Heavenly Worship

Transcript

GR 1518
02-15-09
Heavenly Worship
Revelation 4:5-11
Gil Rugh

Revelation 4 in your Bibles. Chapters 4-5 prepare the way for the judgments coming in chapters 6-19. So while they carry us into the throne room of heaven, they give us insight into the worship taking place there. We don't want to lose perspective here. They are part of the overall flow of the book, they are preparing us for the holy, sovereign, eternal God who is about to rain down His judgments on an unbelieving world. Prepares us for the time when He will sentence those who have rebelled against Him to an eternal hell, will prepare us for the time when He will bring those who have redeemed by His grace into the kingdom that He has promised, ruled over by His Son.

In chapter 4 the primary focal point is God the Father on the throne, then in chapter 5 we will have a focal point on God the Son. But in it all we are reminded that God's intention is that the Son be honored even as the Father is honored. And both will become the objects of our worship and adoration through all eternity.

We have looked at God the Father on the throne, we've been looking at those who are present before the throne in heaven. Remember John has been brought up through the door that was opened into heaven to experience the vision of these coming things. He saw the twenty-four elders on thrones around the throne of God in Revelation 4:4. And we noted that the twenty-four elders represent the church, redeemed believers from the church age who have been rewarded in the presence of God in glory.

We want to now move on to some of the other beings, if you will, that are present before the throne. As you come to the end of verse 5, because we looked at before the throne we are picking up just the beings that are present at the throne. We've already looked at those things related to the One on the throne, like the first part of verse 5 relates to the Father as He is enthroned. But at the end of verse 5, there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God. And this is in reference to the Holy Spirit. Back in chapter 1 verse 4 we saw this same reference, John to the seven churches that are in Asia grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come. That refers to God the Father. And from the seven spirits who are before His throne, that refers to God the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness. And of course the seven spirits before the throne could be none other than the Holy Spirit in His sevenfold manifestation because grace and peace come from God the Father and God the Son. The seven spirits could represent none other than the Holy Spirit.

The picture goes back to the book of Zechariah, and to refresh your minds go back to Zechariah 3. And we don't have time to go into the context here. Joshua the high priest is standing, the angel of the Lord is present there, Satan is present there in this crucial picture. We pick up with verse 8, which tells us that the men here are for symbols they represent. I'm going to bring in my Servant the Branch. Behold the stone that I have set before Joshua, on one stone are seven eyes. Here we have seven eyes. You'll see more of those as we move along as well. You come down into chapter 4 verse 2, he sees a lampstand. Its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on top of it. So this lampstand that's seven-pronged and it has these oil lamps on each of the seven branches with seven spouts, giving off light. Then come down to verse 6. What does this all represent? Then he said to me, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord. So the Holy Spirit now is brought in as the One who is working and accomplishing all that will be done. Down in verse 10, who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These are the eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth. So the seven lams of fire, here you have the seven-pronged lampstand with the oil lamps burning on them. They are identified with the seven eyes of the Lord. You have these joining together in representing the Holy Spirit and His ministry. Fire is often associated with judgment and that is true in the book of Revelation and the context of judgment there. So we have the Holy Spirit.

Back to Ezekiel 1:13. And what you have, Ezekiel sees the throne room of heaven. We'll come back here in a moment, we've been here before. This is another unique chapter where it opened up, Ezekiel 1:1, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. And he sees the throne of God coming, and so much of the description is similar to what we are seeing in the throne room in heaven, the same beings there in association with the throne of God as we see in Revelation 4. Down in verse 13, in the midst of the living beings, which we're going to be looking at in just a moment, there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches darting back and forth among the living beings. The fire was bright, the lightning was flashing from the fire. And that may be a representation again of the Holy Spirit in His presence there at the throne of God, symbolized by the fire as we've seen the seven lamps of fire, the seven spirits of God.

