I want to draw your attention to two verses at the end of Revelation chapter 4. Verses 10 and 11 of Revelation chapter 4 record these words. The four and twenty elders fell down before Him that sat on the throne, and worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created. In the Lord's Day morning services we have been dealing recently with the subject of true worship. This series has brought us to consider a number of aspects of this vitally important subject So far after introducing the topic from John chapter 4 verses 23 and 24 where it talks about the Father seeking for true worshippers to worship Him, that God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. We looked therefore at the person of true worship, God Himself. It is so important that when we come to church and as we live our lives from day to day, that we are God-centred in our focus. Our worship has to be, to use a theological term, theocentric. It has to be God-centred rather than man-centred. And that militates against what happens in most churches this morning. I guarantee you, in most places, God is not the centre of attraction. In fact, I am tempted to quote one preacher who said, there are very few churches indeed where the only attraction on offer to the people is God. It's always something else. We need to be God centered in our worship. It's vital that we are so otherwise we're never going to really worship at all. And we sought to establish this point at the very beginning by noting some of God's excellencies. His attributes, His perfections, to quote the great catechism definition, God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. And that's just part of what we could say about God. We talk about who God is, a Trinity in unity and a unity in Trinity. We worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, not three gods, one God in three persons. Then we went on to speak about what God has done, focusing in particular upon the great themes of creation, providence and redemption. Now as we gather on a regular basis in the house of the Lord for our public services, and each time we get before the Lord in secret to pray and read His word, There needs to be a definite concentration upon the person of true worship. We need to get our eyes upon the Lord. The last time we went on from there to deal with the subject of the pattern for true worship. And that pattern is to be found in the scriptures. The Bible is our handbook. It's a handbook on worship. And as Robert Dickey observed in his book on worship, In order for us to understand what the Bible teaches about worship and to realise exactly what it is that the Father is seeking of us, we need to examine worship at its purest level. When we turn to the Scriptures, we find many examples of people who worshipped God. And we ourselves observed that there are examples both in the Old Testament and the New Testament of worship that we would do well to consider. But we are only going to look at two of these examples. One in the Old Testament and one in the New. In our last message we studied the great example of worship given us in Isaiah chapter 6. There you have God's servant who sees in vision in the year that King Uzziah died, one who had reigned for 52 years but was taken away in death, in that same year He said, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne and His train filling the temple or His royal robe of glory filling the temple. He saw those Seraphim, those angelic beings worshipping God. There it reveals a heavenly scene of God upon the throne of His glory and the Seraphim worshipping Him. And in that chapter we observed that heavenly worship is focused on the person of God. I saw the Lord sitting upon the throne. He is called also there the Lord of Hosts or the Lord of Armies. In this vision of worship there was furthermore we saw a focus upon the presence of God for His train, His flowing robes filled the temple. That means the presence of God filled up the sanctuary. And sadly we can go through the motions of what we are pleased to call worship in a service like this and never know the manifestation of God's presence. We can come to church and never meet with God. That is a sad fact. In true worship, as we observed it in Isaiah chapter 6, there is a focus not only on the person and the presence of God, but upon the position of God. He is not a weak God. He is God on the throne. He is the Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth and the truest and purest worship is going to have its focus upon a God who is absolutely sovereign in all things. God in His glory, and God therefore in His rightful place. Even the angelic beings in their rightful place, with two wings covering their faces, with two wings covering their feet, reverence and humility, and with two wings ready to fly. That is a willingness to serve this Sovereign God. And then you have man in his rightful place. And we saw that in that there was a focus upon the purity of God. The Seraphim cried one to another, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. And in the vision of that, Isaiah smote upon his breast and he said, Woe is me for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips. I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. I say to you that if you see God as He truly is in His holiness, it will cause you to feel bad about yourself. Away with this nonsense that is so often proclaimed, that you come to God's house to have your self-esteem lifted, or to have your ego massaged, or so that you might feel better about yourself. That is not what's going to happen if you really see God. You're going to say, woe is me, I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips. There was a stress on the holiness of God and of course that vision of worship had an effect on the prophet Isaiah himself in the light of God's ineffable holiness. But then where there's genuine worship we also saw there's a focus upon