{"id":18968,"date":"2018-11-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-25T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/revelation-020-true-worship\/"},"modified":"2018-11-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-11-25T06:00:00","slug":"revelation-020-true-worship","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/revelation-020-true-worship\/","title":{"rendered":"Revelation 020 – True Worship"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[111],"series_event":[490],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18968","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-revelation","series_event-revelation","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Revelation 020 - True Worship","sermon_date":"20181125","sermon_month":"11","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":6245,"sermon_slides":6246,"sermon_mp3":6248,"sermon_id":"112518154525170","series_or_event":490,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":111,"chapter_and_verse":"4:6b-11","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nTrue Worship\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 11-25-18\n\nRevelation 4:6b-11\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 20\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take our Bibles, if we could, and open them to the Book of Revelation, chapter 4 and verse 6.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is True Worship.\u00a0 I trust everybody had a blessed Thanksgiving.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what it is this time of the year, I just have a difficult time getting into my clothes that fit differently; of course, I want to blame it on the change of weather\u2026 right!\u00a0 And when I went on the cruise I had the same issue, I wanted to blame it on the ocean weather; maybe it has more to do with caloric increase.\n\nRevelation 4 and verse 6, we had a great time yesterday, saying farewell in a memorial service to Elizabeth Stellar\u2019s father, a military style memorial service.\u00a0 I had no idea that he was as decorated as he was, if I understand right winning the Purple Heart in Vietnam; if I understood it right more than once, and so it was just a great, great time.\u00a0 So you might want to see Elizabeth and Brooks just to express your condolences to them.\n\nWe\u00a0 have been moving through the Book of Revelation, having answered sort of the background type questions, when, where, what, why.\u00a0 John, of course, is on the island of Patmos, at the end of the first century, writing this book.\u00a0 We\u2019ve gone through the prologue or the introduction to the book and then we hit this verse, \u201cTherefore, write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.\u201d\u00a0 That verse gives\u00a0 you the outline of the book.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen the things that John has seen, chapter 1, the portrait, if you will, of the glorified Christ.\u00a0 Then he\u2019s told to write down the things that are.\u00a0 And that\u2019s a section of the book dealing with the seven letters to the seven churches, Revelation 2 and 3, which we\u2019ve gone through very carefully and watching Christ\u2019s final words to His church and specific churches.\n\nAnd then he has a third section, \u201cwrite down the things that will take place after these things.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 1:19, \u201cTherefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and \u00a0\u00a0the things which will take place after these things.\u201d] That\u2019s part three, and that\u2019s the section of the book that we began to study last week because beginning in chapter 4, verse 1, it says, \u201cafter these things.\u201d\u00a0 And towards the end of the verse it says \u201cI will show you what must take place after these things.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 4:1, \u201c\u201cAfter\u00a0these things [<\/u>meta tauta<\/em>]<\/u> I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard,\u00a0like\u00a0the sound\u00a0of a trumpet speaking with me, said, \u2018Come up here, and I will\u00a0show you what must take place after these things\u201d [meta tauta<\/em>]<\/u>.\u2019\u201d\n\nSo very clearly that\u2019s a literary clue that we\u2019re in the third and final section of the book dealing with the part of it that is yet future from our time frame.\u00a0 It\u2019s the longest section of the book and here\u2019s sort of an easy outline to remember concerning that large section: events before the tribulation period, chapters 4 and 5, events during the tribulation period, chapters 6-19, and then there\u2019s a series of at least four events after the tribulation period chapters 20-22, just inching our way last week into that first subsection, the heavenly scene, things that will take place just before the tribulation period begins.\n\nHere we\u2019re introduced to the person and the place of the coming judgment.\u00a0 Who is bringing forth this judgment upon the earth which is catastrophic?\u00a0 The person is the Triune Godhead; God the Father is featured in chapter 4, God the Son is featured in chapter 5.\u00a0 That\u2019s where the judgment comes from.\u00a0 The place it comes from is heaven itself!\u00a0 And so before this judgment begins we\u2019re introduced to the locale that the judgment will come from and who is bringing forth this judgment.\n\nAnd by the way, who in the world is God to judge this world anyway?\u00a0 What are His qualifications?\u00a0\u00a0 Because all the way through this book sinful man sticks his finger into the face of God and says how dare You do this!\u00a0 How dare You bring judgment to this earth, after all, You\u2019re not really qualified to do it.\u00a0 To ward off that criticism, which is very prominent all the way through this book, you have the credentials of God to judge.\u00a0 How can God judge creation?\u00a0 Number 1 because creation wouldn\u2019t exist without God, Revelation 4 is describing that.\u00a0 And in fact it\u2019s in this chapter that God Himself is worshiped as Creator.\u00a0 And if that weren\u2019t qualification enough we have chapter five where he is not just the Creator, He is the Redeemer!\u00a0 Not only did He create all things but He is the one, God the Son, who stepped out of eternity into time to absorb the wrath of a holy God in our place so we would not come into His judgment.\u00a0\u00a0 Now if you were the Creator and the Redeemer do you need any further qualifications?\u00a0 You do not!\n\nAnd so by the time you emerge from chapter 5 what you\u2019ll see is God is qualified and credentialed to bring these horrific catastrophic judgments to the earth that begin to be described in chapter 6-19.\u00a0 And in the process of describing this heavenly scene what we see is worship taking place.\u00a0 God is worshipped, God the Father as Creator, God the Son as Redeemer, and we get a glimpse of what heavenly worship is actually going to be like.\n\nChapter 4 you can divide as follows:\u00a0 Number one, John is summoned into heaven, chapter 4, verse 1.\u00a0 This is where John sees a vision of a door in heaven and a voice saying \u2018Come up here\u201d and he is brought into heaven itself, a personal rapture which I believe is a prefigurement of the coming rapture of the church.\u00a0 We talked about that last time, where John is given this unique vantage point; he sees the vision of the door and then the voice of a command saying \u201cCome up here.