Come back to Revelation 4. As we noted when we were in chapter 1 and you were reminded in a little different context, you have the three persons of the Godhead, one God eternally existing in three persons. Here John sees a representation of all three persons—God the Father, God the Spirit and God the Son. I take it when we are ushered to heaven it won't be, we'll see God the Son but we won't see the Father or the Spirit. We will see the manifestation of the presence of God the Father on His throne and the presence of the Holy Spirit of God before the throne, the seven spirits of God in His perfected ministry.

You come to the end of verse 6, in the center and around the throne four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. Four living creatures, literally four living ones. Sometimes you get the idea of our use of creatures and we use it a little differently. But four living creatures gives the ideas that literally it is four living ones. These four living ones are in effect around the throne. What that would mean is there is one on each of the four sides, and so they would be around the throne. One in the front, the back, and one on each side. They are a group of angelic beings, a category of angelic beings who are really guardians of the throne of God, if you will, the majesty of His presence. They are there around the throne. They will lead the host of heaven, the inhabitants of heaven in their worship of God. And we'll see they lead and the inhabitants of heaven follow along in offering worship to God.

Now these four living beings, when we get to chapter 6, will play a special role. They also have a special role to play in administering God's justice on the earth when the tribulation begins. Turn over to chapter 6. The four horsemen of the apocalypse are sent forth at the voice of these four living beings. Verse 1, when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, come. And I looked. So John is summoned to see and behold. Here comes the first horseman of the apocalypse. Verse 3, when he broke the second seal I heard the second living creature saying, come. Here John, now look at this. Verse 5, he broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, come. And I looked. Verse 7, when the Lamb broke the fourth seal I heard the voice of the fourth living creature. So these four living beings around the throne will play a role as we begin the unfolding of the judgments upon the world of unbelievers yet to come, these four angelic beings who are marked off with a special role in being around the throne of God.

Now come back to Ezekiel 1. We are seeing the throne of God coming as heaven is opened in Ezekiel's vision. And of course you have the four living beings, the living creatures around the throne there as well. We pick up with verse 5, within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And then they are described and it comes on down with their faces, their wings, verse 8, how their wings touch each other, how they move, the appearance of their faces. Verse 12, each went straight forward, wherever the spirit was about to go they would go without turning as they went. The movement is remarkable. Then in the midst of the living beings, a verse we just read. Verse 15, as I looked at the living beings, behold there was one wheel on the earth beside the living beings for each of the four of them. The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship described here. Wherever they moved, they moved in any of their four directions without turning as they moved. And on it goes in describing down through verse 25. These beings. Then he describes more of the throne room. Verse 20 says, wherever the spirit was about to go they would go in that direction. The wheels rose close beside them, the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. Here you see these living beings so closely associated with the throne of God and the movement of the throne of God. Now obviously God is omnipresent, He doesn't need angelic beings to accompany His throne. He doesn't have to be moved around on a throne. But here He is manifesting His presence for the benefit of His creation. All these things reveal something of His glory and something of His work.

Go back to Isaiah 6. The description of these beings is very similar to the seraphim in Isaiah 6. Look at verse 2, seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings. With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, with two he flew. Remember the wings? We'll see them with these living creatures. And then what they do. One called out to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory.

Now come back to Revelation 4. When it says the four living creatures, at the end of verse 6, are full of eyes in front and behind. Shows their constant alertness, their complete knowledge. They are constantly alert and aware of everything. And they have complete knowledge in their service of God. We say that about people, they have eyes in the back of their head. They just know things, they see things, they are aware. That's the picture here. They are full of eyes in front and behind. It's repeated in verse 8, the four living creatures, each of them having six wings are full of eyes around and within.

Look at verse 7, the description. The first creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf, the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. These are the cherubim as we see as we move along here in our study. They are the same ones as we saw in Ezekiel, we couldn't take the time to read all of Ezekiel 1. If you haven't read it recently, I'd encourage you to do it because it is a close connection. Don't mire down if you don't quite understand it all. Read it and at least become familiar with the content there and it will help as you read in these passages as well. They represent God's living creature. You'll note their description, you might think they have some appearance out of this world. And there are things about the description that are out of this world to be sure. But here they are identified with God's living creation, we call it His animate creation. The lion pictures nobility, the calf (the word here really is ox) an animal of strength, man pictures intelligence or wisdom, the eagle with its swiftness. We saw the eagle as one who flies, describing the swiftness of the eagle. It's like a flying eagle.

