Praising the Lamb of God - Part 2

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, December 14th. Jesus, the baby we celebrate at Christmas, is also Christ, the reigning King of Kings. That should give comfort and peace when life seems out of balance. Here's part two of Praising the Lamb of God. The book of the revelation is the revelation of God of those things that are going to happen in the end time. Without the book of the revelation, we would be missing God's detailed explanation of what is going to happen in the end time. In this first chapter, if you'll notice in the 12th verse, that John says that he turned to see the voice that was speaking with him and having turned, he says, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the middle of the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed in a robe, reaching to the feet and girded across his breast with a golden girdle. Then he describes this vision of Jesus, which he saw. Following this vision of Jesus, the Bible says that God gave to John, through the angel, also a message to the seven churches of Asia Minor. And the second and third chapters of the book of the revelation are about his messages. These are his messages. So we come to the fifth chapter, and something awesome is about to happen.

Here's what is about to happen. Before we come to the sixth chapter, which is when the judgment and the wrath of God begins, John views the most awesome demonstration and display of praise ever noted by any human being that has ever lived. And so at the throne, God is working. He sees what is happening here as God begins to speak, and then he comes to the fifth chapter. Look at this fifth chapter beginning in verse 1. He says, And I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, speaking of God the Father, a book or a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals? And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it.

And I began to weep, John says greatly, because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, Stop weeping. Behold, the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals. And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders, a lamb standing as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he came and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Now, what is this little book that's so important that there's anybody in heaven or earth that can take this book out of the Father's hand?

Now, there wasn't a book like you and I think in terms of book with hard covers, but it was a scroll. And this scroll was rolled up and there were seven seals on the scroll. There was a seal on the outside. So you break that seal and open a little bit. There's another seal. Then you break that seal.

You can open it up a little bit longer until you break the seventh seal. Now, what was so important about this book? Well, think about this. Back in Genesis when you and I read of the creation of the world, God created this world to bring glory and honor to him. Satan, who was a fallen angel, was cast down to earth and he deceived Eve and Adam and they sinned against God and they fell from their holy estate. When they fell, the Scripture says not only did they suffer but the whole earth suffered. And this is why in Romans chapter 8 Paul talks about the earth groaning for cleansing and recreation. That redemption is not limited just to mankind but also to the earth. God is going to do something and when he does it, there's going to be complete, total redemption of the earth as well as humanity.

Now, what's happening here is this. Up until this point, and if you'll think about it, we say the Bible says that Satan is the God of this age. He's the devil who is attempting to be God in the lives of people. And all down through the ages, what do we have? We have people who love and serve God and people who love and serve the devil. They just don't understand that. Well, what does that have to do with this book?

This is exactly what it has to do with it. This book, I believe, is the title deed to everything that God is going to do because here's what happens. When he takes that book, the reason there's all this worship and praise going on is until this book, until this scroll is open, these seals are broken and God finishes this program, this earth is still in the hands of Satan. The frustration, the anxieties, the fears, the turmoil that goes on in people's hearts.

This earth is in chaos with all the things that happen in the natural atmosphere. But what's about to happen? The Lamb of God, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ walks up to his Father and takes that scroll and when he does, I mean they let out. They begin to praise him and worship him worthy art thou, the only one worthy to take the scroll and does what? And when he starts in chapter 6, you read the 6th chapter, beginning with the 6th chapter of Revelation and things begin to happen, the judgment of God begins to be unleashed upon this earth. And this is why people don't like this book. Listen, if I'm not a Christian, I wouldn't want to read that book because you start in chapter 6 and you think, you mean all these things are going to happen to me?

Right. The Bible says it is appointed unto all men to die and after that the judgment. Nothing is going to miss the hand of the wrath of God. And so here is John in this situation and he's watching all this praise and adoration going on and he is witnessing a praise and adoration.

Why? Because, listen, think about this. This Jesus, whom you and I profess as our Savior, we think about him as the Lamb of God born in the manger. Listen, this little lamb born in this manger is the ruler of the universe. He is the God and sovereign of all things. And the Bible says without him not anything that was made was made. There's coming a time when he will reclaim this entire earth and he will reclaim for his own every single solitary person who has placed their faith in God through his son Jesus Christ and those in the Old Testament who placed their faith in God through the promise of the coming Messiah. Everybody who is a child of God will be serving him and praising him and adoring him.

