He is worthy! God is worthy of our praise! He alone is worthy of glory and honor!

2. He is worthy! • God is worthy of our praise! • He alone is worthy of glory and honor! • This morning I want to focus on the fact that Jesus is worthyof our praise! • Before we do, let’s review some of what we have already discussed about Worship.

3. He is worthy! • God created us to worship. • It is not a question of if but what? • Even atheists worship. • How can you tell what people worship? • Here’s the Worship Test: • Look at your checkbook or examine your credit card statements. • Where is your money going?

4. He is worthy! 2) Evaluate your time. • What consumes most of your time? 3) Listen to what you are saying. • You can tell what people value the most in their life by just listening to them talk. • Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. – Jesus 4) What consumes most of your thought life? 5) I live for __________.

5. He is worthy! • God is not against things or even success, but we are not to worship them. • They cannot give you what God can. • Things are to be used for God’s glory and are not to be worshiped. • If God is not on the throne of your heart, you will find yourself asking, Is this all there is? There has to be more!   • You will never be fulfilled in life until you are worshiping the God Who created you to worship.

6. He is worthy! 3. We worship God for 2 reasons: • We worship God for Who He is. • We worship God for what He has done for us. • Remember: Who God is, is what He does for us. • Who He is = The Healer (Salvation, Provider, Deliverer… • What He does = He heals us of all of our diseases

7. He is worthy! 4. The First Battle and the Last Battle are about the same thing—Worship! 5. The battle for man’s worship still rages today. • The question is: What are you going to worship?  • True worship is about giving your whole life to Jesus and recognizing how worthy He is. • He died for you, and He alone is worthy of our worship.

8. He is worthy! • Worthy speaks of value, honor, and respect. • One who is deserving of our worship & admiration. • Even though we all agree that God is worthy of our worship, I have to ask the question: Why do believers come to church & not enter into worship? • I am not talking about why unbelievers do not worship God. • I get that, but why do believers have a hard time doing it?

9. He is worthy! 1. They have not discovered that worship is a lifestyle. • We wake up worshiping God. • As we go through the day, we are to worship Him. • We are even to worship Him when we wake up in the middle of the night. • This worship thing is 24/7! • And, it is not to be reserved only for the so-called worship hour on Sunday morning. • It is a lifestyle!

10. He is worthy! • When you get that revelation, worship in here willjust be a continuation of what you have been doing throughout the week. • It is so easy to enter in and tell God that you love Him because you have been doing it all week!

11. He is worthy! 2. Some do not have a clear revelation of what God has done for them. • I have come to realize that many believers just have Fire Insurance. • That is how they see salvation—protection from hell. • If we could just get a brief glimpse of what we have been delivered from, we would shout our praises from the housetops!

12. He is worthy! • Think about it: you have been set free from • sin • sickness • bondages • hatred • fears • hell • And, gloriously brought into His marvelous light! • That in itself ought to fill our hearts with such gratitude that we can’t help ourselves!

13. He is worthy! • The Great Exchange Sin Forgiven Sickness Wholeness & Healed Bondages Freedom Hatred Love & Forgiveness Fears Faith & Courage Hell Heaven

14. He is worthy! 3. Some believers have a negative stereotype about worship. • This is especially true for men. • Hey, real men don’t get emotional, sing out loud and worship in church. • Or, do they?

15. He is worthy! Show Worship Hater Video Here

16. He is worthy! • Well, at least, we are emotional about what we want to be emotional about. • Have you ever seen someone who did not grow up in church get dramatically saved and set free? • Then, watch them begin to worship God? • They have no religious baggage about worship and about what is proper to do or not to do in church. • They just worship out of their gratefulness. • It is pure and unadulterated worship!

17. He is worthy! • Some people say, Hey, I was not raised that way. We never raised our hands in church, and God bless the soul if they ever clapped in church! • Guess what? I wasn’t raised that way either! • When I went to my first contemporary worship service, I thought to myself: This is what it is supposed to be like. • As I looked around the sanctuary, I noticed that every one acted like they wanted to be there! • They were enjoying worshiping God.

18. He is worthy! 4. Some find it hard to worship God when they have unconfessed sin in their life. • When you worship God, you are brought into the Presence of the Living God. • If there is sin there, the Holy Spirit will gently nudge you about it. • Some try to ignore it and others just refuse to enter in because they don’t want to deal with it. • DIRTY WINDSHEILD – it is not until you turn into the Son that you see the dirt.

19. He is worthy! 5. Some have trouble worshiping God when they keep remembering all the bad things people have done to them in the past. • You may have been abused, unjustly accused or mistreated by someone else. • If you have never dealt with it, the painful memorycan hinder you from entering into worship. • When you start to worship that pain is brought up again, and it shuts your worship down. • If that is you, it is time to begin to receive the Lord’s healing in that area of your life and to forgive.

20. He is worthy! 6. It could actually be something as simple as you had a spat with your spouse or with another member of your household on the way to church. • FORGIVE! Release it! • Then, lean over and quietly & gently tell them that you are sorry whether you were in the right or not. • Hotel Halls vs. Washing Machine Agitators • Bottom Line: Why we worship God boils down to the fact that He is worthy of our worship, and we were created to give it to Him. • That has to become a revelation to us.

21. He is worthy! • Turn to Revelation 4, which gives us a glimpse of worship in heaven. • This will give us a clear picture of how worthy Jesus is to worship. • Chapter 1 is about Jesus. He is alive forevermore. • Chapters 2-3 are about the Church. Each of the 7 churches of Asia are representative of churches throughout history. • Chapter 4:1 is seen by many to be the moment of the Rapture of the Church because the next time you see the Church in Revelation is in heaven.