He goes on, the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings. So it connects to the seraphim. You come back to Isaiah 6:2, the seraphim stood above him, each having six wings. And it would seem that there is no significant difference between the cherubim and the seraphim. Why the different names? We don't know. It seems the seraphim are described the same way the cherubim are and we see they are fulfilling basically the same role as we progress along. Look at verse 2, note what they do with their wings. Each has six wings, three pair. With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, with two he flew. He covered his face, the awe in the presence of God; he covered his feet, denoting humility in the presence of God; and with two he flew, ready obedience to God. You have these beings serving in the presence of God, they lead the worship of heaven. What characterizes them? Awe, humility, obedience. We think of worship and we come up with all kinds of ideas for creative worship, to do worship. We remember we must worship God in spirit and truth. We come to Him with a sense of awe, a sense of humility, a sense of obedience, ready to obey. That's what the worship in heaven is like. The beings that serve in the presence of God, the beings that lead the worship of heaven so depicted with six wings and their description.

Come back to Revelation 4. They are full of eyes around and within. We have already seen that, their alertness and knowledge, a readiness to do God's will, their obedience and the knowledge of His will. And day and night they do not cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. They are involved in this continuous praise of God. Now that doesn't mean they never do anything else because we saw in Revelation 6 they are connected. When the seals are opened and the judgments are unfolded, they are the ones, each one in turn to a different judgment, who call John to observe. It doesn't mean they just do nothing, say nothing else, but in their continuing practice of carrying out the will of God, they do the will of God. And when it's time for the worship to be taking place, they are leading in the worship of heaven as well. Part of the work of God in the world from the throne of God, if you will.

You'll note their praise. It centers on God's holiness, God's omnipotence, He's the Almighty, and His eternality, the One who was and who is and who is to come. Holy, holy, holy is the repeated phrase. That's the same phrase offered by the seraphim in Isaiah 6:3, one called out to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. So again you see the connection between the seraphim and the cherubim. The plural of seraph is seraphim, “im” is the plural ending; and the cherubim the plural of cherub. They didn't cherubs with an “s” on the end like we make our plurals, “im” is their plural. It seems they are the same beings as the seraphim.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God. What is declared before the throne of God is absolute holiness. Remember the root idea is separateness. The One who is holy is separate from sin. That's what it is to be holy, separate from sin. God is holy, perfect in His holiness. And this perfect holiness is the standard by which all are judged. That's the problem. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That's the need we have of a Savior, that's the chasm that is there that people fail to appreciate. He is a holy God, totally separate from sin and we are defiled by sin and must be cleansed to be acceptable in His presence.

Interestingly, the God who is holy, holy, holy requires the same holiness of man. Turn to I Peter 1, and this is a quote from Leviticus 11:44-45. Verse 14, as obedient children, remember the cherubim and the seraphim, with two wings they flew, their obedience and readiness to obey. And here what God expects of His creation—as obedient children now as those who have been redeemed, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance. But like the Holy One who called you, what a standard, be holy yourselves in most of your behavior. No, in all your behavior. Why? Because it is written, and that's the quote from Leviticus 11:45, you shall be holy for I am holy. Amazing thing is God does not lower Himself to our level, He raises us to His, in effect. We are not acceptable in our condition. He provides His cleansing so we will be acceptable in His presence. And He expects His work to be manifest by our obedience in living separate from sin. You shall be holy for I am holy. He is a holy God, we are the people of a holy God. So holiness is the defining characteristic, if you will, of the life of a believer. I know, we like to make love the defining characteristic, and I'm not minimizing God's love or the responsibility we have to love, but holiness is the overwhelming requirement and the expectation.