the purpose of God. And the wonderful thing is that God's call to the prophet himself came as he worshipped, and before that came, he was cleansed from his sin. He was washed, he was forgiven of his sins. And that's the wonderful thought, that though we feel bad about ourselves, yet that drives us to the blood of the Lamb, that drives us to the cleansing sacrifice, and we know that cleansing in God's presence. Therefore, we're able to serve Him in truth. There's a focus on the purpose of God. Isaiah was called to serve. Just like the two wings with which each seraph did fly, suggesting readiness for service, Isaiah learned that true heavenly worship will produce a willingness to serve God. And so when he heard the voice, Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? He didn't say, Here am I, send him. Or, Here am I, send her. He said, Here am I, send me. He was willing. as a worshipper to be a servant. And so, interestingly, that great portion, while it revealed to us a vision of worship taking place in heaven, it also showed us the response of the Prophet to that in his own worship of God on the earth. And we made the point, and make it again this morning, the Prophet's own worship was profoundly impacted by what he witnessed of heavenly worship. And if we really get our eyes upon heavenly worship, it will impact our own worship. When we see how worship is conducted in the purest sense, it's going to inspire us in our worship. That which takes place in God's immediate presence in heaven itself is the template for our worship. That's what we're seeking to establish. Now I want to consider further with you the topic of the pattern of true worship by moving from that Old Testament example to a New Testament example of heavenly worship. You find it in the book of the Revelation. And there are several outstanding portions that we could draw from in this book since it contains several instances of what we could only really call true and real worship of Almighty God taking place. We could speak a lot about preparation for worship. Perhaps we will deal with that in a future message. But just to mention it briefly right now, if you go to Revelation chapter 1, there's brought before us there the vision of the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus, as He appeared to the writer of the book, the human penman of this book, and also of the Gospel of John, John the beloved disciple. John tells us of the circumstances of the reception of this vision in verse 9 of chapter 1 of Revelation. I, John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I should explain, he was exiled, he was banished to the island of Patmos for the Gospel's sake. Secular history tells us that John actually was boiled in oil because of his Christian testimony and he lived to tell the tale. He survived that awful torment. But he was right there persecuted for the Lord and it was in those circumstances that he said, verse 10, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. The Lord's day, despite what Seventh-day Adventists will tell you, is the Christian Sabbath. It is the first day of the week. It is Sunday. The Lord's Day. It's not our day. It's the Lord's Day. It belongs to Him. Just like the Bible talks about the Lord's Supper. It's not our supper. It's not the church's supper. It's the Lord's Supper. So the Lord's Day is the Lord's Day. And we would do well to seek to be in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. And when we're in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, perhaps we will have the same experience as John had. Not exactly like it. I'm not suggesting the Lord is going to appear in this characteristic to us. But nevertheless, spiritually speaking, if we're in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, we will hear the voice of the Lord. He heard that voice, a great voice, he said, as of a trumpet. The trumpet is the loudest instrument in the orchestra. It's heard above all the other instruments. And so there's a voice that he heard above all of the competing voices saying, I am Alpha and Omega. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. The Lord is the beginning and the end, the first and the last. And what thou seest, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia and so on. And he turned to see the voice that spake and he said when he turned in verse 12 he saw seven golden lampstands or candlesticks, the menorah. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot and girded about the paps with a golden girdle. And there's a great description here given of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when John sees that vision, and we're not going to go into detail on the vision itself, I would merely point out his reaction to it. from verse 17. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me. He felt the touch of the Lord there, saying unto me, Fear not. I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and of death. And then he says, Write the things which I have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. In other words, the content of the book of the Revelation. We have a man here, the Lord's servant, in the attitude of worship. He's at the feet of Christ. He's bowed humbly in humility before the Lord, reverently silent before Him. He fell at His feet as dead. And it all happened when he was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. May this Lord's Day and every other Lord's Day be a day on which we are found truly worshipping the Lord. We need to be prepared for God's worship. Now it was while worshipping himself that John was given a glimpse of the purest and highest form of worship, even that of the glory land itself. If you go to Revelation chapter 4 and the first two verses, he says, after this I looked and behold a door was opened in heaven. He was going to get a glimpse of heaven. And the first voice which I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the