Motivated, listen, they were motivated by who he is, motivated by what he had done and motivated by what was about to happen. Now I want to ask you again, when you think about praising the Lord and worshiping him, how much time do you spend really praising him? You praise God because of who he is. You may feel good about it. But if I'm praising the Lord and singing these songs and I'm praising him because it's going to make me feel good, I'm not praising God.

You know what I'm doing? I'm getting a spiritual high. And a lot of people who want a spiritual high, they don't want to praise God. They're not interested in the attributes of God. They're not interested in serving him and adoring him.

They're not interested in focusing on him and learning him. Listen, for people who really and truly praise God, they're going to be in the Word. They want to know who is this God I'm praising? I want to ask you how in the world could anybody ever get satisfied with what you know about Jesus?

How can you be satisfied with what you know about God? When you worship God, you give him your whole mind, your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole being. You come to praise him because he is worthy of my praise. He deserves and desires our praise and adoration.

Well, all of heaven broke loose in praise and adoration because of what Jesus Christ had done, because of who he was, because of who he is, and because of what he's going to do. And let me ask you, don't you and I have three good reasons to be praising him today? Look what he's done in your life. Look what he's in the process of doing.

Look who he is and look what he's going to do for you and me. Do we not have a million reasons for praising him and adoring him and worshiping him? Well, how do we express that praise?

I think there are four ways primarily. First of all, we express it through our lips, through speaking. And let's look at maybe a psalm or two here. Look, if you will, in the 34th Psalm. In the 34th Psalm, listen to what he says in verse 1.

And this is said often. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humbled shall hear and rejoice. O magnify the Lord with me.

Let us exalt his name together. Then go back, if you will, to the 7th chapter of the Psalm. 7th chapter, the Psalmist says, I will give thanks to the Lord according to his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. We'll sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

And so what happens? There are two ways that you and I can praise him. We can praise him with our lips, speaking, Lord, I love you, I praise you, I worship you, I adore you. We can sing these songs of praise to him.

And there are many verses about praising the Lord with the flute and the harp and the lyre and so forth. So we praise him with musical instruments. That's praise and adoration and glory to God. You see, listen, you can't praise and worship God unless he fills your mind with himself. That's what worship and praise is. Filling our mind and hearts with himself, adoring him, thinking about who he is and what he's like and praising him with gratitude in our hearts. So we praise him by speaking it. We praise him by singing. But thirdly, we praise him by serving him. Now, I want you to think about something for a moment.

What a contradiction this is. Yes, I love God. I praise you, I worship you, I adore you, but I'm not going to serve you.

Think about this. Can you imagine telling God you don't have time to serve this God before whom every angel in heaven, every created being on the face of this earth is going to bow down and sing praise and glory and honor to him and you and I telling him we don't have time to serve God? Listen to me, you cannot worship the living God and at the same time refuse to serve him.

That's a total contradiction. The fourth thing, not only can I speak it with my lips and sing it out of my heart and serve him with my total being, but sharing. Speaking, singing, serving, sharing. Praise involves all of that. Everything in my heart is short-circuited when I think of being selfish and at the same time loving and praising and worshiping this God with whom I'm going to spend eternity who gave his only begotten son to purchase me from my sinfulness and has made me a priest in the kingdom of God. Then to say that I'm not going to share, I'm not going to give of myself and money to him, what a contradiction.

What a satanic thought. It is totally unbiblical, totally unscriptural and totally out of reason with being a follower of Jesus. We're talking about Jesus, the son of God. We're talking about the lamb of God. We're talking about the lion of the tribe of Judah.

We're talking about the judge who's coming back to judge this earth and release his wrath upon everything that is wicked and vile. And for me to say I don't have time to serve him, I don't have enough of his money to give back to him, it is a contradiction. And I challenge anybody on the face of this earth explain to me how can you worship and serve the living God and at the same time keep back financially what belongs to him.

You cannot do it. You cannot worship and serve God. And I'll tell you why, because I want to give you three requirements for worshiping him. Three requirements for worshiping God.

Number one, to know God. When you don't know God, you don't love him. If you don't love him, you don't want to serve him. If you don't know him, you're not going to praise him. The more you love him, the more you know him, the more you're going to love him. And the more you're going to love him, the more you want to talk about him. You've just got to tell about it.

Something inside of you, it just has to flow. Now listen, if you're sitting here wondering, why are you getting so excited? I'll tell you why.

I'll tell you why. Because it is more important to me than life itself. Jesus Christ is everything and there isn't anything worth anything if it is separated from him. And one of these days, the whole world is going to understand that. That nothing in life counts apart from Christ. Nothing. So I want to ask you, how can you and I get so excited about so many things other than Jesus?