Come back to Revelation 4. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty. This title was used of God back in chapter 1 verse 8. It means the almighty, the all-powerful, omnipotent one. You see we are preparing the way for the judgments. He is the holy, holy God going to deal with an unholy world. And He is the God who is Almighty, all powerful, omnipotent. This title for God is used eight other times in the book of Revelation, nine times totally. Interesting thing, it's used only one other time in all the rest of the New Testament. The rest are in this book. It is the sovereign Almighty, all powerful God acting and no being in heaven or on earth will be able to stand against Him. When all is said and done everything will be brought into subjugation to Him. The devil will fight to the end but there is no winning for him. So you see we prepare the way for the action of the God who is Almighty. He is the One who can administer justice, He has the power, absolute total power.

He is the One who was and who is and who is to come. We read that back in chapter 1 verses 4 and 8. He is the eternal God. It's the same emphasis at the end of verse 9 with different wording, to Him who lives forever and ever. Verse 10, the same thing, worship Him who lives forever and ever. This is the One who was in the past, He is the One who is in the present, He is the One who will be in the future. Eternity past, the present, the future, He's the One who is forever. He is the eternal God.

Verse 9, this is the focal point with all of this. And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks. Here we see the living creatures leading, if you will, in the worship of heaven. And the when there, when the living creatures give glory, whenever they do it. So they have other things they do as we see, but whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks. This is the signal for the inhabitants of heaven to join with them in giving their worship, and particularly the elders enthroned at the throne of God are in view here.

The praise of the living ones is to give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne. Giving thanks to God for His work of creation, for all the blessings that His creation receives from Him, glory and honor and thanks. You see all the activity of heaven focuses on God. If we are to carry out the worship of the living God, of our place in heaven, where ought our focus to be. We go out and say, did you like it, did you enjoy it. What is the focus? What is it about? We say we come together to worship and we want to make it as entertaining as possible. I mean, do we want to keep the focus where it is. That doesn't mean we don't enjoy worship, doesn't mean we have to try to make it drudgery. Obviously, there is an excitement that thunders through heaven. But the focus in it we must not lose sight of. In the songs, in the teaching, it is about the God who is being worshiped. And He is the creator.

Go back to Psalm 29. You know it's amazing how this subject permeates the scripture. Verse 1, ascribe to the Lord, oh sons of the mighty, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. Worship the Lord in holy array or in the majesty of holiness. You see the same connection that we're talking about. We're giving Him glory and honor, we're giving Him the glory due His name, we worship Him in the context of holiness. You come down to verse 9, in His temple everything says glory. Verse 10, yes, the Lord sits as king forever. Glory and honor to Him, the One who sits on the throne, the One who rules forever. That's what we are about. He is our creator, we bow and give Him thanks, we give Him honor, we give Him worship.

Back in Revelation 4. Nothing has changed in that sense. When David and the Jews went into the temple that had been constructed on earth, what were they to do there? Give glory to God, honor to God, worship to God. Anybody who comes to worship Him is to do the same thing. He is the One who lives forever and ever, He is the eternal God. So He is the only One to be worshiped, He is the only One to be focused on here. We have other creatures, now we come to the twenty-four elders in verse 10. But it's not all about the twenty-four elders because what are the twenty-four elders going to do? 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. You see we see these different beings, but what is everything focused on? The God of heaven, the Lord of all. That's what the worship of heaven is. And we say we gather as the people of God to worship God, what ought our focus to be? I mean, it's about Him. We want to make everybody comfortable, we want them to like it. I think we ought to do it well, we ought to do it in as pleasing a way in that sense, there ought to be an attractiveness about it and so on. It ought to be done right, it's done for the glory of God and for His honor. But it's all about Him. We're not taking polls. What would you like in a church, let's go out and find out what the unbeliever likes and doesn't like about church and then we'll know how to structure our church. This is not all about them, it's all about Him and we keep that before us.

So verse 10, the twenty-four elders now follow the lead of the living creatures. So verse 9, whenever the living creatures give glory and honor to Him, verse 10, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him. So you see the four living beings in effect lead the worship of heaven. And what do they lead the twenty-four elders to do? To fall down before Him who is on the throne. This is the first of six times in the book of Revelation that the twenty-four elders said to fall down before the throne of the Lord. Now we've noted that we believe the twenty-four elders represent the church that has been brought from earth to heaven. And we'll see more of those details as we move along.

