October 14, 2025 • 26 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Following COVID, many Christians now watch worship services online or
on TV rather than participating in person. It's convenient, but
is it spiritual?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Today?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
On turning Point, doctor David Jeremiah shares the Bible's answer
and explains how the way we worship now contrasts with
the way will one day worship in heaven. Listen as
David introduces the conclusion of his message, Heavenly worship.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
And thank you for joining us. We are studying the
subject of heaven. It is inexhaustible subject. We will never
be able to understand everything, not even everything that's revealed
to us in the Bible, but Heaven will be beyond
anything we can imagine, and that we're just getting a
taste of what the Bible tells us. It will be
like we started yesterday talking about worship. And one of
(00:55):
the things that we kind of joke about in our
church and laugh about is that when we get to heaven,
be any preaching because we'll all know everything we need
to know. There won't be any prayer because we'll have
everything we need. The only thing that will survive what
we do in church will be worship. And our worship
leader is Tomyn Davis, and we tease him he's the
(01:15):
only one who's got a job going forward. I'm sure
we'll have plenty of to do. But Heaven is going
to be filled with worship, and in this message, we're
going to talk about some of the things that the
Bible reveals to us about the kind of worship that
will take place. So be sure and stay with us
for these next thirty minutes as we talk about the
worship in heaven. Tomorrow we're going to discuss five crowns.
(01:37):
This is controversial, believe it or not. Some people don't
think we should ever work for a reward as Christians.
The Bible does not allow us to believe that, and
we'll see that tomorrow. If you haven't already ordered your
copy of The Promise of Heaven book, let me encourage
you to do that today. Let me just tell you
if you send a gift of any size to Turning
Point during the month of October, we will immediately send
(02:00):
you the Promise of Heaven. This hardcover, two hundred and
forty page book has been in the process for over
a year and we're so excited to see how it
has come together. And God is going to use this
book in your life, and maybe you have some people
that you're trying to witness to. The Gospel is everywhere
in this book. In fact, one of the last chapters
is is There Only One Way? And the whole chapter
(02:22):
is about the Way to Heaven. The book is filled
with answers to questions you may have had, and we
hope we can help you with this wonderful project we've
been working on. Once again, Send a gift of any
size to Turning Point, ask for your copy of the book,
and it will be sent to you right to your
home immediately. Let's get started now with Part two of
(02:43):
Heavenly Worship. I wish we could hear what John heard.
I wish we could see what John saw. It's breathtaking, overwhelming,
absolutely glorious, the angels and the church together lifting endless
praise to the God of Heaven. William Temple once described
(03:05):
worship like this. He said, worship quickens the conscience by
the holiness of God. It feeds the mind with the
truth of God. It purges the imagination with the beauty
of God. It opens the heart to the love of God,
and it devotes the will.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
To the purpose of God.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
That's what worship in heaven looks like, and that's what
our worship on earth should aim for to. Then we
come to the fourth thing about worship in heaven, which
is my favorite part of all, the crescendo of worship
in heaven. Do you know what a crescendo is? Basically,
it means to start small and in big, usually applied
(03:49):
to pieces of music. We used to do crescendos in
our worship when we did rallies across the country. I
got caught up in this for a while. We would
start singing Amazing Grace in a low key, and every
time we changed versus, we changed keys and took it up.
By the time we got to one, we've been there
ten thousand years. It was like we were already there.
(04:09):
I mean, it was an amazing thing. Something happens when
you increase the volume and increase the key in the
worship songs. In Revelation, there is an obvious crescendo. I
don't know if you've ever seen this before, but this
is really cool. This is an amazing fact. In Revelation
chapter one, in verse six, there's a twofold doxology. Here's
(04:32):
what Revelation one six says to him be glory and
dominion forever and ever, glory and dominion to doxologies. Then
in chapter four, verse eleven, there's a threefold doxology, you
are worthy, Old Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.
And then in chapter five and verse thirteen there's a
(04:54):
fourfold doxology, Blessing and honor and glory and power be
to him who sits on the throne. And when you
get to chapter seven and verse twelve, there's a sevenfold doxology. Amen,
blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power
and might be to our God forever and ever.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
The worship grows as you move through the book, a
crescendo of worship to the Lord. When the church choirs
do that, they start soft and simple, and in loud
and complex. It's not only beautiful, it's biblical because this
is the way it will be in heaven someday. And
there's another aspect of this that I want to point out.
(05:35):
It's as if the crescendo of worship to God escalates
in accordance with the timeline of God's purposes in the world.
In other words, the farther along you get in the
Book of Revelation, and the more you move toward the
consummation of history in the coming again of the Lord,
(05:56):
the more wonderful the worship becomes, and the more prominent become.
