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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 59

TITLE: A SONG OF VICTORY

TEXT: REVELATION 15:1-4

INTRODUCTION: (1) FOR CENTURIES THE PEOPLE OF GOD HAD LIVED IN EGYPT, A FOREIGN LAND.

* AT FIRST, THEY WERE TAKEN CARE OF VERY WELL BECAUSE THE KING OF EGYPT, PHARAOH, LOVED AND RESPECTED A MAN NAMED JOSEPH WHO WAS USED BY GOD TO SAVE EGYPT AND HIS FAMILY FROM FAMINE.

** IN TIME, A NEW KING, A NEW PHARAOH WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH AROSE OVER EGYPT.

*** HIS ASSESSMENT OF JOSEPH’S FAMILY WHICH HAD MULTIPLIED IN EGYPT BECAUSE OF GOD’S BLESSING WAS THEY WERE A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY.

**** BECAUSE OF THAT HE OPPRESSED THE FAMILY OF JOSEPH, THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WITH HARD LABOR AND MADE THEIR LIVES BITTER. THEY WERE SLAVES TO THE EGYPTIANS.

(2) IN TIME THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL LOST HOPE. THE GOD OF THEIR ANCESTORS APPEARED UNABLE TO RESPOND TO THEIR CRIES.

* WELL IN TIME, GOD PROVIDENTIALLY RAISED UP A MAN NAMED MOSES, WHOM JEHOVAH GOD WOULD USE TO DELIVER THEM.

** AT FIRST IT DIDN’T GO WELL. BUT MOSES UNDER DIVINE AUTHORITY WAS SENT TO PHARAOH AND WAS APPOINTED BY GOD TO BE THE DELIVERER OF HIS PEOPLE FROM EGYPT.

*** IN TIME, PLAGUE AFTER PLAGUE UPON EGYPT BROUGHT PHARAOH TO HIS KNEES, BUT HE WOULD NOT LET GOD’S PEOPLE GO.

**** FINALLY, THE DEATH OF ALL FIRSTBORN IN THE LAND OF EGYPT BROUGHT RELEASE, BUT JOY SOON TURNED TO HORROR WHEN PHARAOH AND HIS ARMY PURSUED THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.

***** PHARAOH’S ARMY CAUGHT UP WITH THEM AND THEY WERE PINNED DOWN BEFORE THE RED SEA.

(3) TROUGH A GREAT MIRACLE, THE LORD GOD DIVIDED THE WATERS AT THE RED SEA, ALLOWING THE ISRAELITES TO CROSS ON DRY GROUND TO THE OTHER SIDE.

* IN TIME, WHEN PHARAOH’S ARMY PURSUED, THE WATERS RETURNED AND DROWNED EVERY ONE OF THEM, NOT ONE OF THEM SURVIVED ACCORDING TO EXODUS 14:28.

** EGYPTIAN CORPSES FLOATING ASHORE DEMONSTRATED BEYOND DISPUTE GOD’S POWER AND SALVATION.

*** SAFELY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SEA, MOSES LED THE ISRAELITES IN A GREAT SONG SERVICE WORSHIPPING GOD.

**** THIS SONG OF MOSES RECORDED IN EXODUS 15:1-18 WAS A SONG OF VICTORY AND DELIVERANCE FOR GOD’S PEOPLE AND AT THE SAME TIME OF JUDGMENT AND WRATH ON GOD’S ENEMIES.

(4) WELL, MOST LIKELY, WE HAVE NEVER HEARD SUCH SINGING THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN, AS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WERE JOYFULLY PRAISING GOD. IT MUST HAVE BEEN POWERFUL.

* WELL, IN THE BEGINNING OF REVELATION 15, THE SHORTEST CHAPTER IN THE ENTIRE BOOK, WE SEE SOMETHING THAT PARALLELS EXODUS 15.

** FOR THE VICTORIOUS SAINTS OF THE TRIBULATION ARE GATHERED ON “THE OTHER SIDE” IN HEAVEN AND STAND ON A SEA OF GLASS.

*** AND THEY SING THE SONG OF MOSES AND THE SONG OF THE LAMB, A SONG OF DELIVERANCE FROM THEIR ENEMY THE ANTICHRIST, THE BEAST.

**** AND GOD ALMIGHTY WILL USE PLAGUES TO DEAL WITH THIS ENEMY AND THE WORLD AND HE USED 10 PLAGUES TO DELIVER THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.

