What on Earth Is Going On in Heaven? - Part B

The worship of God throughout the Bible is musical. Whether they were moving the Ark of the Covenant during the time of David, whether they were dancing before the Lord after the Red Sea episode in Exodus 15, the great feast days and festivals of Israel, the choir that was in the temple with musical instruments and trumpets, even in battle sometimes, music was involved. Has anyone ever told you they're afraid heaven will be boring? Some of us may think it's a silly thing to worry about, but if you ever really stop to consider what happens in heaven, the most common portrayal of heavenly activity is people sitting around on clouds strumming harps, which, to be honest, does sound kind of dull. Well, today here in Connect with Skip weekend edition, Skip Heitzig helps us figure out that there's more than harps and trumpets going on in heaven and how we'll participate in all of it. But before we start today, we do want to let you know about a timely resource available right now from connectwithskip.com. Christians can be ambushed by surprise struggles. You know how that feels.

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Visit connectwithskip.com slash offer to give online securely or call 800-922-1888. The second thing I want you to notice is the position that is assumed in worship, and from this we derive the principle worship is physical. It's not just something in the heart.

It's also physical. Look back at chapter 4, verse 9. And again in chapter 5, verse 8. Why are they doing this? Why are they falling down? Because, frankly, they're awestruck. They're awestruck, and they're so grateful, and their response is physical. They responded as ancient people would respond to royalty. If a king or queen walked in the room or you went into the throne room, you would always bow.

You would always get on the knees. And so worship here is physical. 97 times the word worship appears in the Old Testament. I was looking it up, and I discovered the normal word used from Hebrew, translated worship, is the word shacha, which means to bow down, translated worship. To bow down. It also is translated to fall, also translated to stoop or to do obeisance to. It's a physical affirmation of honor and authority and respect. Psalm 95, verse 6, is one of the most famous ones. O come, let us worship and bow down.

Shacha. Now, it's not that you have to bow down. It's not that you're not spiritual unless you bow down now. These are other expressions, as I named them to you, that you can do to enhance the physical expression of your worship. And the Bible talks about all of these. Another one is the raising of the hands. 1 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 8, Paul says, Wherever you assemble, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God.

Can I be honest with you? The first time I was in a service as a brand new Christian, I watched people doing this. I thought in my mind, what's up with this? What are they doing? It's so precious.

You know what it is? When you lift your hands, it's a sign of welcome. A child, when a child sees mom or dad, they put their hands up like, pick me up.

I welcome you into my space, my life. Adults stick out their hand to shake a hand. Again, a sign of welcome. Also, the raising of hands, I believe, speaks of surrender.

Remember the old westerns? Come out with your hands up. Law enforcement officers still want hands up when they deal with the bad guys. Because when your hands are up, you're in surrender mode. You can't do anything else when your hands are up.

You can't text message your friends. You can't write other stuff. Your hands are up.

You've got to be focused. Another position the Bible speaks about is kneeling. Psalm 95, verse 6, Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker.

Like bowing, kneeling is a sign of humility. It means I'm preoccupied. I'm preoccupied with God. He is my focus.

I'm preoccupied with Him. Another expression the Bible speaks about is dancing. I know some of you are going, I thought dancing was bad. Well, it can be. Somebody once asked me, can Christians dance?

My answer, well, some can and some can't. But I'll tell you what the Bible says about it. Psalm 149, verse 3, Let them praise His name with the dance.

Now this doesn't mean great. I'm going to go and hip hop tonight. The idea is in the context of celebration, the great feasts of Israel were accompanied by people dancing before the Lord. David danced before the Lord. In Exodus 15, Miriam and the women of Israel played the tambourine and danced before the Lord. In Ecclesiastes chapter 3, you know it well. Solomon says there is a time to weep, there's a time to laugh, there is a time to mourn, and there's a time to what? Thank you.

Dance. Right there in the Bible. Another expression is standing. Psalm 135, Praise Him, you servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord.

Now here's where I'm getting at. It's funny how in the West, here in the Western culture, we have guarded ourselves so carefully against any physical expression in worship, except for one. Sitting. That's acceptable. Yeah, Lord, I just like to sit. It's comfortable for me.

See, I think the message could be perhaps, it's really all about me, as long as I'm comfortable, instead of preoccupied with Him. Another one the Bible speaks about is the lifting of the eyes. Psalm 123, Under you I lift my eyes, that is, I look up. Jesus did this when He prayed. He lifted His eyes toward heaven. Under you I lift up my eyes, O you who dwell in the heavens.

Guess what I found? As I looked through the Scripture, closing your eyes, folding your hands, not in the Bible. Doesn't make it wrong. It just didn't make God's top five, that's all. There's tremendous freedom in all of this, but these are expressions, and the physicality of worship was, and is, I believe, experienced in heaven. Third thing I'd like you to notice about their worship is the possessions employed in worship. Notice in chapter five, verse eight, they each have a harp. And you know a harp is a musical instrument. Now again, I'll be very honest with you. The first time I read this, I wasn't too excited about it, because my mind went to the picture, great, I'm going to be sitting on a cloud with a harp, right?

