Sermon: The Power of Worship.
1) Worship reveals the degree of revelation we have of God.
Without a doubt, a correct attitude is the beginning of true worship. The Bible tells us in the Book of Revelation 1:9-11
“I John, your brother, and your partner in the tribulation, in the kingdom and in the patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island called Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, saying:
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. Write what you see in a book, and send it to the seven churches that are in Asia: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
As we read in this biblical passage, the apostle John had been banished to the island of Patmos for preaching the gospel. This small island was used as a penitentiary by the Roman empire, it was a desert and rocky terrain, without streams of water, without trees, or fertile land, except for some small and poor plots.
In that difficult place, John was in adoration and in the Spirit, listening to the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, teaching us that sometimes God has for us the greatest and richest teachings in the least beautiful and smallest places, according to our own opinion. This is part of the power of worship.
We must emphasize that the apostle John was in the Spirit; let us remember that the apostle Paul teaches us that: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have conceived in the heart of man, are what God has prepared for those who love him. And he revealed them to us by the Holy Spirit, that we might know what God has granted us,” according to the First Letter to the Corinthians.
It is very important to keep in mind that worship is fueled by God’s revelation to our lives. We see this in this case, because this book is called “Apocalypse”, in honor of its essence: revelation, because the Greek word with which the book begins (chapter 1:1) is “apokalupsis” a term that means: revelation or “unveiling” in the sense of removing the veil.
The Bible teaches us that the apostle John was worshiping God, motivated by the revelation that the Lord had, but now John is going to receive new and great revelations from the Lord, like no other human being, revelations like the following condensed in the Book of Apocalypse:
The revelation of the risen Lord Jesus Christ, chapter one.
The revelation of the seven churches that were in Asia, chapters two and three.
The revelation of worship in heaven, chapters four and five.
The revelation of the judgments that are to come on the earth, chapters six to nineteen.
The revelation of the last events, chapters twenty to twenty-two.
As we can see then, worship leads us to higher levels of revelation from God. Let us remember that the Lord Jesus said: “this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent”, therefore eternal life is a continuous and passionate knowledge of the secrets and mysteries of God. ; it is the essence of the power of worship.
two) Worship brings us closer to God and restores our being.
As the Bible teaches us in Revelation 4:1, worship leads us into the presence of God: “After this I looked, and behold, a door opened in heaven; and the first voice that I heard, as of a trumpet, speaking to me, said: Come up here, and I will show you the things that will take place after these.”
We can also see that worship causes opening of heaven on earth. The biblical passage tells us: “Behold, there is an open door in heaven”, we can remember that when the Lord Jesus was baptized he says the Scripture:
“And praying, the sky was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him”, let us also remember that in the time of the prophet Elijah the sky was closed for three and a half years and there was no rain, and then Elijah prayed and the sky sent the rain .
In addition, we must keep in mind that the Bible tells us in the book of the prophet Malachi: “I will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessing until it overflows”, worship prepares the environment for his presence to be manifested and when that happens anything can happen. happen. Among other things, the power of worship causes heavenly openness.
Seeing what happened in this first part of the Book of Revelation, it can be seen that the opening of the heavens allows the voice of God to be heard and the secrets and divine designs are known, that is why we read expressions such as: “the voice that I heard, said ”, and “come up, I will show you the things that will happen”.
Through worship we are led before the throne of God, that is why Revelation 4:2-3 tells us “And immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was set up in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And the appearance of the one he was sitting on was like jasper and carnelian stone; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.”
We must highlight in this passage, how the work of the Holy Spirit is presented again: “it was in the Spirit”, the Holy Spirit leads us to the throne, makes us much more aware of eternal things, that is why the apostle Paul said : “Yes, you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on things on earth,” according to the Letter to the Colossians 3:1.
3) Worship is for the Lamb of God.
The word of God tells us in Revelation 5:6-8 “And I looked, and I saw that in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb stood as it had been slain, with seven horns and seven eyes… And he came, and took the book from the right hand of him who sat on the throne… Then the living creatures and the elders prostrated themselves, they had harps, and golden bowls full of incense…”.
As we can see, the Lord Jesus Christ receives all the worship; and there are many very important things here, with great significance, that we must highlight here:
Four living beings, they are angelic beings.
The twenty-four elders represent the 12 tribes (Old Testament) and the 12 apostles (New Testament).
A Lamb slain, this speaks to us of the sacrifice of Christ.
The number seven stands out, the seven horns, the seven eyes, the seven spirits of God. In the Bible the number seven indicates completeness; the horns: power; and the eyes: the total knowledge of God.
The book tells us about the record of all the final judgments.
Harps remind us of instruments of worship; also the Bible mentions: trumpets, flutes in heaven.
Roro cups are divine vessels; and incense was burned in the priestly office (in this case associated with the prayer and intercession of the people of God).
4) All of us redeemed by the blood of the Lamb must worship the Lord.
The word of God tells us in Revelation 5:9-10 “And they sang a new song saying: You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals; because you were immolated, and with your blood you have redeemed us for God, from every lineage and language and people and nation; and you have made us for our God kings and priests, and we will reign on earth.”
We must highlight the expression: “and they sang a new song”, it is precisely new because no one else has sung it and at no other time has it been done.
This is very interesting, because the word of God teaches us that we should sing a new song to the Lord, for example the Book of the prophet Isaiah 42:10 tells us “Sing a new song to the Lord, his praise from the end of the earth”, and also several passages in the Book of Psalms invite us to do so: Psalms 33:3, 40:3, 96:1 “Sing a new song to the Lord; Sing to the Lord, all the earth,” 98:1, 149:1“Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise be in the congregation of the saints.”
Also in light of this biblical passage, we are presented with at least two reasons to worship our Lord Jesus Christ:
“With your blood you have redeemed us” and “has made us kings and priests for our God”, then, he has made us sharers in his reign, his government, his nature and his privileges. Things we know as we grow in the power of worship.
Final reflection:
The Lord, as the Bible says, God is looking for worshipers, hearts with a deep longing for the presence of God, and he will respond by manifesting himself in the intimacy of that worship, the heavens will open and the Holy Spirit will come upon in a very special way, the voice of God will be heard and many secrets and designs will be known for the glory of the Lord in all his creation.
Written by Pastor Gonzalo Sanabria.
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