(5) BUT THESE DEAR SAINTS, MARTYRED IN THE TRIBULATION, SING A SONG OF VICTORY AND THAT SONG AND AN INTRODUCTION OF THE EVENTS AHEAD, LEAD US TO OUR TEXT TODAY WHICH I’VE TITLED, “A SONG OF VICTORY.”

* AND AS THESE SAINTS PRAISE GOD FOR DELIVERANCE, AS GOD AVENGES THEM AND REDEEMS THEM AS THEY PARTICIPATE IN AN EXODUS FROM THE EARTH, WE WILL LOOK AT 3 MAIN POINTS AS WE STUDY REVELATION 15:1-4.

** NO. 1 THE SIGN IN HEAVEN, V. 1; NO. 2 THE SEA IN HEAVEN, V. 2; AND NO. 3 THE SONGS IN HEAVEN, VV. 3&4.

*** AND WITH THAT OUTLINE AS OUR COMPASS TODAY DIRECTING US, LOOK AT V. 1 WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT, THE SIGN. LOOK AT REVELATION 15:1 PLEASE.

I. THE SIGN, (READ V. 1)

A. NOW IN V. 1, JOHN IN HIS VISION SEES A SIGN IN HEAVEN, SO CLEARLY THE LOCATION OF THE THINGS WE ARE GOING TO STUDY TODAY TAKE PLACE IN HEAVEN.

* AND SPECIFICALLY JOHN SEES “ANOTHER SIGN IN HEAVEN.”

** AND THE WORD ANOTHER TAKES US BACK TO REVELATION 12 WHERE WE SAW TWO OTHER SIGNS IN HEAVEN, TWO EARLIER SIGNS THAT JOHN SAW, THE SIGN OF THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN REPRESENTING ISRAEL IN REVELATION 12:1 AND THE SIGN OF THE GREAT RED DRAGON REPRESENTING SATAN IN REVELATION 12:3.

*** FOR REVELATION 12:1 SAYS: “A GREAT SIGN APPEARED IN HEAVEN: A WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN, AND THE MOON UNDER HER FEET, AND ON HER HEAD A CROWN OF TWELVE STARS.”

**** AND THEN REVELATION 12:3 SAYS: “THEN ANOTHER SIGN APPEARED IN HEAVEN: AND BEHOLD, A GREAT RED DRAGON HAVING SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS, AND ON HIS HEADS WERE SEVEN DIADEMS.”

1. NOW AS WE RETURN TO REVELATION 15:1, NOTE THAT THIS THIRD SPECIAL SIGN IN HEAVEN IS “GREAT AND MARVELOUS.”

* AND THE ADJECTIVES “GREAT AND MARVELOUS” OR “GREAT AND AMAZING” EXPRESS THE ENORMOUS IMPORTANCE OF THIS SIGN, THEIR USE STRIKES A NOTE OF DIVINE AWE.

** NOW THE SIGN ITSELF CONSISTS OF “SEVEN ANGELS WHO HAD SEVEN PLAGUES.”

*** AND IT’S INTERESTING THE GREEK WORD FOR PLAGUE LIT. MEANS A BLOW, A STRIPE, A WOUND, A PUBLIC CALAMITY, A HEAVY AFFLICTION.

**** THUS THE SEVEN PLAGUES ARE POWERFUL DEADLY BLOWS THAT WILL STRIKE THE WORLD AT THIS TIME AS GOD MOVES IN HIS WRATH IN DIRECT DIVINE ACTION ON SIN.

2. AND UNDERSTAND THESE 7 PLAGUES ARE THE LAST AND MOST CATASTROPHIC, “BECAUSE IN THEM THE WRATH OF GOD IS FINISHED.”

* MEANING THESE PLAGUES ARE THE LAST PLAGUES TALKED ABOUT IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION, THE OTHERS BEING THE SEAL AND TRUMPET JUDGMENTS.

** BUT WITH THESE FINAL 7 PLAGUES, THE BOWL JUDGMENTS, THE WRATH OF GOD IS FINISHED OR FILLED UP OR COMPLETED.

*** AND THIS GREEK VERB IMPLIES NOT MERELY AN END OR CESSATION, BUT HAS THE IDEA OF “A CONCLUSION ARRIVED AT” OR “A GOAL REACHED.”