All day long. Now, I don't particularly like to play harp. I don't mind hearing a harp.

I love it in the right context, I really do. I admire a great harpist or harpoonist or whatever it is. The idea for me playing a harp, it's like, I don't get it.

And so I studied this and found out that the harp is an ancient trapezoidal instrument with strings that are usually strummed with a pick. So I'm thinking, my mind goes to, huh, it sounds like a guitar. So heaven sounded a little cooler to me right now when I first found that out. And then I read this verse in the Amplified Bible, let me read it to you, and each one having a harp that is a lute or a guitar. So I thought, okay, heaven's sounding really cool right about now, especially if we can put a little pickup on it, kind of crank it a little bit. It's just my frame of reference.

Here's my point. The worship of God throughout the Bible is musical, whether they were moving the Ark of the Covenant during the time of David, whether they were dancing before the Lord after the Red Sea episode in Exodus 15, the great feast days and festivals of Israel, the choir that was in the temple with musical instruments and trumpets, even in battle sometimes, music was involved. Psalm 150 says, Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet, praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes, praise Him with loud cymbals and with clashing cymbals. So worship is musical, and I think in heaven it's going to be awesome.

It's going to be awesome. Martin Luther, sometimes he could say things like nobody else could. Martin Luther said, Next to theology, I give to music the highest place and honor. Music is the art of the prophets, the only art that can calm the agitations of the soul. It is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.

It's true, isn't it? We all love music. We play it when we work, when we're in the car, we tap to it, we move to it. It's how we're made.

It's going to be in heaven. Martin Luther also said this. Listen, this is classic. If any man despises music, as all fanatics do, for him I have no liking. For music is a gift and the grace of God, not the invention of men. Thus it drives out the devil and makes people cheerful. Then one forgets all wrath, impurity, and other devices. And the fourth and final thing I want you to notice about the worship in heaven is the kind of praise that is described in worship.

As you read through this, we're going to read a few verses in just a minute. You get the idea that they put their whole being into it, their whole heart. It leads me to this statement. Worship is emotional. Yes, it's intellectual, but that's not all it is.

It's also emotional. Jesus said the Father is looking for worshipers who worship Him in spirit and in truth. Now, let's look at this, verse 9. And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth. And then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, elders, 10,000 times 10,000, saying, verse 12 with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and as such as are in the sea, and all that are in them I heard saying, Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen.

And the 24 elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever. They're into this. They're into this. Remember Jesus said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength. They poured themselves into it.

And I read the word loud here. They worshiped Him with a loud voice. You know what it seems like to me in the Bible? It seems to me that God's into volume. Now, I don't mean just cranking up the PA.

I mean your own personal, they had no PA then, just your own voice singing loud. I don't think God's into, Shout to the Lord all the earth. Shout not to the Lord.

I remember I had a camp counselor one time. I wasn't involved in the songs they were singing. He said, Let me tell you something. If God gave you a good voice, then use it to praise Him. If God gave you a bad voice, give it back to Him. Come on. Now, you might be saying, Well, I am not a good singer.

Deal with it. Because I'll say to all you non-musical people, the voice that you have is the voice the Lord God Almighty gave you. And it is an adequate instrument to praise the Lord. The Bible says, Make a joyful noise. Anybody can do that. Say, Oh, you don't understand, when I sing, it's a noise, not a joyful noise.

Nobody around me is joyful. I'll give you this instruction. If you don't sing well, please sing loud. Because what will happen is, there's somebody next to you who's not singing, but they have a great voice. They're going to hear you and go, Oh, I've got to drown that person out. And there's going to be this huge anthem of worship. It's going to sound great.

And it's going to reflect heaven. They sang with a loud voice. You know, in Isaiah chapter 29, God through the prophet said, These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. In other words, they're going through the motions, but there's no emotion.

When you sing, sing like you mean it. I know people are wired differently. Some are very exuberant and emotional, and others are stoic, almost flatline in their personalities.

So we are wired differently. I understand that, but I also hear people use this excuse. Well, I'm not the emotional type. Now, some people that tell me that, I know them. I'm not emotional.

I go, Really? Because a couple weeks on the golf course, you were really emotional. When you hit that great drive, it was like your only good shot all day. You were so stoked, you jumped up and you shouted. You're not emotional. You're emotional over some things. And those who are non-emotional when their kid scores a touchdown or gets an award, they get very emotional.

Why is it that this one area we feel we have to shut it off? I've been to some sporting events. Ever been to the pit when the Lobos score? You ever see somebody going like this?

Or have you ever been to a concert with a big band and watched the people? But pagans know how to get excited. So why do Christians think that enthusiasm about the most worthy thing in the universe must somehow be carefully contained? Do you think God's like into that? You think God says, Way to go. Way to hold it all inside. Way to tell no one that you love me.