Tell me how can we? We know every player of every team and all of his records and can't even name the 12 apostles. It's tragic. Then we wonder why people don't love Jesus. Why they don't give to the work of God to get the message around the world. Why people aren't flooding down the aisle and say, pastor give me a job. Listen, I want to go to work. Where can I serve the Lord? Just give me something to do.

This is school and I want to learn how. We beg and plead somebody to serve the Lord. I'm here to tell you it is sin against God. You cannot worship God. You cannot serve the living God with a right heart holding back what does not belong to you. There's not an ounce of energy you have not God given. He stopped your heart beat that fast. When somebody says I don't have time for God, suppose God said, all right, all of you don't have time for me.

Last heart beat one, two, three, that's it. Because I'm telling you, God created you and me to serve him and to praise him with everything in us. First of all, I must know him. Secondly, I must be submissive to him. To know God is an absolute requirement for real true worship, submission to him.

And I say again, how, let me ask you something. Isn't this a contradiction? Yes, I just want to praise and worship and serve God. And at the same time living in absolute rebellion toward God. My friend, I don't know what kind of church you belong to or where you go. And you can jump up and down and shout and holler all you want to and praise God and have little preaching and a whole lot of all that stuff going on.

And I'm all for jumping up and down hollering as long as it's right. But I'm going to tell you, if you go home and you don't crack the Bible till next week and you're not serving the living God and you're living in rebellion toward God and in disobedience to him, your worship is a fraud. Because you cannot praise God in deliberate, willful rebellion against him.

Now we all sin against him at times. We're all weak and frail. And he says, that's the kind of people he's looking for. He's looking for weak, frail people who understand their weakness and are willing to submit to his will and acknowledge they are nothing within themselves and have nothing within themselves apart from Christ.

That's the kind of folks he's looking for to use. It isn't how good we are. It's how yielded I am. He takes our brokenness. He takes our frailties and our weaknesses.

And what does he do? He uses it for his glory and it brings honor and praise. Listen, arrogance and pride never praises God. It is men and women who understand their weakness and their frailties and their sinfulness.

It is those of us who understand that, who praise him and adore him and worship him because we know apart from him, we are nothing, can do nothing and life has no meaning. So I ask you a question. How can you say to Jesus, Lord, I just want to love you and praise you, but no, I'm not willing to do this and I'm not willing to do that.

And we rationalize. We say, well, you know, that's what the pastor said. That's what the church said.

I'm going to tell you something. Listen, you're not serving pastors in churches. We're talking about God. We're talking about this living Lord about whom God the father said, he is the lamb of God that takes over the sin of the world. He is my son and every knee shall bow before my son of things in heaven and earth. Every single solitary tongue shall confess that my son is Lord and me tell him that I'm not going to do something. Three requirements to know him, to submit to him. And thirdly, a pure heart. No pure heart, no worship.

And when I look at this passage of scripture and think about where John was in his life at that time, God had separated him from everything that he loved, put him on an island working in mines, an old man, and God took him at those moments, a lot of years of his life and gave him this awesome view of what was going to happen in the end time. I want to ask you a question. How can you and I stand in the presence of Almighty God with a heart that is not pure and worship Holy God? Listen to me.

Here's the problem. You and I live in the most unholy society any Americans ever lived in. People aren't sacred. Places aren't sacred. Nothing's sacred. Nothing's holy. Nothing's righteous.

Nothing really matters. But that doesn't keep me from having to come before a Holy God with a pure heart. I didn't say that you would be sinless.

I said a pure heart. Sin confessed and repented of and acknowledging our weakness, our frailties, that we're the purchased possession saints saved by the grace of God with a pure heart. If there's ever going to be a revival, breaks out in this country, we're going to have to get a whole new perspective on the holiness of God, on the purity of God, on the person of Jesus Christ that we see ourselves as absolutely nothing and Him everything, then I'm here to tell you there's no telling what's going to break loose. But it has to begin in the house of God with the people of God.

I just want to challenge you to think about your own worship and your own praise. And my friend, where does it begin? The first step.

Listen to this. The first step is to acknowledge my sinfulness and acknowledge that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is my only hope, that His death at Calvary paid my sin debt in full and receive Him as my personal Savior. Give my life to Him. Step number one. Then I can praise the Lamb. Thank you for listening to part two of Praising the Lamb of God. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.