\u201d\u00a0 John is catapulted, whether it\u2019s in his body or out of his body the Bible doesn\u2019t say but he is catapulted into heaven itself to see this heavenly scene.\n\nAnd in heaven itself he begins to record the sights that he saw in heaven.\u00a0 John sees two primary categories: number one, a heavenly throne, a\u00a0 place from which the judgment will come from.\u00a0 And number two, items around the throne; he sees who\u2019s on the throne, God the Father.\u00a0 He sees what is above the throne, a rainbow, an emerald rainbow.\u00a0 He sees what\u2019s coming out of the throne, flashes of lightning and peels of thunder foreboding judgment that is on the horizon.\u00a0 And then he sees what\u2019s before the throne, this glassy sea, all of which we spoke of last time.\n\nAnd then he begins to see also items and different things surrounding the throne, like verse 4, the twenty-four elders.\u00a0 And in our sermon last week I tried to make the case that those twenty-four elders are not angels.\u00a0 Those twenty-four elders represent the church in heaven, raptured to heaven before the judgments come.\u00a0 He\u2019s also seeing, verse 5, the seven lamps which represent the fullness of the Spirit, the Spirit never being quenched or second guessed in heaven.\u00a0 \u00a0[Revelation 4:5b, \u201cAnd there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 And we made the point that you can\u2019t have a lamp without a lampstand and the lampstands earlier in the Book of Revelation are identified as the seven churches.\n\nSo you have not one\u00a0 image but two images of the church in heaven before these judgments take place.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we at Sugar Land Bible Church do not teach that the church will go into the tribulation period on earth; we believe that the church will be taken to heaven before the tribulation period takes place, and we sort of navigated our way through those sites that he saw last time.\n\nBut then he sees a third thing and this is where we pick it up this\u00a0 morning, four living creatures that begin to be described in verses 6-8, strange looking beasts or animals that really have no exact parallel to animals and beasts from the natural world that we can see around us.\u00a0 So John says there in chapter 4 and verse 6, \u201cand before the throne there was something<\/em> like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. [7] The first creature was<\/em> like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was<\/em> like a flying eagle. [8] And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, \u201cHOLY, HOLY, HOLY is<\/em> THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.\u201d\n\nA very interesting verse, or series of verses.\u00a0 I hope you kept me in prayer as I was trying to understand these things.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure I fully understand it after a long time of study and wrestling with many, many commentaries and the original languages.\u00a0 The best I can tell is the identification of these living creatures is some kind of special angelic entity.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting that when\u00a0 you go into the Scripture, particularly in the Old Testament, you start to see different categories of angels.\u00a0 There is a group of angels called the cherubim; the \u201cim\u201d ending indicates plurality in Hebrew, sort of like an \u201cs\u201d ending in an English noun indicates plurality.\u00a0 \u201cCherubim\u201d more than one;\u00a0 you see many places where they\u2019re described, Ezekiel 10:15-20.\n\n[Ezekiel 10:15-20, \u201cThen the cherubim rose up. They are the living beings that I saw by the river Chebar. [16] Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels would not turn from beside them. [17] When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was<\/em> in them.\u00a0 [18] Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. [19] When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD\u2019S house, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.\u00a0 [20] These are the living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; so I knew that they were<\/em> cherubim. [21] Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was<\/em> the form of human hands. [22] As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead.\u201d]\n\nThere\u2019s another sort of group of angels called the seraphim who seem to have a role directing worship into heaven, Isaiah 6:2-6 speaks of them.\u00a0 [Isaiah 6:2-6, \u201cSeraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.\u00a0 [3] And one called out to another and said, \u201cHoly, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.\u201d\u00a0 [4] And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.\u00a0 [5] Then I said, \u201cWoe is me, for I am ruined!\u00a0 Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.\u2019\u00a0 [6] Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it<\/em> and \u00a0said, \u2018Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.\u201d\u2019]\n\nIs this the cherubim, is this the seraphim or is this some kind of special blend of the two? \u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0 \u00a0a lot of debate on that and I\u2019m not sure exactly where to come down on it, I just see these living creatures, four of them, as a special group or as a special category of angels.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting when you look at the second part of verse 6 it mentions their eyes, eyes within, eyes all around; eyes indicate intelligence, awareness. [Revelation 4:6, \u201cand before the throne there was something<\/em> like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.\u201d]\u00a0 Heaven itself is completely aware of what\u2019s about to happen to the earth.\u00a0 Even the angels themselves recognize it.\u00a0 It mentions what many think are different faces seem to be patterned after different animals from the natural world that we know.\u00a0 We see a lion, verse 7, like a lion, like a calf, like a man, like a bird.\u00a0 Boy, the interpretations here are endless.\u00a0 Some would say this represents Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (an interesting interpretation).\n\nIt\u2019s interesting that the lion would represent the height of the wild animal kingdom.\u00a0 The calf would represent the height of the domesticated animal kingdom.\u00a0 The bird would represent the height of things that God has created that fly.\u00a0 And man would represent the pinnacle of creation itself.\u00a0 These seem to be very, very high level, high ranking angels, the pinnacle, if you will, of God\u2019s creation.\n\nWhen you look there at verse 8 it talks about their wings.\u00a0 Notice if you will, Revelation 4:8, it says, \u201cAnd the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; \u201d this reminds us of a special group of angels called the seraphim.\u00a0 They seem to be the worship directors in heaven.\u00a0 This was when Uzziah died and Isaiah was called into service and in Isaiah 6 Isaiah sees these angelic entities called the seraphim with their various wings.\u00a0\u00a0 Isaiah 6:2 says, \u201cSeraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.\u201d\u00a0 All of this is a reminder of the angelic realm and the reality of angels in heaven.\n\nAnd as much as it is difficult to decipher exactly who these entities are what is very clear is their duty, verse 8, which follows their description, what exactly are these four living creatures doing?