November 4, 2001

Worship & Unity

Rev. 4 & 5, John 17

A month ago we did something a little different for our Communion Sunday, we talked about worship, and we made the Lord's Supper the focus of our worship. A number of people said later that really spoke to them. I agree, and I want us to do something similar today.

If you have your Bibles with you today, and I hope you do, turn to Revelation chapter 4, and verse 8, or else look on your bulletins. The scene is in heaven, I believe it is right after the rapture of the church, and John is describing what he is seeing. He sees a throne, and the one who sits on it is radiant. He sees twenty four other chairs or thrones around that central throne, and seated on it are the elders of Israel and the church. He also sees four living creatures, the cherubim, and apparently the focus of their whole existence is to glorify God.

Starting at verse 8, we read: " And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
Rev 4:9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
Rev 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Rev 4:11 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."

Worship is what happens when we ascribe value to someone. We say that they are worthy, the Greek word has the sense of a dog that comes and licks it's masters hand. Or a kiss. Or falling to your knees and putting your face to the ground. It would be like those people who kneel and kiss the Pope's ring, or when the Moslems salute their princes and leaders with a kiss on either side of the head. It is giving honor and esteem to someone. Worthyness.

In verse 8, notice what the cherubim say; "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." The various kinds of angelic creatures have been close to the things of God since the very beginning of creation. These cherubim that we see here have had the assignment of standing like an honor guard around the throne of God, and now, thousands of years since they first got there, they are not bored, they are not tired, they are not ready to go try something new.

God is so awesome to them, God is so marvelous, God is so overwhelming, that after thousands of years, they are still totally blown away. There is no place they would rather be, nothing they would rather do. And it is not like they are slow witted or anything, there is nothing to make us think that, it is just that God is so overwhelming to them, that they are totally devoted to contemplating who He is.

Notice what it is that fills their minds: God's holiness, His awesomeness, and His consistency. They say: "Holy, holy, holy." We cannot imagine what real holiness is like. We have a very shallow concept of sin. We have a very flawed view of holiness. If it were possible for us to see the holiness of God, to see Him in the beauty of how holy He is, I think it would change our attitude toward sin. I think we would quit feeling smug about all the piddly little things we think we do right, and congratulate ourselves about, because the best of us are not worthy to even look upon Him. I think if we could get a glimpse of how holy God really is, it would make us love Jesus ten times more, because then we would appreciate how far short we fall, and how abundant a salvation He has provided for us.

The cherubim call Him Lord God Almighty. That literally means; the God who is a consuming fire, that owns me. Let that sink in. And we take Him casually. Sometimes we fluff Him off. That's amazing.
Were it not for His mercy and grace, were it not for His character traits of love and kindness, we would be consumed by His holiness, by the blazing fire of His purity, because He is too pure to even look upon sin. Yet He loved us enough to become sin for us, in order to redeem us.

All of His character is perfectly balanced. All the attributes of who He is, what He is like, are in perfect harmony. And they always have been. He does not change. The cherubim say; "who was, and is, and is to come." They have been there for thousands of years, and He has not changed, He is still they same. He will not change in the future. Thousands of years of man's sin has not made Him sinful, thousands of years of ungrateful, sinful humanity has not made Him spiteful or bitter. He is just like He has always been, good, holy, wonderful, from eternity to eternity.

In verse 11, the elders say: "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." Something that I have learned about people, good people like to make other people happy. Good people take pleasure in pleasing others. God is perfectly good, God created us to enjoy Him and take delight in Him, He pleases us with Himself, and that is pleasing to Him. God pleases Himself by giving Himself to us.

God didn't create us because He needed company. God is a trinity, three persons in one Godhead. The Trinity already has all the interest and variety, and wonder of different fascinating personalities interacting with each other that anyone could possibly want. Think about it; Jesus already had the Father and the Holy Spirit to interact with, so why would He need us? You? Or me? God doesn't need us, He created us for His pleasure, so that we could enjoy Him.

In chapter 4, we see God being praised and worshiped as the creator. In chapter 5, we see Him worshiped and praised as the Redeemer. Jesus Christ, the Lamb that was slain, takes the title deed to the earth from the Father's hand, and when He does, all of creation celebrates.
Chapter 5, verse 9 tells us: "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;
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."