And if that's true, if what I'm suggesting is true,
and I believe it is, this crescendo of praise and
worship we are experiencing is an accord with his timeline,
because we're getting close. We're getting close to the coming
of the Lord. You know, I grew up in a
(06:17):
pastor's house, and worship wasn't something we ever talked about.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Some of you old folks know this.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
We had the sermon and the song service, and the
person who led the song service was the song leader.
And if you said worship, it sounded like maybe you
weren't doing something right. I walked through the transition from
the song leader to the worship leader. I lived through
the days of Ralph Carmichael and the Spurloughs and the
(06:46):
Regeneration and all of those groups that took us out
of just singing songs into the worship of the Lord,
and most of it became second person praise.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
It wasn't about the Lord. It was to the Lord.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Have you noticed that when we sing worhis to the Lord,
something unique happens. It's a totally different kind of worship
and praise. And we're living in that time right now.
We have gone through the song service and now we
live in this period of worship. Worship is on the
radio every day, Worship is everywhere on television. There's a
(07:18):
big ad for a worship thing that's coming up pretty
soon here in our country. And what that tells us,
if we follow the Book of Revelation, is our redemption
is drawing nigh. We're getting closer. Because as you get
closer to the culmination of history, you get more of
a culmination and intensity of worship. And that is what
(07:41):
is happening today. We live in a wonderful period of time.
You know, here in our city, one of the great
leaders of worship is a friend of mine. His name
is Derek Johnson. He's from Skyline Church. He was a
great architect of worship. He was one of the great
leaders and still is today. He pastors a music ministry
in Orlando, Florida, and he started Regeneration, which was one
(08:04):
of the great worship teams that took us out of
the realm of just singing hymns all the time into
worship songs. We are blessed to be living in the period.
I know worship can go crazy. I mean, I see
some stuff in the worship genre that I kind of
shudder to think that it got in there, and maybe
we should try to.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Figure out how to get it out.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
But I keep my mouth shut and just keep worshiping
the Lord, because I've discovered you're never going to win
a battle if you fight in that war. The main
thing is are you worshiping God? So the creshendo of worship,
how important that is, and what an illustration in the
Book of Revelation. And then there's the contrast of worship
(08:46):
in heaven. One of the things that we notice when
we study this passage of Scripture is the contrast between
what's going on in heaven and what's going on on earth.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
John is in about.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
The worst place you could be, in exile on an island,
and up here he's allowed to see the glory and
beauty of heaven. And what happens when we get to heaven.
What an incredible contrast that is. John was allowed to
experience two realities. On the one hand, he was isolated
and separated from his friends and worried about the persecution
(09:22):
of the church by Domitian, the Roman Emperor. John was
facing discouragement, and yet in a moment of time, he's
ushered out of that reality through an open door into
heaven and he sees the Lord seated on a throne,
the picture of sovereign control. He sees the elders bowing
down and worshiping. He sees the beauty and majesty of heaven.
(09:44):
God gave this experience to John to encourage his heart.
Worship took him from the loneliness of his discouragement right
into the control room of the universe, where he could
see God and his plan for the entire universe. Constantly
bombarded with the reality of this world, television, radio, social media,
(10:06):
everything around us, always pulling us toward the earth and
away from Heaven.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Isn't that true?
Speaker 3 (10:12):
I mean, you have to consciously work to make sure
that you get some influence from television. That isn't bad
for you. But there's another reality. There's an unseen one
that is real. According to scripture, it's even more real.
We often live through the eternal things, and we somehow
think they are less important, that the physical is what's real,
(10:35):
and the eternal or the spiritual.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Is not real.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
But if you study the Bible, and if you think deeply,
you will discover what's really real is.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Not what is here temporarily.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
What's really real is what lasts forever, and the Bible
is clear about that. So this is one of the
great byproducts of worship. It lifts our eyes off the
struggle and places them on the so and gives us perspective.
I don't know if you've ever had moments like this.
I don't get discouraged very often. I do believe that
(11:09):
it's one of the tools that Satan can get me
if he wants to, and had plenty of reason recently
to deal with that. But when that happens, I find
some great worship music and I get alone. And the
reason for that is that music just sort of I
remember we used to have a singer that came here,
(11:30):
and I used to tell her, you don't sing to us,
you sing through us. Worship music doesn't play for you,
it plays through you. And when you listen to it
and you realize that it's about the Great God, we
serve and His plan for us. Somehow the things of
earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory
and grace. I encourage you to experience that. That's what
(11:51):
worship is. Not just to bring praise to the Lord.
The byproduct is what it does for us, and it
takes our eyes off of the troublesome things that are
going on around us and remind us not always going
to be this way. Friends. God's got a plan and
we're a part of it. It's as if Jesus is
saying to John, John, things are not like they seem.
(12:14):
Let me show you how they really are. Step into
the Throne room and I will show you true reality.
And here's what John saw. Things are not out of control.