\u00a0 That part is clear.\u00a0 If you look at verse 8 it says, \u201c\u2026\u00a0 and day and night they do not cease to say, \u2018HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 There are probably about twenty hymns or songs that will take place in the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 Twenty times where heaven itself and sometimes earth is described as singing and praising God.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I\u2019ve entitled this message \u201cTrue Worship.\u201d\u00a0 Some have argued that this is the first of those twenty songs or hymns.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting that these four living creatures are saying something; it looks to me like around the clock, we would use our vernacular today \u201ctwenty-four seven\u201d\u00a0 they keep saying something over and over again, \u201cHOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what the Seraphim are saying in Isaiah 6:3, the exact same thing, \u201cHOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0Well why three HOLY\u2019s?\u00a0 Why not two HOLY\u2019s or four HOLY\u2019s?\u00a0 It may have something to do with the fact that God is triune.\u00a0 One God who has expressed Himself in three separate personages, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.\u00a0\u00a0 Some have speculated, it can\u2019t be dogmatic on this, but that\u2019s why there\u2019s this thrice, three times reference to God\u2019s holiness.\n\nAnd what are these four living creatures calling attention to? What attribute of God are they calling attention to?\u00a0 They\u2019re calling attention to His holiness.\u00a0 That to me is very interesting because God is holy; He is absolutely pure, He is absolutely upright, He is absolutely moral and perfect in what He does.\u00a0 But that is not God\u2019s only attribute.\u00a0 God is also described, 1 John 4:8 as love.\u00a0 1 John 4:8 says, \u201cThe one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.\u201d\u00a0 God is holy, God is love, so why aren\u2019t these four living creatures saying love, love, love is the Lord God Almighty?\u00a0\u00a0 Why is it always \u201cHOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0That got me thinking a little bit about this.\n\nOne of the things to understand about angels is they are not omniscient.\u00a0 In other words they don\u2019t know everything.\u00a0 They are creatures and as creatures they must study and they must learn, just like we study and we learn.\u00a0\u00a0 Angels already understand something about God\u2019s created power.\u00a0 According to the Book of Job, chapter 38, verses 4-7, they were present when God brought creation into existence.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[Job 38:4-7, \u201cWhere were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?\u00a0 Tell Me,<\/em> if you have understanding, [5] Who set its measurements? Since you know.\u00a0 Or who stretched the line on it?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [6] \u201cOn what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,\u00a0 [7] when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?\u201d]\n\nThey were present, at least on day four when He brought land out of the sea and it says there in verse\u00a0 7, \u201cwhen the morning stars\u201d that\u2019s angels, it can\u2019t be literal stars because they\u2019re singing, I don\u2019t know the star that can sing unless they\u2019re an angel, \u201cwhen the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God\u201d another word for angels, \u201cshouted for joy?\u201d\u00a0 Angels already know about God\u2019s created power.\u00a0 They apparently already know about His holiness because that\u2019s what they keep singing over and over again, \u201cHOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.\u201d\u00a0 I would also presume they know about judgment because according to Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:12-17, one of their own, Lucifer, in sin lost his position in heaven and was thrown to the earth.\u00a0 In fact, so deceived was Lucifer that he could replace God through pride that he not only deceived himself, but he deceived a third of the angels into rebelling with him against God.\u00a0 We get that number from\u00a0 Revelation 12:3-4 and verses 7 and 8.\n\n[Revelation 12:3-4, \u201cThen another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were<\/em> seven diadems. [4] And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.\u201d\u00a0 [7] And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, [8] and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.\u201d]\n\nWhat\u2019s my point?\u00a0 My point is angels know about His holiness.\u00a0 Angels know about His judgment and His justice.\u00a0 Angels know about His creative power.\u00a0 But what do angels not know, apparently, a lot about?\u00a0 They don\u2019t know an awful lot about God\u2019s grace.\u00a0 They don\u2019t know an awful lot about God\u2019s mercy.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why they, as non-omniscient beings have to learn about this attribute of God.\u00a0 And how is it that these angels learn about God\u2019s grace and God\u2019s mercy knowing so much about His holiness and His judgment and His creative power?\n\nWhere would they turn to learn about God\u2019s grace and His mercy?\u00a0 The answer is they\u2019re looking at you.\u00a0 There are many, many references in the New Testament to the fact that the angels are watching.\u00a0 Ephesians 3:10 talks about the grace that God has lavished upon the church and it says these things are being witnessed by angels themselves.\u00a0 [Ephesians 3:10, \u201cso that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.\u201d]\n\n1 Peter 1:12 describes the manifold grace of God and then it says this, \u201cthings into which angels long to look.\u201d\u00a0 [1 Peter 1:12, \u201cIt was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven-- things into which angels long to look.\u201d]\u00a0 They\u2019re observing; they\u2019re (as some translate this) stooping down and studying intently God\u2019s dealings with man because they\u2019re seeing in God\u2019s dealings with man grace and mercy, something that the angels themselves are just learning to comprehend.\n\nPerhaps that\u2019s why, when Moses was instructed in the Book of Exodus\u00a0 concerning the tabernacle and concerning the ark of the covenant, which went into the Holy Place which contained the Ten Commandments and other things, when Moses was told to create this entity he was told to place over the mercy seat seraphim, cherubim, cherubim watching what was going to happen on the Day of Atonement when the blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat postponing the day of reckoning for the nation of Israel for one year.\u00a0 Leviticus 16, called Yom Kippur, the day of covering.\u00a0 Why would God tell Moses to portray angels watching what\u2019s happening on the mercy seat?\u00a0 Because the angels are learning.\u00a0 They\u2019re learning by God dealing with man and the angels watching God dealings with man knowledge is being filled out in their understanding an attribute of God which exists that they don\u2019t know much about.\n\nThink about that for a minute.\u00a0 God is using my life, He\u2019s using your life to fill out knowledge in the theology of the angelic realm.