Listening to Sermons. praying. Worshiping. These comprise your earthly worship experience. But in heaven, only one of these elements will be practiced.
Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah considers how the worship you now enjoy is just a tiny taste of the heavenly worship experience that awaits. From the promise of heaven, Here's David to introduce his message, heavenly worship. Thank you for joining us. Today, we explore one of the most exciting topics about heaven, and that is the subject of worship.
There are Wonderful passages about worship in the book of Revelation. More music, more hymns, more worship songs in Revelation than in any other book except the book of Psalms.
So heaven will be a place filled with worship and music. You know, we got so excited about that. We actually went to Los Angeles a few weeks ago and rented out the Disney Concert Hall and put together an incredible night of worship on heaven. I've just begun to see some of the video of it and it's overwhelming to me. When you talk about heaven, something happens in your spirit and you want to sing.
And some of the great music of the world we have today is music about heaven. The Bible says when we get to heaven, we're going to worship. And I want to tell you about that on today's program and finishing it up tomorrow. On Thursday and Friday of this week, I'm going to tell you about five crowns that are awaiting. people who will be willing to compete for them.
And that's a very interesting study for people like me who are motivated in that way. And I hope you all be sure to be with us Thursday and Friday of this week. Once again, don't forget to ask for your copy of the book, The Promise of Heaven, from any of the bookstores around you that carry good books. You can, most of all, get it from Turning Point for a gift of any size. And when you send your gift, your gift helps us, the book comes to you, and you'll be ready to study it with us as we move forward.
Here is part one of heavenly worship. For many years, Wheaton College was led by Dr. Ray Edmund. He was a kind and godly man who was well respected by the students and his faculty. In 1967, he stood in chapel and he gave a message.
On worship. And as he spoke, He told the students about this opportunity he had had. to meet the king of Ethiopia. And he said it was a formal event, and he described to the students What he had to do to get ready for that meeting. He was instructed to wear certain things and how he was to speak and how he was to act.
And he reminded the students That is. That's what it takes to approach an earthly king. How much more care should we take when we come into the presence of the King of Kings? Our worship, he said, should reflect the greatness of the One. that we're worshiping.
Then something remarkable happened. Right in the middle of his message. Dr. Edmund collapsed and died. Right in the middle of a sermon.
One moment he was preaching about worship, and the next moment he was standing face to face. With the Lord he had worshipped his whole life. Many people said that his transition to heaven must have been one of the smoothest ones anyone could ever have imagined. He had spent so much time worshiping God. It must have felt natural to enter into worship there.
You know, worship on Earth involves a few key things. We praise God through song. We pray and we bring our needs before God, and we listen to preaching from the Bible. But in heaven, it will be different. We won't need to pray anymore.
Because all of our needs will be met. I don't like this one, but there won't be any more sermons. Because we'll be fully knowing the truth about God. Only one part of worship will remain, and that's praise. Praise is what we'll be doing forever.
Heaven will be filled with worship. And that means we should begin preparing down here. Our worship here is a kind of rehearsal for what's ahead. The more we learn to worship now, the more natural it will feel when we go to heaven. Today We're going to look at a passage in Revelation chapter 4.
Verses one through 11. It is a powerful picture of what worship in heaven looks like. I want to talk with you first of all about the context of worship in heaven. Chapter 4, verse 1, John wrote, After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.
The Bible says John on the isle of Patmos was just having a normal day and all of a sudden you look and there was a door opened into heaven. From his place on earth, he was suddenly able to see through that open door. and into heaven itself. And he saw something no one had ever seen before. From the Isle of Patmos in the middle of exile and isolation, John witnessed the worship that was taking place around the throne of glory.
Now as you know, John was part of Jesus' inner circle. He, along with Peter and James, seemed to show up everywhere Jesus was doing something important. In fact, he was with Jesus at the most critical moments of his life. He was in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was overwhelmed with sorrow. He was standing at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified.
He outran Peter on the way to the empty tomb on resurrection morning. Everywhere you see, John is in the middle of all of this. He was also present. With Peter and James on the Mount of Transfiguration, when Jesus was glorified in their presence. And John was present when Jesus ascended into heaven.
He had been with the Lord during many of the most important moments of his life. But John also went through many hardships. The first chapter of Revelation describes John as your brother and companion in tribulation. John suffered a lot. He would say he was in prison on the Isle of Patmos, he was in exile.