Spirit. And behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne." Here we have worship taking place in heaven. That is what follows what we just read. And by the way, if you go to Revelation chapter 7, from verse 9, and we will return to this portion after a bit. He says, After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. As has been said, the Lord here pulls back the curtains and allows us to get a glimpse of what we may call throne room worship, a worship service taking place in heaven in the throne room of God. And if we are to worship God biblically, we must make certain that our worship on earth reflects the example and direction of heavenly worship. So here we have it in the New Testament. how worship is conducted in the very presence of God. Should we not take note of that? Should we not pay the fullest attention to what is happening here? Here is worship in its highest and purest form. We should seek to emulate this worship. By the way, we know that worship is taking place from several references. Chapter 4 verse 10 actually uses the word. The 4 and 20 elders The word there is Presbuteroi, from which we get Presbyterian. Government by elders. The four and twenty elders, and I'm not suggesting that only Presbyterians are in heaven, lest anybody go away with that foolish idea. But that's the word. People often say, well why do you call yourself Presbyterian? Because Presbyteros is the word for elder, and Presbyterianism is a system primarily of church government. government by elders. And so the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever." Again, if you consider chapter 5 verse 14, it tells us the four beasts said Amen, and the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth forever and ever. And then chapter 7 verse 11 records something similar. All the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts and fell before the throne on their faces and worshipped God. So here is heavenly worship. Now what can we learn? What should we learn from the pattern of worship that's brought before us here? Well there are a number of simple and yet important thoughts that we can draw from these events. I want you to think with me about the place where the worship occurs. The place of the worship. Clearly this is not on earth. This is in heaven itself. Chapter 4 in the first two verses makes that clear. A door was opened in heaven. Verse 2 says a throne was set in heaven. This is heavenly worship. Chapter 7 verse 9 again makes that abundantly clear. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb. This is a heavenly scene, a gathering around the throne of God and of the Lamb. Revelation 19 verse 1, the Bible says, And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Alleluia, salvation and glory and honour and power unto the Lord our God. A great voice of much people in heaven. There is such a place as heaven. The Bible tells us that when our Lord Jesus left this earth, when He ascended from the Mount of Olivet, He ascended into heaven. It says that in the Apostles' Creed, but more importantly, it says it in the Bible. Mark chapter 16 and verse 19. So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received up into heaven. and sat on the right hand of God. That is a reference to the throne. Again, we are taught by Paul in Hebrews chapter 9 where Christ now is and what Christ is presently engaged in doing. Hebrews 9 verse 24, For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, that is an earthly sanctuary, which are the figures of the true, but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. There are people who usually go two by two around your door who call themselves Jehovah's Witnesses. They are no such thing. They are not Witnesses of Jehovah. They are false Witnesses. I prefer to refer to them as the Russellites, which seems to bother them greatly. When I say that, it's because of the founder, Charles Taze Russell, who was a liar, who was found out to be a liar, pretended to know Greek and didn't know it, and there are others in the JW movement who have been of a like mind. But I don't want to talk about them today. But other than to say this, the so-called Jehovah's Witnesses, the Watchtower Society, don't like to speak much about heaven. When they bring their little book, hopefully getting it into your hand that you might read it, the Awake magazine or whatever it's called now, the whole focus in that with all the little childish drawings and paintings is of an earthly paradise. They want you to think about what will happen here on the earth and they love to quote Psalm 37, the meek shall inherit the earth. I am very glad there is a heaven. I am very glad that I'm going there one day." And the Apostle Paul, when he thought about death, it was in relation to that that he spoke about heaven and rejoicing the prospect of it. Here's exactly what he said. 2 Corinthians 5 from verse 1, For we know, not we think, not we hope so, not all being well. He said, We know. All you can know Friend, you can know that you're saved. You can know that you're going to heaven. And you should not rest until you do know. I don't want to be lying on my deathbed, if I ever make it to a deathbed, and wonder, am I going to heaven or not? We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, talking about the human body, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this, that is in this human body, we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked. He says in verse 6, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Heaven is a real place. It is a particular place. It does exist. Worship was taking place there that John witnessed. He said there was a door open in heaven. They were around the throne of God which was set in heaven. Now, have I seen heaven? No, I have not. Have I ever been to heaven? No, I have not. I know it's real. God has told me in His Word. People have often said to me, well, where is heaven? Where is it? After all, the Russian Sputniks went up there and the astronauts or the cosmonauts or whatever they call themselves, boasted about the fact that when they were up there they saw no evidence of heaven, as if God would show it to them. Where is heaven? My answer is, as the Bible answers, The Bible talks about heaven above and hell beneath. That's good enough for me. Heaven above, hell beneath. That's all I need to know. And I know that it's the dwelling place of God. When Solomon was praying, and you can see many, many references in this chapter, in fact in several chapters of 2nd Chronicles to this very thing. When Solomon was praying, particularly let me show you 2nd Chronicles chapter 6. He referred repeatedly to God's dwelling place. This is the place where the Lord is worshipped in perfection. 