Satan has not won, Evil has not triumphed.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
God is on his throne, Hallylivia. So I want to
give you.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Four things to take away from this sermon that you
hopefully won't forget. I hope these will stick in your
heart and in your soul. First of all, worship is
not about us, It's about Him. Look through the worship
songs of Revelation and you will be struck by the
centrality of Christ in each one of them. He's described
(12:58):
as holy, almighty, eternal, worthy, glorious, powerful, honorable, and strong.
Worship is about seeing God high and lifted up. When
we get our eyes off of Him and onto the
styles of our worship or to the presentation of our worship,
we miss the core value of New Testament worship. God
(13:19):
is actively seeking those who will make Him the focus
of their lives in both their work and their worship. Periodically,
I hear about people who come to our church or
to other churches, and they will say something like this, Well,
I can't go back there because my needs were not met.
The worship in that church doesn't meet my needs. And
(13:42):
I want to say to them as loud as I can,
it's not about you, It's about Him. And there are
a lot of different styles of worship. I don't expect
all of you to like all of them. Some of
them are more popular with this group and some with
this group. But the key isn't the style of it.
The key is the substance of it. Does it bring
honor and glory to Christ? And if it does, get
(14:04):
off the fighting of it and get back and doing it.
Because worship. Listen to me, I hope you never forget this.
It's not about you, It's about Him, all right. Number two,
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
(14:26):
in heaven. Only as we are able to do that,
can we ever hope to function with integrity even in
this life. Listen to what Paul wrote to the Colossians.
He said, if then you were raised with Christ, seek
those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at
the right.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Hand of God.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Set your mind on things above, not on things on
the earth. For you died and your life is hidden
with Christ and God.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Do we do that?
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Do we set our mind on things above, not on
things on this earth. It takes an act of the
will and conci that's determination to do that. More so
now in this culture, where we are embroiled with all
kinds of impulses coming at us, to take time to
put Christ first, to put God first in our lives.
(15:14):
Worship is not about us, And worship is not about here,
it's about there. Here's another one. Worship is not about now,
it's about then. Paul challenged the Corinthian believers to leverage
everything that was going on in their lives against the
promise of the future. In the Second Corinthians four sixteen
(15:36):
through eighteen, there's a classic passage where he does that
I'm going to read this to you and then point
out these things. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even
though our outward man is perishing, Yet the inward man
is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, is working for us
(15:57):
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While
we do not look at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen. For the
things which are seen are temporary, but the things which
are not seen are eternal. Notice the outward man is perishing.
Can I get a witness? Is the outward man perishing?
(16:17):
And the women too? The outward woman's perishing too. Ladies,
I hate to tell you that it's it's my experience.
We know it's true. But notice that next thing. While
the outward man is perishing, the inward man is being renewed.
The Bible says that while we're kind of falling about outwardly,
we can come together inwardly because the Word of God
(16:38):
renews our inward spirit. As we get older and we
walk with the Lord, the reality of who He is
in our lives becomes more and more meaningful. While we're
falling apart outwardly, we're actually getting stronger inwardly. And then
he says, we have a light affliction for today, but
we had a weight of glory for tomorrow. The contrast
(17:00):
in that passage the light affliction of today. He said,
you might be going through some bad stuff, but let
me tell you something. Whatever you're going through, it doesn't
compare with the glory God has for you in the future.
Whatever it is you're experiencing right now, it doesn't even compare.
There's no way to put it on the same page.
And then he says, the things which are seen cannot
(17:22):
be triumphant over the things which are not seen. There
is a reality that is unseen. Did you know we
haven't seen the Lord face to face. Yet we know
him as surely as we're sitting here. One day we
shall see him and we shall be like him. But
right now we don't see him face to face. We
see him by faith through the scripture. And then he said,
(17:43):
our affliction will be for a moment, but our glory
will be forever for eternity. You see what he's doing.
Paul is taking these two worlds, the world of heaven
where he has now been able to see the worship
of glory, and he's leveraging it against what's going on
right now. He's saying things down here may not be
what you want, but just remember, whatever this is going
(18:04):
on here, God's got something great ahead for you. It
could not be clearer. Worship is the corridor through which
we make the exchange of heaven. It is the avenue
that leads us from the emptiness of this world to
the fullness of the next. It's the street that leads
from decay and discouragement to renewal and glory. When we
(18:25):
fail to worship, we confine ourselves to the despair of
this life. So when you come to church, don't come
with a sour attitude about worship. Worship is not about us,
it's about him. Worship is not about here, it's about there.
Worship is not about now, it's about then. And worship
(18:46):
is not about one, it's about many. Now, I want
to get off on this a little bit. I have
a pet peeve that I'm going to let you know
about after COVID. We've had a bunch of people who say,
I don't need to go to church. I can worship
the Lord in my own bedroom, watching on television with
(19:06):
a cup of coffee in my hands, God bless you.