\u00a0 That\u2019s the best explanation I have in terms of why the angels are always watching us with great diligence.\u00a0 Why would they care?\u00a0\u00a0 Because\u00a0 they understand His holiness.\u00a0 They understand His creative power.\u00a0 They understand His justice and they understand His judgment.\u00a0 But what about grace?\u00a0 What about mercy?\u00a0 Why are they saying \u201clove, love, love is the Lord God Almighty; mercy, mercy, mercy, is the Lord God Almighty\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0 Something they\u2019re less aware of and they\u2019re learning about it as they watch God\u2019s dealings with man.\n\nWe have to understand the privilege that we\u2019re given today in the age of the church where the grace of \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God has been poured out on us in an unprecedented fashion.\u00a0 It\u2019s something that is so magnificent and so profound that it\u2019s even filling out knowledge among some of God\u2019s creatures known as angels.\u00a0 God is \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0holy but at the same time God is loving, God is gracious.\n\nAnd you say well, aren\u2019t those two attributes contradictory? \u00a0I mean, how could God be holy and must punish sin but at the same time be loving and not wanting us to fall into that condemnation?\u00a0 How are these two attributes of God reconciled and the answer to that question is the cross of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 That\u2019s where the love of God, the grace of God and the holiness of God coincide, because when Jesus died on that cross two thousand years ago the holiness of God the Father was satisfied against Him.\u00a0 Jesus stepped out of eternity into time, into the line of fire and He absorbed the wrath of a holy God in our place and the moment He did that He honored, upheld the holiness of God that must punish sin but at the same time the grace of God is evident because now God\u2019s judgment does not have to be poured out on people who are sinners, who will simply receive what Jesus did in their place by way of faith.\n\nYou receive Jesus Christ and the holiness of God has not been compromised one iota because sin has been paid for but at the same time the love of God has been satisfied because now there is there is a sufficient sacrifice that doesn\u2019t have to be poured out on us.\u00a0 And so it\u2019s an amazing thing that these four living creatures are calling attention to \u201cHoly, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty who was and who is and who is to come.\u201d\n\nAnd this scene concerning the sights in heaven is now followed by a song of heaven itself and what you see there in verses 9-11 are: number one, singers, verses 9-10, and number two, the song itself.\u00a0 Who are the singers?\u00a0 Two groups, number one, the four living creatures that we just got finished talking about, verse 9.\u00a0 And number two, the twenty-four elders that we talked about last week who represent the church in heaven, verse 10. Their contributions are given in these verses and then what follows is the actual song itself and\u00a0 you see what they are praising God for.\u00a0 And once we under\u00adstand what they are praising God for then you begin to understand why God is qualified to bring the judgments to the earth that He will bring beginning in chapter 6.\n\nLook at group number one in terms of these singers, the four living creatures.\u00a0 Notice what they are doing there in verse 9, \u201cAnd when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,\u201d what are these four living creatures doing?\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice the word \u201cglory\u201d there, they\u2019re glorifying the One who sits on the throne, God the Father.\u00a0 The word \u201cglory\u201d is the Greek word doxa<\/em>, where we get the idea of the doxological purposes of God.\u00a0 Why do we exist?\u00a0 We exist to give glory to God.\u00a0 I like how the Westminster Confession summarizes this; it says, \u201cThe chief end of man,\u201d in other words this is what man\u2019s purpose is, \u201cThe chief end of man\u201d humanity, \u201cis to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s why we exist.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we were brought into existence, to glorify God.\n\nSo it would stand to reason that these four living creatures, also creatures of God, are in heaven glorifying God.\u00a0 They are also bringing Him honor, it says there in verse 9, and they are also giving to Him, (notice verse 9 very carefully) thanks, thanksgiving.\u00a0 Now isn\u2019t that appropriate given the holiday season that we\u2019re in now, the Thanksgiving season where on Thursday we paused and feasted and reflected upon the manifold blessings that we have, particularly here in the United States, tremendous material blessings the height of which is almost unknown in world history.\u00a0 And we ought to be people of thanksgiving.\u00a0\u00a0 Even if you lost all of your finances tomorrow you still ought to be a person of thanksgiving because your heavenly blessings can never be taken away from you.\n\nEphesians one and verse three says \u201cWe have been blessed\u201d past tense, \u201cblessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.\u201d\u00a0 And we say to the Lord, Lord, I want you to bless me, and the Lord says what else do you want, number one, I\u2019ve put you in the most prosperous freest country perhaps in the history of mankind.\u00a0 And if that weren\u2019t enough even more important than that you have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.\u00a0 We ought to be people of gratitude as God\u2019s people, not always asking and demanding and petitioning, and there\u2019s always a place for that, but we ought to be just people that pause and reflect, Lord I just can\u2019t believe what I have.\n\nWhat does the Bible say?\u00a0 The Bible says in the last days people will be turned inward, not Godward.\u00a0 2 Timothy 3:2 gives sort of a laundry list of what people, I believe in the church, will become like in the last days.\u00a0\u00a0 They \u201cwill be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,\u201d and one of the things mentioned there is \u201cungrateful,\u201d unthankful.\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting the day after Thanksgiving, sometimes called Black Friday, the mobs of people\u2026 and I was foolish enough to go out there last Friday I didn\u2019t came or anything but my wife needed a little sleep, recovering from our trips so I took my daughter out on Black Friday, it\u2019s called \u201cBlack Friday\u201d because businesses finally get into the black financially, it\u2019s a big business day.\u00a0 It\u2019s astounding the wall to wall people, the inability to find a parking space, you open the doors at the beginning of Black Friday and people just like a mob go into these stores with the hope of getting the first gismo off the line at the reduced price.\u00a0 And you look at these pictures and you say to yourself, well where is everybody on the Sunday after Thanksgiving?\u00a0 I mean, I know where they are on the Friday after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, what about Sunday?\u00a0 Why is it that this building is what\u2026 two-thirds, three-quarters full?\u00a0 Why is it that we can\u2019t find parking places in the churches on the Sunday following Thanksgiving?