Behold The Face Of God

Behold the Face of God

Excerpted from “The Heavenly Singers and Their Song” Sermon #2321

Delivered on Lord’s Day evening, July 14, 1889, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

Heaven will be the furthest thing from dull! When we see God as he is, in all his glory, worship will never be monotonous. We will overflow with joy as we explore the depths of who God truly is.

When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:8-10

Spurgeon • The blessed Lamb appears in Heaven as the mediator between God and men. At God’s right hand is the Book of his eternal purposes. None dared even to look upon it; it was hopeless that any creature should be able to open its seven seals. But there came forward this glorious Lamb, who had the marks of his slaughter upon him, and he took the Book from the right hand of him who sat upon the throne. Thus he acted as interpreter, taking the will of God and translating it to us, letting us know the meaning of the writing which we could never have deciphered.

Jesus Christ is seen as our sacrifice. He is our mediator, and in that capacity he becomes the object of adoration first for the church, then for all the ten thousands of angels, and then for every creature God has made. It would be too large a subject to take in all those hallelujahs. Therefore, I select only these three verses to set forth the adoration of the church of God, rendered to the bleeding Lamb as the mediator between God and men.

Behold the worshipers, for we must be like them if we are to be with them. It is a well-known rule that Heaven must be in us before we can be in Heaven. We must be heavenly if we hope to sit in the heavenly places. We shall not be taken up to join the glorified choir unless we have learned their song and can join their sacred harmony. Look, then, at the worshipers. You are not yet perfectly like them, but you will be, by and by, if you already have the main points of likeness fashioned in you by the grace of God.

The first point about the worshipers is this: they are all full of life. I don’t want to be dogmatic about the meaning of the four living creatures. But they seem to represent the church in its standing before God, made alive by the life of God. At any rate, they are living creatures, and the elders themselves are living persons. Those in Heaven are all full of life. There is no dead worshiper there, no dull, cold heart that does not respond to the praise by which it is surrounded.

And they are all of one mind. Whether they are twenty-four elders or four living creatures, they all move simultaneously. With perfect unanimity they fall on their faces or touch their harps or uplift their golden bowls full of incense.

Is there always real unanimity in our assembly? While one is praising, is another murmuring? While one is earnest, is another indifferent? Oh God, grant to our assemblies here below the harmony that comes of the one Spirit working in us the same result, for so we must be in Heaven.

If we are not of one mind here below, we are not like the heavenly beings above! When little bickerings come in, when denominational differences prevent our joining in the common adoration, it is a great pity. God heal his one church of all her unhappy divisions! And heal any one church of any latent differences that there may be, that our unity on Earth may be an anticipation of the unanimity of Heaven!

Note too that as the heavenly worshipers are full of life and full of unity, so they are all full of holy worship. “When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb” (Revelation 5:8). All reverently fell down before the Lamb. And in the fourteenth verse, after their song is over and after the angels and the whole creation have taken their turn in the celestial music, we read, “The four living creatures said, ‘Amen.’” It was all that they could say. They were overawed with the majestic presence of God and the Lamb. They did not say anything then; they simply fell down and worshiped.

It is a grand thing when, at last, we have broken the backs of words with the weight of our feelings, when expressive silence must come in to prove the praises which we cannot utter. It is glorious to be in this worshipful state of mind. We are not always so, but they are so in Heaven. They are all ready to fall down before the Lord.

Do you not think that we often come into our places of worship with a great deal of carelessness? And while the service is going on, are we not thinking of a thousand things? Or if we are attentive, is there enough poor worship about us? In Heaven, they fall down before the Lamb. Brothers and sisters, would we not serve God better now if we did more of this falling down to worship the Lamb?

In Heaven there is prayer. We must correct the common mistake about that matter. And there is something to pray for. Although we do not ask the intercession of saints and angels, we believe that the saints do pray. Are they not crying, “O Sovereign Lord . . . how long?” (Revelation 6:10). Why should they not pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”? (Matthew 6:10). They would understand that prayer better than we do.

We know how God’s will is not done on Earth, but they know how it is done in Heaven. And they could pray, “Thy kingdom come . . . for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” (Matthew 6:10, 13, KJV).

Alcorn • Have you ever—in prayer or in corporate worship or during a walk on the beach—even for a few moments experienced the very presence of God? It’s a tantalizing encounter, yet for most of us it tends to disappear quickly in the distractions of life. What will it be like to behold God’s face and never be distracted by lesser things? And what will it be like when every lesser thing unfailingly points our attention back to God?

Many Christians today have come to depreciate or ignore the beatific vision—seeing the face of God—supposing that beholding God would be of mere passing interest, becoming monotonous over time. But those who know God know that he is anything but boring. Seeing God will be dynamic, not static. It will mean exploring new beauties, unfolding new mysteries—forever.

In Heaven we’ll explore God’s being, an experience that will be delightful beyond comprehension. The sense of wide-eyed wonder we see among Heaven’s inhabitants in Revelation 4–5 suggests an ever-deepening appreciation of God’s greatness. That isn’t all there is to Heaven, but if it were, it would be more than enough.

Lovers aren’t bored by one another. People who love God could never be bored in his presence. Remember, the members of the triune Godhead exist in eternal relationship with each other. To see God is to participate in the infinite delight of their communion.

I find it ironic that many people stereotype life in Heaven as an interminable church service. Apparently church attendance has become synonymous with boredom. Yet meeting God—when it truly happens—will be far more exhilarating than anything we might enjoy on Earth, including a great meal, hunting, gardening, mountain climbing, or watching the Super Bowl.

Even if it were true (it isn’t) that church services must be dull, there will be no church services in Heaven. The church (Christ’s people) will be there. But there will be no temple, and as far as we know, no services (Revelation 21:22).

Will we always be engaged in worship? I think the answer is yes and no. If we have a narrow view of worship, the answer is no. But if we have a broad view of worship, the answer is yes. As theologian Cornelis Venema explains, worship in Heaven will be all-encompassing:

No legitimate activity of life—whether in marriage, family, business, play, friendship, education, politics, etc.—escapes the claims of Christ’s kingship. . . . Certainly those who live and reign with Christ forever will find the diversity and complexity of their worship of God not less, but richer, in the life to come. Every legitimate activity of new creaturely life will be included within the life of worship of God’s people.^a

Will we always be on our faces at Christ’s feet, worshiping him? No, because Scripture says we’ll be doing many other things—living in dwelling places, eating and drinking, reigning with Christ, and working for him. Scripture depicts people standing, walking, traveling in and out of the city, and gathering at feasts. When doing these things, we won’t be on our faces before Christ. Nevertheless, all that we do will be an act of worship. At times this will crescendo into greater heights of praise as we assemble with the multitudes who are also worshiping him. God seeks worshipers (John 4:23). But he has no policy of compulsory adulation. Once we see God as he really is, no one will need to beg, threaten, or shame us into praising him. No matter what we’re doing, we will overflow in gratitude and praise, and in that sense we will continuously worship God. Shouldn’t we be getting a head start on this? As Spurgeon puts it, “Brothers and sisters, would we not serve God better now if we did more of this falling down to worship the Lamb?”

We were created to worship God. There’s no higher pleasure. At times we’ll lose ourselves in praise, doing nothing but worshiping him. At other times we’ll worship him when we build a cabinet, paint a picture, cook a meal, eat and drink, talk with an old friend, take a walk, or throw a ball.

“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31, NIV). If we are commanded to do everything, including eating and drinking, to God’s glory now, won’t we do it all to God’s glory then?

^a Cornelis P. Venema, The Promise of the Future (Trowbridge, UK: Banner of Truth, 2000), 478.