Good morning. How are y'all doing today?
Awesome. I want to start by saying if this is your first time joining us here in
our sanctuary at Hosanna Christian Fellowship or if you're joining us
online for the first time, welcome. We're so glad you're here to worship with us
today. For those of you that don't know, I am Pastor Nathan and today we are going to
be continuing our look at worship as we're learning important principles from
what is taking place in heaven in Revelation chapter 5. And as we spoke
about last week, we kind of started developing that idea that worship is
such a wonderful and powerful and important aspect of our faith. It's
unfortunately something that a lot of Christians tend to neglect in one
way or another and yet it is foundational and actually at the top of
the list of what God desires from his people. And so, you know, the whole idea
of gathering here on Sundays as the body of Christ, you know, getting here to
worship as one body, this is, it's awesome. It's great. It's a wonderful
opportunity but I really, really look forward to being with you all in heaven
worshiping right in God's presence right before him. It's just, yeah, I can't wait
for that. So the last few weeks as we've been going through Revelation, we've seen
a whole lot of stuff. Starting in chapter 4, we saw the Apostle John caught up into
heaven as he was invited up there by God and the first thing he saw when he got
there was this glorious throne and the one who sits on the throne and there he
described it as having this glory coming off the throne of God as having
the appearance of Jasper and Carnelian and then around that throne he saw a
rainbow with the appearance of an emerald just surrounding the whole
throne and then before the throne this beautiful sea of glass. And then there as
he continues to look he sees these four very strange living creatures that are
surrounding the throne there. One with the, looked like a lion, one looked like an
ox, one with the face of a man, and one that looked like an eagle. And we saw
there in chapter 4 that when these four creatures gave glory, honor, and thanks to
God Almighty, the 24 elders which represent the entire body of Christ
would fall down before God in worship, casting their crowns before his feet
because really before God Almighty what worth do we have to deserve crowns, right?
He is the one that deserves all the glory and so they cast their crowns
before him and then we get to chapter 5 where John sees a scroll in the hand of
the one who sits on the throne, God Almighty, but he also sees that in that
moment there was nobody around that could open that scroll. Nobody around that
could take that scroll and read it. And that scroll representing the
authority, the ownership of all of creation, right? Creation that was
languishing under the yoke of sin and death and decay and mankind, us who are
trapped and bound under the slavery of sin and that scroll that
represented the reclaiming of all that, the dealing with that finally in that
moment John saw that nobody was worthy to open that scroll and so he weeps and
he weeps until one of the elders approaches him and says, hey bro don't
cry, look the lion of the tribe of Judah is worthy. He has conquered, right? And so
then John looks up expecting and what I see there is expecting to see a
lion, right? Look the lion of the tribe of Judah there. He looks up and instead of
seeing a lion he sees one as the lamb who had been slaughtered, the one who
paid the price. The redemption clause fulfilled it to purchase back not just
creation but to purchase back us, to give us the right and the ability to find
salvation in him and so John then watches as this one takes the scroll and
all of heaven erupts in worship. Glorious picture. And so the whole scene teaches
us all kinds of principles about our own worship of God and we started that last
week in our previous message. We saw that worship is really a great stabilizer for
the Christian life because it keeps us focused. Worship keeps us from straining
off into self-absorption or self-righteousness or self-promotion and
self-glory because worship keeps us in that place where it's all about him, what
he did, what he accomplished. It's all about Jesus, all about him and his work
and so worship keeps our sights firmly fixed on the one who redeemed us, the one
who died for us, the one who paid the price for us, the one who fights for us,
the one who is even now praying for us, the one who leads us, teaches us, guides us,
right? Worship keeps our sights on him and him alone and that's important because
life can be full of overwhelming circumstances, right? Life can be full of
difficulties and challenges and the big question always before us is what do we
do in those difficult circumstances? Where do we set our sights in those
difficult circumstances? Where do we find hope and reassurance? Do we worship God
in those difficult circumstances or do we give in to the negativity and the
anxiety and the worry? That's the big question, right? And we're always to look
to him because he overcomes all. He already did it. We have victory in Christ.
And so chapters four and five of Revelation introduce us to worship what
I'm calling true worship, the worship that we see taking place there in heaven
and there we see order, right? Worship of God is not a chaotic mess. There's order
to it. There's unity in the worship. We see that it was primarily a response to
God. That's what worship is. It's not about us. It's not about my likes and my
tastes and what I want. It's not about putting me in the right mood or
making me feel a certain way. It's all about him and it's all about a response
to what he has done. And then so in the last part of Revelation 5 as we're
closing today we saw we see three songs of worship in verses 8 through 14. The
first one we looked at last week where we saw the four living creatures and the
elders fall down in worship at what Jesus had done. That was the context of
that one. Their worship was in response to what Jesus had done taking the scroll,
claiming the rulership, the authority, the ownership of all of creation,
everything in the earth, and then through that satisfying the
redemption clause, right? Redeeming all of it that was cursed by sin. Today we're
gonna look at the next two worship songs here and we're gonna see the multitude
of angels erupting in praise and not what he has done but at who he is which
is another critical reason that we worship God because of who he is. And
then the third song is all of creation praising the Lamb for his relationship
with the Father. So through it all we're gonna be encouraged, continue to be
encouraged at what true worship is, what it looks like, and our attitude in
worship, and why we should always strive to have a lifestyle of worship. To not be
people who only worship God on Sundays when we gather together but to worship
him every day at all times in every circumstance because of how good it is
for us. And so we're gonna open up today that way as we do with worship and I
just encourage you guys to just let go of anything distracting you. Let Jesus
fill your vision this morning. Let him be the sole thing in your sights as you
lift up praise and worship to his holy name. Amen? Let's pray. Father, we love you.