At this point, worship moves from the general to the specific. It is good to worship God as the creator of all things, but it is totally better to know Him as your redeemer, as the Lamb that was slain, and to worship Him as the Savior that has redeemed you. Here we see the worship of God focused on the Lamb, focused on Jesus Christ, and He is the one that is called worthy to receive praise and honor.

This is also a place where worship overlaps a little bit into the personal relationship between the Redeemer and the redeemed. The worship here becomes personal, individual, because the worshipers are singing about what God has done for them personally. God is worthy to be worshiped and praised even if He never did anything for us. But He has done great things for us, and it is proper to worship and praise Him for those things too. As long as the focus is on Him and what He has done, and not on us. It is easy for our testimonies for God to come out centered around us. That is easy to do, but it spoils worship. It turns worship from focusing on God to focusing on us, and what good is that?

In verse 11, we see all of heaven worshiping Jesus Christ for redeeming His creation: "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
Rev 5:12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
Rev 5:13 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.
Rev 5:14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever."
We will get to do that some day. Some day we get to know what the cherubim have known for thousands of years, and then we'll understand a little better why they never get tired of just being in the presence of God. We will see God, and then we'll understand why they can look at Him for thousands of years, and it never gets old, it just gets better. They will still be praising and worshiping God, and we will get to join in with them. How awesome.

What's really wonderful, we get to start doing that now. We get to begin worshiping God now, we don't have to wait until we get to heaven to worship Jesus. Worship is something that happens when the Holy Spirit moves upon God's people to inspire them to praise God. Our church is not superficially the sort of church that would seem to fit into the charismatic category, but unless the Holy Spirit moves upon us, unless He inspires us to worship and praise, then we can't praise God as we need to or want to. (Prayer)

Take your Hymn books and turn to number 121.

Is there someone here that would like to take this opportunity to worship or praise God? Now would be a good time to do that.

Luke 22:19 "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Hebrews 12:2 says that we look "unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despised the shame, and is now set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Let's sing about that. Turn to hymn #120, Rejoice the Lord is King.

Before we give thanks for the cup, is there some one else who has a word of worship or a song of praise? Anything?

Luke 22:20 "Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you."

Last week, we began to talk about the relationship between revival in the church, and the unity of the members of the church. Our text was John 17:20, go ahead and turn there, it's also on the handouts. Jesus was praying to His father, and he asked for a special unity between His disciples, and also for those believers who would follow after; - us.
He said; "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."

That is an absolutely incredible prayer. The Lord Jesus requested of His Father that we- a church body of believers- might have that same unity between ourselves that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have between themselves. That we might be one, - in the same way, and to the same extent, - that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one.

Have you ever seen such a church? I haven't. Nonetheless, that is what Jesus wants, so that needs to be what we want. Will we ever attain it perfectly? Maybe. Maybe not. But if that's what Jesus wants, can we want anything less? Can we aim for anything less than that, and still be obedient? No way. Absolutely not. Just because we might not succeed in what God wants us to do, is no reason not to try and do it.

Verse 21 tells us that how well we attain this unity will have an effect on our gospel outreach. The greater our unity as a church, the better we reflect that same kind of unity that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit share among themselves; the more effective our gospel outreach will be. Our oneness, our unity between ourselves affects how well the world believes that Jesus is who He says He is.

That is exactly what Jesus is saying, listen: "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee," -in the same fashion, in a similar manner,- "that they also may be one in us:"- why?- "that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." Verse 23 says essentially the same thing. The more perfect our unity as a body of believers, because we are in Christ, and Christ is in us, the more convincing and convicting the church becomes to a watching world.

Do we want a revival in Blountville? This is the means by which it comes. I believe that if it doesn't come this way, it won't come at all. The world needs to see Jesus, the world needs to hear Jesus, and the primary way that it will see Him and hear Him is from listening to and watching His people, and seeing them demonstrate His love among themselves. Amen?