That is not scriptural. The Bible says we're not to
forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some,
but so much the more as the Lord's appearing draws near.
The Bible says that as we sense the Lord is
(19:28):
coming back, we shouldn't go to church less. We should
go to church more, and we should be with God's
people more. Now I know, I know, men and women,
you can worship the Lord alone, just you and your TV.
But biblically, that idea is completely out of context. In
the Book of Revelation, for every one time you see
(19:51):
an individual worshiping, there are five examples of massive corporate worship.
Crowds gather together around the throne pray in God. I
do not believe we are in the will of God.
If we decide I'm never going back to church again.
It's too hard. It's hard for all of us. But
church is where God does his best work, and church
(20:15):
is where God says we should be. We're together together.
You can't gather together by staying home in your living room.
There's no such thing as isolated Christianity. I've told you
many times that the word Saints in the Bible is
always in the plural. It's never just about one believer
doing life on his own.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Saints is a plural word.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
So another strong reminder of the brothers and sisters in
your local church. When you read Revelation, you can't miss it.
Heaven is filled with great gatherings of worship. Corporate worship
is not just important. It's a glimpse of Heaven. When
you worship and you have a full heart of worship,
it's like being in heaven for a short time. There's
(21:00):
what Revelation describes as the worship of heaven. Then I
looked and 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
(21:22):
strength and honor.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
And glory and blessing.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
In Revelation nineteen six, says that I heard, as it were,
the voice of a great multitude, the sound of many waters,
and as the sound of mighty thundering saying hallelujah for
the Lord God omnipotent reigns. So I want to ask
you this, If choirs and orchestras can elevate us to
such heights of enjoyment here on earth, what in the
(21:47):
world will be like when we hear the celestial choirs
accompanied by heaven trained orchestra players. Worship has a way
of lifting our hearts and renewing our spirits. When I
was studying for this message, I wondered if I could
find the largest worship experience that had ever happened on Earth.
(22:07):
And according to what I've been able to discover, I
found it. In the Philippine Islands. Twenty one thousand people
were in the same choir and they sang. And the
way it was set up, the choir was in the
ring around the top of the stadium, and the audience
was in the floor, and they sang, And I thought,
(22:28):
what a wonderful thing that must have been. Twenty one
thousand people worshiping.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
And did you read what I just read?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
In heaven there will be thousands upon thousands, ten thousand
times ten thousand worshipers. I don't know where you go
and find an arena big enough for that, but all
of Heaven will be the arena, and worship will be
the atmosphere in which we live every day. Ladies and gentlemen,
if you don't understand how important worship is, I hope
(22:57):
your heart will be attuned to it. And if you
don't get everything I've said, just go home and read
Revelation chapter four, verses one through eleven. The largest gospel
climate on earth will pale in comparison to even the
most casual worship services in heaven.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
What a wonderful time that will be. Worship is amazing.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
And in this world in which we live now, worship
is a centure thing that we do. Worship can never
take the place of the Word of God. But worship
is a ministry that God has called us to. And
He not only wants to be blessed by our worship,
he wants to bless us when we worship.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
And when we do that, our hearts are filled with joy.
I hope you understand it.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
I think all of us have had some preliminary experiences
that will be sort of like when it's in heaven.
You get into a worship service. We had one recently
in La when we got together with a wonderful group
of musicians and a whole crowd of people and we
worshiped God on the topic of heaven. And I sat
there in that auditorium and I was carried away by
(24:14):
what was happening. I was caught up. And I think
that's kind of how it will be in heaven. Once
in a while we get a little glimpse of it.
And actually that's what we call that night, a glimpse
of heaven. Many of you have had that experience. Just
think about what it will be like when, without any distractions,
any discussions, any objections, we joined together as God's people
(24:36):
to worship.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Him around the throne.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Hey, tomorrow we began a discussion of the five crowns
that are mentioned in scripture. Don't miss it, and don't
forget to ask for your copy of the Promise Book
while we're talking about it during the month of October.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
See you next time. I'm David Jeremiah.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Our message today came you from Shadow Mountain Community Church
and doctor David Jeremiah. We always welcome your notes of encouragement,
so please write us at Turning Point PO Box thirty
eight thirty eight, San Diego, California, nine two one sixty three.
Visit our website at Davidjeremiah dot org, Slash Radio, or
(25:16):
call eight hundred ninety four seven nineteen ninety three ask
for your copy of David's new book, The Promise of
Heaven thirty one Reasons to get excited about your eternal home.
It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can
also download the free Turning Point mobile app for your
smartphone or tablet, or search in your app store for
(25:37):
Turning Point ministries. To access our content, visit Davidjeremiah dot
org slash radio for details. This is David Michael Jeremiah.