**** IT IMPLIES THAT GOD’S PURPOSE IN THE JUDGMENT WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED, IT WILL HAVE REACHED ITS ULTIMATE GOAL.

3. AND THE QUESTION CAN BE ASKED AT THIS PLACE, WHAT WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED, WHAT WILL REACH ITS ULTIMATE GOAL?

* THE ANSWER IS GOD’S WRATH. AND THE GREEK WORD USED FOR WRATH HERE IS THE GREEK WORD THEE-MOCE WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN.

** AND THIS WORD IS USED 10 TIMES IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION AND DESCRIBES THE OUTBURST OF HOLY ANGER OR FURY SOMETIMES FIERCENESS OR INDIGNATION THAT IN A PUBLIC WAY, SHOWS GOD’S DISPLEASURE AGAINST SIN.

*** GOD HAS A HOLY PURE HOT HATRED OF ALL SIN AND WILL DEAL WITH IT IN THE DEMONSTRATION OF HIS ANGER AND THESE PLAGUES WILL BRING FORTH AN END OR BRING ABOUT GOD’S AIM OF JUDGMENT ON THE EARTH AND THOSE WHO DO NOT REPENT AND FOLLOW THE BEAST – ANTICHRIST.

**** AND THIS SIGN IN HEAVEN, THE SEVEN ANGELS WITH THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES WILL ACTUALLY ROLL OUT, BE FULFILLED IN REVELATION CHAPTER 16 AS THE GREAT TRIBULATION COMES TO AN END.

4. NOW MOVING ON FROM THIS SIGN IN V. 1, WE COME TO THE SEA IN V. 2. LOOK AT V. 2 PLEASE.

II. THE SEA, (READ V. 2)

A. NOW NEXT IN JOHN’S VISION HE SEES SOMETHING LIKE A SEA OF GLASS MIXED WITH FIRE, AND I EMPHASIZE THE WORD LIKE HERE OR “AS IT WERE” IN THE KJV, TO REMIND US WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT A LIT. SEA, BUT A PICTURE OF A SCENE, WHAT LOOKED LIKE A SEA.

* AND JOHN SAW THIS CRYSTAL SEA LIKE PICTURE IN REVELATION 4:6 WHERE HE SAID: “AND BEFORE THE THRONE THERE WAS SOMETHING LIKE A SEA OF GLASS, LIKE CRYSTAL; AND IN THE CENTER AND AROUND THE THRONE, FOUR LIVING CREATURES FULL OF EYES IN FRONT AND BEHIND.”

** NOW WHAT JOHN SAW WAS A TRANSPARENT CRYSTAL AREA BEFORE GOD’S THRONE, SHIMMERING AND GLISTENING LIKE A TRANQUIL SUNLIT SEA.

*** BUT THERE IS ONE CLEAR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE CRYSTAL SEAS TALKED ABOUT IN REVELATION 4:6 AND REVELATION 15:2.

**** AND THAT IS IN 15:2 THE SEA IS “MIXED WITH FIRE.”

1. AND IT APPEARS TO ME IN THE CONTEXT OF REVELATION 15:5 THAT THE FIRE ELUDES, POINTS US TO THE PICTURE OF JUDGMENT THAT THE SEVEN PLAGUES DELIVER.

* THE MENTION OF FIRE MAY BE DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE CONTEXT DEALS WITH WRATH AND JUDGMENT.

** AND FIRE IS FREQUENTLY ASSOCIATED IN SCRIPTURE WITH GOD’S JUDGMENT, FOR REMEMBER HEBREWS 12:29, READ IT.

*** AND SO THE CO-MINGLING OF FIRE MAY SHOW THAT GOD IS READY TO RESPOND IN HOLY JUDGMENT.

**** BUT ALSO NOTICE AS WE MOVE ON IN V. 2, THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE STANDING ON THIS SEA, WHICH FURTHER REMINDS US THIS IS NOT A NORMAL LIT. SEA FOR THEY WOULDN’T BE STANDING ON IT.

2. AND THE ONES STANDING ON THIS SEA ARE THOSE WHO WERE VICTORIOUS OVER THE BEAST AND HIS IMAGE, MEANING THEY DID NOT BOW TO IT AND DID NOT RECEIVE THE MARK OF THE BEAST, LIT. THE NUMBER OF HIS NAME.