And what do they do? They bow down before the throne of God in heaven, following the lead of the cherubim. They will worship Him who lives forever and ever. They fall down, they worship Him, they prostrate themselves before Him, they are in total humility as they bow before Him. Remember the representation of the wings and the awe of God. The bow down in His presence, they worship Him, they kiss the ground before him in total humility in recognizing they are the creation in the presence of the One who is the creator. The awesome worship of the living God.

Our English word worship, as you are aware, comes from an old English word that meant to ascribe worth. And so worship was ascribing worth to God. Picks up the idea. The Greek word here carries the idea of humbling yourself, you bow down before, you fall down before Him and you kiss the ground. There is a total humility here, how unworthy even as the redeemed we are to be in the presence of the living God, the eternal God, the Almighty God, the holy God. And we'll be before His throne. But we are the creation and He is the creator. And it takes complete humility. He alone is worthy. The emphasis that infiltrates about the self-worth, the value of a human being. I realize the human being is different than any other part of the physical creation, we are created in the image of God. But God didn't save us because there was some value He acquired for Himself. Christ didn't die because we were valuable. These things all take our attention away. We say people have to have a good sense of self-worth. Believers start thinking that. Where do you get that? We will be in heaven bowing down with complete humility before the throne of God, never losing sight of the awe that we unworthy creatures should be in the presence of the living God and offering Him worship.

What else they do is they cast their crowns before the throne. And these we remember from the song we just sang, cast their crowns before the throne. I take it these are the rewards they have received, the victor's crown. They have been rewarded for faithfulness in their service to the living God. But it's not for their honor and glory, it's for His. So they cast their crowns before the throne. The victories that we win, the things we accomplish by God's grace in our service for Him for which we will be rewarded, all part of our giving Him glory when we gather in His presence. Some people say, I don't care if I get a reward. Just getting to heaven will be enough. But won't it be a desire to honor Him, to give Him glory, the greatest glory we can? That's what we'll be able to do. Cast our crowns. We fall down, we worship, we cast our crowns before His throne. You see everything directed toward Him. That's what our worship is. I just think it's an overwhelming tragedy that the church that claims to represent Jesus Christ gets caught up in the thinking that we have to think about people in the sense of what they like and what they want. We're here to do what heaven wants, to focus on the God who has revealed Himself. That's why much of our worship is focused on His Word, we would hear what He says, we would bow in obedience to Him by learning from Him.

What are we crying out? Worthy are you, our Lord and our God. Only our Lord and our God is worthy. I mean, nobody else is getting attention here. We have the living beings described, but what are they doing? Directing all attention to the One on the throne. The twenty-four elders are here, but what are they doing? All attention is on the One on the throne, and now they cry out, you are worthy, our Lord and our God. To receive glory and honor and power. That's where we're going, so this is all preparing the way, remember, for the awful judgments. Could God pour out such wrath? Could He sentence sinners to an eternal hell where the smoke of their torment will rise into the ages of the ages endlessly? All for His glory and honor and power. For you did create all things. Everything owes their existence to God. Before Him there was nothing but God, He called everything. The angels are not eternal, they were called into existence by God, created by Him. Everything was created by Him. You created all things, everything owes their existence to Him.

Look at Psalm 33:6. The first five verses which we are not reading, but they are giving praise to God with songs, with instruments, with our lips. Verse 6, by the word of the Lord the heavens were made, by the breath of His mouth all their host. That's how it was done, the same way that Genesis 1-2 tell me. God spoke and it came into existence. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap, He lays up the deep in a storehouse. Let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. He spoke and it was done, He commanded and it stood fast. See that emphasis, the sovereign God, the creator of all, He is the One to be given praise, to be given thanks. He is the One worthy of our worship. Can you worship the living God and be an evolutionist? That's an oxymoron, isn't it? I mean, you deny that God created it as He said by His word, and now I come to worship Him. Heaven is worshiping Him as the creator, the One who called it all into existence. And we're trying to find natural ways to overrule the opening chapters of Genesis. And we think we've resolved it because now we're theistic evolutionists. We're never done trying to integrate man's wisdom with God's wisdom. And whether it is science, whether it is psychology, whether it is fill-in-the-blank, you corrupt the Word of God when you do that. Now I'm not saying that the account of creation in the Bible is contrary to the true facts of science so you have to put your head in the sand and ignore reality. I find the reality of science is what the Bible says, and all the rest is trying to find an alternative explanation so you don't have to worship the God who is the creator of all and bow in humility before Him and acknowledge His sovereign power.