God, we're so thankful for who you are and what you've done. Lord, you redeemed
us. You paid the price for all of our sin, past, present, and future. God, you made
salvation possible. And God, without you there is no salvation and so Lord we're
so grateful for that. And God, we want to praise you, Lord, not just for what you've
done but we want to praise you for who you are. We want to praise you for
everything you are, God, because you are worthy, you are holy, you are God Almighty,
Lord. We love you so much. And so God, we ask this morning as we worship God, it
wouldn't be about us. It wouldn't be, we wouldn't even be in the equation, Lord,
but our vision would be full of you and only you, God, to praise you in your holy
name for what you've done and who you are. So God, bless us this morning as we
continue to study your word, speak to us, and encourage us, Lord, on how we can
worship you better as we live our life here on this earth to your glory. We love
you so much. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
All right. We are in Revelation chapter 5. We're going to be starting in verse 11.
Looking through to verse 14 this morning, so let's go ahead and read that for
context. Again, we're right in the middle of John's experience in heaven,
experiencing the worship that is taking place right there in God's throne room.
So verse 11, he says, then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the
throne and also of the living creatures and the elders. Their number was countless
thousands plus thousands of thousands. And they said with a loud voice,
worthy is the lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom
and strength and honor and glory and blessing. I heard every creature in
heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say blessing
and honor and glory and power be to the one seated on the throne and to the lamb
forever and ever. The four living creatures said amen and the elders fell
down and worshiped. And so verse 11 here in this chapter of Revelation picks up
where John is now noticing other attendees in this worship service other
than the four living creatures and the 24 elders that he had kind of been fixated
on at this point. Now you remember the 24 elders, they represent the entire body of
Christ there in heaven worshiping God. And so as I said, he had so far been
focused as he got there in chapter four and immediately saw the throne and
immediately saw the one sitting on the throne, the glory coming from that,
the glory of God that's there. He was caught by this image of these creatures,
these four living creatures and the elders. And he had been focusing on or
observing primarily their praise and worship as the four living creatures it
says worship endlessly. And then the elders would fall down and cast their
crowns and just this ongoing presence of worship there in heaven. But then as that
worship service was taking place, he witnessed the redemptive transaction
where Jesus took the scroll and fulfilled the redemption of all mankind
and all of creation. And then again he saw the response of the four living
creatures and the elders again falling down in worship just praising God for
what he had done. Then we get to verse 11. It's almost like he like blinked and
noticed who else was in attendance at this thing, at this event, this uncountable
number of angels all around him. Notice there it says countless thousands plus
thousands of thousands. In case you think you could count them, it says
countless. It's an important note there. There was a guy once, a theologian in
early church history who counted up the angels and was like there's exactly this
many. And I don't remember the number. It was some insane number but
countless. Countless is pretty self-explanatory there. But this is very
similar to the experience of the shepherds at the birth of Jesus. You guys
remember that story early in the Gospels as the angel appeared to the
shepherds to declare that the Messiah had been born. And then it says there in
the story that suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host all
praising glory to God in the highest, right? And that word multitude there
means in the original language all of them. So you can imagine the experience
that those shepherds had out in the field, right? This angel appears and
they're afraid and the angels like hey don't be afraid bro. I got something
important to tell you. And so he tells them and then all of a sudden blink, boom.
All the angels, the countless thousands upon thousands upon thousands and
thousands, all there praising God. So this is the the same idea here, this
experience that John is having there in heaven, this number beyond counting of
the angels praising God, the largest worship service ever. Now angels are an
interesting topic biblically and over the years there have been various
different people that have claimed to have sightings of angels. They've seen
angels here or there, right? People you know now you could go on YouTube and
spend a really a ridiculous amount of time looking at that I have no personal
experience in this, right? Looking at videos people have of oh I saw an angel
in the clouds and I saw an angel here and it's always like pictures and the
angels in the clouds and there's videos of this over here and people have
pictures of angels and sometimes they see angels in their toast, right? As just
people have sightings of angels all over the place. Now many of those
sightings I think are fakes or hoaxes but some of those sightings are real
because angels are real. They are real creatures that exist. In 2019 there was a
poll of non-religious people and in that poll one in three believed, again
non-religious people believed in guardian angels. One in ten in that poll
reported having actually seen an angel. In another poll they found that 21% of
those who quote never worship in church confessed to believe in angels which is
very interesting. And then in another poll I found this really interesting even
seven percent of atheists polled in one poll professed to believe in angels. I
don't believe in God but angels yeah no I could I could I can consider that. Angels
are an interesting topic. 34 of the 66 books of the Bible mention angels that's
just over half of the books of the Bible mention angels in one form or another
and it's interesting it's 17 Old Testament books and 17 New Testament
books split right down the middle mention angels. In the Old Testament the
word angel is used 103 times and in the New Testament the word angel is seen
165 times. Now we have talked about in the past that the word angel itself in
the Greek in the New Testament writings actually simply means messenger. That's
what the word the original Greek word that is translated angel means
messenger and that word technically can refer to either a human messenger or a
supernatural messenger and so when we see that word especially in Revelation
where he said to the angel of the church at Ephesus and then in chapter 1 where
he said talking about angels there there's like it could be this
supernatural angel which I believe is taking place in the beginning of
Revelation 1 but then as he starts to talk about deliver these messages to the
angels of the churches some think that that's referring to like the pastor of
the church or the lead elder or an actual courier who has taken the letter.
