And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
The living beings are a living heavenly choir gathered round about the throne, giving glory and honour and thanks with song and thanksgiving and prayer and praise and anthems of joy to Him who sits on the throne and lives forever and ever. The redeemed share in that adoration of the One who lives forever and ever. That worship takes place in the heavenly courts and temple above, where all is purity and perfection and every being has perfect reverence for God and His holiness. The temple of God is opened in heaven and its threshold is flushed with glory for every church that loves God and keeps His commandments.
John saw the throne and heard this worship about half a century after Jesus ascended to present His church before God and to prepare mansions for His faithful ones, showing that Jesus still loved His people by coming to His aged servant to reveal the future. The vision opened the glories of heaven and revealed God's plans for future ages, so that readers long to stand with the redeemed in the presence of God. The redeemed's adoration belongs after the wicked are destroyed, the earth is purified, and the great controversy is ended. By study, meditation, and prayer believers gain spiritual eyesight to discern the inner courts of the celestial temple and catch the themes of that song and thanksgiving. With the golden eyesalve applied, faith cuts through Satan's hellish shadow to see the glories beyond and the Advocate offering the incense of His own merits, filling the heart with a sense of the immensity and diversity of God's love and quickening insensible hearts to discern wonderful things out of the Word.
When Zion arises and shines with most penetrating light, precious songs of praise and thanksgiving replace murmuring, complaining, and lamentation in the assembly of the saints. Correct ideas of true worship and true reverence on earth prepare people to appreciate a pure and holy heaven and to join that heavenly worship, while uncultivated ideas that place the sacred and eternal on a level with common things leave people unable to appreciate heaven and unprepared to join its worshipers. Believers on earth who assemble together as active workers in meetings for prayer and praise come near to those heavenly worshipers around the throne. Those who feel they have no time for religious services and absent themselves lay off their spiritual garments and spiritual life and fail to come near to that worship, and therefore reflect the light and glory of God only feebly. Those who absent themselves from such meetings fall into form, dishonor to God, and low spiritual life.
The living beings are a living heavenly choir gathered round about the throne, giving glory and honour and thanks with song and thanksgiving and prayer and praise and anthems of joy to Him who sits on the throne and lives forever and ever. The redeemed share in that adoration of the One who lives forever and ever. That worship takes place in the heavenly courts and temple above, where all is purity and perfection and every being has perfect reverence for God and His holiness. The temple of God is opened in heaven and its threshold is flushed with glory for every church that loves God and keeps His commandments.
John saw the throne and heard this worship about half a century after Jesus ascended to present His church before God and to prepare mansions for His faithful ones, showing that Jesus still loved His people by coming to His aged servant to reveal the future. The vision opened the glories of heaven and revealed God's plans for future ages, so that readers long to stand with the redeemed in the presence of God. The redeemed's adoration belongs after the wicked are destroyed, the earth is purified, and the great controversy is ended. By study, meditation, and prayer believers gain spiritual eyesight to discern the inner courts of the celestial temple and catch the themes of that song and thanksgiving. With the golden eyesalve applied, faith cuts through Satan's hellish shadow to see the glories beyond and the Advocate offering the incense of His own merits, filling the heart with a sense of the immensity and diversity of God's love and quickening insensible hearts to discern wonderful things out of the Word.
When Zion arises and shines with most penetrating light, precious songs of praise and thanksgiving replace murmuring, complaining, and lamentation in the assembly of the saints. Correct ideas of true worship and true reverence on earth prepare people to appreciate a pure and holy heaven and to join that heavenly worship, while uncultivated ideas that place the sacred and eternal on a level with common things leave people unable to appreciate heaven and unprepared to join its worshipers. Believers on earth who assemble together as active workers in meetings for prayer and praise come near to those heavenly worshipers around the throne. Those who feel they have no time for religious services and absent themselves lay off their spiritual garments and spiritual life and fail to come near to that worship, and therefore reflect the light and glory of God only feebly. Those who absent themselves from such meetings fall into form, dishonor to God, and low spiritual life.