22. He is worthy! Revelation 4:1 – Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this."   • This is the same Voice John had heard earlier that was like a trumpet blast. It was the Voice of Jesus Christ. • Come up here! Many believe this is the place of the Rapture in the book of Revelation. • Immediately we are ushered into the Throne Room of God!

23. He is worthy! Revelation 4:2-3 – And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. 3 The One sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled His throne like a rainbow. • This is a description of the Lord on His throne. • He shone like a brilliant gemstone. • Jasper is quartz of various colors—red, yellow and brown. • Carnelian – a red gemstone. • Emerald – green and probably different shades of green like a rainbow around His head.

24. He is worthy! 4 Twenty-four thrones surrounded Him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads. • Why 24 elders? • There were 12 tribes in Israel and 12 apostles. • These are representative of all the believers throughout the ages worshiping the One on the throne! • This clearly shows that we were created to worship the King of kings!

25. He is worthy! 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God. • Lightning and Thunder show the majesty and power of our God. • Reminiscent of Mt. Sinai • Sevenfold Spirit of God is another name for the Holy Spirit.

26. He is worthy! 6 In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal.  • Clear glass was very rare in John’s day, and this shows the holiness of God. • There is no evil or darkness in Him. • He is just and true in all of His ways. • James 1:17 – Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. (MSG)

27. He is worthy! 6b In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. 7 The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. " • These 4 represent different aspects of God’s character. • They guard the throne of God and lead others in worship. • Lion = Majesty and Lordship of God • Ox = God is all-powerful (omnipotent) • HumanFace = Intelligence (omniscience) • Eagle = Sovereigntyof God (omnipresence)

28. He is worthy! 8 Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—the One who always was, who is, and who is still to come. • 3 Important points about worship:

29. He is worthy! • Holy, Holy, Holy – We worship God because He is holy! • He is Almighty! – God and the devil are not equal. • God is in control, and the devil is just a created being. • It is just going to take 1 angel to bind the devil and cast him into the Lake of Fire! 3. Who was, Who is and Who is to be – He started it all. He is in the middle & He is going to bring it all to a conclusion. • Name me another being who is all 3 of these? Holy, Almighty and forever past, present and future? • Why should we worship Him? He alone is worthy!

30. He is worthy! 9 Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the One sitting on the throne (the One who lives forever and ever), • How are we to worship Him? • We are to give Him glory, honor and thanks. • We are to give it to Him and to no one else! • He alone is worthy of our praise. • He is on the throne! He is in control! • He lives forever! • He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 11:8).

31. He is worthy! • Imagine this: These living creatures are there 24/7. • Yet, they never get bored being there. • Every moment they see an aspect of God that they had never noticed before and all they can exclaim is Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. The One Who was, Who is and Who is to come. • They never get hungry, bored or tired of being with God. • That is how our worship should be! • Always awestruck by His magnificence. • It should always possess the WOW Factor!

32. He is worthy! 10 the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the One sitting on the throne (the One who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, • Here we see the believers from before Christ and since worshiping before the throne. • Can you see how we were created to worship? • This is what we are going to do for eternity. • Remember the WOW Factor and we never bore of it!

33. He is worthy! • Casting Crowns – our crown represents our accomplishments and achievements in this life. • When we cast our crowns before Him, we are saying, All I have is because of You. • We are not moving in pride which says, I did it through my abilities. • But, we correctly say, I am grateful because all I have that is good comes from You.

34. He is worthy! …and say, 11 "You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For You created all things, and they exist because You created what You pleased." • Worship speaks! It is not to be quiet but vocal. • This verse sums up the chapter: All—whether in heaven or on earth—will praise the Lord because He is the creator of all things, and He created us to worship Him. • God is the Creator of all things – Evolution is actually an attack on Worship because it takes the glory from God and gives it to something else.

35. He is worthy! Revelation 5:1-3 – Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: "Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?" 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it.

36. He is worthy! • No one, not one, was found worthy to open the scroll! • This scroll contains the full account of what God has in store for the world. • This is God’s end-game for planet earth. • 7 Seals represent its importance. • As each seal was broken, it revealed a new phaseof God’s plan for the end of the world.

37. He is worthy! 4 Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. 5 But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, "Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Heir to David's throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.“ • Jesus is worthy! He is the only One worthy to open the seals and the only One worthy of our praise!

38. He is worthy! • He lived a life of perfect obedience to God by dying on the cross for our sins. • He rose again from the dead 3 days later victorious over sin, death and hell! • The Lion, Jesus, won the victory for us! • Because of that, He is the only One who can be trusted with the world’s future!

39. He is worthy! 6 Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. 7 He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the One sitting on the throne.

40. He is worthy! 8 And when He took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God's people. • Harp and Bowl – represents worship and prayer • Falling down – part of worship is falling down.

41. He is worthy! 9 And they sang a new song with these words: "You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For You were slaughtered, and Your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.10 And You have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.“ • Why is He worthy of our praise? Look what He did! • He died for our sins that we might be ransomed from the kingdom of darkness and brought into His marvelous light! • Salvation is for people from every tribe, nation, language and people.

42. He is worthy! 11 Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. • The voices of all creatures—angels, living creatures and people! • All were created to worship!

43. He is worthy! 12 And they sang in a mighty chorus: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing."13 And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. • Let that be said of Summit Church — Then I heard every person in the sanctuary lifting their voices to God in praise! Not one was silent!

44. He is worthy! They sang:"Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever." 14 And the four living beings said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb. • In these 2 chapters, we witnessed what we will be doing in heaven—shouting, clapping, singing, dancing, raising our hands, kneeling and worshiping God with all of our might. • Let that be said of us here!

45. He is worthy! • This should give us confidence as we look to the future because Jesus is the only One who is worthy to hold the future of the planet in His hands! • Praise Him for that! • He is worthy!