Sermon Title: Prepare for change; Prepare to Change (Embrace The Worth of God)
Revelation 7:9-12 - The Eternal Church
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
10 And they cried out in a loud voice:“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures.
They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
The absolute highest station in the human life is achieved when the true believer is found worshipping at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is simply no higher calling and no greater honor, than to bow and kneel before the throne in true worship of the living God.
“I live to worship You!”
The eternal and ultimate form of God’s church – as revealed in Revelation 7:9-12 – is constituted by the great multitude “from every nation, tribe, people and language” who “fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God.”
The reality of the eternal church must be the vision of the present church; and of every true worshiper of the living God.
To truly respond to the love of God is to live a life of conscious and conscientious worship unto God – for a lifetime of eternity.
We incorrectly use the word ‘worship’ to talk only about the music and song portion of a church service.
Worship is so much more.
The word ‘worship’ is rooted in the old English word: “worth-ship” – which really speaks to a life dedicated to what, or who, is of ‘worth’ to the worshiper.
To ‘worship’ God is to hold God as absolute, categorical and complete ‘worth’ in your life – which results in a life of utter reverence for God, submission to His Will, obedience to His Word, and active participation in His Work.
Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us in John 4:23-24:
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in Truth.”
That in order to be a true worshiper of the living God, we must be willing to be transformed by the Holy Spirit, and be found wholly in Christ.
In fact, God specifically ‘seeks’ true worshipers – those who have prioritized the spirit over the flesh; and the Truth of God over the ways of the world; in constant engagement with the “Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9) and absolute surrendered-ness to the Person of Christ – who is the Truth (Ref: John 14:6)
Thus, in order to truly embrace the worth of God; we must be transformed by the Holy Spirit and be found in Christ; loving the Lord our God with “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” (Mark 12:30)
The true worship of the living God requires the progressive work of the Holy Spirit as the result of the finished atoning work of the Christ Jesus our Lord in the life of the believer; and the utmost desire of the believer to respond to His love with absolute and complete love for Him.
When Christ commands us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’” (Mark 12:30); He is revealing to us that our desire (heart); essence (soul); impulse (mind); and endeavours (strength) must be activated in singular love as our response to His Love.
In this, ‘worship’ is a life lived in constantly and conscientiously being present to God through Christ and PUTTING HIM FIRST IN EVERYTHING – by actively using His unique gifts of expressing our love, desire and devotion to connect with God, and live in His Eternal, Kingdom Reality – all for His Glory and Kingdom sake.
God – alone - is worthy of our worship!
Indeed, God is truly and thoroughly worthy of our worship for He “created all things, and by (His) Will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4:11)
The Psalmist David captures the essence of why the Lord is worthy of our lives when He exhorts us in Psalm 95:
“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.”
Our God is worthy not only because He is the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, He is the Rock of our Salvation - our Saviour!
“The Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods” not because the Psalmist is comparing Him with other gods, for there is none other – “the LORD is one”! (Deuteronomy 6:4); He is the great God because His Love for us is great, and His Salvation over us is mighty to save us from the bondages and wages of sin.
Indeed, the Lord is the One, True, Living God!
The human being’s only response to the immense greatness of God’s Salvation and Providence is to do as David exhorts us in Psalm 95:6-7a: “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God!”
Do you embrace the Worth of God who has saved you; whose Greatness is established in His Sovereign Will and Work that we are eternally saved and infinitely blessed?
Is God’s worth to you based on the reality that He is the God who saved you? That His Salvation is upon your life?
To the eternal and ultimate Church, God’s Salvation through Christ is the key focus and foundation of their very existence.
Revelation 5:9-12 reveals:
And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering … … ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.
In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
His Eternal Church absolutely acknowledges and believes in Christ the Saviour of the World.
Do you have this absolute belief – even to the point of dying to yourself, in order to follow Christ?
Is God’s Salvation through Christ worth everything to you?
Do you put Christ first in everything?
If even the angels consider Christ to be of infinite worth to them - that the focus of their entire existence is to ascribe “power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise” to Christ Jesus as Lord and God; we - who are created for His Pleasure and saved by Him - must not only learn from their example, we should lead them in our examples of worshipping our Creator and Saviour!
Doesn’t God deserve our absolute and complete worship?
Most definitely!