2 Chronicles 6 verse 21, Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place. Hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven, and when thou hearest, forgive. Look at verse 23. then hear thou from heaven." Verse 25, then hear thou from the heavens. Verse 27, then hear thou from heaven. And all the way down this portion you can see this. Verse 30, verse 33, verse 35, hear thou from heaven, even from thy dwelling place. Verse 39 says, their prayer and their supplication. Heaven is a particular place. Remember the prayer Jesus taught his disciples? Our Father which art in heaven. It mentions in Revelation the throne set in heaven. The commentator Albert Barnes remarked, John is permitted here to look into heaven and to have a view of the throne of God and of the worship celebrated there. He sees the throne of God and him who sits on the throne and the worshippers there. That was the place Isaiah saw in his vision. And the seraphim were at the base of that same throne, worshipping. You think of this this morning, at this very moment, and every moment, in glory, God is worshipped. That's what heaven is. It's perpetual worship. That is the essence of what it means to be in heaven. You know, this weird notion that the world has of people lying about on clouds in white robes. with folks dropping grapes into their mouths. That is not heaven. That is not heaven. Heaven is all about the worship of God. You think, what are they doing in heaven? They are serving God day and night in His temple. They are worshipping Him. That makes me wonder at people who say they expect to be in heaven and yet worship is the last thing they seem to want to do. The place of worship is the last thing in their minds on the Lord's Day or any other day. But yet when they die, oh, they're going to go to heaven. Go to heaven. Want to be with God. Do you? You want to be with God? You never worship the Lord here on this earth, but you're going to do in heaven that very thing, only you're going to do it perpetually. Strange thing that, isn't it? Why would you want to be in heaven when all that they do is worship God? You'd never enjoy heaven if you have so little interest in worship down here. It's a particular place and it is a perfect place. I love to study the no mores of heaven. What a wonderful place it must be. Think of this world, the longer you live in it, the more disappointed you get with it. But study the no mores of heaven, what a wonderful place it is. The results of the curse of sin, the consequences of the fall that we all must deal with in this life are no more in glory. Let me show you some verses. Revelation chapters 21 and 22. Revelation 21 verse 1, And I saw a new heaven and a new earth renovated, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. I don't understand all that that imports, what it means, but I know that that's what it says and I believe it. And there was no more sea. You know what sea speaks of? Separation. I have a family across the ocean, across the pond. It doesn't take too long to get there, mind you, if you have the right kind of equipment. But there's something about that ocean, there's something about that sea that really bothers me a lot sometimes. Because it speaks of separation. There's a great gulf. I remember when we lived in Scotland, that body of water between us and my family, my parents, my sisters and family, it was about 11 miles at the closest point. Where we used to cross was about 27 miles. But it may as well have been 27,000 miles sometimes because it was a body of water. Sea speaks of separation. In heaven, there's no more sea. There is no more separation. You go to verse 4 of Revelation 21. It says, And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, no funerals in heaven. There will be undertakers, there will be morticians in heaven if they are saved, but they will not have anything to do. No more death, neither sorrow nor crying. Neither shall there be any more pain. There are folks who live with pain on a daily basis. There are people who, if they're having a good day, they just hurt a bit. And when they're having a bad day, they hurt a lot. In heaven, there's no more pain. For the former things are passed away. You go to chapter 22 of Revelation, verse 3. There shall be no more curse. There is no sin in heaven. Hallelujah. But the throne of God and of the land shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads, and there shall be no night there. No night. They need no candle, neither light of the sun. For the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. It is a perfect place. God's dwelling place, a place where there is no sin. For verse 27 of chapter 21 tells us that there shall in no wise, that means under no circumstances, enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, nor maketh a lie. There is no sin in heaven. And that's a theme we could dwell upon for such a very long time. But the point that we must consider is in relation to worship. While the worship of heaven is perfect, and is therefore to be followed as closely as possible, we have to remember that we are not yet in heaven. And