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We will start our observation this morning by looking at the book of Revelations 4, where the Holy Spirit will be teaching us the meaning of worship. Revelations 4 from verse 8 to 11 which will be our reference text this morning.
8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11 “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.”
Revelations 4:8-11 (NKJV)
We want to look at the definition of worship and we will be zeroing in on verse 9 and verse 10.
It says “whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks”. Those three words are important in worship. Number one, they give. They don’t take, so in worship we give. So if you want to understand worship, the first thing you must understand is that worship is about giving. It says they give, what do they give that makes it worship? They give glory, and honor and they give thanks, those three are different things. Number one, they give glory, number two, they give honor and number three, they give thanks.
Worship is not complete until glory is given, honor is given and thanks is given. When worship is complete is when these three are evident in your worship. It says they give glory and honor and thanks to Him. So worship is about giving to. In worship you give to God. The only thing that God requires and the only thing that God receives from us is worship; that is the only avenue we have to give to God. It’s in worship that you have the only avenue to give to God and that is why worship is exclusive to God.
Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that for I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
Revelations 22:8-9 (NKJV)
“See that you do not do that,” make sure you don’t do it, it is forbidden, it is an abomination, it’s an aberration, you can’t do it, “for I am your fellow servant and of your brethren the prophets, and those who keep the words of this book, worship God”. Worship is exclusive to God.
In Deuteronomy, when God was giving was giving the commandment;
3 You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image–any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Exodus 20:3 -6 (NKJV)
I know we know about the scripture that talks about you will not worship any other god before me, for I the Lord your God is a jealous God. That’s where I really want to draw our attention to. Worship is exclusive to God, you cannot worship a man, you cannot worship angels, you cannot worship graven images, you can’t worship idols, worship is exclusive to God.
Matthew 4, the devil came to Jesus, I want us to read that account, because Jesus also emphasized it in this Scripture.
9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.”‘
Matthew 4: 9-10 (NKJV)
Will the devil require worship of Jesus if it’s not important? You know why the devil knew that this was so important? He was the arch angel in charge of worship in heaven. He knew how important God took worship, he knew God does not play or joke with worship. And he said to Jesus in verse 9, he said “all these things” let me appeal to your desire, all these things you see, I will give it to you, let’s read from verse 8 to see a glance picture,
Matthew 4:8, “Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory”.
Verse 9 “And he said to Him, “All these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him in verse 10, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.”
Did you see the word “Him only you shall serve” So worship is exclusive to God. You can’t be a believer and a child of God and you worship God and worship mammon. You can’t be a child of God and you worship God and worship the idols in your father’s house. It won’t work, worship is exclusive to God and God takes it very seriously. The angels know, all the hosts of heaven are aware that worship is exclusive to Him. So they don’t share it, they don’t venture into it, you see what that angel said to John, he said “see that you don’t do that” don’t do it, worship God, Him alone will you worship, Him alone will you serve. So worship is exclusive to God.
I would like us to go back to our Revelations 4 as we examine closely the definition of true worship. In Verse 9; “Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever”.
So in worship, these three components must not be missing. We must give glory.
What does it mean to give glory to God? God in His Majesty, in His fullness, in His awesomeness, He is God but let us see what David said in Psalm 99:2-5,
2 The LORD is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples. 3 Let them praise your great and awesome name– He is holy. 4 The King’s strength also loves justice; you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. 5 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His footstool– He is holy.
Psalm 99:2-5 (NKJV)
Then verse 9,
Psalm 99:9 – Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the LORD our God is holy.
So when we sing this song;
There is none holy as the Lord….
There is none besides Thee…
Neither is, there any rock like our God…..
There is none holy as the Lord….
What do we do by saying that? We give glory to God. He is holy, there is none besides Him, likened unto Him. You give glory to Him because glory is due Him, so you give glory. You don’t give glory in your heart. One of the things we understand about worship, we are still going back to Revelations 4 it says, whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him, remember the four living creatures do not rest day or night saying, what are they saying? “Holy, Holy, Holy God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come”
And verse 9 says whenever they do this, they give glory. So you want to ask me, how do I give glory to God? Give glory to His person, understand His personality. Praise Him for who He is, glorify His person, and the person of God is Holy. So you glorify His person.
