Revelation 5:8–14 (ESV) — 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Randy Alcorn wrote a book called Heaven. If you’re interested in a biblical view of heaven, I recommend it. In Chapter 19, titled “How will we worship God”, he writes,
“The sense of wide-eyed wonder we see among Heaven’s inhabitants in Revelation 4-5 suggests an ever-deepening appreciation of God’s greatness. That isn’t all there is to Heaven, but if it were, it would be more than enough.”
“an ever-deepening appreciation of God’s greatness”, that should describe our singing today. We’ll sing in heaven, for sure. But we sing now, and these songs ascend to the heavens. Our songs of praise pierce through the audible realm. They transcend this earthly realm. A song to Christ transforms from a natural song to an eternal song. The sounds may only last a moment in this realm, but they fly to heaven, and they become an ever-deepening appreciation of God’s greatness
Sing a song to the One who sits on the Throne, and God never forgets it. Songs from a heart that has been made pure by the Cross of Christ become eternal songs of heaven. Think about that. We sing a song after the sermon, and the music stops, we stop, and I say a prayer, and the service is over. But it’s not really over. Our songs of worship did not vaporize. They became eternal by the Holy Spirit. They took wings and flew to the Throne Room. The song is God’s song. If these songs are songs of truth, they will surround the Throne. Truth abides forever.
Before we go further into our scripture text, let us be reminded of the central message of this book of Revelation. God governs all of history to redeem His purified and persecuted church through the victory of Christ, His Son. This book is about the Triumph of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ! Amen! The Lamb Wins. This book is not about doom and gloom. It’s not about horror and death, though we’ll read about all of that. But the picture the early Christians read in this book is God governing all things to fulfill His plan of redemption for His blood-bought people.
Last week, we saw an “eruption of praise” in heaven to the One who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. This week, we will notice the “heart of the praise” to the One who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. I also intend to share a secret about singing. It’s a secret that unbelievers don’t know, and sadly, many churches don’t know it or don’t practice it. And then we are going to put what we learn today into practice. After the sermon, we are going to join our voices with the choir of heaven.
When we look at Revelation 5:8–9, we read,
“And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, ….”
This is a new song. It is not a dreary song of frustration, or worry, or fear, or loneliness, or defeat. Nor is it a song of this life or about how so-and-so broke my heart. This is a new song.
What are these Songs? We want to recognize that these are Songs of Thankfulness and Gratitude. Did you see this when you read those songs? Do you hear it?
This choir is only made up of saints, those who are redeemed by the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross and the Resurrection. None of these singers are people who thought they could face God in their own-goodness and sins, who remain separated from God. They are not in heaven. They have no song to sing to a God they do not love.
This choir sang with hearts full of thanksgiving and gratitude for what God did for them and for them. They sang a song of thanksgiving for His mercy, kindness, and infinite love. This choir is bought with the death of Jesus Christ. This choir had a lot to sing about. They had a lot of thanksgiving in their hearts. Turning to Ephesians 2:4–6, we read:
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
WOW! This choir sang because God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved them, made them alive together with Christ Jesus, even when they were spiritually lifeless. This choir sang of the great grace that saved them. They sang because God positioned them in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. That is a lot to sing about. That is a lot to be thankful for.
Then we read the next verse (Vs. 7): “… so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Brothers and sisters in Christ, listen to what that verse is saying to us. The goodness and greatness of God towards us have just begun. This verse tells us that “in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” There is a dam that is storing up immeasurable riches that will burst open and flood over each believer. There will be no holding back. The riches of his kindness will overtake you like the waters from a bursting dam.
The question is, are you ready for that? I am. I’m anxious for “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Songs of thankfulness and gratitude are marks/signs/evidence of a healthy soul. This is also the mark of a healthy Church. It is the mark of a church that knows its God and Savior, and that knows the true saving Gospel of Grace. They know it is all because of grace.
Is this a mark of your soul?
These are also Songs of Abundant Joy. They are songs of joy in their Savior, Redeemer, and God. Did you read that? Do you hear it when you read it?
When I read these songs from the saints, they are not reluctant to sing. They are singing with joy. They are not monotone. They are not out of key; they are not hiding from singing with the saints, nor dreaming about Christmas, the Super Bowl, or any other distraction. They are fixed on the Lamb. They are letting the thanksgiving and joy rise up from within. Joy! Joy! Joy!
Psalm 107:1–3 (CSB) — 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim that he has redeemed them from the power of the foe 3 and has gathered them from the lands— from the east and the west, from the north and the south.
Heaven’s choir is the Redeemed of the Lord gathered from the four corners of the earth, and they unite in song, a new song of thanksgiving and joy.