Anyways there's there's some some disagreement on that but we do see that
that's this word messenger is both used to refer to human a human messengers and
angelic beings that we commonly refer to as angels and throughout the book of
Revelation when we do see the word angel it is often referring to what we would
understand as these supernatural beings these supernatural messengers whose
purpose is to praise God in heaven and we see that over and over again but also
sometimes to do God's bidding here on earth. Now angels they're they're
beings created by God to do God's will that's what we see throughout scripture
they do God's will wherever God would send them and they do that according to
his will at all times. Now angels were surrounding Jesus throughout his life we
saw angels there in Bethlehem at the birth of Jesus we see angels ministering
to Jesus when he was in the wilderness during his temptation we see angels are
the ones that moved the stone from his tomb at his resurrection and just
angels were everywhere supernatural beings these angels were everywhere
present in Jesus's life while he was here on earth. Now what is interesting
about angels is most of the time they're invisible we can't see them which is
probably a good thing because in scripture every time they do appear
visibly the first thing they have to say is don't be afraid that's the first
thing out of their mouth because something about their visible presence is
frightening to mankind is scary and so they always say don't be afraid and some
of that might come from not just their presence but but even knowledge of who
they were because angels are kind of like God's first police if you will they
kept man out of the garden after the fall with a flaming sword they were
visited Abraham Abraham talked to them and it says that he fell in fear when he
saw them but then he did invite them over for dinner we see angels serving
as God's dispensers of judgment in Sodom and Gomorrah angels are the ones that
sprung Peter out of jail in Acts chapter 12 and so they're real they're
active they're present but not always visible now I think they're invisible
when they are here working often because of man's propensity to worship that
which inspires awe that which is supernatural that which is almost too
much to behold or unexplainable and so I think that's why angels are mostly
invisible because man they see an angel they want to worship it oh you're some
supernatural being I'm gonna fall down at your feet and worship you which
incidentally I think is the source of most of the cults in the world today
some demonic being appearing to somebody posing as an angel and poof well it was
the angel Moroni right and so now you have Mormonism and it's it's a cult and
so many other faiths have sprung from false angels appearing to people but as
a species as a human species will worship angels some of us get tied up in
worshiping saints we'll worship pretty much anything besides God you know we
will find anything to put before us to worship but we struggle sometimes
getting to that point of just worshiping God with true worship and it's not that
that means we're messed up or we're some you know hopeless people because even
John the Apostle was tempted to worship an angel we see it in Revelation chapter
22 where after the angel has been revealing these things on behalf of
Jesus to John throughout this whole book here it tells us that John fell down to
worship at the foot of the angel who was showing them these things and then the
angels like don't do that don't worship me I'm your fellow servant worship God
and him alone and so John struggled to that as well but for reasons that can be
good or bad it's just we as mankind sometimes feel like we have to go to
middle management first right we feel like we can't go to God directly I mean
he's God right he's busy he's running existence and so like we have to like
make an appointment with a secretary first or we you know and this is where
in Catholicism there's an idea there that like don't bother Jesus go talk to
his mom and so they're pray to Mary first right and it's like no Jesus is
available he's God he's accessible to all of us at all times but sometimes we
feel like well we can't go straight to the boss you know and I remember early
in my days here working at the church when I first came on staff at Hosanna I
was running junior high ministry and so my hair was always dyed different colors
it was blue it was green it was yellow you know I had earrings in my ears I was
just I was a junior high pastor right it's like I kind of fit the fit the
bill there but I remember I had a very like I'm gonna go straight to the boss
attitude and our assistant pastor at the time pastor Ken Van Mersbergen he was my
boss he was my direct report but anytime like I didn't feel like he was like
hearing me I would bypass him and go to Pashogary all the time and it would just
make him so mad at me you know and I learned you know respect and chain of
authority at that point but but some of us don't struggle with that but a lot of
us do we we have to we have to go through the steps we can't go to God
directly or we feel like we can't go to God directly and so Satan will put stuff
in front of us it's like oh worship this worship this worship this worship this
and it's everything but God sometimes now Daniel in his book the book of
Daniel he refers to angels as watchers watchers and that's an interesting
phrase because you think well if they're watchers what are they watching you have
any idea it's us they're watching us they're watching you and me they are
curiously interested in what goes on on this earth here and we see that
throughout scripture and and as watchers they're kind of like heavens
surveillance teams right if you will they're they're they're they're
checking out what's going on in this earth and you know I just want to
encourage us to all think about that for a moment you know God is omnipotent God
is everywhere God sees everything but the angels are also watching to see what
God is doing in and through our lives but this uncountable number of watchers
is watching you and me and for some that brings comfort right oh the angels are
watching out for me that's that's so comfortable other of us are like oh no
they saw me do that they saw me do what you know and so it's it's it's it's
worrisome for us I read a quote that said secret sin on earth is open scandal
in heaven and so but as watchers that the greatest thing that the angels are
interested in and what we're gonna see is a part of why they're worshipping God
and what their worship of God is all about the thing that that is of greatest
interest to them is the salvation that God has extended to you and me in 1st
Peter chapter 1 verse 10 it says this concerning this salvation the prophets
who prophesied about the grace that would come to you searched and
carefully investigated they inquired into what time or what circumstances
spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified in advance
to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow it was
revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you these things
have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by
the Holy Spirit sent from heaven angels long to catch a glimpse of these things
they long to catch a glimpse of these things why because God treats no other
being in all of creation quite the way he treats you and me we are such a
special thing to God Bible calls us the apple of his eye he has extended to us a
grace and a salvation that really doesn't extend to anything else in
creation and that is just of great interest to the angels they've heard the
prophets prophesy about the Messiah to come they heard that the Messiah would
come and die for the sins of mankind of sins of the whole world they heard about
how you would come to redeem the very world and everyone in it the very
creation that was fallen to the curse of sin they they they they heard about
this that all who would believe in Jesus would be saved and forgiven and set free
and and they they heard all of this and then they watched it take place and I
think as they were watching and in waiting and even today in some of our
lives as they're watching your life and waiting for you to respond to God I
think sometimes they wonder and they're perplexed as they watch us turn away
from the resources God has given us as they watch us turn away from the access
that we have to God through the blood of Christ and we want to put you know all
these barriers between us and God I think they're perplexed as they see us
insisting on doing things our own way and our own effort and falling on our
faces over and over and over again going but God has offered them so much so much
why why do they try and do things any other way the Bible tells us in Hebrews
that some of us had even entertained angels without knowing it think about
that right some of us have entertained angels without even knowing it so that
tells us that when angels appear to us visibly it's not always the scary don't
be afraid mode sometimes it's just somebody we've helped or somebody we've
engaged with we don't know but if you haven't yet or if you never know or if
you don't get to experience angels here on earth what Revelation 5 shows us is
you will get to in heaven you are going to be worshiping with them in heaven
they will be worshiping with you the countless numbers of angels praising God
Almighty for who he is and so what do they do in their worship look in verse
12 it starts out there and it says they said with a loud voice now I want to
stop there because I want you to notice something that is different from what
the elders did in verse 9 now if you have your your tablet or your app or
your Bible open look at verse 9 what does it tell us that the elders did in
their worship it says the elders sang a new song but here we see it says that
the angels simply said with a loud voice subtle distinction but two different
words it was the same at the birth of Christ that that time where all the
angels the multitude appeared and in were proclaiming you know glory to God
in the highest but when you go back to the Gospels there it doesn't say that
that multitude of angels sang glory to God in the highest it's the same word
that says they said they simply spoke it they simply declared it and that's what
that word said means means to declare it's just simply a spoken declaration
it's interesting that the angels aren't singing they're not singing like the
church does they're not singing like the elders do who represent the church
they're speaking they're simply speaking saying and declaring things now that's a
detail you might not notice you know as you as you read through some of this you
might overlook this because after all don't all the songs tell us that the
angels sing right every year at Christmas Hark the her herald angels
sing that's what the songs say so isn't that what the angels are doing well
those songs aren't scripture scripture is scripture and it's an interesting
contrast because when we see the angels declaring worshiping God we always see
this word that they are saying and it's an interesting contrast to the elders
who represent the church who are singing now there's only one place in
scripture incidentally where it seems to indicate angels singing and it's a
somewhat cryptic reference it's in Job chapter 38 verse 7 and it says while the
morning stars sang together that is the only place in all of scripture where it
looks like it's saying that the angels were singing rather than saying and and
again some debate whether morning stars there refers to angels or not so what is
the point right why would the angels be singing and the angels sing or to add to
that question if you notice the elders are singing to the lamb the angels are
singing about the lamb subtle difference again but an important difference I
think verse 9 the elders saying you are worthy here in verse 12 the angels
declare worthy is the lamb why the difference what is the difference I
think the difference represents this the elders who are representing the church
representing you and me representing the redeemed we have something to sing
about we have something to to declare through music and song and vocals we
have something to sing about that the angels don't the church the elders
represented us they have been redeemed they have been saved from their lost
sinful corrupted state they have been washed by the blood of Christ their
price has been paid by his sacrifice they have been saved from the pit they
have been saved from their selves they have been saved from the curse of sin
they have been redeemed and it's the same for you and I today you see the
angels have no personal experience of this type of salvation they were created
by God and and the angels have never been through that situation of being
redeemed from sin all who have experienced this salvation you and I we
we know this this moment of being set free we know the recognition that this
is who I was in this gross sinful disgusting state and God did all the
work to save me and redeem me and it's just through faith I am forgiven right
that is something to sing about and praise about the angels they don't know
that experience Spurgeon said this it's superstitious to worship angels but it
is proper to love them how free from envy the angels were Christ did not come
from heaven to save their peers when they fell when Satan the mighty angel
dragged with him a third part of the stars of heaven Christ did not stoop
from his throne to die for them he left them to be reserved in chains and
darkness until the last great day yet angels did not envy men either how free
too they were from pride they were not ashamed to come and tell the news of
Christ's birth to humble shepherds mark well how they told the story and you
