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Revelation 19:4-7
The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:
“Amen, Hallelujah!”
Then a voice came from the throne saying:
“Praise our God all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!”
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”
I grew up in a pastor’s home, in church services three times a week: Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday night.
I can remember, as a boy, it seemed like we sang through the entire hymnal every Sunday night! All that singing, plus what seemed like 2-hour sermons (I know now that my Dad only preached for 25 minutes, it only seemed like 2 hours to me) – all that gave me a pretty good idea what “eternal worship” would be like, and I wondered, is this what heaven will be like?
Like me as a young boy, I fear many of us hold somewhat shallow and uninformed view of what Heaven will be like.
In his book, “Heaven”, Randy Alcorn tells the story of an English vicar was asked by a colleague what he expected after death. The vicar replied, “Well, if it comes to that, I suppose I shall enter into eternal bliss, but I really wish you wouldn’t bring up such depressing subjects.”
Theologian Peter Kreeft writes:
“Our pictures of heaven with fluffy clouds, harps and metal halos and of God as a vague grandfatherly benevolence or a senile philanthropist are dull, platitudinous and syrupy…
We have lost our hope of heaven because we have lost our love of heaven; we have lost our love of heaven because we have lost a sense of heaven’s glory…”
Read again the words of Revelation 19:4-7:
The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:
“Amen, Hallelujah!”
Then a voice came from the throne saying:
“Praise our God all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!”
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”
Picture if you can the images John uses to describe Heaven:
First, he sees a “great multitude” – people of every nation, tribe, tongue and language gathered millions upon millions strong to celebrate before God.
Then he hears a “roar like that of rushing waters.” Have you ever visited Niagara Falls? Have you stood in awe listening to the awesome sound of thundering water? That will be something like the sound of worship in heaven!
He hears “noise like loud peals of thunder” and then the sound of shouting. Let me ask you; when was the last time you felt such joy that you shouted out loud without shame or embarrassment?
Strangely, as I read these words again, I thought of the Super Bowl!
The Super Bowl can be seen as perhaps the greatest example of mass celebration in modern Western culture. Estimates are that close to 200 million people watched the Super Bowl last Sunday and all of the images of Revelation could be used to describe the event:
A great multitude…
A roar like rushing waters…
Sound like loud peals of thunder…
And shouting…
But all our efforts to celebrate a cultural event will pale in comparison to the celebration of Heaven! Heaven will make the Super Bowl look like a 2nd graders birthday party by comparison!
Are you worried about being bored in heaven? There’s going to be nothing boring about heaven, because there’s nothing boring about God! God is the exact opposite of boring!
What will we do?
We will celebrate!
We will feast!
We will reign with him!
We will serve!
We will never cease to discover the beauty, adventure and joy our God intended for us from the beginning of creation!
Ask God to grow your love for Heaven by growing your appreciation for Heaven’s glory!
Pastor Brian Coffey
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