Introduction: Revelation is an amazing book! Not only does it give
us churches, aliens, creatures and battle, but it tells us of final
victory. I don’t know about you, but when I win something in life,
I feel good. God gives me my victories, and this knowledge makes me
feel like praising Him! Imagine how much praise we will feel when
God gives us the ultimate victory over sin, death and sadness!
Let’s plunge into our Bible study to see how those in heaven enjoy
this victory worship!
- Throne Worship
- Read Revelation 4:1. Think about the setting. An open
door, a voice “like a trumpet,” making an invitation to
see a movie about the future. Would you accept? - Read Revelation 4:2. Who made this movie possible? (The
Holy Spirit!) - Is this a gift you want to receive?
- John is the one seeing the movie (the vision). What
is beyond the door? (The “throne of heaven with
someone sitting on it.”) - Why does John say “someone” is sitting on the
throne? Is this someone from housekeeping polishing
up the throne? (It sounds like it is a moment by
moment account of what John saw. It probably is God
sitting on the throne, but John does not yet know
that, so he does not say it. This adds to the
credibility of the story.) - Read Revelation 4:3-4. Why does God have twenty-four
elders sitting on thrones in His throne room? (This
reaffirms that God wants to live with His people. He
wants us to participate with Him in ruling. Humans may
need advisors, but the Creator of the Universe does not.
Yet, He chooses to have us rule with Him.) - Read Revelation 4:5. I’m always interested in Biblical
accounts of God which include “rumblings.” No human of
John’s time had ever seen an engine of any type. They
knew nothing about electricity. What kind of power
source do you think God has under His hood? - Notice that the source of power for these lamps is
the Holy Spirit. - Read Revelation 4:6. What kind of view does God like? (A
water view! This gives me confidence that water views
will be part of heaven.) - Now we come to the worship part. Read Revelation 4:6-8.
These are some interesting looking aliens. Why do you
think they have all of these eyes? (They don’t miss
anything!) - Why all of the wings? (They can move quickly.)
- Consider the general appearance of the four
creatures: lion, ox, man and eagle. What does this
suggest? (Lion is courage, ox is strong and
faithful, man is intelligent and the eagle is swift
and noble.) - How do the statements of these aliens describe God?
(Three times they say He is holy, and then they give
three time periods. God was holy then, is holy now
and will be holy tomorrow.) - Consider all of this information like paint on a
canvass. What picture do we see? (Since they are
describing God with their voices, why not conclude
that they are describing God with their appearance:
All seeing, swift to meet any problem, courageous,
strong, faithful, intelligent, and noble.) - What does this teach us about worship in heaven? (I
looked at some commentaries which suggested that the
creatures represented the four gospels, four
standards of the tribes of Israel, or the four
forces of nature. It seems more logical that all of
this represents attributes of God. Worship is all
about God, not about us. All aspects of worship
should be directed to giving glory to God.) - Every time you sing a hymn or a praise song,
think about this: is this song more about me
than it is about praising God? - If the bodies of the aliens represented
attributes of God, what does that suggest to us
about worship? (Worship is not just what we
say, but how we live.) - Read Revelation 4:9-11. In the throne room of heaven,
what is the basis for the twenty-four elders giving
praise to God? (That He is the Creator (“for you created
all things”). Everything was created by the will of God
and everything continues to exist by the will of God.) - Where does this leave those who deny the creation
and promote the theory of evolution? (They are
attacking the very foundation of God’s authority and
the logical basis to give God “glory, honor and
power.” This is not a polite debate between
friends, this is a debate that draws the line in the
sand between those who promote the worship God and
those who undermine the worship of God.) - Beast Worship
- Read Revelation 13:1-4. The beast also has animal- like
characteristics. What is the basis for worship of the
beast? (Power. “Who can make war against him?” “He gave
authority to the beast.) - Think about this a minute. What is the difference
between the basis for the worship of God and the
worship of the beast? (The worship of God is based
on His character (holy) and on what He has done and
is doing (the creation and sustenance of the
universe). The worship of the beast is based on raw
power.) - Read Revelation 13:5-7. If you were choosing between true
and false worship, what signs would you look for?
(Attacks on the name of God, on heaven, on angels, and on
the followers of God.) - Where do you hear these kind of things today?
- Is it easy to confuse these two types of worship?
(Some people want to argue that things are
complicated. How complicated can this be? Either you
worship the Creator God or you attack Him, heaven,
angels and God’s followers. Either your worship is
based on the character and blessings of God, or it
is based on coercion (power). It doesn’t seem that
complicated to me!) - The Final Call to Worship
- Read Revelation 14:6-7. What is the first message of the
final call for those on earth to worship? (“The eternal
gospel.”) - What is the first component of this call? (Fear God
and give Him glory.”) - What does that mean? (It is a call to obedience
and praise.) - Are these two connected? (We bring glory
to God by following His ways.) - What is the second component of this call? (“The
hour of His judgment has come.”) - What does that mean? (It is a call to
repentance because the time (“hour”) of God’s
judgment is right now.) - What is the third component of this call? (Worship
God because He is the Creator.) - Read Revelation 14:8. What is the second message of the
final call to worship? (Your opponent is defeated.
Christians should give the gospel message boldly because
“Babylon the Great” has fallen!) - Read Revelation 14:9-11. What is the third message of the
final call to worship? (It is a warning. The time to
choose is now. The stakes are high – eternal life or the
undiluted wrath of God.) - Read Revelation 14:12. If you regularly read these
lessons, you know about these issues. You have heard the
message of the three angels. If you have made the right
decision, what is the final angel’s advice to us?
(Continue to be faithful. Endure patiently.) - What constitutes faithful, patient, endurance?
(Righteousness by faith (“remain faithful to
Jesus,”) and an attitude of obedience.) - Friend, is this you? Have you accepted the call to choose
Jesus as your Master? Have you repented of your sins and
accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf? Do you live a
life that brings glory to God? Do you raise your voice in
praise of your Creator? Have you an attitude of humble
obedience to the will of God? If not, why not make that
decision today? The judgment is here. Evil has fallen.
God is bringing the final chapters of this world’s
history to an end. - Next week: We begin a wonderful study of the Gospel in
Galatians!