I've been to that island. And it is right in the middle of all the other churches that he wrote to in the book of Revelation. John must have wondered what was going on. Even though he was the recipient of a great vision from the Lord, here he is on this island. exiled from his friends and all alone, And he was old.
And yet, in the midst of all that exile, Scripture says something happened. One day, John's lonely existence was interrupted by the opening of a door into heaven. And one moment the elderly John was lamenting his rheumatism. And he was tossing and turning through another restless night. His mind was probably wandering to his absent friends and wondering how they were holding up under the persecution.
Maybe he was reliving the days when he walked with Jesus, as we have just recounted. And if he was anything like us, His heart was probably immersed in the disappointment of the world that surrounded him. And then suddenly the Bible says a door opened. A door into heaven. And John in his spirit was able to walk through that door and to look into the very vestibule of heaven and see what nobody else had ever seen.
Can you imagine that? I mean, I can't begin to find the words to describe what it must have been like. on the Isle of Patmos. old and alone, and then all at once heaven is opened. And before him In all of its glory.
is the biggest worship service that had ever taken place. The context of worship. Notice the center of worship in heaven. Verses two and three. We read, and immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne set in heaven.
And one sat on the throne, and he who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne in appearance. like an emerald. The key word in this chapter is the word throne. Whenever you see that word, you can just assume that it is a reminder of the sovereignty of God. Listen to me, ladies and gentlemen.
The throne in heaven is occupied. Can I get a witness? It's not empty. God is on his throne and he's governing the affairs of men and women. It may seem like chaos down here.
But God has got it in control. And when you read in Revelation about the throne of God, It's a reminder. that while chaotic events are taking place on Earth, We must never lose sight of the fact that God remains on His throne in heaven. And it may appear that no one is in control of the events. But God is in control.
And the throne of God is neither abandoned nor abandoned. nor is it vacant. It is occupied. I like to think about that. The throne in heaven is occupied.
As John looks at the throne, he tries to describe what he sees. But it's not easy. Because the focus of the throne is God Himself, and the Bible says no one has ever seen God and lived.
So John describes this in symbolic terms. Verse 3 he says, He who sat there was like a jasper. And Sardius stone in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne in appearance like an emerald. The jasper we would call a diamond, a beautiful, many-faceted stone that sparkled and glittered in the light. And John said that as he looked upon the throne, all he could see was the brilliance of the diamond.
And the diamond was accompanied by a sargis or chinellian stone, which is the same as our ruby. And around the throne there was a rainbow. And that rainbow was created out of an emerald. As he gazed at the majesty and beauty of his Creator, John could. only comprehend that it was like a brilliant diamond like a brilliant ruby.
like an emerald on the throne. What an amazing experience that must have been. And then we come to the chorus of worship in heaven. Verses 9 through 11 give us a little bit of the lyrics of some of the music. Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever.
The 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created. John was allowed to witness heavenly worship. And what he saw, he tried to put into words. He gives us just a glimpse of the majesty and awe of what it will be like one day when we're part of that great assembly.
worshiping God. in the heavenly choir. He noticed something important. Around the throne were 24 other thrones. Sitting on them were 24 elders dressed in white and wearing golden crowns.
And these elders represent the church. The redeemed people of God. And in the very next chapter, verses 8 through 10, John tells us.
Now when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders. fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp. and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth. I wish I wish we could hear what John heard.
I wish we could see what John saw. It's breathtaking, overwhelming. Absolutely glorious. The angels and the church together lifting up endless praise to the God of heaven. William Temple once described worship like this.
He said, worship. quickens the conscience by the holiness of God. It feeds the mind with the truth of God, It purges the imagination with the beauty of God. It opens the heart to the love of God and it devotes the will to the purpose of God. That's what worship in heaven looks like.
And that's what our worship on earth should aim for too. Then we come to the fourth thing about worship in heaven, which is my favorite part of all. The crescendo of worship in heaven. Do you know what a crescendo is? Basically, it means to start small and end big.
Usually applied to pieces of music. We used to do crescendos in our worship. When we did rallies across the country, I got caught up in this for a while. We would start singing Amazing Grace. in a low key.
