any passage of Scripture you don't clearly explain. But if we do that we'll be spending the rest of my life in the book of Revelation. We don't have time to go to every Old Testament passage and unfold it. But the beauty of God's sovereignty and clearly revealing Himself is awesome.

In Revelation 4 let's pick up with these living creatures, living beings perhaps a better translation, that's what they are called also in Ezekiel—living beings. We had the description of them in verse 7, noted something about that description. In verse 8, “The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, full of eyes around and within.” I hate to do this to you but we have to go to the Old Testament again. Isaiah 6:1, “In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne.” This is now a similar kind of setting we saw with Ezekiel, similar kind of setting we are seeing in Revelation. Note verse 2, “Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings. With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, with two he flew. And they called out one to another, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory.” That's very similar to the description of the cherubim—they have six wings like those in Revelation 4. The cherubim in Ezekiel 1 had four wings. Here you are told what they do, they use one set of wings to “cover their face,” representing awe, respect, the unworthiness to be in the presence of God and behold Him. “With two they cover their feet,” which denotes humility. Again humility is unworthy and undeserving. “With two they flew,” they are ready to do, to carry out His will, they are obedient. Very similar.

What is the difference if any between seraphim and cherubim? We don't know. These are said to be above Him, but they are in the context of the throne. So whether it's another description for the same group or it's another group that is closely associated—seraphim and cherubim. There are certain things the Scripture has not revealed.

Stop in Ezekiel 28. Ezekiel 28 describes Lucifer that we know better as Satan, before his fall. Just want you to note, he is involved in this group we are talking about. Pick up in the middle of verse 12, we don't have time to fill in the context. “You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God,” something of his beauty. Come down to verse 14, “You were the anointed cherub who covers,” or guards. And then the picture, you have the cherubim that are over the throne in the tabernacle. Satan was part of this inner group of angels in closest association with the throne of God and perhaps the highest in that group since he is referred to as the anointed cherub who covers or guards, having a special place. And yet he had to be removed and will ultimately be destroyed. Isaiah 14 tells us what happened, he was lifted up in pride and said, “I will be like the Most High, I will establish my throne.” And he is corrupted by his pride and he becomes the leader of an angelic rebellion and the leader of a rebellion among humanity today in opposition to God.

Go back to Revelation 4. These beings, they are four living creatures, four living beings, they have six wings. We saw what they did with the six wings of the seraphim, assume it is the same thing. They are full of eyes around and within, they have full and complete knowledge. They are not omniscient like God is, but He has created them so they are immediately aware of His will, what He would have done, how they are to respond. You don't have to have a session of explaining, laying out the plan. Like we do with our kids, do you understand? Do you need me to tell you again? No, these are full of eyes around, they have the wisdom, the intelligence God has created them to have to be able to pick up on His will and to know and to react immediately.

“Day and night they do not cease to say,” verse 8, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God the Almighty, who was, who is and who is to come.” We are into an awesome section when we are in Revelation 4 and 5. We something of God's throne room, we see something of the worship and honor given to God in heaven. We get an idea of what is expected of us in our worship and service of God here. Everything going on is focused on God, He is the sole object of the attention, the others are described so we can see how their attention, their service is directed to Him and Him alone.

Before go any further, we remind ourselves, sometimes we come to church to worship and we are looking for what? I hope they tell me something practical today, I hope it is a help to me and the trouble I am going through. I sure could use help with my family. And we have turned it around and we want to begin with us, and it is not worship. So we need to follow through what is being said here. We get a picture of what worship is and it prepares us for everything that is going to take place on earth because God is kept in His proper place and given His proper honor.

“They cry out holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty who was, who is, and who is to come.” Now this is not all they do. We know because these four living beings are going to initiate the first four judgments of the coming seven-year tribulation. Just turn over to Revelation 6. Verse 1 begins, and we have four horsemen, the four horsemen of the apocalypse that are the first four judgments of the coming tribulation. Verse 1, “Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, I heard one of the four living creatures.” So you see he is immediately there and “he says with a voice like thunder, come.” And it is one of these four living creatures that calls forth the first horse of judgment. “Behold a white horse” comes out. Verse 3, when Christ broke the second seal, “I heard the second living creature say, come. Another, a red horse went out.” Verse 5, “When He broke the third seal I heard the third living creature say, come.” Verse 7, after the third seal the fourth living creature calls forth the fourth. So you see these creatures have responsibility to carry out the will of God. Perhaps there is rotation before the throne, we don't know, and this category of angels carries out their responsibility. But they not only guard the throne of God, they will lead in worship and they will be involved in administering justice on the earth. So a key group of angels given great responsibility.