Good worship. Somebody once said, God isn't too excited about secret admirers. So tell him. Don't be afraid to express it. I'm not trying to make you emotional automatons. I'm just saying, however you do it, put your all into it.

Put your max into it. And when you do, you're getting close to heaven. There's a lot of praise prompters. There's a lot of things that God allows in our lives that we could look at and go, Thank you, Lord. Praise you, Lord. I worship you, Lord.

If you do that through the day, I would almost guarantee you that by the time we gather corporately, it's going to be exuberant because you've learned to make that your lifestyle. There was a farmer who lived out in the country. He was a believer, a very simple man. He was visited by a relative of his who was an unbeliever. They sat down that first evening for a meal at the farmhouse, and the believing, simple farmer raised his hands and thanked God for the meal and worshiped the Lord and said, Amen. And afterwards, the unbelieving relative said, How old-fashioned.

No one believes in prayer like that anymore. And the farmer humbly acknowledged that he was right, that it is old-fashioned, and that there are even some on his farm that don't pray and don't give thanks. And the unbeliever lightened up and said, Oh, and who are these wise, enlightened ones?

And the farmer said, My pigs. So let's get above the level of an animal. And we have been given voices and bodies and spirits to worship and love the Lord with everything because He is worthy, and we are the redeemed ones. Well, you don't need to worry about what you'll do in heaven once you get there. The very fact that you get to worship in the presence of Almighty God, that you'll finally be able to tell Him how much you love and adore Him face to face, well, that might take up a good chunk of eternity. And we're nearly out of time for today, but before we go, Skip and Lenya are here to offer some more about making worship a part of your life.

Lenya? The title today, What on Earth is Going On in Heaven, is wonderful. You like that title?

I did. Very well done, my friend. So it tells us how important it is to worship the Lord and sincerely praise Him for what He has done.

And we're going to spend a lot of time doing that, which I look forward to. Some listeners, I think, can struggle maybe with worship outside of corporate. Like, you know, there's a choir or a band or worship team. How do they implement genuine worship in their own lives?

Well, that's a great question. And I think that I could even add to that and say that some people aren't even too excited about corporate worship. I mean, they just sort of stand there and look at it, and they're observers, but they don't enter into it. I've always believed that God isn't too excited about secret admirers. He likes to be told that He is great, to be extolled and to be worshiped and to be praised, and so much so that it says He inhabits the praises of His people. That's a profound statement, that God is into it that much. So we had to realize that worship is going to be the occupation of heaven.

When you open up the book of Revelation, you see a lot of that going on, and it's voice upon voice, and it's loud, and it's dynamic. And according to John, there is nothing that is more spectacular than being in the presence of God. There's nothing more fascinating in heaven than the person of God. We often think, well, heaven is going to be where I'm reunited with that. And that's true, and a wonderful thought, and certainly a part of the bliss of eternity. But according to John, the most fascinating thing about heaven is going to be that we're in the presence of God. So it's good to reflect on that and to read about that.

And then I would just say to our audience to get outside of yourself a little bit, because it's really not about you. It really is about God. So learn then, if you don't know how, learn how to ascribe things to Him and tell Him things. And when you're in love with somebody, you tell Him that.

And to say, well, I told her 20 years ago. I dare say we're created for worship. I think Scripture merits that out, that we have this internal need to worship, and we'll settle for lessors, for rock stars and teams.

So we're really kind of made to be fans, but we should be a fan of the ultimate, the One. The other thing is, I remember when we first met and were dating, I had a problem in this area of knowing how to worship outside of a worship service. And I told you, I felt so awkward saying, praise the Lord, or hallelujah, because it seemed contrived.

Do you remember that? And you actually told me, well, just practice. You said sometimes on your motorcycle, you'll say, praise the Lord, and no one hears it but God. And that was so practical for me, to just kind of, in my own space, in my own quietness, to practice His praises and not feel so silly about it.

And it just became more and more natural. Yeah, so how about the challenge of taking the commands of Scripture and trying to practice or implement them at different times? The Bible talks about singing, the Bible speaks about ascribing in vocals, saying words, about raising hands, about kneeling, about bowing. So why not just try it?

If the Bible says to do it, why not try to do it? Well, thanks, guys. When you contact us, you can also order a copy of today's message from Skip, entitled, What on Earth is Going on in Heaven? It's available on CD for just $6, plus shipping. Or you can order the entire series, From the Edge of Eternity, all 17 messages for only $39, plus shipping. So give us a call, 1-800-922-1888. Or write us at the connection, that's P.O.

Box 95707, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87199. And of course, you can also place your order online in the store at connectwithskip.com. On our next broadcast, we'll continue to explore what lies beyond the threshold of death's door. So I hope you can set aside some time to join us here in Connect with Skip Weekend Edition, a presentation of Connection Communications. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast your burdens on His word, make a connection, a connection, a connection. Connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.