will love them too but the point of this and the reason I'm bringing this out
here is you and I are not angels so sing okay praise God sing out to him in
worship right the fact that God is who he is is not simply a statement of fact
for us it's an experience we have experienced as his children right you
we've met people in life who who try and explain an experience that they've never
had and you could tell if you've been through it right you've been through
something and someone's trying to say well this is what it's like and you're
like you've never actually experienced that have you you know you may have the
facts right you may have an accurate description of things but you haven't
quite experienced what I've experienced years ago when we had a Sunday night
ministry here at Hosanna called eternity now and that was one of those
opportunities where pastor Gary yet this let this crazy young guy named Nathan
kind of carte blanche do what he wants with this night and so I just was like
oh we're gonna have like concerts and we're gonna do all these crazy things
and and and and he was just supported that I'm just I'm so blessed you know
looking back on it I'm like wow what a risk he took but still it was like it was
it was a wonderful time where God was doing this amazing work and the other
day we were in a leadership meeting we're talking about these times where
we've stepped out of our comfort zone to to show people that God loves them right
we're talking about I'm having a heart that is outward focused right because
sometimes we could get inward focus as Christians and I was telling the story
of the you know some people that would come to Sunday nights would come
specifically because I was very transparent possibly too transparent but
I was very transparent about who I was before I was a Christian and the
struggles I went through and the things I did and and at the time though I would
have people come up to me after every service and go wow you really get it
because you said you did XYZ and that's what I'm in right now or that's what
I'm struggling with and so it gave me a bridge to people now that is not to
diminish the fact that hey everybody go out and have horrible experiences so you
can connect with people evangelistically that's not what I'm
saying but the idea is is that these angels here had never experienced
salvation and I think that's a part of what they're doing in their declaration
they're just simply stating a fact of truth now it's an important fact it's a
real fact it's a valid fact but they're just declaring what has been done we're
the ones who have been redeemed we've been saved we have something to sing
about we don't just observe worship we don't just see God and speak of
objective truth we've experienced his salvation personally we recognize the
pit that we have been saved from and and and quite honestly as humans we are the
ones that have the capacity to lose the wonder of God and salvation we're the
ones that have the capacity to lose that we we're the ones who often need to be
reminded about who God is and what he's done and then we marvel all over again
at what Jesus has done for us and then when we find ourselves in that place
where we're marveling all over again right we come back to that place where
we're falling down in worship and we're just singing all over again but for the
angels the truth of God is simply an ever-present unchanging truth of reality
it's not something you'd be like wow it's like duh he is worthy worthy is the
lamb it's just it's just fact of reality and so their declaration of who God is
is is not necessarily born of a recognition of what God did for them in
their sinful state and then having an emotionally or experientially moved
response to God for that but rather it's just a straightforward statement of fact
worthy is the lamb worthy is the lamb now again it's not to say that there is
an awe and reverence in that statement of fact I'm sure there was awe and
reverence and all of that but there isn't that almost shocked at what he
did response that we can sometimes have right and I think sometimes when we
realize God saved me oh man the emotion the the the the singing that could well
up from that is just powerful and what it is they declare so matter of factly
what it is that the angels are declaring here as if it's an impossible notion to
even consider otherwise we see in verse 12 they said with a loud voice worthy is
the lamb who is slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing worthy is the lamb that's just fact that
there's no negotiation in that fact again sometimes we're the ones that are
like you are worthy question mark and the angels are like worthy is the lamb
that's just period that's just truth they are declaring God's worth and
singing about it when they say that worthy is the lamb now back in verse 9
the elders use the same word right they said you were worthy to take the scroll
and so we see worthy in the elders worship this acknowledgement and the
singing of his worthiness and now we see the declaration from the angels of the
worthiness of God in both places later on in verse 14 it's gonna tell us that
as the four living creatures said amen the elders then fall down and worshiped
now I'm pointing that out because this word worthy and the word worshiped they
have the same root they the the English words come from the same route they have
the same etymological root if you want the fancy words for it now the
English word that we have today worship when we say worship it comes from two
old English words a word for worth and then the word spece worth spece this was
the old English word that our modern word worship comes from now that word
spece in the old old English was meant the condition or the existence of
something that word eventually became the word ship and so when we say
friendship I have friendship with you what I'm saying is that that you exist
in the condition of friend with me friendship right that's this idea that
we have of that and then even in today's modern slang when we weren't where we're
gonna ship people what are we saying we're declaring that oh we think they're
dating we think they're in a relationship we're shipping these people
so but this idea of of worth spece people used to say hey let's worth
spece this object because we want to ascribe to it worth that word worth
the spece eventually got shortened to worth ship and then it eventually got
shortened all the way down to were ship and that's the modern English word that
we have today so the idea of this word is imputing assigning to acknowledging
the worth or value of something or someone when we worship something what
we're doing is deeming it worthy and we worship that which we deem worthy and so
the important point here is that we should be people who worship God for no
other reason than he is worth it he is worthy of praise no other reason
sometimes we get caught up right oh God I want to worship to today because you