Back in Revelation 4:8, “Day and night they do not cease to say.” Very similar to the seraphim, they are crying out “holy, holy, holy is the Lord God.” That threefold emphasis, He is completely, infinitely holy. Holy comes from the Greek word to be separate, separated. And God is holy because He is totally and completely apart from sin. There is no defilement of sin of any kind in any way associated with Him. He is perfectly, completely, eternally holy. That has to be fixed in our minds. You talk to people today and you want to talk about God and they want to say God is a God of love. And He is, but it is interesting where we start in heaven. We start with His holiness, He is a holy God. That becomes crucial. If you don't appreciate something of the perfect holiness of God, you will be unsettled by the judgments that are going to begin in chapter 6. And some people think, “I can't conceive of hell that will be talked about in chapter 14.” And then we will have the description of people being cast into hell in chapter 20. They say I can't believe a loving God would sentence people to hell. Well, back up. He is a loving God but He is a holy God and His judgment on the earth culminating with His judgment in sending people to hell is inseparably connected to His holiness. We will have opportunity to look at that because the redemption that enables us to escape judgment will be talked about in chapter 5 in the heavenly scene. First we have to understand He is a holy God, so to be accepted in His presence you must be holy. In Leviticus 11 in the Old Testament God said you shall be holy for I am holy. Peter repeated that in his letters, you shall be holy for I am Holy, God says. Holiness is a requirement to be accepted before God. In Isaiah 6 we saw Isaiah seeing the seraphim in context to the throne of God crying out holy, holy, holy. Do you know what Isaiah's first response is? Woe is me, I'm a sinner, I'm doomed, I'm in the presence of a holy God. But God will provide cleansing and forgiveness for Isaiah so he is not destroyed. That's where we will go in chapter 5.

So He is a God of holiness, and they cry out holy, holy, holy. Think about that through the day, you can worship God not just here but through the day. God, you are a holy God, a holy God. When we come, is that what we are thinking? I'm coming with other believers to join in worshiping a God who is perfectly holy. He is the Lord God, the Almighty. That is a word that is used ten times in the Bible in the New Testament, nine times in the book of Revelation, one time in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians where he quotes from the Old Testament. He is the pantokrator, the Almighty, the omnipotent, all powerful God. The Almighty. We'll see these references as we move through the book of Revelation. We talked about Him being enthroned, there is no resisting Him successfully. Those who resist Him will end up in hell, those who don't receive righteousness from Him so they are holy in an acceptable way to Him will be destroyed. There is just no alternative. He is the Almighty God. He has the power and authority that He will exercise justice on the earth. Important we realize this. We see men, women, children, babies dying horrible deaths in Revelation 6-19. The holy God is exercising the power. The people on earth during that time will realize it and it says (we will see this when we get further in Revelation) they curse God because of their suffering. The stubbornness of sin in opposing God.

He is the Almighty “who was, who is and who is to come.” There is no other God as He said through Isaiah, is there another God? I know of no other. I mean, the only God there is, is telling you there is no other God. One God eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That's it. When you are the enemy of this God, what are you going to do? The gods of this world, they make up battles among the gods and so on, and this god fights this god. There are small “g” gods that men have created, Satan attempts to make himself a god and he is referred to as the “god of this world,” small “g,” but he is doomed to hell. There is no resisting this God and not being destroyed by Him, which involves eternity in hell. He is the eternal God, He is the One who was, who is and who is to come. It's put in a little different way at the end of verse 9 when he will say, “To Him who lives forever and ever.” He'll say the same thing in the middle of verse 10, “Him who lives forever and ever.” That's the God who is, who was and who is to come, that's the God who is forever. We are eternal in the sense we will have no ending. We will either go through eternity in heaven or eternity in hell. God had no beginning as well as no ending. He is the eternal God.

Look at verse 9. Now we focus in verses 9-11 on the result of these cherubim leading in worship. Verse 9, “And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever.” Reminder of the focus of their attention and the glory and honor they are giving. They give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever.

