Dr. David Jeremiah Presents
Living inthe Ageof Signs
Online Destination
Living in the Age of Signs
Online Destination
When putting letters into alphabetical order, do you sing the alphabet song? Does the melancholy sound of Taps alter your mood? For centuries, educators have harnessed the power of music to aid memorization, and entertainers have struck emotional chords through musical compositions. Music engages our hearts, minds, and souls like no other force on earth. The Bible mentions "music" and "musical" 91 times (NKJV version). Of that number, 74 references are related to worshiping God.
Even if you do not consider yourself to be musically minded, Scripture is clear that music will be an important part of your experience in heaven. Let's look at what the Bible says about heavenly worship and its implications for us today.
Worshiping Together in Christ
The book of Revelation makes it clear that massive gatherings of saints will celebrate in heaven's worship experiences. Here is a sampling of these.
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
—Revelation 5:11–12
And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. They sang as it were a new song before the throne….
—Revelation 14:2–3
And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!"
—Revelation 19:6
If we enjoy choirs and orchestras here on this earth, imagine what it will be like when we hear the celestial choirs, accompanied by heavenly orchestras, lifting praise to Almighty God around the throne! And we will be part of that in heaven.
In heaven, worship is not about one, it's about many. Worship is really "worth—ship"—ascribing to Jesus what is His by virtue of His nature.
Corporate worship is necessary. We need the church! And we need each other. There is no such thing as individual Christianity. The word "saints" is always plural in the Bible.
Crescendo of Worship
Worship in heaven just keeps getting bigger and better. It crescendos. In music, "crescendo" means to get louder and louder, to get bigger and bigger; to make more and more of what started as small. A crescendo is to finish big! And the book of Revelation observes an obvious crescendo in praise and worship.
A Twofold Doxology:
. . . to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
—Revelation 1:6
A Threefold Doxology:
You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.
—Revelation 4:11
A Fourfold Doxology:
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, I heard saying:
"Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!"
—Revelation 5:13
A Sevenfold Doxology:
Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
—Revelation 7:12
In churches today, we also love to do that in our worship. We like to end big! We sometimes start small and keep changing keys as the music gets louder and bigger and mightier. That's biblical! That's going to happen in heaven, and here on earth we're just rehearsing. Never in the history of Christianity has there been a greater emphasis on worship and praise than there is today. God's people are finding what it means to really worship God with all of their hearts and souls and minds, because one day that's how it's going to be in heaven. Heaven will be a grand crescendo of worship throughout eternity.
Start Rehearsing Today for Heaven's Choir
You and I are constantly bombarded with the reality of this world. Television, radio, and newspapers are incessantly getting us to focus on this world and on our present reality and all of its problems. Yet this reality is in contrast to the reality of heaven. Christians often live as though the unseen eternal things are somehow less real than what we can see, but according to Scripture, they are more real.
It is through worship that our spirits are lifted up into the heavenlies. It is through worship that we are made to see God as John saw Him. And it is through worship that our lives start to have a perspective that spares us from the rollercoaster rides that used to dominate us before we discovered what it is like to really worship Almighty God.
As we rehearse here on earth for the grand worship in heaven, keep these things in mind:
Worship is not about us—it's about Him! Worship is to be offered up to the Lord from our heart, soul, and mind, knowing that the object of our worship is on the throne that we'll see when we look through the door in heaven. Worship gets us in tune with God.
Worship is not about here; it's about there. One of the main purposes of worship is to get our minds off the things of this earth and onto the things in heaven. And only as we're able to do that can we ever hope to function with integrity in our lives. When we see heaven, earth starts to make more sense.
Worship is not about now; it's about then. Worship is the avenue that leads us from the emptiness of this world to the fullness of the next world. When we fail to worship, we confine ourselves to the despair of this life.
For a more complete study of worship, turn to chapter 17 in The Book of Signs.
God of Wonder: God’s Wonders Cannot Be Fathomed
Today’s Devotion:
God of Wonder: God’s Wonders Cannot Be Fathomed
Besides being beautiful literature, the book of Job addresses one of the world’s greatest problems: the problem of suffering. Job was a righteous man (Job 1:1) who nonetheless experienced tremendous tragedy and suffering—seemingly without any obvious reason. Job spends most of the book defending his innocence while his friends attempt to convince him that he must have done something to deserve his suffering. While Job’s friends’ theology is not always well-informed, one of them encourages Job to appeal to God “Who does great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things without number” (Job 5:9), which are detailed in verses 10-16. Surely the ways of such a God can be trusted.
Job is not convinced by the words of his friend, but he changes his mind when God Himself speaks (Job 38–41). Listening to God, Job realizes that God is greater than his problems and that God can be trusted with whatever happens in his life. After God describes His wondrous works to Job, his eyes and ears are opened, and he repents of his lack of faith (Job 42:1-6).
Meditating on the unfathomable works and wonders of God can inspire us to trust Him with our unanswered questions.
Learn to worship God as the God who does wonders, who wishes to prove in you that He can do something supernatural and divine.
Andrew Murray