* AND BECAUSE THESE SAINTS, TRUE BELIEVERS SAVED IN THE TRIBULATION DID NOT DO THOSE THINGS, THEY PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE AND BECAUSE OF THEIR MARTYRDOM ARE IN HEAVEN WORSHIPPING GOD AROUND HIS THRONE FOR REMEMBER THE LOCATION OF THE SEA OF GLASS IN REVELATION 4:6 IS “BEFORE THE THRONE.”

** SO THEY ARE BEFORE THE THRONE WORSHIPPING, AND WE KNOW THIS FOR WE SEE THEM HOLDING HARPS OF GOD.

*** AND HARPS WERE EARLIER ASSOCIATED WITH PRAISE IN REVELATION 5:8 AND 14:2 AS THEY ARE IN THE O.T.

**** AND THESE VICTORIOUS SAINTS, FOR IT SAYS THEY WERE VICTORIOUS, LIT. OVERCOMERS BY THEIR GOD GIVEN FAITH, THEY WERE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM THAT LOVED THEM, SO THEY PREVAILED.

3. AND HERE THEY ARE WITH THEIR HARPS OF GOD REJOICING AND SINGING PRAISES TO GOD IN VICTORY. THERE TRULY WAS VICTORY IN JESUS AS PAUL SAID IN I CORINTHIANS 15:55-57 (READ THEM).

* AND BELOVED, AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 15:2, THESE VICTORIOUS MARTYRS THAT WITHSTOOD THE ONSLAUGHT OF THE BEAST ARE WITH CHRIST, HOLDING HARPS OF GOD, PRAISING HIM IN PURE WORSHIP.

** AND THE CONTENT OF THEIR SONG COMES FROM TWO SONGS WHICH WE’LL SEE IN VV. 3&4, OUR THIRD POINT TODAY, THE SONGS. LOOK AT V. 3 PLEASE.

III. THE SONGS, (READ V. 3)

A. NOW THE SONG SUNG BY THESE SAINTS IS A COMBINATION, A BLEND, A MIXTURE OF TWO SONGS: THE SONG OF MOSES WHO WAS A SPECIAL BONDSERVANT OF GOD.

* AND I MENTIONED THAT SONG IN MY INTRODUCTION TODAY WHICH IS RECORDED IN EXODUS 15:1-18.

** AND LET ME TAKE THE TIME FOR US TO READ IT OVER TOGETHER, AS IT IS ON THE SCREEN.

*** EXODUS 15:1-18 –

V. 1 – THEN MOSES AND THE SONS OF ISRAEL SANG THIS SONG TO THE LORD, AND SAID, “I WILL SING TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS HIGHLY EXALTED; THE HORSE AND ITS RIDER HE HAS HURLED INTO THE SEA.

V. 2 – THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH AND SONG, AND HE HAS BECOME MY SALVATION; THIS IS MY GOD, AND I WILL PRAISE HIM; MY FATHER’S GOD, AND I WILL EXTOL HIM.

V. 3 – THE LORD IS A WARRIOR; THE LORD IS HIS NAME.

V. 4 – PHARAOH’S CHARIOTS AND HIS ARMY HE HAS CAST INTO THE SEA; AND THE CHOICEST OF HIS OFFICERS ARE DROWNED IN THE RED SEA.

V. 5 – THE DEEPS COVER THEM; THEY WENT DOWN INTO THE DEPTHS LIKE A STONE.

V. 6 – YOUR RIGHT HAND, O LORD, IS MAJESTIC IN POWER, YOUR RIGHT HAND, O LORD, SHATTERS THE ENEMY.

V. 7 – AND IN THE GREATNESS OF YOUR EXCELLENCE YOU OVERTHROW THOSE WHO RISE UP AGAINST YOU; YOU SEND FORTH YOUR BURNING ANGER, AND IT CONSUMES THEM AS CHAFF.

V. 8 – AT THE BLAST OF YOUR NOSTRILS THE WATERS WERE PILED UP, THE FLOWING WATERS STOOD UP LIKE A HEAP; THE DEEPS WERE CONGEALED IN THE HEART OF THE SEA.

V. 9 – THE ENEMY SAID, ‘I WILL PURSUE, I WILL OVERTAKE, I WILL DIVIDE THE SPOIL; MY DESIRE SHALL BE GRATIFIED AGAINST THEM; I WILL DRAW OUT MY SWORD, MY HAND WILL DESTROY THEM.’

