Revelation 4:11

Let’s do on earth what is done in heaven. That is my challenge to you today. If you are a Christian, there are some things you may be doing in heaven. If so, why not start doing them here on this earth. We pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” So let’s look at what is happening in heaven and do it on this earth.

Last week we saw the scene in heaven, the throne, the elder’s thrones, the emerald rainbow, the four creatures and the response of the elders when they heard the words, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.”

The elders fell of their thrones, took off their crowns and surrounded the throne saying these words, Re 4:11 “11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.””

So the first act we will do on earth that is being done in heaven is say these words. Re 4:11 “11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.””

So what will this mean? Let me break this up into three thoughts or ideas that will help us understand what we say.

I. “You are worthy, our Lord and God…”

“Worthy” has an interesting history in the Greek. Something that is worthy is something that is in balance with another. We would say “They deserve whatever they get.” That would be similar to what the Greeks mean by “worthy.”

I found this article on the internet by Michael Kindel. “On October 1, 2009, Ed Hooper wrote “Leave the Medal of Honor Alone” (The Washington Post, Ed Hooper, 10/1/09) in response to groups and lawmakers who are pushing the military to award the Medal of Honor more frequently; it has only been awarded six times since the September 11 attack. These groups believe the criteria for awarding the medal to be too stringent, and they want the criteria relaxed, believing those who received lesser awards qualify for the Medal of Honor. They feel that President George Bush, acting out of fear of political repercussions, instructed the military to be overly careful during their investigations of Medal of Honor nominees.
Hooper writes that relaxing the criteria would cheapen the award, which has happened many times. In 1917, the 911 of the medals were recalled from those deemed not worthy of the award, with 864 of the recalled awards having been given for service during the Civil War (some for just re-enlisting).”

My purpose in quoting this is not to take a side, but rather to give you the feel for what you say to God when you say, “You are worthy, our Lord and God…” We do not cheapen our words, nor do we diminish our praise when we give glory, honor and power to God. He is worth it, he is worthy of it.

Don’t be afraid to give God glory, honor and power for what he has done. He has heard our prayers, he has saved our souls, he has healed our sicknesses, he has been with us through the fire. He is worthy of all the glory, honor, and power we can give him.

II. He is worthy to receive glory, honor and power.

There is a move on in our country to say that God is not worthy of glory and honor. Have you ever heard anyone say, “Religion has no place in education, in politics, in our social life?” What is religion but a discussion of God. Many people want God out of anything except the four walls of the church building. They do not think God is worthy of glory and honor, that his presence will just muck things up. But he is worthy of our glory and our honor.

Some people have the idea that God is good for uneducated people who need a crutch to lean on, but not for educated, strong people. They do not see any need to glorify or honor God. But he is worthy of our glory and our honor.

I have struggled with this last phrase, “He is worthy to receive…power.” I thought God was all powerful. Why would he need to receive it?

So here are two possibilities.

First, God is worthy to receive your power. The elders cast their crowns at the feet of God. All their power, their might, their authority was given to Jesus. Is he worthy of it? Yes he is. The word for power is “dunamis” which has the idea of ability. God is worthy of your abilities. Are you good with numbers? God is worthy to receive your ability to work with numbers so he can use you for his purposes. Are you clever with your hands? God is worthy to receive your abilities with your hands so he can use them for his purposes. Do you have a skill or have you been educated in any area? God is worthy to receive from you your power, your education, your skill to be used for his purposes.

For years John Doak volunteered to work a Fair Haven Camps and as he is in his 80’s and his wife suffers from alzheimers, he still gives God his talents when he can. Is God worthy to receive them? Yes, he is.

There are a group of Secret Service Christians who enter this church when no one else is around. They pick up trash, put toilet paper in the stalls, work on the building, do extra duty in the exchange shop. They take their time and their talents and bring them to God. Is he worth it? He certainly is.

The second possibility is that God picks up his power and uses it. We see a person and call them a gentle giant. Their strength is kept in check. But an intruder breaks into their house and all their power comes out. They pick up their strength, they receive it, and go after the poor person.

III. The third thought is that God is worthy to receive glory and honor and strength because he created us.

We find a parallel thought in Exodus 20 where the Bible tells us, “Honor your father and your mother…” Why should we do that? Because on the human side, they created us.

So why is God worthy to use his strength? Because what he has created as turned on him. The book of Revelation is a book of God stopping the evil found in his creation. God made it and God has the strength to stop it. Is it right for him to do so? Absolutely. As mothers across the United States have told their children, “I brought you into this world and I can take you out.”

This truth is expressed in Re 11:15-18 “15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God, 17 saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. 18 The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great--and for destroying those who destroy the earth.””

Here is the time that God sets right his creation that has gone wrong on him. He is worthy to receive, to take up his power. Is God worthy to take up his power against the human race? Many people don’t think so. They think that if they do what they want to do, God doesn’t mind. But rejecting God, rejecting his son, rejecting his teaching, rejecting his wisdom, rejecting his glory, rejecting his place of honor all are going to count against us. There will be a day of reckoning and God will be right in what he does because he create us by his will for for his glory. If we reject that, God is within his rights as our creator to do whatever he wants.

Listen to God as he speaks to Jeremiah. Jer 18:1 -13 “1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. 11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.’” 13 Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Enquire among the nations: Who has ever heard anything like this? A most horrible thing has been done by Virgin Israel.”

In heaven we see God worshipped. Every time the angelic beings say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.””, the Elders fall down and say “11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.””

So let us imitate heaven’s call. Let’s join in with the saints who are now with the Lord, with the Elders, with all of heaven and say with our mouths and show by our lives that God is worthy. Let’s give him glory, lets give him honor, lets give him power. He made us. All we have is traced back to him. Let his will be done on earth in our lives as it is in heaven.