Songs of joy are marks of a healthy soul. Sometimes this life is hard, and joy is dried up like water in a desert. But if we take our eyes off the suffering and the hardship and look up, we can find reasons to sing to the One who holds us and will receive us one day into paradise.
Songs of joy are also marks of a healthy Church. A healthy local church has joy. There is joy in Muddy Creek Baptist Church. It is too evident to miss. I have had unbelievers recognize the joy in our fellowship and worship.
I wonder, is this a mark of your soul?
These are also Songs of Triumphant Victory. Did you read that? Do you hear it when you read it? The saints sang a song to the triumphant Lamb of God who was slain for their sins and is alive forevermore. They sang as those who were held captive by a cruel master—sin and bondage, but have been rescued and set free.
A beautifully touching story from Phoenix, Arizona, helps us here. It was the account of a seven-year-old boy who accidentally fell into a two-hundred-seventy-five-foot well. For forty-five minutes, the boy was trapped in darkness, with multiple fractures. Helpless to save himself. He was getting weaker and weaker. Death was drawing nearer.
“Daddy, get me out of here,” he yelled. “Don’t worry, son,” the dad replied, “and don’t be scared. We will get you out.” But his parents were helpless.
Eventually, a rescue equipment team arrived. A rope was lowered into the well. The boy was instructed to place the rope over his shoulders and beneath his arms and to hold on. The rescue team lifted the boy to safety. He was free! He was free! He was rescued! Do you think this boy’s parents hugged him and said, “You’ll be alright now. Go and clean up your room and get ready for dinner?” Or, do you think the boy, the parents, the rescue team, the onlookers, and everyone following that story rejoiced in the triumphant rescue? Yes, they rejoiced. The child and his parent knew how to shout in triumphant victory.
As we grow in the realization of our rescue and redemption by Jesus Christ, our song of triumphant victory will get louder and more thankful. These saints in heaven sang a victory song! A song of freedom! If you know that Christ Jesus has saved you and delivered you out of the domain of darkness into His marvelous light, start singing or start learning how to sing the Songs of Triumphant Victory.
Songs of triumphant victory are marks of a healthy soul. There are times when you're beaten down, or perhaps your soul seems dry. That is the time to take up the victory song. Remind yourself that the Savior of Glory had rescued you from the dominion of darkness and transferred you into the kingdom of life.
1 Peter 2:9–10 (ESV) — 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Songs of triumphant victory are marks of a healthy Church.
Is this a mark of your soul?
These are also Songs of Belonging. Did you read that? Do you hear it when you read it? Songs of belonging. Do you see that they are all singing as those who belong in the throne room of God and before the Lamb? Do you see that they belong to God? They sing as belonging to one another. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of belonging. Those who belong to Jesus belong in the kingdom of God with all the others who belong to Jesus.
You are never alone when you enter the kingdom of Christ. You are never alone. You are never intended to walk this life alone. You are never intended to suffer alone. You are never intended to grieve alone. You are never intended to rejoice alone. You are never intended to grow alone. You are never intended to worship alone. You belong to a myriad of other believers and angels, an innumerable company. A choir to beat all choirs.
These are songs of belonging. They are songs of those who belong together. Do you know a Christian who is singing alone, without a church family? Do you know someone who is alone in their pilgrimage of faith? Convince them that they can sing a song of belonging with us.
Songs of belonging are marks of a healthy soul. They are marks of a healthy Church. Is this a mark of your soul?
These are also Songs of Surrender. Did you read that? Do you hear it when you read it? Songs of Surrender.
I use the word “surrender” often because it describes the act of biblical repentance and saving faith. A repenting heart is a surrendering heart to Jesus Christ. It is, “I am wrong. I have sinned against you. I have offended you. Here I am asking you to forgive me. Have mercy on me.” That is surrendering.
Understand this eternal truth: A person can call himself/herself a believer or a child of God, but that does not mean they have surrendered and submitted their heart to the King, Jesus Christ. Unless a person has surrendered to the Lordship and Kingship of Christ, they are a rebel against Him. There is either a surrender to obey this King or a rebelliousness to be your own king.
Jesus said, “Follow Me.” That requires a surrender to His leading, to His way, and His direction. The Gospel writers tell of people who believed in what Jesus taught, but they wouldn’t surrender to following Him. A Christian is a person who surrenders to Jesus Christ and follows Him. They make Jesus their King, and they call Him King!
The singers in Heaven around the throne of God were followers of Jesus Christ. They had surrendered to Him. He is their king! These believers didn’t ask Jesus to give His heart to them—“Jesus, I receive you in my heart”. These believers asked Jesus to accept their hearts into His. “Jesus, I know that I do not deserve forgiveness, but will you receive my prayer for forgiveness and accept me, a sinner? I surrender to you as my Lord and God.”
