Revelation 4:9”

November 15, 2025

True worship is voluntary. At its best it is a spontaneous outburst of heart, mind, and soul that springs forth unrestrained. It may be sober and thoughtful, or an overflowing of joy and thanksgiving. It is born out of the spiritual maturity of the worshiper, as he or she is released from the grip of temporal concerns to glimpse for a moment the loving care of our creator and deliverer. True worship is directed to God because it is God’s unmerited favor that gives us the understanding and ability to recognize his presence, and to give glory and honor and thanks.

You and I have heard some pretty silly excuses from people who refuse to even consider Jesus Christ to be their creator and Lord, much less the potential Savior of their souls. In spite of the fact that their eternal destinies rest with this fatal decision, and will dictate whether they spend all eternity enjoying the delights of heaven rather than the torments of hell, based on each individuals willful ignorance or prudent attention to God’s message.

It’s sad when a person responds with a mocking laugh, and turns away. I once offered such a shallow, careless, and indifferent response to those who introduced the idea of God’s great gift of salvation, even mocking them and him. I marvel that he didn’t strike me dead on the spot. But I subsequently learned that:

The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

Psalm 145:8

Instead of listening to the claims of God, they tend to grasp foolish arguments they gather along the way, like trash from the streets. And, like Adam and Eve, they cling to each feeble argument as tightly as a barnacle clings to the hull of a ship racing to is doom upon the rocks. They are prepared to mouth the lies that Satan suggested to them as viable reasons to commit their sins. And, like Adam and Eve, they dare stand before the Lord and spout those lies in defense of their own obvious sins.

I’ve heard some of these arguments, and sadly I mouthed a few myself. I did not simply delude myself, but, miss-quoting Shakespeare, I became guilty of “…leading fools the way to dusty death.”

One of those so-called arguments is somehow born out of passages like this one, from the fourth chapter of The Revelation. There we are introduced to four “beasts” who, from time to time,

“give glory and honor and thanks to him who sat on the throne, who lives forever and ever,

And there are four and twenty elders with seated near them, who then

…fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

Revelation 4:9-11.

When non-Christians read this passage, they often respond with mocking laughter, because four strange “beasts” lead in worship to a god they do not believe exists. And you may ask, “Why would anyone pay tribute to some king whom we’ve never seen?”

Others argue, “There is no God,” and console themselves with the idea that we all came out of some primordial ooze and are merely products of evolutionary change. They therefore conclude that we are little higher than any other creature, and that life has little value except to gather all the toys we can while we can, because “He who dies with the most toys wins;” and many conclude that it is prudent to “Do unto others before they do it unto you,” a perversion of Christ’s actual command.

We are taught that life is terminal, and everything is relative. The unavoidable implication is that it’s okay to exploit others while avoiding any personal exposure to pain or inconvenience. Those arguments, taken to their logical conclusion, finds people perverting the discoveries of science and engineering to murder multitudes with advanced weapons, whether nuclear or biological. We see mothers freely aborting their own flesh and blood; men and women violating God’s natural plan for their relationships; and multitudes robbing, raping, and exploiting one another, even in the name of religions; abusing one another in every conceivable way in order to advance their own concept of pleasure and success. All this by those whom God created a little lower than the angels.

But even among the least greedy and self-centered among us, those who might even entertain the idea of a heaven and a hell—there springs the amazing argument that, “Heaven would be boring,” they would say, and then add, “I don’t want to sit on a cloud and strum a harp for all eternity.”

Perhaps the most mindless of all—in complete ignorance of the fact that God created hell for the devil and his fallen angels, as well as for all who reject the salvation offered through the gift of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who loves us and gave himself for us—is this statement; “I’d rather be in hell with my friends.”

Those who are in hell have discovered that they are not among friends, but eternal enemies. For those people they knew, who they might recognize among the multitudes of the lost, will be filled with an enormous rage and hatred toward their former friends and associates because they hadn’t helped steer them toward heaven. Never mind that they had also failed family and friends; they will be endlessly bitter, their souls gnawed away by their inability to blame themselves for their own ignorance and willful rejection of Christ. Instead of the peace and joy of heaven–the crystal streams, flowered fields, and golden streets–they will be preoccupied with wailing and gnashing of their own teeth,suffering interminable agonizing pain for un-confessed and therefore unforgiven sins against God; sins that they committed against themselves and against others whom God created for fellowship with him. For that’s why God created us. His overflowing love required an object for his love. And yet people spurn him. So they will live in outer darkness, with not a gleam of God’s love to light their way, and without hope that their circumstances will ever change, because hell is punitive, not rehabilitative, and for those who go there, it is forever. There is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Even we Christians trifle with this awful reality, neglecting opportunities to witness about our experiences with the Lord, failing to testify of him, and neglecting Bible study and prayer.

The Bible has sobering words for those of us who spend our lives in endless pursuits of pleasure, and in shallow conversation, neglecting Christ’s great commission. Jesus warned,

For every idle work that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”

Matthew 12:36

Yet some glibly joke that they would rather go to hell rather than be bored in heaven? Really?

When those of us who have been born again—those who have made peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ—reach heaven, we shall receive glorified bodies. Our minds will be clear of confusion, our hearts filled with righteousness. We will be free of the evil thoughts and temptations and guilt we experienced in this world, free of envy and lust, and at peace with God and our fellow believers. That won’t b boring.

So please keep in mind the words of the four and twenty elders:

“…for thou has created all things, and for thy pleasure were they created.”

Revelation 4:11

That has always been God’s plan. Adam and Eve had it, but squandered their privileges. But for a while they walked and talked with God in the midst of the garden. Now we have terminated that relationship, just as our great, great, great….grandfather Adam did, so long ago.

No, my friends, heaven won’t be boring, for God created us with minds to think, hands to achieve, and hearts to love. Heaven, where we will experience joy unspeakable and full of glory, is in easy reach of all of us. The apostle Paul understood much of this, having reached a level of maturity where his fellowship with God was so intimate and conventual and uninterrupted that, whether faced with poverty or plenty, or when he was attended by a multitude of faithful friends, or faced with imaginable dangers, he had learned to be satisfied because he prayed without ceasing.

I’ve had just a taste of that kind of life as I have undertaken work both spiritual and worldly, and been compelled to keep the lines of communication between me and the Lord open in order not merely to succeed, but to survive. Like Peter, slipping beneath the waves, we’ve all learned to cry, “Help, Lord!”

But we need to be able to say, “For me, to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21).

Those four and twenty elders who serve God night and day with praise and thanksgiving have reached a much higher plane than we have found. Is it important who they are? Probably the twelve patriarchs of the Old Testament and the twelve apostles of the New. Whatever the case, they grew enough in faith, through the trials they experienced, to be quite content and joyful giving thanks to their deliverer. So remember this:

“But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.”

I Corinthians 2:9

We are terribly limited in our spiritual understanding, and ought simply to embrace the truth that, “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). And as we grow older, we begin to understand how fleeting this life is, and how “…we spend our years as a tale that is told” (Psalm 90:9).

You will discover soon enough what lies in wait for you. Will you understand and act before it is too late. Will you receive Jesus Christ as your savior and lord? And will you ultimately enjoy the things which God has prepared for those who love him?