V. 10 – YOU BLEW WITH YOUR WIND, THE SEA COVERED THEM; THEY SANK LIKE LEAD IN THE MIGHTY WATERS.

V. 11 – WHO IS LIKE YOU AMONG THE GODS, O LORD? WHO IS LIKE YOU, MAJESTIC IN HOLINESS, AWESOME IN PRAISES, WORKING WONDERS?

V. 12 – YOU STRETCHED OUT YOUR RIGHT HAND, THE EARTH SWALLOWED THEM.

V. 13 – IN YOUR LOVINGKINDNESS YOU HAVE LED THE PEOPLE WHOM YOU HAVE REDEEMED; IN YOUR STRENGTH YOU HAVE GUIDED THEM TO YOUR HOLY HABITATION.

V. 14 – THE PEOPLES HAVE HEARD, THEY TREMBLE; ANGUISH HAS GRIPPED THE INHABITANTS OF PHILISTIA.

V. 15 – THEN THE CHIEFS OF EDOM WERE DISMAYED; THE LEADERS OF MOAB, TREMBLING GRIPS THEM; ALL THE INHABITANTS OF CANAAN HAVE MELTED AWAY.

V. 16 – TERROR AND DREAD FALL UPON THEM; BY THE GREATNESS OF YOUR ARM THEY ARE MOTIONLESS AS STONE; UNTIL YOUR PEOPLE PASS OVER, O LORD, UNTIL THE PEOPLE PASS OVER WHOM YOU HAVE PURCHASED.

V. 17 – YOU WILL BRING THEM AND PLANT THEM IN THE MOUNTAIN OF YOUR INHERITANCE, THE PLACE, O LORD, WHICH YOU HAVE MADE FOR YOUR DWELLING, THE SANCTUARY, O LORD, WHICH YOUR HANDS HAVE ESTABLISHED.

V. 18 – THE LORD SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER.

**** NOW THIS SONG OF MOSES WAS A SONG OF VICTORY AND DELIVERANCE FOR GOD’S PEOPLE, AND AT THE SAME TIME OF JUDGMENT AND WRATH ON GOD’S ENEMIES, SIMILAR TO THE SITUATION WE HAVE HERE IN REVELATION 15 WITH THESE MARTYRED SAINTS FROM THE TRIBULATION.

1. BUT IN ADDITION TO SINGING WITH NEW MEANING THE SONG OF MOSES, THESE REDEEMED MARTYRED SAINTS BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD WILL SING THE SONG OF THE LAMB.

* AND IT APPEARS THE SONG OF THE LAMB IS GIVEN TO US IN REVELATION 5:8-14 AND SPECIFICALLY REVELATION 5:9-13 SAYS:

** REVELATION 5:9-13 –

V. 9 – AND THEY SANG A NEW SONG, SAYING, “WORTHY ARE YOU TO TAKE THE BOOK AND TO BREAK ITS SEALS; FOR YOU WERE SLAIN, AND PURCHASED FOR GOD WITH YOUR BLOOD MEN FROM EVERY TRIBE AND TONGUE AND PEOPLE AND NATION.

V. 10 – YOU HAVE MADE THEM TO BE A KINGDOM AND PRIESTS TO OUR GOD; AND THEY WILL REIGN UPON THE EARTH.”

V. 11 – THEN I LOOKED, AND I HEARD THE VOICE OF MANY ANGELS AROUND THE THRONE AND THE LIVING CREATURES AND THE ELDERS; AND THE NUMBER OF THEM WAS MYRIADS OF MYRIADS, AND THOUSANDS OF THOUSANDS,

V. 12 – SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE, “WORTHY IS THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN TO RECEIVE POWER AND RICHES AND WISDOM AND MIGHT AND HONOR AND GLORY AND BLESSING.”

V. 13 – AND EVERY CREATED THING WHICH IS IN HEAVEN AND ON THE EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH AND ON THE SEA, AND ALL THINGS IN THEM, I HEARD SAYING, “TO HIM WHO SITS ON THE THRONE, AND TO THE LAMB, BE BLESSING AND HONOR AND GLORY AND DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER.”

*** NOW LIKE THE SONG OF MOSES, THE SONG OF THE LAMB EXPRESSES SOME OF THE SAME THEMES OF DELIVERANCE, VICTORY AND REDEMPTION.

