08022015WhoShallNotFearTheLordAndGlorifyHisNameRev15.3-4DonRuhl

Who Shall Not Fear the Lord and Glorify His Name? 

Don’t people understand the holiness of the Lord?

Revelation 15.3–4

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • August 2, In the year of our Lord, 2015

Prelude: 

  1. One thing is difficult to understand, yes, two things we cannot understand: 
    1. Christians who say that we should not fear God and
    2. the world that sees no need for glorifying the Lord.
  2. Why Are These Puzzles? 
    1. Christians are synonymous with Bible-readers.
      1. If they read the Bible, they would discover:
        1. that we can
          1. love and
          2. fear God
          3. simultaneously; and
        2. that the New Testament
          1. commands and
          2. expects us
          3. to fear God.
        3. Deuteronomy 10 shows
          1. that it is possible
          2. to love and to fear God.
            1. God expected the Israelites to do things
            2. that Christians are also expected to do,

              12 And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul (Deu 10.12).
      2. When Christians assert
        1. that we should not fear God,
        2. they reveal that either
          1. they have not their Bibles; or
          2. they have listened to a teaching that denies the Scriptures.
    2. On the matter of the world glorifying God:
      1. He created the universe, and
      2. when the world sees this truth,
        1. it will see the work of God, and
        2. they will be moved to glorify His name.

Persuasion: 

  1. Revelation 15.3–4

    3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:

    “Great and marvelous are Your works,
    Lord God Almighty!
    Just and true are Your ways,
    O King of the saints!
    Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
    For You alone are holy.
    For all nations shall come and worship before You,
    For Your judgments have been manifested.”
    (Rev 15.3–4)

  2. Who Sings this Wonderful Song? 
    1. Revelation 15 shows that it is a victory song.
      1. The singers had won a battle,

        1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. 2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God (Rev 15.1–2).
      2. The beast attacked the saints with the power of Satan.
        1. The beast used death to silence the members of the church.
        2. He appears to wipe out the church, but
          1. through death the members of the church
          2. are united with the Lord.
    2. Moreover, notice the first part of verse 3:

      3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb… (Rev 15.3).

      1. The song of Moses is included, because
        1. the children of Israel won a victory over a beast that was similar to
        2. the one attacking Christians.
          1. Moses and the children of Israel sing about it in Deuteronomy 32.
          2. Egypt was greater than Israel,
            1. except the gods of Egypt
            2. were no match for the God of Israel.
              1. The gods of Egypt were dead and false, but
              2. the God of Israel is living and is true.
      2. Likewise, the beast was greater than the church,
        1. except the gods of the beast
        2. were no match for the God of the church.
          1. The gods of the beast were dead and false, but
          2. the God of the church is living and is true.
    3. Therefore, God’s people of all ages sing together of the wonders of our God!
  3. The Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb

    “Great and marvelous are Your works,
    Lord God Almighty!
    Just and true are Your ways,
    O King of the saints!
    Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
    For You alone are holy.
    For all nations shall come and worship before You,
    For Your judgments have been manifested.”
    (Rev 15.3–4)

    1. Can you see what moved these people
    2. to wonder why anyone
      1. would not fear the Lord and
      2. would not glorify His name?
  4. A Song of Victory
    1. The singers had victory over the beast.
      1. The beast was greater than Christians were, but
      2. the beast is less than God is.
        1. Thus, they were filled with jubilation
        2. at the thought of God’s victory over the beast.
      3. Compare God’s defeat of Rome, that is, the beast,
        1. with God’s defeat of Egypt.
        2. Can you understand why the Israelites were thankful
          1. when God closed the Red Sea on the pursuing Egyptians?
          2. Remember the beast of Rome was:
            1. crucifying Christians,
            2. using them as human torches,
            3. placing them in the infamous Coliseum
              1. for gladiators to kill or
              2. for wild animals to tear to pieces.
  5. Think About the Question of this Multitude
    1. If you do not fear the Lord and glorify His name,
      1. have you considered His great and marvelous works?
      2. Stand in awe of
        1. the unspeakable glories of creation and
        2. the indescribable wonders of the Scriptures.
    2. If you do not fear the Lord and glorify His name,
      1. have you contemplated
      2. that He is the Lord God Almighty?
        1. Take a break from your busy schedule and
        2. think on the grandeur of your God.
          1. Sit down with the Scriptures or in creation and
          2. see the grandeur of God.
    3. If you do not fear the Lord and glorify His name,
      1. have you not known
      2. that His ways are just and true?
        1. Have you thought that you knew how things should turn out, but
          1. God knew best and
          2. He worked things out differently?
        2. Have you read through an incident in the Bible and
          1. seen that the Lord always
          2. proves to be just and true?
    4. If you do not fear the Lord and glorify His name,
      1. have you not have realized
      2. that He is the King of the saints!
        1. Have you wondered who is the ultimate authority?
        2. Visit the throne room of our God, as revealed in Revelation 4,

          3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. 6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11 “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created” (Rev 4.3–11).
    5. If you do not fear the Lord and glorify His name,
      1. have you not understood
      2. that He alone is holy!
        1. Let Isaiah 6 show you the Holy God,

          3 And one cried to another and said:

          “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
          The whole earth is full of His glory!”

          4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 So I said:

          “Woe is me, for I am undone!
          Because I am a man of unclean lips,
          And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
          For my eyes have seen the King,
          The Lord of hosts.”

          (Isa 6.3–5)

          1. Who wants to tell Isaiah that his reaction was overdone?
          2. Who will tell him we only need to respect God?
        2. Watch the prophet in Jeremiah 23 as he reacts to God’s holiness,

          9 My heart within me is broken
          Because of the prophets;
          All my bones shake.
          I am like a drunken man,
          And like a man whom wine has overcome,
          Because of the Lord,
          And because of His holy words.
          (Jer 23.9)

          1. Meditate on the words of the prophets,
          2. you will know why Jeremiah had that reaction.
            1. Johnny Ramsey once told me,

              “I can tell whether a preacher has read the prophets or not.”

            2. Then I read the prophets and I knew what he meant.
    6. If you do not fear the Lord and glorify His name,
      1. have you not seen
      2. that all nations come and worship before Him?
        1. If you do not worship Him, why not?
        2. Figure out why people from all nations do worship Him?
    7. If you do not fear the Lord and glorify His name,
      1. have you not known
      2. that His judgments have been manifested?
        1. Observe the world and see
          1. that eventually evil loses and
          2. goodness prevails.
        2. Peruse the Holy Book of God and
          1. discover that He declares plainly
          2. what His judgments are.

Exhortation: 

  1. Christian, what and who is fighting against you? 
    1. Is it greater than God?
    2. Do not forget who is with you!
  2. If you are not a Christian, you are on the losing side. 
    1. Do you still believe
    2. that we should not fear God?
      1. Do you still believe that it is not necessary
      2. to live for the glory of the Lord’s name?
  3. Come over to the winning side!