If you struggle with the questions:
Why do I not consider Christ of infinite worth to me?
Why am I struggling with living a life and lifetime of worship unto God?
Remember that on its own, the mind is inadequate in bringing your existence to bear into the reality that God is truly worthy of your life of worship.
You must resolutely activate not only your mind, but also your heart, your soul and your strength if you truly desire to worship the Lord! (Remember Mark 12:30!)
That “God is Spirit” (John 4:24) informs us that our failure in properly worship Him is never a cognitive problem; but rather a spiritual problem that can be solved only and simply by believing that Christ is both Lord and God.
To this, our Lord Jesus has this invitation and instruction for those of us who struggle with embracing the worth of God:
“Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:27-28)
Brethren, stop doubting and believe in the Lordship and Divinity of Christ Jesus our Lord.
“Put your fingers here and see my hands” is Christ’s invitation for us to seek Him; draw close to Him; connect with Him – which we can only if we “stop doubting and believe” – that our Lord Jesus is truly the most valuable treasure in our lives; and faith is real currency that will guarantee our eternal lives in fellowship with the God who created us, cares for us, saved us and loves us forevermore!
Come what may, embrace God’s Worth; loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength for all eternity!
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Indeed, down at Your feet, oh Lord is the most high place; for the highest station that I may ever achieve in life; my highest calling and greatest honor – is to love and worship You, Lord Jesus, with all my heart, soul, mind and strength!
May I daily bow and kneel before Your throne; for truly, I live to worship You.
Lord, I declare that You alone, are God; and that only You reign in all of my life.
Grant me courage, strength, wisdom and resolve to put You first in everything!
Lord, You alone worship of my praise, worship and adoration – for when I call upon you, I am saved! (Ref: 2 Samuel 22:4, Acts 2:21, Romans 10:13)
Forgive my doubts about Your infinite and immense worth, Lord Jesus; and by Your Holy Spirit, help me live my life constantly and conscientiously present before You; and actively using Your unique gift to express my unreserved and utter love, desire and devotion to remain in You, and live in Your Kingdom reality – for the glory of my heavenly Father.
Teach me to worship You more and more each day, Jesus – for You are my Lord and God!
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Revelation 7:9-12 - The Eternal Church
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
10 And they cried out in a loud voice:“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures.
They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
The absolute highest station in the human life is achieved when the true believer is found worshipping at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is simply no higher calling and no greater honor, than to bow and kneel before the throne in true worship of the living God.
“I live to worship You!”
The eternal and ultimate form of God’s church – as revealed in Revelation 7:9-12 – is constituted by the great multitude “from every nation, tribe, people and language” who “fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God.”
The reality of the eternal church must be the vision of the present church; and of every true worshiper of the living God.
To truly respond to the love of God is to live a life of conscious and conscientious worship unto God – for a lifetime of eternity.
We incorrectly use the word ‘worship’ to talk only about the music and song portion of a church service.
Worship is so much more.
The word ‘worship’ is rooted in the old English word: “worth-ship” – which really speaks to a life dedicated to what, or who, is of ‘worth’ to the worshiper.
To ‘worship’ God is to hold God as absolute, categorical and complete ‘worth’ in your life – which results in a life of utter reverence for God, submission to His Will, obedience to His Word, and active participation in His Work.
Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us in John 4:23-24:
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in Truth.”
That in order to be a true worshiper of the living God, we must be willing to be transformed by the Holy Spirit, and be found wholly in Christ.
In fact, God specifically ‘seeks’ true worshipers – those who have prioritized the spirit over the flesh; and the Truth of God over the ways of the world; in constant engagement with the “Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9) and absolute surrendered-ness to the Person of Christ – who is the Truth (Ref: John 14:6)
Thus, in order to truly embrace the worth of God; we must be transformed by the Holy Spirit and be found in Christ; loving the Lord our God with “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” (Mark 12:30)
The true worship of the living God requires the progressive work of the Holy Spirit as the result of the finished atoning work of the Christ Jesus our Lord in the life of the believer; and the utmost desire of the believer to respond to His love with absolute and complete love for Him.
When Christ commands us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’” (Mark 12:30); He is revealing to us that our desire (heart); essence (soul); impulse (mind); and endeavours (strength) must be activated in singular love as our response to His Love.