Join us tomorrow as we continue the series The Promise
of Heaven on Turning Point with Doctor David Jeremiah
Following COVID, many Christians now watch worship services online or
on TV rather than participating in person. It's convenient, but
is it spiritual?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Today?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
On turning Point, doctor David Jeremiah shares the Bible's answer
and explains how the way we worship now contrasts with
the way will one day worship in heaven. Listen as
David introduces the conclusion of his message, Heavenly worship.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
And thank you for joining us. We are studying the
subject of heaven. It is inexhaustible subject. We will never
be able to understand everything, not even everything that's revealed
to us in the Bible, but Heaven will be beyond
anything we can imagine, and that we're just getting a
taste of what the Bible tells us. It will be
like we started yesterday talking about worship. And one of
(00:55):
the things that we kind of joke about in our
church and laugh about is that when we get to heaven,
be any preaching because we'll all know everything we need
to know. There won't be any prayer because we'll have
everything we need. The only thing that will survive what
we do in church will be worship. And our worship
leader is Tomyn Davis, and we tease him he's the
(01:15):
only one who's got a job going forward. I'm sure
we'll have plenty of to do. But Heaven is going
to be filled with worship, and in this message, we're
going to talk about some of the things that the
Bible reveals to us about the kind of worship that
will take place. So be sure and stay with us
for these next thirty minutes as we talk about the
worship in heaven. Tomorrow we're going to discuss five crowns.
(01:37):
This is controversial, believe it or not. Some people don't
think we should ever work for a reward as Christians.
The Bible does not allow us to believe that, and
we'll see that tomorrow. If you haven't already ordered your
copy of The Promise of Heaven book, let me encourage
you to do that today. Let me just tell you
if you send a gift of any size to Turning
Point during the month of October, we will immediately send
(02:00):
you the Promise of Heaven. This hardcover, two hundred and
forty page book has been in the process for over
a year and we're so excited to see how it
has come together. And God is going to use this
book in your life, and maybe you have some people
that you're trying to witness to. The Gospel is everywhere
in this book. In fact, one of the last chapters
is is There Only One Way? And the whole chapter
(02:22):
is about the Way to Heaven. The book is filled
with answers to questions you may have had, and we
hope we can help you with this wonderful project we've
been working on. Once again, Send a gift of any
size to Turning Point, ask for your copy of the book,
and it will be sent to you right to your
home immediately. Let's get started now with Part two of
(02:43):
Heavenly Worship. I wish we could hear what John heard.
I wish we could see what John saw. It's breathtaking, overwhelming,
absolutely glorious, the angels and the church together lifting endless
praise to the God of Heaven. William Temple once described
(03:05):
worship like this. He said, worship quickens the conscience by
the holiness of God. It feeds the mind with the
truth of God. It purges the imagination with the beauty
of God. It opens the heart to the love of God,
and it devotes the will.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
To the purpose of God.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
That's what worship in heaven looks like, and that's what
our worship on earth should aim for to. Then we
come to the fourth thing about worship in heaven, which
is my favorite part of all, the crescendo of worship
in heaven. Do you know what a crescendo is? Basically,
it means to start small and in big, usually applied
(03:49):
to pieces of music. We used to do crescendos in
our worship when we did rallies across the country. I
got caught up in this for a while. We would
start singing Amazing Grace in a low key, and every
time we changed versus, we changed keys and took it up.
By the time we got to one, we've been there
ten thousand years. It was like we were already there.
(04:09):
I mean, it was an amazing thing. Something happens when
you increase the volume and increase the key in the
worship songs. In Revelation, there is an obvious crescendo. I
don't know if you've ever seen this before, but this
is really cool. This is an amazing fact. In Revelation
chapter one, in verse six, there's a twofold doxology. Here's
(04:32):
what Revelation one six says to him be glory and
dominion forever and ever, glory and dominion to doxologies. Then
in chapter four, verse eleven, there's a threefold doxology, you
are worthy, Old Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.
And then in chapter five and verse thirteen there's a
(04:54):
fourfold doxology, Blessing and honor and glory and power be
to him who sits on the throne. And when you
get to chapter seven and verse twelve, there's a sevenfold doxology. Amen,
blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power
and might be to our God forever and ever.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
The worship grows as you move through the book, a
crescendo of worship to the Lord. When the church choirs
do that, they start soft and simple, and in loud
and complex. It's not only beautiful, it's biblical because this
is the way it will be in heaven someday. And
there's another aspect of this that I want to point out.
(05:35):
It's as if the crescendo of worship to God escalates
in accordance with the timeline of God's purposes in the world.
In other words, the farther along you get in the
Book of Revelation, and the more you move toward the
consummation of history in the coming again of the Lord,
(05:56):
the more wonderful the worship becomes, and the more prominent become.
