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| - Kenneth Greatorex - In Revelation 4:1-11, the setting is in heaven before the Throne of God. Two groups are worshiping: four living creatures and twenty-four elders. The type of worship is not the carnal, earthly sort that most of our churches have today. True worship is “worship in spirit and truth.” Revelation 19:10 reads, “- - Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.” The word “testimony” is from the Greek, MARTURIA #3214, which involves a witness, certification, or a giving of evidence. This happens by the, “Spirit of prophecy.” The Spirit of prophecy MUST birth our praise and worship! ALL else is a man made attempt to praise, or worship. In praise and worship, we need NOT seek to enter into the anointing, or work into it. We start in the anointing for the anointing abides! All else is carnal! Hebrews 2:12 which is a quotation from Psalm 22:22 tells us, “I will declare Your name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I SING PRAISE TO YOU.” Literally, “Will I hymn You.” Now WHO is doing it? Clearly this is not the noise of the average service, but the music of Heaven. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE MOVE IN THIS REALM! Revelation 4:8-11 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: "Holy, holy, holy, lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" (9) Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, (10) and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: (11) "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." In Verse 8, There are three multiples of THREE here. Three is the first geometric figure which stands for length, breadth and height. • Three stands for that which is solid, real, substantial, complete and entire. • Three gives the attributes of our perfect God: omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. • There are three divisions of time to man: past, present and future. • There are three spiritual kingdoms presently, the Kingdom of God, Satan and of death. • The New Testament describes Deity as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. • The seraphim of Isaiah 6:3 cried out, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth IS full of his glory.” There is something about the revelation of God and His holiness that will produce a CHANGE in us just as it did in Isaiah. He began to see God for who He IS, the One who is separate and apart, who is self-existent and independent from all other beings. Isaiah could relate to God’s view that the seraphim declared, “the whole earth IS full of His glory.” We look for a coming glory. In God, IT IS NOW! This is the kind of revelation we worship with. “Lord God Almighty,” speaks to us of the One who is “omnipotent,” the possessor and the creator of ALL power and the authority which flow from it. In the Old Testament He is known as El Shaddai, The Almighty. God gave ALL POWER and AUTHORITY, not just some, TO JESUS. “Who was and is to come!” [Literally - IS Coming in the continual sense] This speaks of the omnipresence of God. We are confined by time. To God, there is no time for it is always NOW. The story was told of a small boy trying to watch a parade through a knot hole in a board fence. His brother called for him to come upstairs. To his delight he could see the parade, which had passed by, was now passing, and that which would soon pass by. This simple illustration helps us understand what we might call the eternal viewpoint. While this scene of worship in Heaven began with four Heavenly beings, in Verse Ten it changes to twenty-four elders of earthly origin. The ONE being worshiped continues seated on the throne, as this is the place of authority and rest. Christ is NOW seated on the throne, NOT some day shall be. Ephesians Two tells us that we are NOW seated in the heavenly places. Verse 11 says, “You are worth, O Lord, to receive glory, honor and power; for you created ALL things, and by Your will they exist and were created.” In verse ten the elders fell down and began to worship. They cast their crowns before Him, a sign of the total surrender of all they could value as being nothing compared to Him. The elders begin speaking of the worthiness of the ONE on the throne. Two sets of “threes” are in this verse Eleven. • He is worthy to receive, “glory, honor and power.” These are expressions of the high esteem our Lord IS TO BE RECEIVING,. NOT OUR BRAGGING of how well we think, we are worshiping. Many of our “I centered” choruses ARE empty ego centric bragging of what man is doing by his attempt at praise. Examine them, and ask, “Do they really appeal to God, or our sensual natures?” • The next set of threes speak of the Creator. Genesis 1:1 reads, “In the beginning God created.” Elohim, the “putter forth of power (Girdlestone), the Majestic One created. Revelation affirms as does Colossians 1:16 that, He is the creator of ALL things, and that by HIS WILL they exist (continue to exist) and were created. The Almighty is worshiped as the Great Creator. Romans 11:36 reads, ”For of Him and though Him and to Him are ALL things. The New English Bible reads simply, “SOURCE, GUIDE and GOAL of all that is.” As we recognize our Lord for whom He is, our hearts bend in worship to the Almighty. “Worship is more and attitude than an action. True worship is based upon revelation.” |
Other Writings in This Series:
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