It says they give glory, honor, how do you honor the Lord? I want us to see Matthew 14:33; it talks about the posture of worship.
Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Matthew 14.33 (NKJV)
They didn’t think it in their heart, they were just thinking it in their heart is not worship. “Saying truly you are the Son of God.” They honored His person in worship. Truly there is no doubt about it. You are the Son of God.
In John 4, Jesus was having a conversation with a woman.
21 – Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 but the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4: 21-24 (NKJV)
So God seeks worship, God seeks worship and we give it to Him, the bible says God created us for His pleasure, and in the pleasure of God, what God demands from us; He does not want our fine houses, He does not want our fine cars, what He wants us to give to Him is true worship. Many times we give thanks, we say ‘Lord I am grateful for the new house, thank you for the car’. God is not dissatisfied with that but, that your worship is not full, you must start with giving glory to His person, then you honor who He is, in truth. God is seeking such to worship Him.
Verse 24 says “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” In your Bible, did you see might worship Him? When you hear the word “must” what comes to your mind? It’s compulsory! There is no allowance of an alternative, this is the way, must! So you must worship Him in Spirit and in truth that is how you honor Him in worship. The sincerity of your words you are singing that is not worship. You must honor Him.
Listen To Podcast: Worship Lifestyle: The Practical Guide To More of God
And the last phrase of it, Thanks.. “give glory, honor and give thanks”.
Be grateful. Be grateful in your worship. Let your gratitude ascend to God. How do you show that you are grateful? It says give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who live forever and ever. It says in verse 10 “and the 24 elders”, this is how you show your thanks, fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crown”. If you worship God and there is nothing you are casting down before Him, your worship is not complete.
It says “and they cast their crowns before the throne saying”. Before we go into that, there must be something you are bringing to cast before the throne in worship. You can’t just come. When Abraham was going to sacrifice, he said to his wife, ‘the lad and I are going to worship’. And he took his son with him, he was going to cast that boy, that was his crown. His crown of 100 years, he was willing to cast that crown, his only son, you know what God required of Him? Isaac, your son, the son you love, sacrifice him to me and Abraham took that boy. And he prepared an altar and in his heart he had sacrificed that boy, but for God that intercepted, that was his crown.
Crowns are not to be worn in worship. They are not to be exalted in worship, they are to be cast down in worship. If you are worshiping with crown on your head, it’s not true worship. When you worship God and you get to that point in deep worship, you cast your crown. For some of us, it might be crowns, for some it might be one crown.
“Cast it at His feet saying” you can’t worship without saying. What are you saying in worship? It’s very important, because that is your expression. “You are worthy oh Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they exist and were created.” You see them giving glory here, giving honor and giving thanks to God. So the definition of worship; worship is a speaking expression of deep respect and honor for the person of God. In worship, your focus, your direction is to the person of God.
See what the bible says here, verse 9, “whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to Him”, His person. Not to the things He has done, not to creatures, not His gifts, to His person. Worship is focused on the person of God. And that is why many a times, we don’t do worship the way God desires it to get results.
I want us to read Psalm 29:1-2;
1 Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones, Give unto the LORD glory and strength. 2 Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
Psalm 29:1-2 (NKJV)
In King James Version, it says ascribe to the Lord. When you hear holiness, or when you hear the word holy, it talks about the person of God. So worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness, focus on His person, that’s how to worship, focus on the person of God. Worship is to the person of God, the personality of God. In Revelations, the bible says they gave glory, honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne who lives forever and ever so, He was the focus. In your worship, your object of worship is God. So you are not worshipping the Host of heaven, the 24 elders, the four living creatures, all the angels. The angel said to John, don’t do that, don’t get the wrong address, worship God, that’s your address. Let your worship be delivered at the right address-God. God must be worshipped, if we want more of God then we must worship Him properly, we must worship Him correctly.