The early church turned the world upside down, and it was in part because people looked at them and they could say; "See how they love one another." The reason that the church is not more effective today is because the world sees too little love within the church. The world sees plenty of divided churches, church members in lawsuits with each other, churches splitting, and what is the world's response? "Hah! And they say Jesus changes lives; Yeah, right! The heathens at the VFW get along better than some church members do." A lack of unity in our churches provokes blasphemy, and hinders our witness, doesn't it?

When Christians defend their faith, give reasons for their faith, that is called an apologetic. The Christian philosopher Francis Schaffer said that in our witness to the world, the Christian community is the final apologetic. And that's true. How we respond towards each other really is the bottom line. We can get everything else right, but if we blow that, the world will turn away from what we have to say. On the other hand, when we get our Christian unity right, that gives us a testimony and a power that is irresistible.
"See how they love one another." That's powerful. That's tough to argue with. That's something the world wants, and can't find.

Since the September 11th disaster, we have heard a lot about the unity of the country for a common cause. It's been wonderful. It's been like the 60's all over again, except with out the afro haircuts and peace signs. Friday evening the network news had pictures of New York firemen and cops fighting and cussing each other because of a difference of opinion on the recovery efforts. That is because this sudden unity of the country is just a natural unity, there is nothing supernatural about it.
If we try and have a unity in our church that is based just on having a common enemy or a common goal, or friendships, or being sociable, then our unity will not be any better than the NY cops and firemen have. The unity that Jesus asked His Father to bind us into has to come from the Holy Spirit, or it will come apart when things get tough.

Look at Luke 11:9. After Jesus finished teaching His disciples how to pray, look at what else He taught them to pray for.
"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luk 11:10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Luk 11:11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Luk 11:12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
Luk 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"

When was the last time that you asked God to give you more of the Holy Spirit in your life? When was the last time that you told God that you wanted Him to have more of you for the Holy Spirit to use and fill up?

When was the last time that you asked God to send the Holy Spirit to really fill up and bless the other people in this church?

Something I want everybody here to do this week, is to ask the Father to bless this assembly of believers by sending the Holy Spirit to us in a new and glorious way. If you are a believer, then you already have the Holy Spirit, you are in Christ, and the Holy Spirit indwells you, but I would like for each of us to pray for each of us, that the Holy Spirit would glorify God in this church.

I want you to ask God to send His Holy Spirit in a new and glorious way to each person here, to bind us together in the unity that Jesus prayed for, and I want you to pray for each person here. That is why we have the names of all our members and regular attenders on the bulletins. You can pray for each and every one of the folks that regularly comes here.

I want you to ask God to do with each person as He wills - not as you will, or as I will- "Oh God, please fix that person, they're driving me crazy!" That won't get it. "Oh God, not my will but Thy will be done in that person's life. Glorify Yourself in my brother. Glorify Yourself in my sister. Glorify Yourself in your church by uniting us in the way that Jesus asked for. Use that brother or that sister to be a blessing to Your church."

"And use me to be a blessing to them. Use me to help build up your church one by one, person by person, by encouraging, by being patient, by being gracious. Teach me how to love my brothers and sisters the way You love them."

"Most of all Father, teach me to love You first of all. Because if I get that wrong, I'll miss out on the rest of it too. I ask it in Jesus name, Amen."

Would you pray a prayer something like that this week? Would you lift up these folks in prayer? That is how we begin to be obedient to what Jesus asked for. That is how we start. Please do that faithfully this week.

Last Sunday morning as we were finishing up, I got asked a most excellent question: how can a closely united church be safe? A church with this kind of close unity involves a high level of trust between people, and that raises a few red flags. What the Bible is teaching here on church unity involves more of a personal or family type commitment to a church than most of us are used to, and some folks have not had real good experiences with their families. Some folks come from backgrounds where families are not real safe. They are reluctant to trust, because they know that sometimes trust is something that gets violated. What do we do about that?

That is a vital question. Unless our church is a place where we can trust each other, unless our church is a place where we feel safe and secure, then our unity, our sense of comfort and community among the other members of our church is not going to grow. I plan to deal with that in the weeks to come, we didn't get very far into it today, but we'll be on this topic for a while. Come back next week, the adventure is just beginning. Let's pray.