And if that's true, if what I'm suggesting is true,
and I believe it is, this crescendo of praise and
worship we are experiencing is an accord with his timeline,
because we're getting close. We're getting close to the coming
of the Lord. You know, I grew up in a
(06:17):
pastor's house, and worship wasn't something we ever talked about.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Some of you old folks know this.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
We had the sermon and the song service, and the
person who led the song service was the song leader.
And if you said worship, it sounded like maybe you
weren't doing something right. I walked through the transition from
the song leader to the worship leader. I lived through
the days of Ralph Carmichael and the Spurloughs and the
(06:46):
Regeneration and all of those groups that took us out
of just singing songs into the worship of the Lord,
and most of it became second person praise.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
It wasn't about the Lord. It was to the Lord.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Have you noticed that when we sing worhis to the Lord,
something unique happens. It's a totally different kind of worship
and praise. And we're living in that time right now.
We have gone through the song service and now we
live in this period of worship. Worship is on the
radio every day, Worship is everywhere on television. There's a
(07:18):
big ad for a worship thing that's coming up pretty
soon here in our country. And what that tells us,
if we follow the Book of Revelation, is our redemption
is drawing nigh. We're getting closer. Because as you get
closer to the culmination of history, you get more of
a culmination and intensity of worship. And that is what
(07:41):
is happening today. We live in a wonderful period of time.
You know, here in our city, one of the great
leaders of worship is a friend of mine. His name
is Derek Johnson. He's from Skyline Church. He was a
great architect of worship. He was one of the great
leaders and still is today. He pastors a music ministry
in Orlando, Florida, and he started Regeneration, which was one
(08:04):
of the great worship teams that took us out of
the realm of just singing hymns all the time into
worship songs. We are blessed to be living in the period.
I know worship can go crazy. I mean, I see
some stuff in the worship genre that I kind of
shudder to think that it got in there, and maybe
we should try to.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Figure out how to get it out.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
But I keep my mouth shut and just keep worshiping
the Lord, because I've discovered you're never going to win
a battle if you fight in that war. The main
thing is are you worshiping God? So the creshendo of worship,
how important that is, and what an illustration in the
Book of Revelation. And then there's the contrast of worship
(08:46):
in heaven. One of the things that we notice when
we study this passage of Scripture is the contrast between
what's going on in heaven and what's going on on earth.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
John is in about.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
The worst place you could be, in exile on an island,
and up here he's allowed to see the glory and
beauty of heaven. And what happens when we get to heaven.
What an incredible contrast that is. John was allowed to
experience two realities. On the one hand, he was isolated
and separated from his friends and worried about the persecution
(09:22):
of the church by Domitian, the Roman Emperor. John was
facing discouragement, and yet in a moment of time, he's
ushered out of that reality through an open door into
heaven and he sees the Lord seated on a throne,
the picture of sovereign control. He sees the elders bowing
down and worshiping. He sees the beauty and majesty of heaven.
(09:44):
God gave this experience to John to encourage his heart.
Worship took him from the loneliness of his discouragement right
into the control room of the universe, where he could
see God and his plan for the entire universe. Constantly
bombarded with the reality of this world, television, radio, social media,
(10:06):
everything around us, always pulling us toward the earth and
away from Heaven.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Isn't that true?
Speaker 3 (10:12):
I mean, you have to consciously work to make sure
that you get some influence from television. That isn't bad
for you. But there's another reality. There's an unseen one
that is real. According to scripture, it's even more real.
We often live through the eternal things, and we somehow
think they are less important, that the physical is what's real,
(10:35):
and the eternal or the spiritual.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Is not real.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
But if you study the Bible, and if you think deeply,
you will discover what's really real is.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Not what is here temporarily.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
What's really real is what lasts forever, and the Bible
is clear about that. So this is one of the
great byproducts of worship. It lifts our eyes off the
struggle and places them on the so and gives us perspective.
I don't know if you've ever had moments like this.
I don't get discouraged very often. I do believe that
(11:09):
it's one of the tools that Satan can get me
if he wants to, and had plenty of reason recently
to deal with that. But when that happens, I find
some great worship music and I get alone. And the
reason for that is that music just sort of I
remember we used to have a singer that came here,
(11:30):
and I used to tell her, you don't sing to us,
you sing through us. Worship music doesn't play for you,
it plays through you. And when you listen to it
and you realize that it's about the Great God, we
serve and His plan for us. Somehow the things of
earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory
and grace. I encourage you to experience that. That's what
(11:51):
worship is. Not just to bring praise to the Lord.
The byproduct is what it does for us, and it
takes our eyes off of the troublesome things that are
going on around us and remind us not always going
to be this way. Friends. God's got a plan and
we're a part of it. It's as if Jesus is
saying to John, John, things are not like they seem.
(12:14):
Let me show you how they really are. Step into
the Throne room and I will show you true reality.
And here's what John saw. Things are not out of control.