**** AND THE SPECIFIC WORDS OF THE ONE SONG RECORDED IN REVELATION 15:3&4 DO NOT MATCH EXACTLY THE SONG OF MOSES AND THE SONG OF THE LAMB, BUT THE THEMES AND KEY IDEAS OF A SONG OF VICTORY ARE THERE.

2. SO LET’S LOOK AT THIS SONG OF VICTORY AS ITS EXACT DETAIL IS RECORDED FOR US IN REVELATION 15:3&4.

* AND IT BEGINS WITH EXTOLLING THE WORKS AND WAYS OF GOD, IT BEGINS WITH CALLING GOD’S WORK, “GREAT AND MARVELOUS.”

** AND BELOVED, THE WORKS OF GOD ARE GREAT, THEY ARE AMAZING, THEY ARE WONDERFUL, THEY ARE EXCELLENT, THEY ARE ADMIRABLE.

*** AND NOTHING CAN COMPARE TO THOSE WORKS FROM CREATION TO SALVATION, TO HIS JUDGMENTS.

**** IN FACT THE PSALMIST WOULD SAY IN PSALM 139:14 (READ IT). ALSO READ PSALM 104:1 AND HEBREWS 2:3.

3. AND AS WE GO BACK TO THE CONTEXT OF EXODUS 15 AND GOD DELIVERING HIS PEOPLE FROM PHARAOH THROUGH THE RED SEA OR GOD DELIVERING HIS PEOPLE FROM THE ANTICHRIST TO GOD POURING 7 BOWLS OF JUDGMENT, HIS WORKS ARE GREAT AND MARVELOUS.

* AND THOSE WORKS CAN ONLY BE DONE BY A GOD WHO IS “THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY” IN THE NEXT PHRASE OF REVELATION 15:3.

** AND HE IS THE LORD GOD-THE SOVEREIGN MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE, HE IS THE ALMIGHTY, THAT PHRASE USED 9 TIMES IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION OUT OF ITS 10 USES IN THE N.T.

*** AND ITS EMPHASIS AND USE IN REVELATION EMPHASIZES HOW THE ABSOLUTE POWER OF GOD WILL BE DISPLAYED IN THIS TIME OF TRIBULATION ON THE EARTH.

**** AND THAT GOD IS ALMIGHTY EXPRESSES HIS OMNIPOTENCE AS THE ALL-POWERFUL ONE, AS HIS POWER WAS SHOWN TO PHARAOH IN THE O.T. AND ANTICHRIST IN THE NEW.

4. GOD’S POWER IS INCOMPARABLE TO ANY ENEMY IN THE EARTH OR DEVELOPED BY MANKIND INCLUDING NUCLEAR POWER.

* AND THROUGH GOD’S GREAT POWER THERE IS VICTORY OF HIS PURPOSE AND PLAN AND VICTORY FOR HIS PEOPLE. HE HAS THE POWER TO DELIVER AND ALWAYS DELIVERS UNLIKE POLITICAL POWERS OF OUR DAY.

** BUT NEXT IN V. 3 WE MOVE FROM GOD’S POWER TO GOD’S JUSTICE.

*** AND BECAUSE OF GOD’S CHARACTER AND PRECEDING HIS HOLY CHARACTER IN HIS ATTRIBUTES IN WHO HE IS, RIGHTEOUS AND TRUE ARE HIS WAYS.

**** THEY CANNOT BE OTHERWISE. THE PSALMIST SAID IN PSALM 145:17 (READ IT).

5. AND BELOVED, THE WAYS OF GOD ARE RIGHT BY HIS ABSOLUTE STANDARD AND THEY ARE TRUE BECAUSE HE IS A GOD OF TRUTH WHO IS ABSOLUTELY FAITHFUL AND PERFECT TO WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE HAS PROMISED AND SAID.

* GET THIS, HIS JUDGMENTS ARE RIGHTEOUS AND TRUE! THEY WERE WITH PHARAOH AND THEY WILL BE WITH THE BEAST AND HIS FOLLOWERS.

** AND THEN VERSE 3 ENDS WITH CALLING HIM THE KING OF THE NATIONS WHICH IS THE BEST TRANSLATION HERE OVER KING OF THE SAINTS OR KING OF THE NATIONS.

*** FOR THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY WAS THE KING OVER PHARAOH AND HE WILL BE THE KING OVER ANTICHRIST, KINGS OVER NATIONS, KINGS OVER PEOPLE.