And every time we changed verses, we changed keys and took it up a. By the time we got to when we've been there 10,000 years, it was like we were already there. I mean, it was an amazing thing.
Something happens when you increase the volume and increase the key. In the worship songs in Revelation, there is an obvious crescendo. I don't know if you've ever seen this before, but this is really cool. This is an amazing fact. In Revelation chapter 1 and verse 6, There's a two-fold doxology.
Here's what Revelation 1.6 says. To him be glory and dominion. Forever and ever. Glory and dominion. Two doxologies.
Then in chapter 4, verse 11, there's a threefold doxology. You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. And then in chapter 5 and verse 13, there's a fourfold doxology. Blessing and honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne. And when you get to chapter 7 and verse 12, there's a sevenfold doxology.
Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving, and honor, and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. The worship grows as you move through the book. A crescendo of worship to the Lord.
When the church choirs do that, They start soft and simple and end loud and complex. It's not only beautiful, it's biblical. Because this is the way it will be in heaven someday. And there's another aspect of this that I want to point out. It's as if the crescendo of worship to God Escalates in accordance with the timeline of God's purposes in the world.
In other words, The farther along you get in the book of Revelation, And the more you move toward the consummation of history And the coming again of the Lord. the more wonderful the worship becomes and the more prominent it becomes. And if that's true, if what I'm suggesting is true, and I believe it is. This crescendo of praise and worship we are experiencing is in accord. with this timeline because we're getting close.
We're getting close to the coming of the Lord. Do you know I grew up in a pastor's house? And worship wasn't something we ever talked about.
Some of you old folks you know this. We had the sermon and the song service. And the person who led the song service was the song leader. And if you said worship, it sounded like... Maybe you weren't doing something right.
I walk through the transition from the song leader to the worship leader. I lived through the days of Ralph Carmichael and the Spurlows. Um the regeneration and All of those groups that took us out of just singing songs into the worship of the Lord. And most of it became second-person praise. It wasn't about the Lord, it was to the Lord.
Have you noticed that when we sing worship to the Lord, something unique happens? It's a totally different kind of worship and praise. And we're living in that time right now. We have gone through the.
Song service. And now we live in this period of worship. Worship is on the radio every day. Worship is everywhere on television. There's a big ad for a worship thing that's coming up pretty soon here in our country.
And what that tells us, if we follow the book of Revelation, is Our redemption is drawing nigh. We're getting closer because as you get closer to the culmination of history, you get more of a culmination and intensity of worship, and that is what is happening today. We live in a wonderful period of time. You know, here in our city, one of the great leaders of worship is a friend of mine. His name is Derek Johnson.
He's from Skyline Church. He was a great architect of worship. He was one of the great leaders and still is today. He fasters the music. ministry in Orlando, Florida.
And he started Regeneration, which was one of the great worship teams. that took us out of the realm of just singing hymns all the time into worship songs. We are blessed to be living in the period I know worship can go crazy. I mean, I see some stuff in the worship genre that I kind of shudder to think. that it got in there and maybe we should try to figure out how to get it out.
But I keep my mouth shut and just keep worshiping the Lord because I've discovered. You're never going to win a battle if you fight in that war. The main thing is: are you worshiping God?
So The crescendo of worship, how important that is, and what an illustration. in the book of Revelation. And then there's the contrast of worship in heaven. One of the things that we notice when we study this passage of Scripture Is the contrast between what's going on in heaven and what's going on on earth? John is in about the worst place you could be, in exile on an island.
And up here, he's allowed to see. The glory and beauty of heaven and what happens when we get to heaven. What an incredible contrast that is. John was allowed to experience two realities on the one hand. He was isolated and Separated from his friends and worried about the persecution of the church.
by Domitian the Roman Emperor. John was facing discouragement, and yet, in a moment of time, he's ushered out of that reality through an open door into heaven. and he sees the Lord seated on a throne. The picture of sovereign control. He sees the elders bowing down and worshiping.
He sees the beauty and majesty of heaven. God gave this experience to John to encourage his heart. Worship took him from the loneliness of his discouragement right into the control room of the universe. Where he could see God. and his plan for the entire universe.
