SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/13/2015
9:49 AM
My Worship
Focus:
Association
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation 7:11-12
Message of the
verses: “11 And all the angels were
standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures;
and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,
"Amen, blessing and
glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God
forever and ever. Amen."”
The following is what I wrote on May 24, 2005 on these
two verses: “It seems to me that after
these Tribulations Saints began to praise the Lord, as seen in verses nine and
ten, that the rest of those who were around the throne echoed the praise of
these new saints as they to began to praise God, who is worthy of all praise
forevermore. Amen. In the original language of the NT the word
Amen means I believe, so by saying Amen they were concurring with the
Tribulation Saints.” I hope to add more
from my study today.
In speaking of “association” we will look at who is also
with these Tribulation Saints and the first ones we see is all of the angels
who were standing around the throne of God which is in heaven. We have innumerable Tribulation Saints along
with innumerable angels as we saw in the fifth chapter of Revelation when John referred
to them when he wrote “myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands.” Let us look at Deuteronomy 33:2 “"The
LORD came from Sinai, And dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount
Paran, And He came from the midst of ten thousand holy ones; At His right hand
there was flashing lightning for them.”
We can be sure that when God created the angels that He created many of
them. Daniel writes in 7:10 “"A
river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon
thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before
Him; The court sat, And the books were opened.”
Hebrews 12:22 says “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of
the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels.” Jude also speaks of many angels “"Behold,
the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones (Jude 14b).” Now what we are seeing here is that the angels
joined the Tribulation saints in praising God and we will see that the angels
were created for this very purpose: “Bless
the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the
voice of His word! (Psalm 103:20).” “For
by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things
have been created through Him and for Him (Col. 1:16).” We see here that all things were created to
praise the Lord and that is what is happening in the scene we have before us
today.
John MacArthur writes:
“That wretched, unworthy sinners can freely mingle with the pristine,
holy angels is a triumph of God’s grace that makes the angels glorify God all
the more. These people had turned their
backs on God, rejected the gospel (or in some cases never heard it), and not
being part of the church, they had missed the Rapture. So in the midst of God’s wrath and judgment
during the Tribulation, He will remember mercy and gather them to Himself. The wonder of God’s gracious salvation (a
subject about which angels are curious, having never experienced it themselves;
cf. 1 Peter 1:12) displayed before the angels stimulates them to praise and
worship Him (cf. Eph. 3:8-10). Though
angels do not experience salvation, they rejoice at the salvation of humans
(Luke 15:7, 10).”
As we continue to look at this passage we see that others
are associated with the angels and the Tribulation Saints. We also see the elders and the four living
creatures. Now at this time I want to
say something that is a differences of opinion between two men that I look to
for a great deal of help in my study of the Word of God, John MacArthur and
Warren Wiersbe, and the subject of disagreement is who the twenty-four elders
are. In my Spiritual Diary on which I studied
about the twenty-four elders in May of 2005 I read that Dr. Wiersbe believes
that these elders represent both the church and also Israel. I wish to say that I don’t disagree with
Warren Wiersbe very often, but in this case, in my opinion I believe that they
only represent the church as God is still dealing with Israel during the
Tribulation Period. Now as we look at
the city of The New Jerusalem we will find out that the gates and the
foundation stones are named after the twelve tribes of Israel and also the
Apostles of Christ all of whom are children of Israel. I thought that this was worth mentioning as
we again see the twenty-four elders in our text for today. We also see the four living creatures in our
passage for today so what we have here is an extension of the worship service
we saw in chapter five of Revelation.
As we look at this “worship service to the Lord” I can’t
help but think about how all of this became possible and that it became
possible because of the obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ who was obedient to
the Father in becoming a man, living on earth for 33 years, and then dying on a
cross and becoming sin for those who would believe in Him for their
salvation. He exchanged His
righteousness and took on our sin, my sin and everyone else who admits that
they are a sinner and received the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and
Lord.
We conclude this portion of this SD by repeating the last
portion of our text for today: “Amen, blessing and glory and
wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever
and ever. Amen.” And I would also
like to quote the last part of John MacArthur’s words from this section: “Worship is the constant occupation of those
in heaven. There was praise in chapters
4 and 5, before the seals were opened and judgment began. Now, as the final climactic judgments
approach, there is praise again, praise not for judgment anticipated but for
judgment realized. The mounting
crescendo of praise began with the four living creatures, then grew as the twenty-four
elders, the angels, and the ever-increasing number of tribulation martyrs
joined in. Finally, all heaven rings
with praise to God.
“The phrase ‘forever and ever’ indicates, as did the
doxology of 5:13ff., that this praise is not temporary or momentary, but will
continue eternally. What is described
here is worship that well never cease through all the endless eternity.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: The more that I
grow and better understand what worship is about and how it will continue in
heaven the more I want to participate in it.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To love the Lord, with all of my heart, soul,
mind, and strength, ant to better understand the love that Christ has for me.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Elisabeth” (Luke 1:60).
Today’s Bible
question: “Name the island where Paul
wanted to spend the winter on the way to Rome.”
Answer in our Next SD. 4/13/2015 11:31 AM
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