\u00a0 The answer is we are a nation and a people that have largely become narcissistic and have turned inward rather than Godward.\n\nThat\u2019s exactly what the Lord said would happen in the last days, people would become\u00a0 ungrateful.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting that of all of the people that have ever lived in world history that should be the most thankful for what they have we have become (to a very large extent) the least thankful.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting that heaven itself, removed from sin, removed from the sin nature, as the angelic beings are praising God\u00a0 unencumbered one of the things that they do to the Lord is they just give thanks, gratefulness, and may that describe us.\u00a0 And they\u2019re doxological in their purpose and they are glorifying God. Their eyes are off the holy\u00a0 trinity\u2014me, myself and I, and on to the Holy Trinity with the thrice holiness, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Which one of these themes describe you?\u00a0\u00a0 Which one of these themes describe me?\n\nThey give glory to God, they give honor to God, they give thanks to God, now notice where this glory is going.\u00a0 It\u2019s very clear there in verse 9, when the four living creatures \u201cgive glory and honor and thanks to\u201d who? \u201cto Him who sits on the throne,\u201d they\u2019re not giving glory here to a church growth model, to a bestselling author, to a famous singer, to an erudite pastor, to a governing board, to a denominational head, to a school to a title, to a talent, none of that!\u00a0 Just directing praise to God where it should be and where it\u2019s deserved, \u201c\u2026to Him who sits on the throne,\u201d the doxological purpose of creation.\n\nAnd why would God deserve this glory?\u00a0\u00a0 You see it there at the end of verse 9, \u201cwho sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever.\u201d That\u2019s the Greek word ai\u014dnios<\/em>, God is not just forever, He\u2019s forever and ever.\u00a0 There never was a time when God did not exist; there was a time when you didn\u2019t exist, there was a time when I didn\u2019t exist, there was a time in history where the angels didn\u2019t exist, but not God, He\u2019s always been there and He always will be there.\u00a0 He exists forever and ever!\u00a0 And doesn\u2019t God, on that basis alone, deserve glory and thanks and honor from the heavenly beings, including the raptured church?\n\nYou know, it\u2019s interesting how short man has been on this planet and how much he thinks he knows.\u00a0 I\u2019m reminded of the Book of Job where everybody in the Book of Job is giving their own opinion about Job\u2019s problems.\u00a0 Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, another guy named Elihu gets into the act, Job gets into the act and they all think they know something that they don\u2019t have a clue that they know about.\u00a0 Job\u2019s problems had nothing to do with sin in Job\u2019s life; it had to do with an angelic conversation in heaven that we\u2019re privy to between Job and Satan.\u00a0 Yet all these people in the Book of Job, it goes on so many chapters, are so confident that they know things.\n\nAnd God finally intervenes in Job 38 and 39 and speaks through the whirlwind and He begins to give them a quiz.\u00a0 This quiz goes on two chapters.\u00a0 How would you like a\u00a0 pop quiz from God?\u00a0 And you know the first thing He asks them about?\u00a0 He asks them about creation.\u00a0 \u201cWhere were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.\u00a0 [5] Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it?\u00a0 [6] On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, [7] When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?\u201d\u00a0 Just a few questions about creation, can I ask you those and the reality of the situation is Job doesn\u2019t know anything about these things because he wasn\u2019t there, nor did Job\u2019s so-called counsellors.\u00a0 But God knows because he was there when it happened and before that he was in existence and He\u2019s always been in existence and He will always be in existence.\n\nThis is why God is called \u201cthe eternal God.\u201d\u00a0 Romans 16:26.\u00a0 [Romans 16:26, \u201cbut now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith;\u201d]\n\nPsalm 90:2, the oldest psalm in the Psalter, Moses I believe is the writer, and he says, \u201cEven from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.\u201d\u00a0 [Psalm 90:2, \u201cBefore the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 The Hebrew there is olam<\/em> meaning forever, forever twice!\u00a0 And this is why these twenty-four elders, four living creatures are glorifying God, because God is the uncaused cause.\u00a0 He will always be and He has always been.\u00a0 So who in the world is man to shake his fist and finger in God\u2019s face and say how dare You intervene in judgment?\u00a0 Man has no position to do that as this heavenly scene indicates.\n\nWe move from the four living creatures to the twenty-four elders.\u00a0 Who are the twenty-four elders?\u00a0 The twenty-four elders would be us, the previously raptured church, we talked about this last time in our sermon, tried to defend that position.\u00a0 Notice what the second group of singers is doing.\u00a0 Look at verse 10, \u201cthe twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever,\u201d\u00a0 watch this, \u201cand will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,\u201d and then the song follows there in verse 11.\u00a0 [\u201cWorthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.\u201d]\n\nWhenever the four living creatures begin to praise the Lord and I think they do that quite frequently, the twenty-four elders start to praise the Lord as well.\u00a0 And it\u2019s interesting in verse 10, it says actually \u201cfall down.\u201d\u00a0 Did you notice in verse 4 they were in a seated position and now verse 10 they are falling down before the Lord.\u00a0 Can I just ask you a personal question?\u00a0 When was the last time that you changed\u00a0 your physical posture to glorify God?\u00a0 When was the last time you got on your knees physically before the Lord.\u00a0 I notice that when I pray I\u2019m always in a comfortable position with my root beer over here and the remote control over there, relaxed on my couch, yeah, I\u2019ll give the Lord a few minutes.\u00a0 Think about this\u2014when was the last time\u00a0 you sacrificed any comfort to change your physical posture to get into the presence of the Lord.\u00a0 I\u2019m embarrassed to say I don\u2019t even remember the last time I did that.\u00a0 When was the last time\u00a0 you gathered your family around and you said you know, we\u2019re just going to get on our knees and pray to the Lord.\n\nAnd\u00a0 yet these twenty-four elders, as best I can tell, are physically falling down before the throne.\u00a0 Who are they worshipping?\u00a0 They\u2019re worshipping \u201cHim who sits on the throne,\u201d they\u2019re not worshipping man or an idea or someone\u2019s creativity, or someone\u2019s talent. As I\u2019ve said before, this is doxological, this is what true worship is.\u00a0 The word \u201cworship\u201d is very interesting here, you\u2019ll notice the word \u201cworship.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s proskun\u0113o<\/em>, it\u2019s what God deserves, it\u2019s His right to receive because He is the creator of all things.