You and I are constantly bombarded with the reality of this world. television, radio, social media, everything around us. Always pulling us toward the earth and away from heaven. Isn't that true? I mean, you have to consciously work.
to make sure that you get some influence from television that isn't bad for you. But there's another reality. There's an unseen one. that is real. According to Scripture, it's even more real.
We often live through the eternal things and we somehow think they are less important. That the physical is what's real, and the eternal or the spiritual is not real. But if you study the Bible, And if you think deeply, you will discover what's really real. is not what is here temporarily. What's really real is what lasts forever.
And the Bible is clear about that.
So This is one of the great byproducts of worship. It lifts our eyes off the struggle and places them on the sovereign and gives us perspective. I don't know if you've ever had moments like this. I don't get discouraged very often. I do believe that.
It's one of the tools that Satan can get me if he wants to. Had plenty of reason recently to deal with that. But when that happens I find some great worship music. And I get alone. And the reason for that is that music just sort of I remember we used to have a singer that came here, and I used to tell her, You don't sing to us, you sing through us.
Worship music doesn't play for you, it plays through you. And when you listen to it and you realize that it's about the great God we serve and His plan for us.
Somehow the things of earth grow strangely dim. in the light of His glory and grace. I encourage you to experience that. That's what worship is not just. to bring praise to the Lord, the byproduct of what it does for us.
And it takes our eyes off of the troublesome things that are going on around us and reminds us: not always going to be this way, friends. God's got a plan, and we're a part of it. It's as if Jesus is saying to John, John Things are not like they seem. Let me show you how they really are. Step into the throne room and I will show you true reality.
And here's what John saw. Things are not out of control. Satan has not won. Evil has not triumphed. God is on his throne.
Hallelujah.
So I want to give you four things to take away from this sermon. that you hopefully won't forget. I hope these will stick in your heart and in your soul. First of all, worship is not about us, it's about Him. Look through the worship songs of Revelation, and you will be struck by the centrality of Christ.
In each one of them, he's described as holy, almighty, eternal, worthy, glorious, powerful, honorable, and strong. Worship is about seeing God high and lifted up. When we get our eyes off of him and onto the styles of our worship, or to the presentation of our worship. We miss the core value of New Testament worship. God is actively seeking those who will make Him the focus of their lives.
in both their work and their worship. Periodically I hear about people. who come to our church or to other churches. And they will say something like this: Well, I can't go back there because my needs were not met. The worship in that church doesn't meet my needs.
And I want to say to them as loud as I can: it's not about you, it's about him. And there are a lot of different styles of worship. I don't expect all of you to like all of them.
Some of them are more popular with this group and some with this group. But the key isn't the style of it, the key is the substance of it. Does it bring honor and glory to Christ? And if it does, get off the fighting of it and get back and doing it. Because worship, listen to me.
I hope you never forget this. It's not about you, it's about Him. Right. And when we get involved in making worship about what we want. We forget.
That worship is about the Lord. When we focus on Him, many of the disagreements sort of disappear. I promise you, when we worship God around the throne with the millions of people that will be there to worship Him, we won't be arguing about how to do it. We'll just be caught up in the beauty of the Lord and worshiping Him with all of our hearts. We'll have more about this tomorrow, part two of Heavenly Worship for the Wednesday edition of Turning Point.
Hey, let me remind you again: we're going to the Caribbean in December. We'll be doing a lot of worship there. I promise you, Michael Sanchez and Urio Vega will be with us. We'll be enjoying the beautiful weather. the beautiful friendships, the wonderful boat, the ship that we're on, and the places we stop.
It's just an ideal way to end the old year and begin the new one. And I invite you to join us. Find out more about it at davidjeremiah.org. and then be sure to be with us tomorrow. Part 2 of Heavenly Worship.
Thanks for listening. For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's series, The Promise of Heaven. Please visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected. our monthly Turning Points magazine, and our daily email devotional.
Sign up today at DavidJeremiah.org slash radio. That's DavidJeremiah.org slash radio. or call us at 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of David's encouraging new book, The Promise of Heaven. 31 Reasons to Get Excited About Your Eternal Home.
It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International and New King James Versions, complete with notes and articles from Dr. Jeremiah's decades of study. Get all the details when you visit our website davidjeremiah.org slash radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah.
Join us tomorrow as we continue the series The Promise of Heaven on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah. I'm not sure if I'm doing this right or not.
