Sunday – October 25, 2015 Revelation 4:1-11 “The Throne of God Almighty”

Sunday – October 25, 2015 – Read the Word on Worship

Sunday – October 25, 2015 Revelation 4:1-11 “The Throne of God Almighty” from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

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Rev 4:9-11
“And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

Those who gathered together had profound insight into God’s Word when they wrote the first question and answer to the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “What is the chief end of man?” Answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” If we could just get that fixed in our minds and live each day in line with it, God would use us to accomplish His purpose and we would be greatly blessed. It is a statement that should govern my thought life and all my behavior: Does this glorify God? In simple terms, to glorify God is to make Him look good, as He truly is. It is to display, as much as we are able, His perfect attributes, His moral excellence, and His infinite greatness and worth.

Think how much happier our marriages would be if we only stopped to think, “Will my words, attitudes, and actions toward my mate, glorify God?” If not, I shouldn’t do it, even though I might feel like doing it. The same applies to our relationships with our children and with all people. If I’m not demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit, then I’m not glorifying God and I shouldn’t act that way. If I’m disobeying God’s Word, then I’m sinning and not glorifying Him. It’s an overarching principle to govern all of life: Live so as to glorify God (1st Cor 10:31).

In Isaiah 46:9-10, God declares, “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.” This does not mean God does whatever He pleases because He is capricious or unpredictable. Rather, it means that He is able to accomplish whatever He purposes to do and He does it because it pleases Him to do it. While He is not the author of evil and evil greatly displeases Him, in another sense He is not frustrated by it and He uses evil to accomplish His sovereign purpose of glorifying Himself.

I find it ironic that some who are the most ardent proponents of biblical prophecy at the same time write books that deny God’s sovereignty over all things. The Book of Revelation clearly teaches that we can take comfort in the fact that God is in charge of history. He will use even the evil of the antichrist to accomplish His sovereign purpose. He has ordained the specific number of martyrs (Rev. 6:10-11). God didn’t just peer down through history and let us in on how, luckily, it all will turn out in His favor. Rather, He ordained the events of history to display His glory. He alone is to be glorified.

 

Sunday – June 17, 2012

June 17, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

Honor Your Heavenly Father from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

This Sunday we are continuing in our study in the Book of Malachi, and we will rewind a little and go back Malachi 1 to look at our Heavenly Father, and in particular our response to Him. Our Father is God who is worthy of both our honor and our devotion. Devotion is one we are usually more comfortable with, but honor is a tougher nut for us to get our arms around. Join us with your own dads for worship this Sunday morning at 8:45 as we see how Malachi exhorts us “Honor Your Heavenly Father”


Word On Worship – June 17, 2012 Download / Print

Malachi 1:6-7
A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, “How have we despised Your name?’ “You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, “How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, “The table of the LORD is to be despised.

Who is your Heavenly Father? We can all agree that being a child of God is the result of His calling.  Each one of us has heard the call of God on our lives — but what is our response to the call of God?  We may feel remorse for sins past or joy for a future with Him. When God reveals Himself to us as Father, when He adopts us as children into His family, what does He intend for us to feel? What is the appropriate response of children to fatherhood of God?

I think the biblical response is twofold. I think God wants a child-like reverence for His power and strength and wisdom coupled with peace and security in His gracious provision for His children. When we put these two together, reverence and trust, we honor our heavenly Father in the same way God said we were to honor our earthly father in Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” And yet how many of us who say the fatherhood of God should motivate us to honor and hold Him in sacred respect?

I see our passage in Malachi as a proper balancing of our response to God for the honor and worship He deserves for His gracious care. The fatherhood of God is brought before the priests to humble them because they have despised the Lord’s altar. The fatherhood of God in our passage is not for the comfort or the security of the priests. The majestic fatherhood of God requires His children to honor and respect Him in reverence and fear.

In our relationship with our Heavenly Father we should always entwine reverence and awe with security and tenderness. When we respond to God properly we see these attitudes dependent on the presence of the other. The psalmist knew this when he wrote Psalm 103:13 “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.” Who will rest in the mercy of God? The Scriptures teach us it is the person who bows with reverential fear and honors his majestic Father in heaven.