\n\nAnd why are they worshipping the Lord?\u00a0 They\u2019re worshipping the Lord just like in verse 9 it repeats it in verse 10 because He is eternal, that\u2019s why, \u201cwho lives forever and ever.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ll see that in verse 9, you see it repeated in verse 10.\u00a0 [Verse 9, \u201cAnd when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever\u00a0 \u00a0[10] the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,\u201d]\n\nI think God wants worship because of who He is; He\u2019s God and you\u2019re not!\u00a0 He\u2019s God and I\u2019m not!\u00a0 I\u2019m a created being and He\u2019s not.\u00a0 And so the natural expectation of an unchanging immutable God is that creation itself would glorify God because He possesses attributes that we don\u2019t receive.\u00a0 You know, we have become so\u00a0 shallow in our understanding of worship.\u00a0 A lot of people say I\u2019m not going to get there early to Sugar Land Bible Church and worship, I\u2019m just going to go in and hear the message.\u00a0 Are you kidding me?\u00a0 What do you think you\u2019re going to be doing for all eternity?\u00a0 I mean, if you can\u2019t worship the Lord now how in the world are you going to be comfortable in heaven when your assignment 24\/7, along with the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures are worshipping the Lord around the clock.\u00a0 That\u2019s your destiny to worship God.\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting here in verse 10 it says, towards the end of the verse, it says \u201cand they,\u201d that\u2019s the twenty-four elders, or the previously raptured church, \u201cwill cast their crowns before the throne,\u201d what crowns could those be?\u00a0 We\u2019ve done great studies, in depth studies on this, haven\u2019t we?\u00a0 The New Testament reveals five crowns that you as a Christian have the ability to gain.\u00a0 This has nothing to do with salvation which is a one-time deal, the moment you trust Christ your salvation is secure.\u00a0 And people say well, once saved always saved, I can just live however I want, right?\u00a0 NO, because number one if you just lived however\u00a0 you want now that you\u2019re saved you\u2019re not even fulfilling the doxological purpose for which you exist but you\u2019re not taking seriously what the New Testament reveals concerning the ability to win a crown, five at least, the incorruptible crown given to the believer that gains mastery over the flesh, not a believer that\u2019s sinless but sins less under God\u2019s power.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01 Corinthians---9:24-27; Incorruptible--Gaining mastery over the flesh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Thessalonians 2:19-20; Rejoicing--Soul winning \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0James 1:12, Revelation 2:10; Life--Enduring trials\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01 Peter 5:2-4; Glory--Shepherding God\u2019s people\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2 Timothy 4:8; Righteousness--Longing for His appearing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 __________________________________________________________\n\nAnd we have all of the Scripture addresses there for these in the left hand column.\u00a0 The crown of rejoicing for the soul winner, the crown of life for the believer that endures trials, the crown of glory for the believer that faithfully shepherds God\u2019s people, the crown of righteousness for longing for His appearing.\n\nAnd what do we do with those crowns?\u00a0 It says it right there in verse 10, we cast them at His feet.\u00a0 [Revelation 4:10, \u201cthe twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,\u201d]\u00a0 Why would we do that?\u00a0\u00a0 To pay Him back?\u00a0 No, you can\u2019t pay Him back.\u00a0 To merit something from Him?\u00a0 No, you can\u2019t merit anything from Him.\u00a0 It\u2019s a way of adoration and glorification and gratitude for what He\u2019s done for you.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the crowns in the New Testament are so prominent.\u00a0 This is why the Bible unfolds this doctrine of rewards.\u00a0 This is why we read verses like this in the prior chapter, to the church in Philadelphia, \u201cI am coming quickly, hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.\u201d \u00a0[Revelation 3:11]\n\nWhy would I care?\u00a0 Because it\u2019s a capacity for glorification of God to a greater degree than somebody else.\u00a0 This is why John, who also wrote Revelation, wrote in his little epistle of\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2 John, verse 8, \u201cWatch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.\u201d\u00a0 Why would I care? \u00a0Verse 10 is why we should care.\u00a0 This is why Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9:27 says, \u201cI discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified\u201d \u00a0from the prize.\u00a0 What prize?\u00a0 Salvation?\u00a0 NO, that\u2019s based on grace.\u00a0 It\u2019s a crown or reward.\u00a0 This is what Paul was so motivated by.\u00a0 He is expressing fear that after he preached to others that he would go back into the flesh himself and be disqualified from what he explained to other believers to be a reality for them.\u00a0 That\u2019s not salvation, this is rewards above and beyond salvation.\n\nThis is why Paul, in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 outlines the great doctrine of the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ where Paul says [14] If any man\u2019s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. [15] If any man\u2019s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.\u201d\u00a0 Not salvation.\u00a0 That\u2019s taken care of, the issue is rewards above and beyond salvation which your average Christians probably doesn\u2019t know anything about, could care less about, but it becomes a big deal in verse 10 where the previously raptured church, the twenty-four elders are taking their crowns and casting them at His feet.\u00a0 It\u2019s somewhat embarrassing, isn\u2019t it, if they get to your hands and\u00a0 your hands are empty?\n\n[1 Corinthians 3:10, \u201cAccording to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. [11] For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, [13] each man\u2019s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be<\/em> revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man\u2019s work.\u201d\n\nWhy would I not want to max out for Jesus.\u00a0 Earn something from Him\u2014NO!\u00a0 Pay Him back\u2014NO!\u00a0 But glorify Him for all eternity based on what He has done for me.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that my reasonable response to the grace of God to offer my body to Him as a living sacrifice?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that what\u2019s logical?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that what\u2019s reasonable?\u00a0 And yet Paul says some Christians do and still get to heaven smelling the smoke on their garments; some Christians don\u2019t, some Christians do.\u00a0 I think this doctrine of rewards is a big deal.\n\nGrant Jeffrey sums it up this way:\u00a0 \u201c\u201cSomeday every Christian will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to receive rewards for faithful service. Some believers will receive no rewards at all because they lived their lives of service to self rather than service to the Lord...