In this, ‘worship’ is a life lived in constantly and conscientiously being present to God through Christ and PUTTING HIM FIRST IN EVERYTHING – by actively using His unique gifts of expressing our love, desire and devotion to connect with God, and live in His Eternal, Kingdom Reality – all for His Glory and Kingdom sake.
God – alone - is worthy of our worship!
Indeed, God is truly and thoroughly worthy of our worship for He “created all things, and by (His) Will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4:11)
The Psalmist David captures the essence of why the Lord is worthy of our lives when He exhorts us in Psalm 95:
“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.”
Our God is worthy not only because He is the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, He is the Rock of our Salvation - our Saviour!
“The Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods” not because the Psalmist is comparing Him with other gods, for there is none other – “the LORD is one”! (Deuteronomy 6:4); He is the great God because His Love for us is great, and His Salvation over us is mighty to save us from the bondages and wages of sin.
Indeed, the Lord is the One, True, Living God!
The human being’s only response to the immense greatness of God’s Salvation and Providence is to do as David exhorts us in Psalm 95:6-7a: “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God!”
Do you embrace the Worth of God who has saved you; whose Greatness is established in His Sovereign Will and Work that we are eternally saved and infinitely blessed?
Is God’s worth to you based on the reality that He is the God who saved you? That His Salvation is upon your life?
To the eternal and ultimate Church, God’s Salvation through Christ is the key focus and foundation of their very existence.
Revelation 5:9-12 reveals:
And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and with Your blood You purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering … … ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.
In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
His Eternal Church absolutely acknowledges and believes in Christ the Saviour of the World.
Do you have this absolute belief – even to the point of dying to yourself, in order to follow Christ?
Is God’s Salvation through Christ worth everything to you?
Do you put Christ first in everything?
If even the angels consider Christ to be of infinite worth to them - that the focus of their entire existence is to ascribe “power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise” to Christ Jesus as Lord and God; we - who are created for His Pleasure and saved by Him - must not only learn from their example, we should lead them in our examples of worshipping our Creator and Saviour!
Doesn’t God deserve our absolute and complete worship?
Most definitely!
If you struggle with the questions:
Why do I not consider Christ of infinite worth to me?
Why am I struggling with living a life and lifetime of worship unto God?
Remember that on its own, the mind is inadequate in bringing your existence to bear into the reality that God is truly worthy of your life of worship.
You must resolutely activate not only your mind, but also your heart, your soul and your strength if you truly desire to worship the Lord! (Remember Mark 12:30!)
That “God is Spirit” (John 4:24) informs us that our failure in properly worship Him is never a cognitive problem; but rather a spiritual problem that can be solved only and simply by believing that Christ is both Lord and God.
To this, our Lord Jesus has this invitation and instruction for those of us who struggle with embracing the worth of God:
“Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:27-28)
Brethren, stop doubting and believe in the Lordship and Divinity of Christ Jesus our Lord.
“Put your fingers here and see my hands” is Christ’s invitation for us to seek Him; draw close to Him; connect with Him – which we can only if we “stop doubting and believe” – that our Lord Jesus is truly the most valuable treasure in our lives; and faith is real currency that will guarantee our eternal lives in fellowship with the God who created us, cares for us, saved us and loves us forevermore!
Come what may, embrace God’s Worth; loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength for all eternity!
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Indeed, down at Your feet, oh Lord is the most high place; for the highest station that I may ever achieve in life; my highest calling and greatest honor – is to love and worship You, Lord Jesus, with all my heart, soul, mind and strength!
May I daily bow and kneel before Your throne; for truly, I live to worship You.
Lord, I declare that You alone, are God; and that only You reign in all of my life.
Grant me courage, strength, wisdom and resolve to put You first in everything!
Lord, You alone worship of my praise, worship and adoration – for when I call upon you, I am saved! (Ref: 2 Samuel 22:4, Acts 2:21, Romans 10:13)
Forgive my doubts about Your infinite and immense worth, Lord Jesus; and by Your Holy Spirit, help me live my life constantly and conscientiously present before You; and actively using Your unique gift to express my unreserved and utter love, desire and devotion to remain in You, and live in Your Kingdom reality – for the glory of my heavenly Father.
Teach me to worship You more and more each day, Jesus – for You are my Lord and God!
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.