our best efforts therefore are mixed with sin and imperfection. You study Aaron in the Old Testament, the High Priest. In Leviticus chapter 16 we discover that on the Day of Atonement an offering was made for his own sins and for his household as well as for the people of Israel. Offerings were made for the iniquity of the holy things. That's an interesting statement. The iniquity of the holy things, not for the iniquity of the sinful things. That means that our best service, our best works, the things that we would class as righteous things, have sin attached to them. Even our worship today, because it's on the earth, is imperfect. and it requires the cleansing of the blood. When I ministered in Scotland, I remember receiving a denominational magazine from a certain church and they said on there that their belief was in purity of doctrine, worship and practice. And I know what they mean by that. We should strive for purity of doctrine, purity of worship and purity of practice. But as we're emphasising here, while we endeavour to be as pure as we can in our worship of God, this side of heaven, this is the point, we are this side of heaven. We're here, we're not yet there. So let us preserve as far as possible purity in worship if we can, but remember what Matthew Henry said, our prayers need to be prayed over, our tears need to be wept over, Our repentings need to be repented of. The worship of God in heaven is perfect. Ours is not. Yet by grace may we strive to be as heavenly in our worship as it is possible to be on this earth. May it be somewhat at least of a reflection of that which takes place in perfection up there. The place where the worship occurs. Let's notice the subject of this worship and the person who is worshipped. I know we've talked about this quite a bit in this series. But again, it needs to be emphasised, in Revelation chapter 4, from verse 9, it's clear who it is that's being worshipped. It's God-centred worship again. It is worship that is centred upon the Lamb. It says, when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks, to him that sat on the throne who liveth forever and ever. The next verse tells us they worship him that liveth forever and ever and they say thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power. They are worshipping the Lord. They are worshipping the Lord upon the throne. Again if you look at chapter 5 and verse 8. When he had taken the book the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb. You know that title, the Lamb, is used more than 20 times in the book of the Revelation. The Lamb. That might surprise you. More than you find it in any other book of Scripture. The Lamb. He is the one that is the focus of worship. Look from verse 12 of chapter 5. They said with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and so on. Verse 14, the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth forever and ever, the Christ who lives in the power of an endless life. All the worship, all of it, is directed to God and to the Lamb. As Annie Ross Cousin wrote, the Lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel's lands. And to repeat what I quoted before, when we gather publicly or privately for worship, the main focus of what we are about is the glory of God. And when true throne room worship is taking place, our focus is not going to be on our own needs and concerns, but rather it will be on God Himself. Now take these portions in Revelation together and note the common thread running through them all. The Lord is receiving the praise, the honour and the glory. All of the singing that is being done is about the Lamb and His blood. God and God alone is the object of their adoration. And so I ask again, why do we come to God's house if it is not to contemplate God, to exalt and magnify God and to meet with God? A great preacher of a former generation in this country, Dr. Reuben Torrey said, there is no higher, no deeper, no purer joy than that which springs from the adoring contemplation of God. He said, I have walked miles and climbed through underbrush and briars and over crags and precipice just to get some beautiful view. And as I have looked out upon it and feasted upon the never to be forgotten vision of mountain and valley, forest and river, village and hamlet, cloud and sunshine, I have felt well repaid for the trial and suffering and weariness. I have sat by the hour before a great painting in joyous beholding of its beauty. Earth has few purer joys than these, but they are nothing to the profound and holy joy that fills the soul as we bow before God in worship, asking nothing, seeking nothing from Him, occupied with and satisfied with Himself. And oh, that we could worship like that. That we would be lost in the view, in wonder, love and praise. God is to be worshipped, and notice He is to be worshipped as our Great Creator. We emphasise this in another message, but quoting it again, you'll see that the subject of worship, and the object of worship indeed, in chapter 4, verses 10 and 11, is God as the Creator. Here's what they said, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power. Why? For Thou hast created all things. And for thy pleasure they are, and were created." Everything made for the glory of God. He created all things. It is He that hath made us and not we ourselves. We are to worship Him as our great Creator. But God is to be worshipped as our gracious Redeemer. And that is the focus of chapter 5 verse 9 and again in verse 12. They're falling down before the Lamb. They're singing a new song. Thou wert worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain. Here's the cross. And hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. They fell down and worshipped the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. The Christ of the cross, He is the one who is worshipped in heaven. God is to be worshipped and in the end all men and creatures will bring honour to