Worship God!

September 15, 1991

Rev_19:1-10

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in
1

heaven, crying, 'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2
for his judgments are true and just; he has judged the great harlot who
corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood
of his servants.' 3 Once more they cried, 'Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up
for ever and ever.' 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell
down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying, 'Amen.
Hallelujah!' 5 And from the throne came a voice crying, 'Praise our God, all you
his servants, you who fear him, small and great.' 6 Then I heard what seemed to
be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the
sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying, 'Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the
Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the
marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was
granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure' - for the fine linen is
the righteous deeds of the saints. 9 And the angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed
are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' And he said to
me, 'These are true words of God.' 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him,
but he said to me, 'You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and
your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.' For the testimony
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

Bethlehem is a vision of God --

- a God of salvation and glory and power (Rev_19:1), - a God whose judgments are true
and just (Rev_19:2), - a God who vindicates his servants and avenges their blood
(Rev_19:3), - a God of small people and great people (Rev_19:5), - an almighty God who
reigns sovereign and absolute over all things (Rev_19:6), and - a God who arranged from
all eternity for the marriage of his Son Jesus to a countless host of saved sinners, purified
and beautified by his own blood (Rev_19:7; Rev_1:5).

Bethlehem is a vision of this God.

I said at the leadership retreat, and in last week's STAR, that we exist to reassert the
rightful place of this God in all of life—to reassert the truth that the secular neglect of
God under the guise of openness and neutrality is in fact a rejection of God's purpose to
be loved and trusted and enjoyed and followed and glorified in everything his creatures
do.

But to have the kind of love and freedom and courage that it will take to make a case for
God in all the areas of life outside this church—to stand up and say what God wants said,
no matter the cost—to have that kind of love and freedom and courage will mean that we
meet together in small bands of deep camaraderie to stir each other up to love and good
deeds. That was the point of last week's message.
In order to reassert God's rightful place in all of life we have to be stirred up to love with
risk-taking freedom and courage. And in order to be stirred up like that we need to
encourage each other with the promises of God and the faithfulness of God. And in order
to encourage like that we need to meet together in small groups. That was the point of
Heb_10:23-25.

Bethlehem is a vision of God, and we exist to reassert and spread that vision in all of life,
and to that end we also exist to strengthen the vision through meeting together in small
groups.

But if that strengthening (in small groups) and that spreading (in all the areas of life) is
authentic, it comes from a certain kind of heart, namely, a heart that really savors the
vision—really loves God, really enjoys his fellowship, really stands in awe of his glory,
really trembles at his holiness, really looks look forward to his appearing. Unless there is
this heartfelt attachment to God and gladness that he is God and admiration of all that
he is as God, then all talk of stirring people up to spread his fame is phony.

So Bethlehem exists at it's very heart to savor the vision God. If we are going to spread it
in all of life, we have to strengthen it in small groups, and if all that is going to be
authentic, we have to savor it—and that is what worship is all about. And that is the point
of this morning's message.

An angel had been communicating to the apostle John on the island of Patmos where he
had been exiled because of the testimony of Jesus and the word of God (Rev_1:9). All of
chapters 17 and 18 are John's vision of God's destruction of Babylon, which I think
stands for the final, climactic expression of rebellious civilization. Babylon is the end-
time center of human power and glory and wealth.

The angel calls Babylon a great harlot. Rev_17:1-2 begins, "Come, I will show you the
judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, with whom the kings of
the earth have committed fornication." And at the end of the chapter (Rev_17:18) the
angel says, "The woman that you saw is the great city which has dominion over the
kings of the earth."

She exerts power over them because of the lust they have for her wealth and power and
glory. And everything human that a city pulls together, instead of offering it up to God in
thanks and praise, she prostitutes to commercial gain and gives herself to the lusts of the
nations. And in the process she attacks God's people. See Rev_18:24, "And in her was
found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth."

The horrendous downfall of this godless city (and civilization) at the end of the age is
described in chapter 18. See v. 2 (Rev_18:2): "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!" In
verse 21 (Rev_18:21) John sees an angel take up a stone like a great millstone and throw
it into the sea, saying, "So shall Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence,
and shall be found no more."

Then in Rev_19:1-10 (our text) John hears the worship service in heaven celebrating
God's triumph over Babylon. Verse 1 (Rev_19:1): "After this I heard what seemed to be
the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying, 'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory
and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just.' "
And at the end all this overwhelming revelation of what would happen to Babylon and
how heaven would celebrate, John is so stunned that he falls down (in verse 10 -
Rev_19:10) and starts to worship the angel who had come to him with all this revelation.
But the angel stops him and says (see the middle of verse 10 - Rev_19:10), "You must not
do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of
Jesus. Worship God."

That's the goal of everything the angel has been revealing. That's what the whole book of
Revelation is about. That's the point of all God's judgments, all God's dealings with the
world. All God's plans for history from beginning to end have this one goal—WORSHIP
GOD! Don't worship the wealth of Babylon, don't worship the power of Babylon, don't
worship the pleasures of Babylon, and don't even worship the holy messenger who brings
you the news that Babylon has fallen for ever. WORSHIP GOD!

Bethlehem is an alien outpost in Babylon. And we exist to reassert God's rightful place
wherever it has been prostituted to secular commerce or secular education or secular
entertainment or secular media or secular arts or secular sports. All the people of God,
exiled in Babylon, are called to be filled with the Spirit of prophecy (Act_2:17 f), and the
Spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus (Rev_19:10)—the testimony that Jesus is the
Lord of the universe and that means Lord over every area of secular life in Babylon.

