6th Trumpet 2 - Four Corners of Worship

Revelation 9:13-21 ¹³And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, ¹⁴Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. ¹⁵And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. ¹⁶And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. ¹⁷And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. ¹⁸By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. ¹⁹For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. ²⁰And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: ²¹Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Revelation 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

Our subject today is Four Corners of Worship, which represent the foundations and styles of our worship. God has four corners of worship and Satan has four corners in opposition. We will review these corners today. When we studied The Sealing of God’s Servants in chapter 7, we described the meaning of four angles holding the four winds; what do the four winds represent? They represent Four______ _Directions__ from which blow false doctrines.

Before going deeper into the false winds let us review the attributes of true worship that God gives us.

Revelation 4:1-11 ¹After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. ²And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. ³And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. ⁴And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. ⁵And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. ⁶And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. ⁷And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

⁸And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. ⁹And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, ¹⁰The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, ¹¹Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

These four beasts represent four attributes of Christian worship that glorify God. The one like a lion represents Courage_, Because God gives us Christian’s courage, power & strength we live Victorious__ lives. The second beast like a calf represents the Sacrificial_ attribute of God. Jesus taught us that as His followers we must deny_______ self. The third beast that has a face as a man represents God working through Godly men to lead Christians. As Christians we are dependent upon Others_______. “No man is an Island”. Church means Assembly . The fourth beast like a flying eagle represents the attribute of God rising above the earth with a greater view. As Christians we are given the ability to rise above earthly____ things. We “ride upon the high places of the earth” (Is 58:14). This gives us four corners (foundations) of true worship – Courage (through Jesus the Lion of the tribe of Judah) to defeat sin, Power to live a sacrificial life denying self, Humility to accept spiritual guidance from others (God works through man but we do not worship man) and the Ability to rise above the gravity of the earthly man (Flying eagle).

Our enemy, the devil, is out to destroy us by blowing false beliefs in all directions. We learned in Revelation 6:8 that the devil kills with sword, hunger, death & earthly beasts. He is telling us that we cannot defeat sin, we cannot live sacrificial lives as we must feed the fleshly man, that we don’t need others to help us worship and that we are earth bound creatures that cannot rise above the earthly appetites. As we continue in the study of Revelation we will find these false corners revealed in greater detail represented by four beasts – A Dragon (chapter 12) – A Diverse Beast (chapter 13) – A beast like a lamb that speaks like a dragon (chapter 13) – A scarlet colored beast (chapter 17). Four main beliefs that hold man in sin: 1. Pagan – bound by worship of idols; live by animal instinct 2. Polytheistic – many gods 3. False Christian – worship of men great & small 4. False holiness – doctrine worshipped.

1^st Corner – Courage to defeat (conquer) sin:

Revelation 6:1-2 ¹And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. ²And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

When you take the courage to follow Jesus you will go forth conquering_____ sin. The war is waged within us and we either yield to the flesh or to the spirit. We serve God or we serve sin.

2^nd Corner – Power to live a Sacrificial life:

John 1:10-13 ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. ¹¹He came unto his own, and his own received him not. ¹²But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: ¹³Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

If you accept Jesus as your savior He will give you the power____ to become a child of God. You do not have that ability until you repent of sin and accept Jesus as your Lord. Jesus says to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him and you will gain eternal life.

3^rd Corner – Humility to Accept guidance from the Church:

Matthew 16:18 ¹⁸And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Church: Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both):—assembly, church.

Romans 10:13-17 ¹³For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. ¹⁴How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! ¹⁶But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? ¹⁷So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Christ builds His Church and equips it with spiritual leaders. He gives a number of gifts through the Holy Spirit to various members. These all work together to edify the body. As a member of the body (the assembly) I need all the other _members__.

4^th Corner – The Ability to rise above the gravity of the earthly man:

Isaiah 40:28-31 ²⁸Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. ²⁹He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. ³⁰Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: ³¹But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

They that _wait upon___ the _Lord____ mount up with wings as eagles. They rise above the gravity of the earthly man. They walk after the spirit. They are no longer slaves to the desires of the flesh.

Who are you following today? Jesus is inviting you to follow Him and Satan is lying to you telling you that you have to follow him. It’s up to you to make the choice. The angels that are loose are holding back the winds so you know the truth that can set you free from the power & penalty of sin. Be courageous and humble; accept Jesus as savior & Lord. He will give you power to live right and rise above the desires of the fleshly man. You can do it! Only Believe!