The Praise Of Heaven

by J. Miller, Ayr | Category: Worship | Oct 1964

In the description of heaven given to us by John the apostle in Revelation 4, he first of all speaks of the throne of God and of Him who sat thereon, whose appearance was like a jasper stone and a sardius. Jasper is said to be clear as crystal and sardius is of a bloodred colour. Then he tells of the four and twenty elders who sit on four and twenty thrones round about the throne of God, and of four living creatures which are in the midst of the throne and round about the throne. These twenty-eight creatures are all that are mentioned in Revelation 4.

It seems right to say that the praise and worship of heaven begin with the highest created intelligences, those who, of all His creatures, have been created to occupy the nearest place to God. It is said that "when the living creatures shall give glory and honour and thanks to Him that sitteth on the throne, to Him that liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders shall fall down before Him that sitteth on the throne, and shall worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honour and the power: for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy

will they were, and were created" (Revelation 4. 9-11).

No truer picture could be drawn in which is clearly to be seen the meaning of the worship of God. Worship signifies the bowing before God, and in that act giving to Him the glory due unto His Name (Psalm 29.1, 2). Worship is "short for worthship". Worship springs from the worth of the Person that is worshipped The suffix "ship" is allied to "shape", says Skeat, and shows the effect

that essential worth has upon an inferior, the worth of the Creator upon the creature. Here in Revelation 4 the worth of the Creator is seen in a twofold way: (1) in that He liveth for ever and ever, and (2) in that He of His own will created all things. The right attitude for created beings is to bow before Him, giving to Him the glory and honour that are His due.

The worthiness of the Lamb is the theme of Revelation 5. God's worthiness is seen as Creator in chapter 4, but the worth of the Lamb is seen in that He overcame, and that He was slain, and did purchase unto God with His blood men of every tribe and tongue, and people, and nation.

The four living creatures and the four and twenty elders who have harps and golden bowls full of incense (sweet odours), which are the prayers of the saints, sing a new song, the song of redemption, in contrast to the old song, which is the song of Creation, of which we read in Job. 38.4-7.

"When the morning stars sang together,

And all the sons of God shouted for joy."

The praise which begins with the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders, in which the prayers of the saints find a part, extends to the innumerable hosts of angels, ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, and then to every created thing in heaven and earth, and under the earth, and on the sea in the fitting adoration of God and of the Lamb (Revelation 5.8-14).

The praise of the heavenly hosts is heard in Luke 2.14 in connexion with the incarnation of the Lord, when the announcement was made to the shepherds that Christ was born in Bethlehem. The angelic announcement was, "There is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men of good pleasure" (Luke 2.13, 14, R.V.M.).

The descent of the Lord from heaven caused the heavenly host to praise God, and that initial praising of those heavenly hosts will reverberate from countless hearts throughout the ages of eternity. The incarnation of Christ had no comparable event in the annals of human history when He who is God became Man through being born of the Virgin. The Lord had come to earth to die in the giving of His life as a ransom for many.

The coming of the Lord again to earth to reign will be an occasion when He will be worshipped. This will be at the sounding with the trumpet of the seventh angel. This is also the third woe (Revelation 8.13).

"And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ: and He shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give Thee thanks, 0 Lord God, the Almighty, which art and which wast; because Thou hast taken Thy great power, and didst reign" (Revelation 11. 15-17).

What is said here is in agreement with what is said in Hebrews 1.6; "And when He again bringeth in the Firstborn into the world ("the inhabited earth", R.V.M.) He saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him."

In the passage from Revelation 11, above, we have the worship and the thanksgiving of the four and twenty elders, but in Hebrews 1 the worship of the Son of God extends to all the angels, for in His coming to earth all the angels are coming with Him (Matthew 25.31). This fact is revealed by the Lord Himself.

Lastly, in this brief paper dealing with this immense subject of the worship and praise of heaven, we would draw our readers, attention to the praise of the great multitude in heaven, as given in Revelation 19. Here this vast multitude praise God with continued hallelujahs for two things: (1) the judgement of God upon Babylon the great, the great harlot which is yet to appear, and which will corrupt the earth with her fornication, in which will be found the blood of prophets and saints and of all the slain upon the earth (God will avenge the blood of His servants at her hand); and (2) the joy and praise of heaven also because the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife had made herself ready. In the figurative language used, of a bride on her marriage day, the Bride of the Lamb is clothed in fine linen, bright and pure, which is the righteous acts of the saints.

These two women are two cities. The Babylonian harlot is clearly defined: "the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth" (Revelation 17, 18). There are not two Babylons, as some have taught concerning these chapters, that the Babylon of Revelation 17 is a system, and that of Revelation 18 is a city. Revelation 17.18 solves the problem, if we are prepared to accept the Holy Spirit's definition of what the harlot is.

The Lamb's Bride and Wife is also a city, as we learn from Revelation 21.9-27. What is a city? It is not simply a pile of buildings suited for habitation, nor yet is it a vast multitude of people without habitations. The idea of a city demands both a people and a place. A city implies also a people dwelling together who enjoy a corporate life. Who are those who are composed in the Bride of the Lamb? The answer of Scripture is clearly the saints of the Church which is Christ's Body.

In dealing with the praise of heaven, we need to note the chronological order. The destruction of Babylon is effected by the great earthquake which rends the city into three parts (Revelation 16.18, 19). The ten kings (the ten horns of the composite system called the beast) shall hate the woman (Babylon), and shall burn her utterly with fire (Revelation 17.16-18). The destruction of Babylon takes place before the coming of the Lord to earth. Note the order in Revelation 19, (1) the destruction of Babylon, (2) the marriage of the Lamb (and while this marriage takes place in heaven, the people of Israel and faithful saints of other nations are undergoing the sufferings of the great Tribulation), (3) then in Revelation 19. 11-21 we have the coming of the Son of Man and the armies of heaven to smite the nations in judgement.

In summing up the vast subject of the praise of heaven, we find it associated with

1.Creation (Revelation 4. 9-11; Job 38.4-7).

2.The Incarnation of the Lord (Luke 2.13, 14).

3.The Lord's death and work of redemption (Revelation 5.7-14).

4.The Lord's coming again to the earth (Revelation 11.15-17; Hebrews 1. 6).

5.The destruction of Babylon (Revelation 19.1-5).

6.The marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19.6-9).

These outstanding events, which call forth the worship and praise of heaven, of infinite importance in the ways of God in His great plan of restoration made necessary because of the ruin which sin and Satan wrought, do not exhaust the vast subject of the praise of heaven wherein God receives from the heavenly host His due. Great things are immediately before us in which we as the redeemed shall share a part, which should cause us to walk softly and humbly before our God.

When the praise of heaven I hear,

Loud as thunders to the ear,

Loud as many waters' noise,

Sweet as harp's melodious voice;

Then, Lord, shall I fully know,

Not till then, how much I owe.

J. Miller, Ayr | Oct 1964
Worship