Christ. There is no doubt about that. Even all those who do not believe today, they will fall down in acknowledgement of His Lordship. Philippians 2 verses 9-11 makes that abundantly clear. For it says of Christ that God hath highly exalted him. and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father and when you read those words they are very reminiscent of what you find in Revelation 5 verse 13 because there it says and every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them. Heard I saying, Blessing and honour and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever, every creature." Even old Richard Dawkins, bless his heart, and those characters who go about presenting their ideas that there probably is no God. They're going to bow the knee and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. What a day that's going to be. But we can do that here and now and we ought to do that here and now. The person who is to be worshipped is God in Christ. A preacher in London called F.S. Webster said I think we can agree with this. It is so easy to forget God during the week. There is so much to remind us of man's selfishness and greed. We are so often tempted to sacrifice truth to expediency, kindness to covetousness, sobriety and chastity, to carnal indulgence. The shame of man's sin is continually flaunted before us. The burden of His need is ever pressing upon us so that we cannot possibly raise our doxologies until we first cry, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. We must see the King in His beauty if we are to perfectly love Him and worthily magnify His name. But what rest and joy are in this vision? Are we at our wit's end? Beaten by temptation? Bewildered with doubt and misery, borne down by the burden and heat of the day? Almost decided to give up because of the feebleness of all our efforts? The one unfailing remedy is a fresh vision of the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, who fainteth not, neither is weary. He loves us with an unchanging love. He watches over us with unsleeping vigilance. He cares for us with a tender care. Oh, to have our eyes opened to see His glory. Let us worship the God of heaven. And I bring you to this last thought. We need to think about the people who are worshipping here. Now, Revelation has quite a lot of symbolism in it. You read here about locusts and horses and beasts and angels. And I confess that some of these things are not easy to understand. And I am always amused by those great commentators who just leave a lot of that alone. Though they are very fulsome in their writings on other parts of Scripture. So that kind of comforts me. But clearly the worshippers of Heaven are made up of choirs of elect angels and of redeemed saints. And they are seen here to be both speaking and singing in praise to the Lord. I am very glad there is going to be singing in Heaven. And those of you who can't sing a note in your tone deaf, don't worry about it, because when you get to heaven, you will be able to sing. In the meantime, make a joyful noise unto the Lord. There will be singing, and there will be speaking of God's praise in heaven. Look at it again. In Revelation 5, in verse 9, we read, And they sung a new song. Verse 11 says, I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders." So the angels are involved in this worship. You also find that in chapter 7 from verses 9 to 12. Now if we speak of these two groups only, angels and men, we can certainly see that both are involved in heavenly worship. And interestingly, both of them focus their attention in worship upon the person and work of Christ. Notice that. Chapter 5 verse 11 shows us the voice of the angels and it says that they were saying with a loud voice, verse 12, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing. So all of the angels are singing about the Lamb who is slain, the person and work of Christ. But here is something that is remarkable to note and I have carefully looked at it. The angels do not speak or sing anything at any time about their being redeemed. I want you to see this. The angels don't say anything about their own redemption. Revelation 5 verses 8 and 9, it records the worship of the 4 beasts and the 4 and 20 elders representing the people of God. And the song that they sing, verse 9 is, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. But when you read further, the angels sing worthy is the lamb that was slain but they don't say and hast redeemed us to God by the blood. Now why is that? And by the way you can check Revelation chapter 7 verses 9 and 10 and verses 13 through 15. Why do the angels not sing or speak of being redeemed by blood? There is a simple answer. Because these angels never fell from their first estate. They were created in perfection and they remain in perfection. The atonement was not made for them. There was no need for an atonement to be made. for angels. In fact, no atonement was made for any angel. The angels that sinned, the Bible tells us of them in 2 Peter 2 and verse 4, that God spared not the angels that sinned. Let me give you the quotation, 2 Peter 2 verse 4, If God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment." Here you have what we call the non-elect angels. They fell from their first estate. Jude also speaks of them in that little epistle just before Revelation, verse 6, it records, "...and the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day. So the angels along with Lucifer and those that are lost from mankind will be in the lake of fire. But the elect angels never sinned. Therefore they never needed to be redeemed. They do not know what it means to be saved from sin and from hell by grace and by blood. But the people of God know. Even those, and especially those who are now in heaven. Notice who they are. Revelation 7 verse 9, After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man could number. Are we not tempted to think, and