I think there are many people, including Church-goers, who think they are going to heaven, but they haven’t surrendered to Jesus. They prefer Jesus to surrender to them. They want Jesus to follow them. They want Jesus to accept their view of what a child of God is and can do. As
Mark 7:6 (ESV) — And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
Jesus said, “Come unto Me.” He said, “Follow me.” Follow Me! (Matt. 10:38; 16:24; 19:21) Are you following Jesus, or are you expecting Him to be following you? That’s a serious question for you to contemplate.
Songs of surrender are marks of a healthy soul. They are marks of a healthy Church. Is this a mark of your soul?
These are songs that we should sing today in this life. Songs of Thankfulness and Gratitude; Songs of Joy; Songs of Triumphant Victory; Songs of Belonging; and Songs of Surrender. We do not need to wait until we are in heaven. We can and should sing them today. This is supposed to be the heart of the believer today. A believer should have songs in their life that stir up this kind of heart. Do you have hymns or worship songs that you listen to and enjoy day-to-day? Sing them. Sing them often. Let your soul loose to sing to your God and Savior. Sing them with thankfulness. Sing them with Joy. Sing them with a triumphant voice. Sing because you know!
At the beginning of the sermon, I said I would share a secret to singing. Something that the unbeliever doesn’t know. Sadly, many churches and church choirs don’t even know this secret. We can see this secret in Revelation chapters 4 and 5 when they sing. Everyone in heaven is singing. The chorus of praise in heaven was not a hand-picked choir of trained vocalists. This choir was made up of every believer. Those with crackling voices, off-key voices, and those who could sing like an angel. But everyone’s voice was a sound that made heaven alive. The heart of praise within the believer makes their singing the sweetest sound to God.
We can understand this as parents and grandparents when our kids or grandkids sing for us. It is the sweetest, most angelic voice in all the earth. That is how your heavenly Father hears you sing.
You may or may not know, but Muddy Creek Baptist Church creates quite a stir in heaven. When we sing, God the Father hears this choir as second to none. Why or how? Because he always hears the heart singing. We may be focused on how we are sounding, but the heavenly Father hears the hearts, and your voice is the sweetest of sound to him.
The secret to singing is singing from the heart to the Father in Heaven, knowing He hears with His heart that He has for you. He hears your heart with His heart. That is something the unbelieving cannot understand or participate in. So, let your heart sing to Him. It may not change the sound to the physical ear, but it will change when it gets to heaven. It may not be angelic to the physical ear, but the God of the universe hears your heart, and in heaven’s ears it is the sound of many angels.
There is another application that we can learn from what the former Indianapolis Colts football kicker Matt Stover knew. Many athletes show gratitude to God when they do something good, like hit a home run, score a touchdown, or win a race. Former Indianapolis Colts kicker Matt Stover has learned to give God the glory even in defeat. During the first quarter of a Super Bowl game. Stover made a 38-yard field goal and promptly pointed to the heavens, giving God glory for his achievement. Of course, many players do that. However, in the fourth quarter, with the game on the line, Stover missed a 51-yarder. Once again, he pointed to the heavens. That action didn’t escape notice: “CBS announcer Jim Nantz made note of the action, lauding Stover as a ‘spiritual man,’ grateful for divine blessing in success and failure, victory and defeat.”
The Bible teaches us to give glory to God in all we do, at all times. Not just if our circumstances are successful. How glorious are our praises to Him when we praise in our struggles? Our faith still sings to Him even when our life is suffering. Do you remember what the three Hebrew men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, said to King Nebuchadnezzar when he threatened to throw them into the fiery furnace?
Daniel 3:16–18 (CSB) — 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we don’t need to give you an answer to this question. 17 If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king. 18 But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”
Remember the “even if” of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Remain faithful in Thanksgiving to God, in the good, the bad, and the ugly. Even if. Even if this life is hard, impossible, and one struggle after another. We will praise our God because He is good and does good. Because we have been purchased and redeemed by the blood of Christ. He has saved us and sealed us. We belong to Christ. And nothing will separate us from the Love of God.
When we sing to God a joyful song, we may find a spark in our souls. We may also find that we have started a spark in other believers. A Southern California golfer provided a good example of how a small spark can start a big blaze. The man was golfing at the Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine and accidentally chipped his ball into the rough beside the fairway. On his next swing, his club hit a rock, which caused a small spark. The spark landed in the dry grass and set the rough on fire. Fire officials say 150 firefighters were called to battle the fire that quickly spread through vegetation next to the course and over two dry, brushy hillsides nearby.
A small spark can start a big blaze. Can you be a heart that starts a spark of Thankfulness, Joy, Triumphant Victory, belonging, and Surrender? Be Contagious! Be Contagious!
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