did this thing for me God I want to worship you today because right we we
we have these values that we assign to things and if you do this God I will
worship you and if you perform this way I will worship you and that's not true
worship we worship God for what he's done yes but we worship God for who he
is just because he is worthy of it and when we do that we find ourselves
worshiping God regardless of whether we get anything out of it because worship
again is not for us it's not about what we get it's not to make us feel good
it's for him it's a response to a worthy God that's why we worship but again
that's not to say that we don't get anything out of worship because it does
affect us it does change us it does move us but that's not our reason for
worship AW tozer said this whoever seeks God as a means toward a desired
end will not find God for God will not be used so worshiping it's
imputing it's subscribing it's assigning it's declaring worth to God or the
worth of God that's what we do when we worship now in verse 14 if you drop down
real quick you'll see that word worship there as the angels are worshiping God
and that word worshiped in the Greek is proskeneo it's an interesting word that
we get an idea of the attitude of worship as we're ascribing worth to God
because this word proskeneo means to kiss the ground when prostate
prostrated before a superior it's the idea of bowing down before the king and
kissing the ground or kissing their feet right I'm an extreme act of humility
there but many scholars today they look at this word proskeneo and they simply
render it down to the idea of to kiss toward is this idea of proskeneo this
idea that we get this word worshiping from in verse 14 it's an intimate word
is the point it's a loving term it's a term of relationship is what how it's
rendered here there's reverence in that there's reverence for the authority and
reverence for you know the the authority of the one you're worshiping but it goes
even deeper than just a reverence it goes all the way down to directing
affection to someone that you're in love with that's the idea of worshiping and
it ties back to the idea of worth and think about that next time you get the
opportunity to worship God we're gonna close service today in worship right
think about that you're praising him with your heart bowed in humility you're
praising him bowed down in honor and reverence to him yes but even more so
as you're bowed down with that with that heart of humility it's you directing
intimate affection to the love of your life that's worship that's worship of
God for some this concept is a little uncomfortable it's too close it's too
familiar right sometimes we can find ourselves like we're we're we're more
comfortable or we might prefer to remain in this whole your God I'm your servant
relationship right your king I'm the subject like let's let's keep it there
why because there's a comfortable amount comfortable amount of space between us
and him when we keep it in that place now yes he is king yes we are his subject
yes he is God but when we don't cross the line into that intimate expression of
love for the one who is the love of our life what we're really doing is yeah
we're giving him 97% but we're holding back 3% John 15 15 says this Jesus
speaking I do not call you servants anymore because a servant doesn't know
what his master is doing I have called you friends because I have made known to
you everything I have heard from my father you did not choose me but I
chose you what Jesus is saying to us his people is he's like look you're my
friends yes I'm God yes I'm your king yes I'm your Lord yes I'm your master
all true but I've called you my friends come closer come closer don't don't keep
this distance between me and you even in worship no like ascribe the worth to me
that that that I'm your friend that I'm I'm I'm you know I'm so deep and close
and come closer again AW tozer said the average Christian thinks of God as being
at a safe distance and often looking away and I think maybe he's like that
for some of you here today that God is a bit distance distant in your life maybe
even in your worship you hold him at arm's length you know you you haven't
stepped past of your king on the subject you haven't stepped into that intimacy
because it feels safe for you maybe you've been wounded at some point in
life through through an intimate relationship with somebody you're like
nah I'm good I'm not gonna really give you my heart because I'm worried what
you're gonna do with it God is saying trust me God is saying worship me come
close to me and I could speak from personal experience when you do that you
experience a love that surpasses everything you you experience a depth
of relationship that that that just goes beyond comprehension that when you
finally let God in or more importantly when you finally step in to what God has
for you it's beautiful it's beautiful so Jesus is saying he's like I want
friendship I want closeness I want intimacy I want to go past duty I want
to go past the rigidity in our relationship you know it's it's yeah I'm
your king but I'm also your groom and in you church you're my bride you're my
bride so so kiss towards me a scribe worth to me in worship and so let Jesus
be close to you don't be afraid of him he'll never forsake you he'll never
leave you alone Jesus loves you so much and so we see the angels here imputing
or ascribing to Jesus several things that he is worthy of receiving it says
and that word receiving means things that that that he has come into
possession of because he is worth it right by taking that scroll and so they
ascribe power they say you are the one worthy worthy as a lamb who is slaughtered
to receive power that word power there means controlling influence over reality
Jesus is worthy of that why because he created reality riches that word doesn't
just mean material wealth or having money it means an abundance of everything
Jesus you were worth everything you were worth having abundance of everything in
the context of our worship God you are worthy of having abundance of my focus
and abundance of my attention and abundance of my priority and abundance
of my money and abundance of my time and abundance of my skills you are worthy
of that Lord they say wisdom next that means a transcendent capacity to apply
knowledge and experience correctly I love how correctly is at the end of that
definition right that he is the one who knows how to do what is right in all
times in all ways what does that mean to us in our worship that we're trusting
him and following him and we feel God through his word through speaking to us
is leading us to do a thing and we're like I'm not so sure about that guess
who's right God because he has all wisdom they say strength next that means
an exceptional capability to get done what needs to get done worthy is the lamb
to receive what all strength he claimed the ownership the title deed of the