\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s the Black Friday crowd, not the Sunday crowd after Thanksgiving.\u00a0 \u201cChristians are promised a number of golden crowns for us faithful service to the Lord. Jesus warned that we are to \u2018hold fast\u2019 lest we lose our crowns. This indicates that it is possible to lose eternal rewards and blessings that God prepared for those who love Him. While our salvation is assured today by our accepting Christ as our savior...our future reward will be determined at the Judgment Seat of Christ after the Rapture. We are encouraged to hold on to these rewards through continued faithful service.\u201d\u00a0 [Apocalypse: The Coming Judgment of the Nations, <\/em>p. 85, 87]\u00a0 Not white-knuckling it for the Lord but allowing Him to express Himself through us through the divine power that\u2019s already resident within us.\n\nI think that\u2019s great theology, not to be confused with the doctrine of once saved maybe I can lose salvation.\u00a0 That can\u2019t happen because you\u2019re in the double grip of grace, John 20:27-29 and\u00a0 you will never perish.\u00a0 [John 10:27-29, \u201cMy sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; [28] and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. [29] \u201cMy Father, who has given them<\/em> to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them<\/em> out of the Father\u2019s hand. [30 \u201cI and the Father are one.\u201d]\u00a0 Salvation is not an issue any more.\u00a0 Reward, if rewarded, degree of reward, level of reward, capacity to glorify God throughout the ages, that\u2019s being determined right now in the life of the Christian, in the life of the child of God.\n\nAnd I have to be honest with you, I have misread verse 10 for my whole Christian life and I personally love it when the Holy Spirit corrects my understanding of something because how I used to read this is there\u2019s a one-time event where I have this crown or crowns and I one time cast them at His feet.\u00a0 That has been my understanding of this verse for as early as I can remember when I was coming of age as a Christian.\u00a0 And my understanding of that did not get corrected until I was one of the speakers are David Reagan\u2019s recent conference on Bible prophecy about a year or two ago, and one of the speakers gave an insight to this that I\u2019d never heard before.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice what it says in Revelation 3:11, it calls it \u201cyour crown.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.\u201d [Revelation 3:11]\u00a0 Well how could it be my crown if I\u2019m casting it at His feet and it\u2019s gone.\u00a0 That\u2019s no longer my crown, that\u2019s His crown. And the answer to that is right there in verse 9.\n\nRevelation 4:9, \u201cAnd when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever \u00a0\u00a0[10] the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,\u201d when the four living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne,\u201d\u00a0 Verse 10, \u201cThen the twenty-four elders,\u201d that\u2019s us, \u201ccast their crowns before His feet.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, the casting of crowns takes place whenever the four living creatures glorify God.\u00a0 Are you telling me that the four living creatures are going to glorify God just one time?\u00a0 In fact, verse 8 specifically says they don\u2019t do it just one time, they never cease saying twenty-four seven, \u201c\u2018HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 4:8, \u201cAnd the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, \u2018HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.\u201d\u2019]\n\nThese four living creatures are perpetually glorifying God. and as they are perpetually glorifying God what is the church doing?\u00a0 Taking their crown and casting it at His feet.\u00a0 But wait a minute, they start to sing again, so I take the same crown and cast it at His feet again.\u00a0 And then they sing some more\u2026 take the same crown and cast it at His feet.\u00a0 This is not a one-time thing where I take my crown, dump it off at His feet and it\u2019s all over.\u00a0 The Bible is very specific that it\u2019s\u00a0 your crown, it\u2019s the capacity to glorify God not just a single time but over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again throughout the ages.\u00a0 That\u2019s the understanding of that verse that I\u2019ve never had before.\u00a0 I thought always it was a singular one-time event but if you just look at the verse itself and its context you see that\u2019s not what it means.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to me how many ideas we have in our minds about the things of God are really not borne out by a careful study of the Word of God.\u00a0 This is why a crown is significant to you, crown or crowns!\u00a0 It\u2019s significant because it\u2019s determining capacity for worship and glorifying God, not as a singular event but throughout the ages.\u00a0 This is true worship coming from the four living creatures, verse 9, the twenty-four elders, verse 10.\n\nWell, what song are they singing?\u00a0 It\u2019s right there in verse 11.\u00a0 \u201cWorthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201ccreated all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.\u201d\u00a0 You see this expression \u201cWorthy are You\u201d?\u00a0 That\u2019s worship.\u00a0 What is worship?\u00a0 Worship is ascribing worth to something.\u00a0 Here heaven itself is ascribing worth to God because He possesses an attribute that none of God\u2019s creatures possess, His eternality.\u00a0 Heaven itself is glorifying God.\u00a0 \u201cWorthy are\u00a0 You,\u201d glorifying Him, honoring Him.\n\nNow look at what it says there in verse 11, \u201cWorthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power;\u201d wait a minute, why is He receiving \u201cglory and honor and power\u201d?\u00a0 I thought He has always contained or possessed \u201cglory and honor and power.\u00a0 What is He receiving here that\u2019s new?\u00a0 The answer: He is receiving \u201cglory, honor and power\u201d in the Book of Revelation because His kingdom is coming from heaven to where?\u00a0 To the earth.\u00a0 And before His kingdom comes from heaven to the earth there\u2019s the usurper that has to be evicted.\n\nAnd that\u2019s what the opening of the seven sealed scroll is about in Revelation 5, it\u2019s the title deed to the earth and as the judgments hit the earth Satan is gradually being evicted and the highlight of the book, Revelation 11:15 says \u201cthe kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ;\u201d and the whole things ends with an evicted Satan, a bound Satan, and the glorification of the kingdom of God on the earth, called the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 So what is happening is yes, He has \u201call glory, honor and power\u201d but He is receiving \u201cglory, honor and power\u201d because the point of the book is how the heavenly rule comes to the earth with an evicted Satan.\u00a0 That\u2019s why they\u2019re worshipping the Lord for this.\n\nPsalm 110:1, \u201cThe LORD says to my Lord: \u2018Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Jesus does not have all glory, honor and power now because of that word \u201cuntil.\u201d\u00a0 The kingdom has not yet come to the earth.