Come back to Revelation. I think it's interesting that the worship in heaven is on God's work as the creator. Is it any wonder the devil has attacked this so relentlessly? Here we are brought into the throne room of heaven and we find the four living beings who surround the throne leading the twenty-four elders on thrones before the throne of God. And they are saying, worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things. Any wonder the devil opposes it every way he can, the truth of God as the creator of all things?

Because of your will they existed and were created. That settles it. Why? How did it come? God decided to do it. He wasn't lonesome, He didn't need companionship, there wasn't a deficiency that He saw. He created it out of His will. That brought them into existence. In the council of the Godhead, Father, Son and Spirit, they determined to bring creation into existence. I cannot conceive with my finite mind that always wants to be bound by time a God who has existed forever. I find myself thinking, I wonder what He did before He had us. But you know He never got bored. I can't imagine a God who can live forever and ever and then He decided to call creation into existence—angelic beings because they are a part of creation, everything apart from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit did not exist in eternity. He calls these things into existence. Why? Because He decided to, because of your will they existed and were created.

Now we're ready to move to chapter 5 which will focus particularly on God the Son and the work of redemption He accomplished that enables God to carry out the plan of ultimate redemption of a fallen creation and the establishing of an eternal kingdom inhabited by people who are holy as He is holy.

Let me give you a couple of summary points, I did seven because that's the number of perfection when we're talking about heaven's worship. 1. True worship is directed toward God alone. 2. True worship praises the attributes of God—His holiness, His omnipotence, His eternality. That's the thing that heaven has been declaring. 3. True worship gives glory, honor and thanks to God. He deserves the glory, He deserves the honor, He deserves our thanks. 4. True worship requires complete humility before God. We fall down as the twenty-four elders. They worshiped, they are bowed to the ground in His presence. True humility. We cannot come with our pride. That's why the devil wants to insert the idea you need a sense of self-worth, you need to realize how valuable you are. Because he corrupts worship at the very beginning and nullifies it. Because we can't worship God truly in spirit and truth because it requires complete humility before God. 5. True worship gives all the glory to God for victories won and rewards received. In verse 10 we cast our crowns before Him. He gets all the glory, all the credit. And ultimately that will be realized in its fullness in the glory of heaven. 6. True worship ascribes all worth to God. Verse 11, you are worthy. It's all focused on Him. 7. True worship is directed toward the One who created all things. Here the worship is because, for you created all things. And they are created to bring glory to Him, that's our purpose. And so we do that as we honor Him with our lives.

How great the redemption of God that we should be part of this heavenly scene, and that's where he'll go with the throne room scene in chapter 5, and the redemption that Christ accomplished. And we find out that the same worship of heaven is directed toward Him as the One worthy because of His work of redemption on our behalf.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for this glimpse into the glory of your presence. Lord, what awe, what majesty, what humility it should bring to our hearts and minds. You are the God who is holy, holy, holy. And yet, Lord, by your work of redemption in your Son you have made it possible for us to be holy as you are holy, not because we have a holiness in and of ourselves, but because through faith in the Savior you have provided we are credited with His righteousness. And the Spirit who dwells in us produces the beauty of your character, your holiness. Lord, may that be the motivation and desire of our lives, even in the days of the week before us. Thank you for the blessings that are ours and the blessings that yet will be ours. May our lives on this earth not lose focus. May we recognize day by day as we live in your presence to live lives that are to worship you, that you are the center of all that we are and all that we do. We praise you for it. In Christ's name, amen.