some would give that impression, that hardly anyone will be in heaven? That's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says that in heaven there's a great multitude which no man could number. Of course it doesn't say God couldn't number them because God has them numbered. But it's a number that only God can count. The Bible tells us that people from everywhere will inhabit glory because we see who they are, a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, all races, all nationalities, all geographical locations represented, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. People from all over the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight." I love to think of this. What an encouragement. To Christian missions this is... I don't know if you've ever read the story of men like William Carey, the father of modern missions, or Adoniram Judson, or some of the men like C.T. Studd, others who took the gospel to China, India, Africa, other places. It's such an encouragement to read their life stories and the great things that God did for them and through them. And what an encouragement it is. to know that there are people who, as a result of the ministry that they performed, will be in heaven. And missionaries today can take heart. The Lord has a people from every part of this globe, all nationalities, and they're going to sing unitedly the praises of God in glory. This is who they are. They're from every nation, every tongue, every kindred, every people. But you'll notice why they're there. This is spoken of in Revelation chapter 7 verses 14 and 15. Someone asked the question, what are these which are arrayed in white robes and whence came they? How did they get here? How did they come to be in heaven? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me, these are they which come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white. in the blood of the Lamb. That's why we sing. Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? It's from this text. But notice the next verse. Therefore. Here's the reason. Therefore are they before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. Why are they there? They're there because they've washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. They've been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. That's why they're worshipping in heaven, because they're redeemed. I made the point at the start of this series that true worship can only flow from a redeemed heart. You need to be a person who has washed in the blood of Jesus before you can know anything about true worship. Yes, you can bow your head with the rest. You can sing the hymns with the rest. You can listen to the sermon with the rest. But if you do not know Christ as your own Lord and Saviour, you are not yet a worshipper. Revelation 5 verse 9 records of these who are in heaven, and they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof. For thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood. out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation." They're singing about their salvation. The hymn writer said, "...thousands of souls in heaven will be through the blood, through the blood, praising the Lamb who on the tree shed His blood, shed His blood, all white and pure, all glorious, fair. They praise the Lamb whose joy they share. O happy throng, will you be there through the blood?" As believers, this morning our worship should reflect this great fact. Christ has redeemed us by His blood. And we should never get over it. And we will never get over it. And we ought to praise God right here and now for His grace. And praise the Saviour for His precious blood that has redeemed us from sin and from hell. We need to be practicing for heaven before we get there. Because this is what they do in heaven. They praise the Lord for saving them by His blood. The hymn writer Johnson Oatman wrote about the singing of heaven in this way. There is singing up in heaven such as we have never known, where the angels sing the praises of the Lamb upon the throne. Their sweet harps are ever tuneful and their voice is always clear. Oh that we might be more like them while we serve our Master here. Holy, holy is what the angels sing, and I expect to help them make the courts of heaven ring. But when I sing redemption's story, they will fold their wings. For angels never felt the joys that our salvation brings. Angels know nothing of what it means to be lifted from the depths and saved by the grace of God. They don't know anything about cleansing away of their sins. They can't thank God for that, for they've never experienced it. And the hymn goes on, So although I'm not an angel, yet I know that over there I will join a blessed chorus that the angels cannot share. I will sing about my Saviour, who upon dark Calvary freely pardoned my transgressions. died to set this sinner free. Holy, holy is what the angels sing. And I expect to help them make the courts of heaven ring. But when I sing redemption's story, they will fold their wings. For angels never felt the joys that our salvation brings. I hope this morning this is your experience. If this would be the last day that I would preach the Gospel, and the Lord only knows that, And I feel pretty good today. But I want folks in my congregation to know that I am concerned about their souls. I don't want anybody to go away from my preaching to think he's not talking to me. He's not preaching to me. It's some ethereal number out there of people, somebody else perhaps. I want you to know that when I'm preaching the word, I'm preaching to every last man jack among you. And I want every single one of you to make your calling and election sure. I want you to be able to say, along with the others that are redeemed, I am redeemed, O praise the Lord. My soul from bondage free has found at last a resting place in Him who died for me. May God grant it. And may we all be true worshippers.