\u00a0 He\u2019s certainly in a position of glory but nothing compared to what is happening with the manifestation of the kingdom through this seven sealed scroll.\n\nAnd is God really qualified to bring judgments, evict Satan and bring this kingdom to the earth?\u00a0 How dare You interfere, God, with our kingdom.\u00a0 How dare\u00a0 You bring your own kingdom!\u00a0 God responds and says I\u2019m completely qualified because you wouldn\u2019t exist had I not decreed it.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is\u00a0 you wouldn\u2019t even have your next breath unless I decreed it.\u00a0 And so heaven is praising God because of His role in creation.\n\nAnd what does lost man do with the doctrine of creation?\u00a0 He comes up with perverted, distorted explanations of explaining creation without God.\u00a0 All of\u00a0 your children and grandchildren are being taught it right now, depending on what school system you have them in.\u00a0 It\u2019s called the doctrine of naturalism, modern day it goes under the title the doctrine of evolution,\u00a0 What is evolution?\u00a0 It masquerades as science; it isn\u2019t science at all.\u00a0 It\u2019s sinful man denying God the glory He deserves on account of creation, that\u2019s what it is.\n\nThat\u2019s why the theory of evolution is an abomination to God.\u00a0 You want to tick God off,\u00a0 you want to upset God, then you start to strip Him of His glory that He rightfully deserves because of creation.\u00a0 And today we\u2019re doing it all the time, called the theory of evolution where the natural man is taught to explain the sophistication of the universe without God.\u00a0 That is the opposite of what heaven is doing in the presence of God, glorifying God for the glory He deserves on account of creation.\u00a0 Evolution is not a scientific issue, it\u2019s a theological issue. \u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s an issue of who\u2019s going to rule here, man or God?\u00a0 That\u2019s the battle going on in the Book of Revelation, who\u2019s in charge here?\u00a0 Man throughout this book thinks he\u2019s in charge; God proves him wrong through the manifestation of His kingdom on earth.\n\nPsalm 14:1 says, \u201cThe fool says in his heart there is no God.\u201d\u00a0 [Psalm 14:1, \u201cFor the choir director. A Psalm of David. The fool has said in his heart, \u2018There is no God.\" They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good\u2019\u201d]\n\nRomans 1:18-24 says when people are given over to a philosophy that tries to explain creation without God their mind becomes darkened and they become confused about many things, watch this, this won\u2019t get me a lot of applause from the politically correct crowd, including their sexual orientation.\u00a0 That becomes confused.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because the sex drive and the sexual relationship is created by God.\u00a0 God is the one who understands how those things work since He is the creator of those things.\u00a0 You dismiss God from your thinking because you\u2019ve come up with a theory to explain creation without God, you know what gets confused really fast?\u00a0 All of the relationships that God has set up including ones sexuality.\n\nAnd so what are we living in today in this culture, this Black Friday culture?\u00a0 We\u2019re living in a culture where children are going through public schools and they\u2019re told well maybe you\u2019re a boy, maybe you\u2019re not, maybe you\u2019re a girl, maybe\u00a0 you\u2019re not.\u00a0 It\u2019s called the gender surrender.\u00a0 I can\u2019t think of a more confused culture than the one we\u2019re living in now and it\u2019s a theological issue, not a civil rights issue, it\u2019s a theological issue and has to do with man\u2019s unwillingness to give God the rightful glory that He deserves.\u00a0 And yet that glory is going out to God in heaven through the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures and God has every single right to bring judgment to the earth because He is worthy as Creator.\u00a0 Lost man may not figure this out or give God His proper due but heaven sure has it figured out.\n\nAnd if that weren\u2019t enough when we get into chapter five next week God is not only the Creator, He\u2019s the Redeemer.\u00a0 He not only spoke and the heavens and the earth leapt into existence but He stepped out of eternity into time to pay the price when lost humanity went astray as God the Son is glorified because of His role in redemption.\u00a0 How dare man second guess the judgment of God when God is both Creator (chapter 4) and Redeemer (chapter 5).\n\nYou may be here at Sugar Land Bible Church and you may not even know Jesus as your Redeemer but we\u2019re here to tell you that it\u2019s the God that created you that\u2019s the God that redeemed\u00a0 you.\u00a0 He redeemed you through what happened two thousand years ago through the death, burial, resurrection, ascension of Jesus Christ, the God that formed us, after we fell into sin redeemed us through what Jesus did on the cross two thousand years ago.\u00a0 And a person enters into the redeemed company of the Lord through the reception of the gospel which simply means good news because Jesus did everything for us.\u00a0 Well if Jesus did everything for us then what\u2019s left for me to do?\u00a0 Nothing!\u00a0 That\u2019s the point, except to receive it as a gift.\u00a0 You receive the gift by way of faith which means trust.\u00a0 We rely upon, we depend upon what Jesus did for us.\u00a0 It\u2019s really that simple.\u00a0 And it\u2019s something, if you\u2019re listening electronically it\u2019s something you can do now in the quietness of your own mind and heart.\u00a0 For those of you here at Sugar Land Bible Church that have never done this it\u2019s something you can do right now through the quietness and privacy in your own thought life and heart,\u00a0 you trust in what Jesus has done.\u00a0 You\u2019re no longer trusting in self, circumstances, works, but the good work He did for us.\u00a0 That\u2019s how someone enters into redemption which means to be purchased back from the slave market of sin.\n\nWe\u2019re entering the Christmas season, there\u2019s lots of talk about presents, gifts, shopping, and the greatest tragedy of the whole thing is people all over this country and all over this nation, all over this world will be so caught up in the business of the holidays that they will never pause or take time to consider the present God has already given them, which is\u00a0 your only path to redemption, and that\u2019s the gospel.\u00a0 It\u2019s not something you have to raise a hand to receive, join a church to receive, give money to receive, it\u2019s a matter of conviction when the Spirit convicts us and we receive by way of faith what Jesus has done in our place.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something that you need more explanation on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\n\nShall we pray\u2026 Father, we\u2019re grateful for revelation, for broadening\u00a0 our minds concerning the slow-mindedness we have of worship.\u00a0 Help us to focus on true worship this Thanksgiving season and as we move into the Christmas season where we celebrate Your birth.\u00a0 Make us people here at Sugar Land Bible Church people of thankfulness, give us an attitude of gratitude as we continue to teach the Book of Revelation verse by verse.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t