Satan has not won, Evil has not triumphed.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
God is on his throne, Hallylivia. So I want to
give you.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
Four things to take away from this sermon that you
hopefully won't forget. I hope these will stick in your
heart and in your soul. First of all, worship is
not about us, It's about Him. Look through the worship
songs of Revelation and you will be struck by the
centrality of Christ in each one of them. He's described
(12:58):
as holy, almighty, eternal, worthy, glorious, powerful, honorable, and strong.
Worship is about seeing God high and lifted up. When
we get our eyes off of Him and onto the
styles of our worship or to the presentation of our worship,
we miss the core value of New Testament worship. God
(13:19):
is actively seeking those who will make Him the focus
of their lives in both their work and their worship. Periodically,
I hear about people who come to our church or
to other churches, and they will say something like this, Well,
I can't go back there because my needs were not met.
The worship in that church doesn't meet my needs. And
(13:42):
I want to say to them as loud as I can,
it's not about you, It's about Him. And there are
a lot of different styles of worship. I don't expect
all of you to like all of them. Some of
them are more popular with this group and some with
this group. But the key isn't the style of it.
The key is the substance of it. Does it bring
honor and glory to Christ? And if it does, get
(14:04):
off the fighting of it and get back and doing it.
Because worship. Listen to me, I hope you never forget this.
It's not about you, It's about Him, all right. Number two,
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
(14:26):
in heaven. Only as we are able to do that,
can we ever hope to function with integrity even in
this life. Listen to what Paul wrote to the Colossians.
He said, if then you were raised with Christ, seek
those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at
the right.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Hand of God.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Set your mind on things above, not on things on
the earth. For you died and your life is hidden
with Christ and God.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Do we do that?
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Do we set our mind on things above, not on
things on this earth. It takes an act of the
will and conci that's determination to do that. More so
now in this culture, where we are embroiled with all
kinds of impulses coming at us, to take time to
put Christ first, to put God first in our lives.
(15:14):
Worship is not about us, And worship is not about here,
it's about there. Here's another one. Worship is not about now,
it's about then. Paul challenged the Corinthian believers to leverage
everything that was going on in their lives against the
promise of the future. In the Second Corinthians four sixteen
(15:36):
through eighteen, there's a classic passage where he does that
I'm going to read this to you and then point
out these things. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even
though our outward man is perishing, Yet the inward man
is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, is working for us
(15:57):
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While
we do not look at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen. For the
things which are seen are temporary, but the things which
are not seen are eternal. Notice the outward man is perishing.
Can I get a witness? Is the outward man perishing?
(16:17):
And the women too? The outward woman's perishing too. Ladies,
I hate to tell you that it's it's my experience.
We know it's true. But notice that next thing. While
the outward man is perishing, the inward man is being renewed.
The Bible says that while we're kind of falling about outwardly,
we can come together inwardly because the Word of God
(16:38):
renews our inward spirit. As we get older and we
walk with the Lord, the reality of who He is
in our lives becomes more and more meaningful. While we're
falling apart outwardly, we're actually getting stronger inwardly. And then
he says, we have a light affliction for today, but
we had a weight of glory for tomorrow. The contrast
(17:00):
in that passage the light affliction of today. He said,
you might be going through some bad stuff, but let
me tell you something. Whatever you're going through, it doesn't
compare with the glory God has for you in the future.
Whatever it is you're experiencing right now, it doesn't even compare.
There's no way to put it on the same page.
And then he says, the things which are seen cannot
(17:22):
be triumphant over the things which are not seen. There
is a reality that is unseen. Did you know we
haven't seen the Lord face to face. Yet we know
him as surely as we're sitting here. One day we
shall see him and we shall be like him. But
right now we don't see him face to face. We
see him by faith through the scripture. And then he said,
(17:43):
our affliction will be for a moment, but our glory
will be forever for eternity. You see what he's doing.
Paul is taking these two worlds, the world of heaven
where he has now been able to see the worship
of glory, and he's leveraging it against what's going on
right now. He's saying things down here may not be
what you want, but just remember, whatever this is going
(18:04):
on here, God's got something great ahead for you. It
could not be clearer. Worship is the corridor through which
we make the exchange of heaven. It is the avenue
that leads us from the emptiness of this world to
the fullness of the next. It's the street that leads
from decay and discouragement to renewal and glory. When we
(18:25):
fail to worship, we confine ourselves to the despair of
this life. So when you come to church, don't come
with a sour attitude about worship. Worship is not about us,
it's about him. Worship is not about here, it's about there.
Worship is not about now, it's about then. And worship
(18:46):
is not about one, it's about many. Now, I want
to get off on this a little bit. I have
a pet peeve that I'm going to let you know
about after COVID. We've had a bunch of people who say,
I don't need to go to church. I can worship
the Lord in my own bedroom, watching on television with
(19:06):
a cup of coffee in my hands, God bless you.
