Scripture:
Vs 1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
Vs 2 for his judgments are true and just;
Vs 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God …
Vs 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory,
Vs 9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
Vs 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.”
Observation:
John see the angels rejoicing from heaven and the elders and creatures worshiping God for His “true and just judgment” and “salvation and glory and power”.
The messenger of God then tells John the “true words of God” that those invited to the marriage will be blessed.
John then begins to worship the messenger of this Good News.
But the messenger stops John and declares himself a fellow servant of Jesus.
He tells John to only “Worship God”.
Application:
I will be tempted to worship good things.
It’s easy to think I will worship God when I am thinking rightly, but to “worship” “bad things” when I am sinning.
John shows how flawed this thinking is. He has just seen and heard the greatest news in the world.
His immediate reaction is to worship the messenger … the deliverer of that great news.
I must caution myself of the same inclination.
How easy it is to make “good” things into “ultimate” things … Or even “good” people into “idols”.
I have thought of much of life as a sort of “Truth Quest”.
And then when I find or hear a nugget of “truth”, I can “exult” or “give glory” to the revealer of this truth.
This has been the case from the beginning of the church … “I follow Paul … I follow Apollos … I follow Cephas.”
I must never start to think more highly of any person’s words than I do God’s words.
God is the creator truth … He is Truth. If anyone has truth, it is from Him.
When Paul found himself in this position, he did the same thing the angle does to John … point people back to God!
“Worship God”
And then beyond exulting God, the angel (as Paul often did) humbled himself … “I am a fellow servant with you”.
When I receive “praise” or “compliments” for my “true words”, I must do that same thing.
Humble myself as a “fellow servant” and point people to exult the revealer of truth … “Worship God”.
Prayer:
Thank you God for your Word and Truth.
Help me to hear it and see and praise you as a result
Help me to point others toward it
Help me to humble myself as a fellow servant
In Jesus name
Amen