What do the twenty-four elders see? Well, won't we ever get around to talking about me? No, that doesn't go on in worship, and we come thinking that it all ought to revolve around me and my needs and my concerns and my problems. When the living creatures give glory and honor, verse 10, “the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne and will worship Him who lives forever and ever. Cast their crowns before the throne.”

Remember the twenty-four elders represent the church. Here we see in worship, bow down before Him. Remember Jesus said, when he talked to the woman of Samaria, and she thought worship was involved in the physical things. He said that's not the issue, the issue is God is looking for those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. The issue is, we all sit in the same seats, we come to a building, that's not what makes worship. But we are to live a life of worship of the living God. We are in our spirit, we are always bowed before Him, giving Him honor, worshiping Him, ascribing to Him worth, praise. We bow in our spirit before Him, we are humbled before Him. We never lose our awe before Him. We come absorbed in ourselves and that makes our problems grow because I have no ability to control the things. I can't cure my cancer if I have it, I just can't fix it.

We have to back up and say Lord, I worship you. Doesn't mean I don't give instructions to them, but this understanding in my soul and spirit, I have to be careful. I become frustrated with God because He is not doing what I want. Wait a minute, do I have a proper perspective of Him. When we are in the glory of heaven, we are going to be bowing down, laying down before Him to give Him worship, honor, glory. That's what worship is. We have the English word worship, as you are aware comes from an old English word meaning to ascribe worth. That's what we are doing, we are giving honor to God. He is God, He is the One who is to receive honor, glory.

This whole emphasis on self-esteem, self-worth, it is just fallen, sinful human beings in rebellion against God, trying to train their children in the ways of the devil. And it is just characteristic of fallen man, whether he expresses it overtly or not, he wants the world to revolve around him. And I am important. And when you don't recognize my importance, I am pretty upset with you. And we come here to give honor to God. How is that practical? It's the most practical thing. If that's not the foundation of your life, recognizing who God is and having a right relationship with Him through the forgiveness and cleansing that only He can give, you don't have any way to have order to your life. You can't have any real meaning to your life, you are on the road to destruction. You might as well eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow you die. It only gets worse. Understanding and knowing God and who He is and living to honor Him is the focal point.

And note what they do at the end of verse 10, “They will cast their crowns before the throne.” They cast their crowns before the throne. These are stephanos crowns, a victor's crown, an award given, but it's not for our glory. We acknowledge He is the One worthy, all the honor goes to Him. What have I ever done that wasn't done with His enabling power that would bring glory to Him?

Remember what Jesus reminded His followers? When you have done everything you have been told to do, remind yourself you are at most an unprofitable slave because you only did what He told you. That's humbling. Yet God, you have blessed me, you bring me honor. But it's an honor I am to give to You, not to take for myself. Doesn't mean we have to all walk around and say, give God the glory, not me. Somebody tells you thank you and you say don't thank me. But in our hearts, in our minds we don't want to lose perspective.

Difficulties come, things take as we would say, a turn for the worse, I don't get upset with God but say God, I don't understand. You are still on the throne, I still bow and honor You and the decisions You make for me are what You have chosen for me as best for me. He does say that “all things work together for good to those who love Him.” That doesn't mean the pain goes away, doesn't mean I am cured, doesn't mean my family gets things all put together, but it means I am stabilized in my own heart and mind. And I worship Him.

Sometimes that's why it is good, things come, so take time, get apart by yourself and talk to the Lord. Open His Word and say Lord, I need to adjust my focus. I have gotten so absorbed in what is going on in my life, now I have lost perspective. I am frustrated, I am irritated, I am upset, I am afraid. I serve the God who is on the throne and I bow before Him and Lord, I want to remind myself you are the Almighty, you are the holy, holy, holy God, you are the eternal God. Everything is okay. It may seem like there is a mess here but there are no messes in heaven and You are controlling what is going on here. So this what seems like a mess and I don't understand, You have sovereignly brought into my life for Your purpose. And I go from there. That brings me stability, an inner quietness. You know Philippians 4, “the peace of God shall stand guard in your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” The world can be going all turmoil, everything around my life can be going turmoil, but I can have tranquility, stability.