29 – Give to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!
1 Chronicles 16:29 (NKJV)
Did you see the word “due” what does it mean? You owe Him. Give to the Lord the glory due His name. So in worship, you must glorify God. It says bring an offering and come before Him, bring something, bring all of you! because many a times we feel, when I am coming to worship, I have to have a lot of money in my account, then I have to have a lot of offering in my envelope before I can come to worship. All of you! How do I know all of you is all what God requires in worship?
“Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable form of worship”.
Romans 12:1 (NKJV)
So the offering you are giving is all of you. Worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness, focus on His person. His holiness talks about His personality. Behold Him as He is and worship Him. The more you focus on Him, the more you are able to worship Him, the more you are able to see Him as He is, the more you are able to worship Him. You must see Him as He is. We must focus on Him as He is.
Jesus made us to understand very clearly, you will not worship any other person. That angel told John, don’t worship me, worship God. Worship is exclusive to God. And if you want more of God, worship Him. You want your life to be subsumed in the life of God, worship Him because it is only in worship that you give expecting nothing in return, you give with reckless abandon, you give not thinking about yourself. And that is why the devil wanted to get Jesus, that is how the devil is getting many men and women on the altar of worship. You feel it’s just a light thing, ‘it doesn’t matter, what is there? So that we can eat meat and call cow a brother’, and you worship anything and anyone and God is angry with you.
I wish I got that scripture I want to really read, it says God talked about if you don’t worship me I will curse you to your fourth generation. ‘But if you worship the Lord your God He will bless your bread and your water. He will take sickness from the midst of you’. Worship gives us access to the abundance of God, if you have God, what are you looking for?
For example, my husband has me now, what else is he looking for? Everything that I have belongs to him. So it’s the same thing, when you worship, you have God, everything that He is belongs to you, you have access. One thing we must not ignore or take light in our generation is to assume that people are worshiping God. It’s not true! People are worshiping things, they are worshiping money, they are worshiping themselves.
I came across somebody that told himself I am self-made. They were interviewing him. Talking about his wealth and affluence, he said about himself, that he is self made, he spoke to a long extent, the implication is, he is the one that he worships. In the name of motivational talk, how to believe in yourself, he had believed in himself so much so that he has checked out God.
So people are worshiping several things but the bible makes us to understand, God alone must be worshipped. Worship is exclusive to God. If you did not get any other thing from what we discussed today, worship is exclusive to God, nothing deserves worship, no man deserves worship, the devil does not deserve worship, God alone deserves worship. It’s exclusive to Him and He takes it so seriously.
The three Hebrew boys said to king Nebuchadnezzar, ‘we will not bow to your graven image’ because you will wonder why is Nebuchadnezzar so concerned about bowing down, about worship, that if they don’t do it they will be thrown into the fire, why should that be so important? because men, over the years and the devil over the years have been in hot competition with God. To take what is God’s, to share in what is God’s because when you worship, you give glory. And God said my glory, will I not share.
So anytime you ascribe glory to anything, you have shared worship with that thing. So we must be careful, we must be sensitive. See how the devil came to Jesus subtly, he said ‘look at all these things. I will give it to you, just bow. Just bow, just worship me, what’s there? just bow’. And that is what Nebuchadnezzar was telling the Hebrew boys; ‘just bow, what’s there? People are doing it, just bow’ and they said ‘see, we will not bow, we have a God that does not share glory. We are representing Him well. We will not bow’.
And he said ‘we will throw you into the fire’, and they said ‘throw us into the fire, we are not afraid, our God will deliver us, and if He chooses not to deliver us we will not share His glory with your graven image’.
In our lives what have we been sharing the glory of God with? Is there somebody that is so important that you give glory and honor and thanks to with reckless abandon, is there anything that you give all your attention? Worship is exclusive to God. Him alone, will we give glory, honor and thanks to.
[Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