**** OUR GOD IS THE SOVEREIGN ONE OVER ALL THE NATIONS, FOR HE SITS ON THE THRONE GOVERNING ALL NATIONS, HE’S THE SOVEREIGN POTENTATE OVER ALL THE NATIONS.

6. AND THIS TRUTH IS RECORDED IN JEREMIAH 10:6&7 WHERE IT SAYS:

V. 6 – THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU, O LORD; YOU ARE GREAT, AND GREAT IS YOUR NAME IN MIGHT.

V. 7 – WHO WOULD NOT FEAR YOU, O KING OF THE NATIONS? INDEED IT IS YOUR DUE! FOR AMONG ALL THE WISE MEN OF THE NATIONS AND IN ALL THEIR KINGDOMS, THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU.

* AND WHAT A COMFORTING TRUTH THAT IS AS WE CONSIDER THE KINGS OR LEADERS OF THE WORLD TODAY AND THE CHOICES WE HAVE IN 2008 FOR NEW LEADERS.

** MY HOPE DOESN’T COME FROM WASHINGTON OR MOSCOW, OR BEIJING OR PARIS OR LONDON OR TOKYO BUT FROM HEAVEN, FROM THE KING OF THE NATIONS!

*** AND THIS GREAT SONG OF VICTORY AND WORSHIP CONTINUES IN V. 4. LOOK AT V. 4 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 4. NOW THE SONG CONTINUES IN V. 4 WITH A RHETORICAL QUESTION WITH AN OBVIOUS ANSWER.

* THE TRUTH BEING AS KING OF THE NATIONS, WHO WILL NOT FEAR YOU OH LORD AND GLORIFY YOUR NAME.

** AND THE ANSWER IS NO ONE. FOR ULTIMATELY EVERY HUMAN BEING WILL FEAR GOD AND GLORIFY HIS NAME WHETHER IN HEAVEN OR IN HELL.

*** FOR AT A FUTURE TIME PHILIPPIANS 2:9-11 COMMUNICATES THIS: (READ THEM).

**** AND BELIEVER YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT THE END FOR WHICH GOD CREATED THE WORLD IS HIS GLORY AND GOD IS PASSIONATE FOR HIS GLORY AND EVERYBODY ULTIMATELY WILL FEAR HIM AND GLORIFY HIM!

1. NOW GET THIS, 3 REASONS ARE GIVEN IN THE REST OF V. 4 FOR SUCH UNIVERSAL ACCLAMATION AND WORSHIP, EACH INTRODUCED BY THE CONJUNCTION FOR, MEANING BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS, SINCE THESE THINGS ARE TRUE. FOR-SPELL IT-F O R.

* AND THE FIRST REASON IS: FOR YOU ALONE ARE HOLY.

** AND HERE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT GOD’S SACRED CHARACTER, HIS UNAPPROACHABLE PURITY, WHAT IS RELIGIOUSLY RIGHT-HOLY, AS OPPOSED TO WHAT IS UNRIGHTEOUS OR POLLUTED.

*** THIS PARTICULAR GREEK WORD FOR HOLY DEFINES AN ESSENTIAL UNIQUENESS THAT BELONGS TO GOD ALONE.

**** AND NOTICE, YOU ALONE ARE HOLY. AND THE WORD ONLY MAKES THE HOLINESS OF GOD UNIQUE, NO ONE ELSE CAN MAKE THIS CLAIM, GOD IS PERFECTLY PURE IN HIS SACRED CHARACTER AS ITS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO SIN OR JUDGE IMPROPERLY.

1. NOW THE NEXT FOR IS, “FOR ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU.”

* AND THIS TRUTH REMINDS ME OF WHAT THE PSALMIST SAID IN PSALM 86:8-10 WHERE IT SAYS:

V. 8 – THERE IS NO ONE LIKE YOU AMONG THE GODS, O LORD, NOR ARE THERE ANY WORKS LIKE YOURS.

V. 9 – ALL NATIONS WHOM YOU HAVE MADE SHALL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, O LORD, AND THEY SHALL GLORIFY YOUR NAME.

V. 10 – FOR YOU ARE GREAT AND DO WONDROUS DEEDS; YOU ALONE ARE GOD.

** AND OF COURSE THIS REALITY WILL TAKE PLACE ONE DAY, I BELIEVE IN THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM OF CHRIST, AS ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH WILL COME AND WORSHIP CHRIST THE KING, THE KING OF THE NATIONS.