That is not scriptural. The Bible says we're not to
forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some,
but so much the more as the Lord's appearing draws near.
The Bible says that as we sense the Lord is
(19:28):
coming back, we shouldn't go to church less. We should
go to church more, and we should be with God's
people more. Now I know, I know, men and women,
you can worship the Lord alone, just you and your TV.
But biblically, that idea is completely out of context. In
the Book of Revelation, for every one time you see
(19:51):
an individual worshiping, there are five examples of massive corporate worship.
Crowds gather together around the throne pray in God. I
do not believe we are in the will of God.
If we decide I'm never going back to church again.
It's too hard. It's hard for all of us. But
church is where God does his best work, and church
(20:15):
is where God says we should be. We're together together.
You can't gather together by staying home in your living room.
There's no such thing as isolated Christianity. I've told you
many times that the word Saints in the Bible is
always in the plural. It's never just about one believer
doing life on his own.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Saints is a plural word.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
So another strong reminder of the brothers and sisters in
your local church. When you read Revelation, you can't miss it.
Heaven is filled with great gatherings of worship. Corporate worship
is not just important. It's a glimpse of Heaven. When
you worship and you have a full heart of worship,
it's like being in heaven for a short time. There's
(21:00):
what Revelation describes as the worship of heaven. Then I
looked and 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
(21:22):
strength and honor.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
And glory and blessing.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
In Revelation nineteen six, says that I heard, as it were,
the voice of a great multitude, the sound of many waters,
and as the sound of mighty thundering saying hallelujah for
the Lord God omnipotent reigns. So I want to ask
you this, If choirs and orchestras can elevate us to
such heights of enjoyment here on earth, what in the
(21:47):
world will be like when we hear the celestial choirs
accompanied by heaven trained orchestra players. Worship has a way
of lifting our hearts and renewing our spirits. When I
was studying for this message, I wondered if I could
find the largest worship experience that had ever happened on Earth.
(22:07):
And according to what I've been able to discover, I
found it. In the Philippine Islands. Twenty one thousand people
were in the same choir and they sang. And the
way it was set up, the choir was in the
ring around the top of the stadium, and the audience
was in the floor, and they sang, And I thought,
(22:28):
what a wonderful thing that must have been. Twenty one
thousand people worshiping.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
And did you read what I just read?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
In heaven there will be thousands upon thousands, ten thousand
times ten thousand worshipers. I don't know where you go
and find an arena big enough for that, but all
of Heaven will be the arena, and worship will be
the atmosphere in which we live every day. Ladies and gentlemen,
if you don't understand how important worship is, I hope
(22:57):
your heart will be attuned to it. And if you
don't get everything I've said, just go home and read
Revelation chapter four, verses one through eleven. The largest gospel
climate on earth will pale in comparison to even the
most casual worship services in heaven.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
What a wonderful time that will be. Worship is amazing.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
And in this world in which we live now, worship
is a centure thing that we do. Worship can never
take the place of the Word of God. But worship
is a ministry that God has called us to. And
He not only wants to be blessed by our worship,
he wants to bless us when we worship.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
And when we do that, our hearts are filled with joy.
I hope you understand it.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
I think all of us have had some preliminary experiences
that will be sort of like when it's in heaven.
You get into a worship service. We had one recently
in La when we got together with a wonderful group
of musicians and a whole crowd of people and we
worshiped God on the topic of heaven. And I sat
there in that auditorium and I was carried away by
(24:14):
what was happening. I was caught up. And I think
that's kind of how it will be in heaven. Once
in a while we get a little glimpse of it.
And actually that's what we call that night, a glimpse
of heaven. Many of you have had that experience. Just
think about what it will be like when, without any distractions,
any discussions, any objections, we joined together as God's people
(24:36):
to worship.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Him around the throne.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Hey, tomorrow we began a discussion of the five crowns
that are mentioned in scripture. Don't miss it, and don't
forget to ask for your copy of the Promise Book
while we're talking about it during the month of October.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
See you next time. I'm David Jeremiah.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Our message today came you from Shadow Mountain Community Church
and doctor David Jeremiah. We always welcome your notes of encouragement,
so please write us at Turning Point PO Box thirty
eight thirty eight, San Diego, California, nine two one sixty three.
Visit our website at Davidjeremiah dot org, Slash Radio, or
(25:16):
call eight hundred ninety four seven nineteen ninety three ask
for your copy of David's new book, The Promise of
Heaven thirty one Reasons to get excited about your eternal home.
It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can
also download the free Turning Point mobile app for your
smartphone or tablet, or search in your app store for
(25:37):
Turning Point ministries. To access our content, visit Davidjeremiah dot
org slash radio for details. This is David Michael Jeremiah.
Join us tomorrow as we continue the series The Promise
of Heaven on Turning Point with Doctor David Jeremiah
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