earth he purchased everything he shed his blood for you and me we've responded
to him in faith in that and worthy is is is him to have all the strength to get
one that needs to get done we couldn't get done our salvation he did we can't
get done the impossibilities of reconciliation in our in our
relationships or marriages and reconciliation in in in at work or
whatever it may be he can though he has the exceptional capability to get done
what needs to get done and that's why we worship him to ascribe that worth to
him we love you God we're so grateful for what you can do honor that means of
great value of course we ascribe to him of how much value he is glory that means
splendor and greatness and a recognition of prestige blessing that means to be
well spoken of worthy is a lamb to receive what to be well spoken of and
that comes down to a lot of not just what we say but how we live our lives
right we say I worship God I ascribe to him the worth that that he is you know
he he exists in a state of worthiness in my life and so okay well how does your
life your behavior how you're living speak to that does your life say that
that that God is worth being well spoken of or do your behavior speak ill of the
Lord it's something to think about but it's interesting here because this is a
sevenfold ascription of all the things that Jesus deserves and has but things
he didn't receive the first time he came to earth a sevenfold ascription
right that seven again coming up in Revelation where that that concept of
seven is this biblical idea of completeness this is a complete
ascription of God's worthiness everything that he is do and interestingly
enough you go through this lesson you read through his life here on earth and
he didn't get any of that he laid it all aside but now in verse 13 we get to the
third song I heard every creature in heaven on earth under the earth on the
sea and everything in them say blessing and honor and glory and power be to the
one seated on the throne and to the lamb forever and ever so first we saw the
living creatures and the elders worshiping God then we saw the angels
worshiping God and now it's basically all of creation the creation he redeemed
from the curse of sin right every creature in heaven on earth under the
earth on the sea and everything in them everything everything in all of creation
here on earth is worshiping God so we saw the elders worshiping God in
response to their redemption right for what God has done we see the angels
worshiping God for who he is he is God Almighty he has rulership and claim over
everything and then here creation is now worshiping him really focused on the
relationship between the lamb and the father and this is kind of like the
grand finale right the whole worship service has been building up to this but
it's interesting they say blessing and honor and glory and power be to the one
seated on the throne and to the lamb you see the acknowledgment of the father and
the son this is fulfillment of Philippians chapter 2 in that sense
where the lamb who is slaughtered who paid the price to redeem everything is
now going to be worshiped as God because he is God right in Philippians chapter 2
verse 9 it says for this reason God highly exalted him speaking of Jesus and
gave him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every
knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father so everything
everyone every possible thing in existence is going to acknowledge who
Jesus is one day that he is a Lord over all creation that he is the only
deserving one everyone's gonna confess that you'll confess that I'll confess
that so will every atheist confess that every agnostic confess that every living
thing will confess that all will confess all will bow because Jesus is Lord now
you can do that now voluntarily as a recipient of salvation and being adopted
and part of God adopted into and part of God's family or you could do it later
forcibly as a member of the conquered enemy you can bow now before you're
banished out of God's presence forever or you can or you can bow then be right
before you're banished out of God's presence or you could bow now and just
give him the recognition the worth that he has in receiving that free gift of
salvation that he offers you and then enjoy his presence forever as we're
seeing here in Revelation but you will bow you will confess that is the reality
either way every knee will bow and every tongue will confess but what I want to
notice here is the worship it's directed again at the one seated on the throne
and to the lamb so we've been through chapter four and five weaving in and out
of the picture of the Trinity I've seen here in heaven right when he first got
there to heaven he sees a throne he sees the glory on the throne it says glory
emanating from the throne and then he describes it with Jasper and carnelian
which was a nod to the Messiah and the sacrificed lamb of God right and then
right before that throne he says I see these lampstands that are the Holy
Spirit right and so we see this picture of God and his tri-unity existing there
and then we see a separation of that when we get to chapter five where the
one on the throne has a scroll in his hand and then the lamb steps up to grab
that scroll so now we see the father and the son separately in their in their
persons they're in heaven and here we see the worship going to both of them as
God God the father and God the son being worshiped together as God and again we
don't have time to go into an exhaustive teaching on the Trinity there's a lot of
that on YouTube pastor Mike winger has some great videos on that as well if you
want to look at those but the idea here is we see elements of the tri-unity of
God and the glory going to both the father and both the son separate but as
one God and that's the final lesson here that I get out of this for worship is
for worship to be true worship it has to have the right object it has to have the
right object and Jesus God the son is God and deserves the worship but Jesus
God the son is not the father he is not the spirit but he exists in perfect
unity with God the father and God the spirit together as one God and if you're
going man that's a little bit hard to wrap my brain around welcome to the
club okay the Trinity the triune existence of the Godhead is something
that the scripture teaches and it also teaches simultaneously that God the
father God the son God the spirit are separate personas how that renders
together I don't fully know but I believe God's Word and I believe it
renders together in God's infinite perfection and knowledge and my little
puny human brain I'm gonna stand here and go God if I can't understand it it
must not be true I don't understand necessarily how a jet engine works does
that mean jet engines don't exist no but the point is here is that scripture is
very clear that there is one God and very clear that God the father and Jesus