So they cast their crowns. Wasn't ultimately for my glory, my honor, it was for His. Then the church says, represented by the elders, “Worthy are You our Lord and our God to receive glory and honor and power.” See everybody in heaven is talking about the attributes of God, the character of God, the work of God. “You created all things, because of Your will they existed,” they came into being and were created. Goes back to the beginning and His work of creation and His purpose in doing it. And He is sovereign over what He created, like somebody who makes something and it seems complicated. The maker knows how it works and gives it to you and you say, it's out of control I don't know what to do. And he says, I can fix that right away. In fact I planned it and I made it so it would go like this so no one else could control it but me.

I mean, He is sovereign, He is the creator. Yet we see people denying, they are angry if you talk about God created everything, in six days He created the heavens and the earth. Even professing believers trying to find a way to accept what the world says. It's all a denying of the God who deserves the worship of His creation, and He will have it. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess before all is said and done. Sadly it will be for some going to hell but for those who have been redeemed going to heaven.

Let me just summarize this, put that slide up on true worship. This needs to be fixed in our minds, what we have seen in these passages.

1) It is directed to God alone. Doesn't mean this is Mother's Day, we couldn't talk about mothers. But we would have to talk about it in the context, if we were going to focus on that, God's creating purpose and what He intends and the glory that is His for the blessings He has provided. If we are going to come to worship God, we worship God. It's good to remind ourselves, we are slaves in the house of the master. That keeps it in perspective. Slaves aren't about honoring themselves, getting a slave for themselves; slaves are about doing whatever to bring honor to the master. It is directed to God alone.

2) True worship praises the attributes of God, three of them mentioned here—holiness, omnipotence, eternality. That's practical. He is the holy God. If I am going to be accepted in His presence, I must be holy. It is a holiness I can only acquire from Him and then live out by His power. He is omnipotent, everything is under control. He is eternal, it will always be under control.

3) True worship gives glory, honor and thanks to God. That's the response of declaring the attributes. We study the Word of God and our response to it is to give God glory. The more we learn about Him, His work, His purposes. We want to give glory, honor and thanks to God.

4) It requires complete humility before God. They fall down before Him, they worship Him. Worship can't be about me. A self-centered life is a godless life, no matter what kind of veneer we put on it. When my life is all about me, it's all about me. Selfishness is godlessness. That's why unbelievers, that's what they are. Lucifer started out, I will be like God, I will do this. And his followers do it, they are like him. Because when they focus on themselves in rebellion against God, they are following him, Satan who fell. So it requires humility. That attitude helps settle things for us in life. Because I get upset when I begin to think about my importance. If I think about I am a slave in the house of the master, serving the living God, whether you treated me as respectfully or thoughtfully or kindly. Well the slave shouldn't run around expecting to be respected, should they? It's a non-issue. It requires humility before God.

5) It gives glory to God always, and that will continue into heaven. So we want to be as faithful and we want to receive the crown of the victor. Why? Because we cast those crowns before Him. You are the One, Lord, that is honored by this. It was Your grace that enabled me to come to salvation, that brought me to Christ. It was Your grace that enabled and powered me, it was Your grace that gifted me with the gift of grace. It was Your grace that gave me the strength, it was Your grace that lifted me up when I fell, for victories won, rewards received. Worship gives glory to God.

6) It honors God, finally, as the creator of all things. Takes us back to foundational. We are His creation, He is sovereign over His creation. It's an oxymoron to talk about all the different views we develop of creation—theistic evolution and try to mix the world and the Word and you just corrupt the Word. He is the sovereign creator. Doesn't mean I have every answer, I don't think it is unscientific. I believe what God has said because He is the God of truth. He is the One we worship.

I remind you, you cannot worship Him in an acceptable way except you do it His way. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me.” There is no other way. One way, but it is a way that is sufficient for everyone who desires to come.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for who You are. Lord, thank You for the reminder that You are the sovereign God, the One that we worship, that we love, that we serve. We live in a world of turmoil, confusion, frustration, often pain and suffering. Lord, it is good for us to be reminded You rule from heaven, You are the creator, there is not one detail out of order. You are in control, Your will will be done. We belong to You, our destiny is the glory of Your presence for eternity. We give You thanks for Jesus Christ, Your love in providing Him to be the Savior that could bring cleansing and forgiveness so that we might become Your children. May we worship You day by day in all we do. We pray in Christ's name, amen.