Sermon
The Song of Eternity
This
is the final sermon in this series on Hymns
in the New Testament. For the final sermon we go to the final book. And we
go to the final chapters of the final book… the final chapters of this temporal
cosmos (the earth and life on it) as we know it.
We could have picked from a
number of “songs” in the book of Revelation. Some count as many as 14. There is
little doubt that we will sing in heaven for eternity.
The final “song” recorded in our
Bibles is in Revelation 19
6 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.
7 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.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” [1]
Liz read Revelation 15:3,4 from
the NIV… let me read from the translation in this little book that I’ve been
using: “At the Lighting of the Lamps.”
Great
and wonderful are your works
O
Lord God, Master of All,
Your
ways are righteous and true,
O
King of the Aeons.
Lord,
who shall not tremble before you,
Or
give glory to your name?
For
you alone are The Holy One
And
all the nations shall draw near,
Shall
bow down in your presence,
Since
your righteous judgments have been revealed.
I asked Liz to read this passage
along with the passage from Exodus 15 (the first recorded song in the Bible).
So here in the account of God’s dealings with His people (the Bible), we have
these songs near the beginning and the end. It is easy to hear the parallels
between the two.
|
Then Moses and
the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The
horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. 2 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my
salvation. He
is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. 3 The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. 4 Pharaoh’s
chariots and his army he
has hurled into the sea. The
best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the 5 The
deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. 6 “Your
right hand, O Lord, was
majestic in power. Your
right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy. 7 In the
greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You
unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble. 8 By the blast of your nostrils
the waters piled up. The
surging waters stood firm like a wall; 9 “The
enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I
will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I
will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’ 10 But
you blew with your
breath, and the sea covered them. They
sank like lead in the mighty waters. 11 “Who
among the gods is like you, O Lord?
12 You stretched out your right hand and the earth swallowed them. 13 “In your
unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In
your strength you will
guide them to your holy dwelling. 14 The
nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of 15 The
chiefs of By
the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone— 17
You will bring them in and plant them 18 The Lord will reign for ever and ever.” [2] |
Power Strength Endurance Vindication Effortlessness (what
we do when we’re amused but it doesn’t even earn a full laugh) Awe Redemption Hospitality Eternal |
And… his people will sing His
praise for ever and ever… songs like what is written here in Revelation 15.
Deeds
–
·
The word here is mega
·
The Almighty does the best
things
o Gives
the best gifts
o Acts
rightly
o Amazes
us … He is:
Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us[3]
Ways
-
Not only does God provide the
best results… He uses the best process. Not just ending things right, but doing
things right.
When we don’t understand, and
our circumstances are confusing and difficult, we can take great hope in
knowing that God’s ways are just and true.
“God does not waste our pain”
Fear
-
It is important to place this
passage in its eschatological
context. This song precedes final judgment.
It brings to mind that great NT
hymn in Philippians 2 where it says every knee will bow.
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. [4]
Philippians 2 is urging us to
humbly bow our knee. This passage precedes the cataclysmic humiliation of all those
who would not humbly bow.
Holy
– The unique majesty of God.
“Who among the gods is like you,
O Lord?
Who is like you— majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory, working wonders?[5]
- He
is Holy – unique, intense holiness
God’s holiness is associated with other biblical and post-biblical [theological] words: power, glory, transcendence, uniqueness, exclusiveness, pureness, dangerousness.[6]
·
Those clothed with His holiness,
through Christ, will stand
·
Those armed only with whatever
they can muster on their own will be unable to endure His holiness
All
nations will worship
·
All judged
·
Saints from every nation
It is our today’s opportunity…
and eternity’s obligation.
So
What?
You’ll notice that I didn’t get
into the eschatological specifics
here… no charts… no timelines… no pre-trib or post-trib or timing of the rapture
or decoding what it means to have the mark of the Beast. We spent no time on
satisfying our curiosities about precisely how the end times will shake out.
What, then, is the Book of
Revelation for? What do we do with this passage today?
And
more specifically, what do we do with this idea of hymns? Enduring songs with
deep meaning that end up defining the meaning of our core being?
We all have songs… right?
·
You are My Sunshine
·
I Did it My Way
·
High Hopes
·
If I only Had a Brain
The question for us, this
morning, could be:
Have we adopted God’s songs as
our songs?
·
Deeds are marvelous
·
Ways are just and true
·
Existence draws out fear
·
Holiness is sure
·
Deliverance is effective
And not just on Sunday, of
course.
Not just when things are good…
or when things are bad.
There
are all sorts of songs…
but only God’s songs will deliver us and sustain us for eternity. And God
offers us His song
·
For eternity, sure
·
For our present enjoyment
Unbeliever, take this step
toward and with God
Believer let God’s songs spill
into every area of life