But as an alien outpost in Babylon we know what's coming. And we know what the
worship of heaven is going to be like when Babylon comes down, and God stand's forth
to vindicate his Son. And we know from verse 10 that the reason this has all been
revealed to us ahead of time is that we might WORSHIP GOD. God let John hear the
celebration of heaven so that in his exile and his suffering he might join in, and worship
God. And John wrote it down in a book so that we might listen to the worship of heaven
and join in.

The outposts of the kingdom of God in Babylon are meant not only to reassert God's
rightful place in all the areas of life, and not only to strengthen each other's hands in
small groups, but also to be a powerful people of worship drawing down into the
darkness of Babylon the light and glory and joy and power of heaven's celebration of
God's final triumph over all evil.

Corporate worship at Bethlehem is the declaration in the midst of Babylon that we will
not be drawn into her harlotries, because we have found in God the satisfaction of our
souls. In his presence is fullness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore.
Corporate worship is the public savoring of the worth of God and the beauty of God and
power of God and the wisdom of God. And therefore worship is an open declaration to all
the powers of heaven and to all of Babylon that we will not prostitute our minds or our
hearts or our bodies to the allurements of the world. Though we may live in Babylon, we
will not be captive to Babylonian ways. And we will celebrate with all our might the
awesome truth that we are free from that which will be destroyed.

Worship is not the performance of a routine of hymns and prayers and preaching and
anthems. When the angel said to John, who had fallen at his feet, "Don't do that to me.
Worship God," he did not mean, recite a creed, or open your hymnal or listen to a
sermon. He meant connect with GOD! Focus on God, not the messenger. Concentrate on
God, not the hymn tune. Pursue God, not just knowledge about God. And in all your
focusing and concentrating and pursuing after God, seek to stir up your feelings to love
him and honor him and admire him and fear him and enjoy him and savor him.

Corporate worship at Bethlehem is the blatant, public savoring of God in the midst of a
very seductive Babylonian culture. Worship is the flagrant, open enjoyment of God as the
fountain of Life. And therefore it is a public declaration that God is more to be desired
than all the pleasures of Babylon.

For us to worship God the way the multitude of heaven worshipped we have to see God
the way they saw him. So I want to close this morning by focusing your mind on three
things that they saw. In Rev_19:1, they cry out, "Hallelujah (which is a Hebrew word for
praise God) --hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God." Three
things: salvation and glory and power. Where do they see these three things.

First, they see them in the judgment on Babylon and the avenging of the servants of God.
Verse 2 (Rev_19:2): "for his judgments are true and just; he has judged the great harlot
who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood of
his servants." Heaven worships God for his truth and justice manifest in his final
judgment on Babylon. And not only that, verse 3 (Rev_19:3) says that heaven worships
God because his judgment is everlasting: "Once more they cried, 'Hallelujah! The smoke
from her goes up for ever and ever.' " Evil and rebellion against God will never escape to
arise again to torment the servants of the Lord.

The second thing that moves heaven to worship God is the sight of his absolute
sovereignty as the Ruler over all things. Verse 6 (Rev_19:6): "Then I heard what seemed
to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of
mighty thunderpeals, crying, 'Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.' "
He is the Lord. He is God. He is Almighty. And therefore he reigns.

This is the rock bottom foundation for all worship in the midst of Babylon. How does
little band of believers, a little alien outpost of faith keep on singing the praises of God
with hope and confidence and joy in the midst of mighty Babylon? The answer is that
God reigns over Babylon.

Look at Rev_17:16-17, "And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the
harlot (that's Babylon); they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh
and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose
by being of one mind and giving over their royal power to the beast, until the words of
God shall be fulfilled."

This is what heaven saw. And it brought a thunderpeal of Hallelujah from the great
multitude. And this is what will keep us singing with all our might right in the midst of
Babylon, even if it costs us our lives. Our God reigns over Babylon and over the beast and
over every power in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

And finally the third thing that moves heaven to worship is the sight of the marriage of
God's Son. (Rev_19:7): "Let us rejoice and exult and give God glory, for the marriage of
the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready." All of redemptive history for
thousands of years has been aiming at this one thing; the final union of the Son and God
and the people of God in glory for ever and ever.
Someone may ask, "If verse 7 (Rev_19:7) says that the Bride made herself ready, why
does heaven cry, 'Give God the glory'?" The answer is given in verse 8 (Rev_19:8): "It
was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure—for the fine linen is the
righteous deeds of the saints." So how did the Bride make herself ready? By putting fine
linen, bright and pure? And what is the fine linen? The righteous deeds of the saints. But
how did the saints come to do these deeds? By what power or means did the Bride of
Christ clothe herself with fine linen? Answer (Rev_19:8): "It was granted her to be
clothed with fine linen." By whom? By God.

We do our righteous deeds, and therefore it is fitting that heaven cry out: "The Bride has
made herself ready." But we do not do them in our own strength. They are a gift from
God—prepared before the foundation of the world that we might walk in them
(Eph_2:10). And therefore it is even more fitting that heaven cry out, "Give God the
glory."

And that is what we will do from the bottom of our hearts, as long as God gives us breath
and faith. Amen.

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