*** ONE DAY CHRIST WILL RULE THE NATIONS WITH A ROD OF IRON. AND ZECHARIAH 14:16 WILL BE LITERALLY FULFILLED WHERE IT SAYS:

**** ZECHARIAH 14:16 – THEN IT WILL COME ABOUT THAT ANY WHO ARE LEFT OF ALL THE NATIONS THAT WENT AGAINST JERUSALEM WILL GO UP FROM YEAR TO YEAR TO WORSHIP THE KING, THE LORD OF HOSTS, AND TO CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF BOOTHS.

2. SO ONE DAY ALL THE NATIONS WILL WORSHIP THE LORD WHO WILL REIGN FROM JERUSALEM AND THIS WILL HAPPEN SHORTLY IN REVELATION 20.

* WHICH LEADS US TO ONE LAST CONJUNCTION FOR AT THE END OF V. 4, AND THIS IS “FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.”

** AND CLEARLY GOD’S RIGHTEOUS ACTS, LIT. HIS RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENTS, HIS RIGHTEOUS DEEDS HAVE BEEN MADE MANIFEST FROM PHARAOH TO ANTICHRIST AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY.

*** FOR IN ESSENCE HISTORY IS HIS STORY, GOD’S STORY OF HIS RIGHTEOUS ACTS OR DEEDS. AND THEY HAVE BEEN AND WILL BE CLEARLY REVEALED, MADE MANIFEST, MADE KNOWN BEFORE ALL THE EARTH.

IN WRAP UP: (1) LET ME SAY SINGING OF GOD’S GREAT AND MARVELOUS WORKS, OF HIS RIGHTEOUS ACTS, OF HIS GREAT POWER AND PURPOSES THAT PROCEEDS FROM HIS HOLY CHARACTER IS VERY IMPORTANT.

* AND I REMIND YOU THAT WORSHIP AND ONE MANIFESTATION OF IT, SINGING IS FOR THE SAKE OF MAGNIFYING GOD, NOT OURSELVES AS I SAID IN OUR CALL TO WORSHIP TODAY AND THAT GOD IS MAGNIFIED IN US WHEN WE ARE SATISFIED IN HIM.

** THAT WE GO HARD AFTER GOD IN SINGING, IN LISTENING TO HIS WORD, IN PRAYING AND PUTTING HIM FIRST THROUGH THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE.

*** AND I WANT YOU TO GET THIS. NOTICE IN VV. 3&4 IN THIS SONG SUNG BY THESE MARTYRS IN HEAVEN THAT THEY DO NOT SING OF THEIR OWN ENDURANCE, THEIR OWN EXPERIENCE, NOR EVEN OVER THEIR OWN VICTORY OVER THE BEAST.

**** THEY ARE OCCUPIED WITH GOD! THEY ARE OCCUPIED WITH THE POWER AND PERSON OF GOD. THEY ARE OCCUPIED WITH THE SOVEREIGNTY, JUSTICE AND GLORY OF GOD, NOT WITH THEMSELVES.

(2) THE FOCUS IS ON GOD, FOR HE ALONE IS WORTHY OF WORSHIP.

* SO MAY WE GO HARD AFTER GOD ON THE LORD’S DAY AND OF COURSE, EVERYDAY.

** BUT AS WE COME CORPORATELY TOGETHER FOR WORSHIP, WORK AT, BE WORN OUT FROM YOUR EFFORT IN SINGING, HEARING AND PRAYING AND PRAISING OUR GREAT GOD.

*** AND THAT MEANS SINGING GREAT SONGS TO HIM IS VERY IMPORTANT. I MEAN WE DON’T SING A LOT TO FILL UP SPACE FOR I CAN PREACH LONGER.

**** BUT SINGING IS A PART OF OUR CORPORATE WORSHIP WITH OUR PRIMARY FOCUS ON THE WORD OF GOD WHERE GOD’S CHARACTER AND BEING AND WORK AND POWER ARE REVEALED.

(3) BROTHERS AND SISTERS, KEEP SATISFACTION IN GOD AT THE CENTER AND MAY WE ASCRIBE GLORY TO THE ALMIGHTY THROUGH OUR LIPS AND LIVES BUT HAVING GREAT THOUGHTS OF HIM AND SMALL THOUGHTS OF OURSELVES.