the son and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons and we see pictures of that here
in Revelation in the very throne room of heaven and so verse 14 will close on
this the four living creatures said amen and the elders fell down and worshiped
you know the worship that God accepts is the worship that God defines and
instantly is the worship that God deserves and that worship is worship of
himself and nothing else it's worship of God Almighty as he is defined and
described himself in his word you could redefine God all you want you can
disagree with me all you want but if your definition of who God is is in
disagreement with his word then you are in idolatry you have created a God of
your own making God's Word defines who he is God's Word tells us who to worship
and it is God himself so when you worship are you thinking of God who he
is what he's done or are you thinking of other things right I've been there it's
easy to get distracted in worship it's a labor to be like focus right when you
worship are you trying to please God are you trying to please someone else right
sometimes we could get caught up and especially you know maybe you're single
and hey that person over there I think is cute so I'm gonna try and sing you
know I want them to want them to hear my worship you know no you know the memes
there's all these memes online of you know high school boys how they impress
the high school girls and they're carrying like as many chairs as possible
to set up in the in the in the youth room are you trying to please God in
your worship is he your soul and only focus it's not about I hope the worship
leader hears me and asks me to be on the worship team no it's God my praise goes
to you and only you and it's for you in the context of a life of worship what is
your life about what are you living for are you living for God his glory are you
living for other things what holds the most worth to you because that is
ultimately what you will worship I had the opportunity to talk to a young man
the other day he was a door-to-door salesman and of course last week and I'm
challenging you guys to pray this prayer God give me somebody to talk to about
you or to encourage in the faith right because he'll bring them right to your
door and representing this company and I step out and in the conversation he's
like you know hey what do you do I'm like I'm a pastor and he's like I just
gave my life to Jesus three months ago and so then we stood there for an hour
as I got to just encourage this young man on business right I used to be a
businessman I was an entrepreneur and he was like yeah I really struggle with
chasing the dollar and trying to live for Jesus and I'm like hey let's talk
about that you know and an hour goes by and I just get to pray with him and
encourage him on how to be a Christian in his in the world of sales right and
it was just this wonderfully beautiful thing where I was like look money is not
the thing to worship it's gonna let you down you can't take it with you the nice
car the boat the house you can't take it with you God's not against money don't
don't misunderstand me there I think the kingdom of God needs Christian
millionaires because those are the people who are building hospitals and
orphanages and funding missionaries and so much but but the people that God will
raise up and give those type of resources to are also the people who say
money's nothing God is my priority right and it's like what is of worth to you in
your life because that's the thing that's gonna get your worship and the
reality the truth the statement of fact of of all existence is Jesus is worthy
Jesus is worthy he is the one that gets our worship he the word that is God that
came to this earth became flesh dwelt among us he is worthy he deserves our
worship he deserves the acceptance and the acknowledgement that all his that
all is his he's the one that that has all the power and the riches and the
wisdom and the strength and the honor and the glory and the blessing but even
more than just the statement of fact even more than just the acknowledgement
that that he is worthy even more than that because he bled and died for you
and me because he was slaughtered to pay the price for our sin and to redeem us
from all the curse of sin and to redeem all of creation back to him from the
power and the control of Satan because he's done all of that we go beyond way
beyond a simple acknowledgement of truth we go beyond a simple statement of fact
we fall down we bow down in humility and thankfulness and sing to him from the
depth of our hearts in gratitude for what he has done for us because of who
he is as those who have experienced the truth those who have experienced the
salvation those who have been brought in not just as subjects not just as
servants but close immediate intimate family and friend of Jesus and that's
what we worship him for that's why we worship him that's how we worship him
it's so as we close today's service and worship I just want to challenge all you
guys don't just sing a song some of you are like amen you're out the door as
fast as possible maybe stay today maybe stay today now if you gotta go you gotta
go I understand that but but if you don't have to leave maybe join together
with the body here at hosanna this morning and ascribe the worth that is
to your God amen let's pray or let's pray and then we'll praise father we
love you we thank you God for who you are we thank you for what you've done
God you are worthy Lord and as the angels declared worthy is the lamb Lord
you were worthy to receive all power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and blessing Lord as all of creation cries out to you in worship
that that all the blessing and the honor and glory and power go to you God Lord
we we we join with that acknowledgement but God more so we sing out from the
depths of our heart in gratitude for our salvation Lord we don't just
acknowledge you as God we've experienced you as our God we don't just declare the
facts of who you are Lord we've experienced who you are and we are so
grateful for that is so God may we be people who sing loudly to you and in
that we declare everything about what you've done and who you are God Lord
that we would bow our hearts and that we would bow our minds that we would be low
in humility acknowledging who you are God but not in the separation of of of
king and servant only but in acknowledgement of that and the fact
Lord that you call us friend and so Lord may we come close to you to praise you
to experience that intimacy that you desire with us your children God we love
you so much bless our lives Lord as we draw close to you teach us how to live
as we draw close to you guide us as we draw close to you lead us as we draw
close to you and God help us not to stray by keeping you as the sole focus
of our worship Lord we love you we thank you it's in Jesus name we pray amen all
right let's worship guys