Praising God is one of the highest and purest acts of religion. In prayer, we act like men; in praise, we act like angels.¹ Many struggle with pure praise. At a conference in a Presbyterian church in Omaha, people were given helium-filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts. Since they were Presbyterians, they weren’t free to say, “Hallelujah, Praise the Lord.” All through the service balloons ascended, but when it was over one-third of the balloons were unreleased.² Are you free to praise the Lord? Can you lift your hearts and hands to Him? Here is some encouragement along this line.

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#S3-015: How the Mighty Names of God Energize Your Life [Podcast]

[Tweet “All of your work, labor, and toil have only one true resting place, the floor before His Throne.”]

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You can view a basic transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.
This week’s call is:

Are you a regular worshipper of God. Can the Lord say of you, that in your house dwells one who will always be found worshipping and reverencing God?

Join the Conversation

Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:

Question: How do you show the Lord that your commitment is to put Him first in your praise life? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

You can find additional information on the subject of the Kingdom of God in the resources listed below.

1. #S6-015: The Value of Knowing the Gift of God [Podcast]
2. #S6-014: How to Conquer Prejudice the Jesus Way [Podcast]
3. #S6-013: What Does It Mean to Be Born Again from God? [Podcast]
4. #S6-012: Nicodemus: Is His Life a Positive Example to Follow? [Podcast]
5.  #S-018: How Not to Be A Minister of Condemnation [Podcast]
6.  #S6-019: Worshipping God: Why the Hour Is Here [Podcast]

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 35 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic, you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com

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Podcast Notes

Praising God: Our Main Text

John 4:19–24 (NKJV) — 19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

A Peek at Heaven Praising God

Revelation 4:1–11 (ESV) — 1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne…

• The next verse describes the appearance of God the Father.
• Revelation 4:3 (ESV) — 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.
• The Greek word ‘appearance’ means of the same nature, like, similar.³
• So when John saw God the Father sitting on His Throne, it was like looking at Jasper and carnelian.
• What does Jasper look like?
• Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and chalcedony and other mineral phases,[1][2] is an opaque,[3] an impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green; and rarely blue.⁴
• Carnelian is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. The color can vary greatly, ranging from pale orange to an intense almost-black coloration.⁵
• So when John saw God the Father sitting on His Throne, it was like looking at maybe a reddish type of color that looked like quartz or a gemstone type of material.
• That doesn’t mean He is that it means God has the appearance of that.

Elders and Living Creatures Praising God

Revelation 4:4,6 (ESV) — 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads… 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind.

• Now take a look at these two groups and how they praised God around the Throne.

The Living Creatures Praising God

Revelation 4:8 (ESV) — 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!

• The Living Creatures are created beings in the class of angels.
• The two words ‘living creatures’ is one word in a Greek dictionary the meaning is a supernatural creature or being understood according to characteristics of living beings.
• Notice the words of praise and worship which come from the lips of these created beings.
• They never to cease to say: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
• These supernatural creatures magnify the holiness of God but note their praise is ABOUT GOD.
• Instead, their praise is ABOUT God.
• Now, compare this to the praise of the twenty-four elders.

The Twenty-Four Elders Praising God

Revelation 4:9–11 (ESV) — 9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

• The twenty-four elders say, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will, they existed and were created.”
• Note their praise is PERSONALLY TO God, not ABOUT GOD.
• The four living creatures praise was about God.
• Why is their praise different?
• Because these elders have a relationship with God that the living creatures never had.
• These twenty-elders have gone to God.
• They are used to talking to Him.
• These elders know the Throne because they have been there often.
• Who are these twenty-four elders?
• The twenty-four elders are representative of the human race.
• How do we know that?
• Well for one, they have crowns upon their heads.

Crowns Give a Clue

• Crowns are rewards for believers.
• Charles Spurgeon said.

“There are no crown-wearers in heaven who were not cross-bearers here below.”

• Crowns represent the accomplishments of Spirit life.
• They are the projects the Spirit of God led you to do combined with the faith that only comes from His own Word.
• These crowns are your works which have passed through the flame of the Judgment Seat.

1 Corinthians 3:12–13 (ESV) — 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

• These worthy flame retardant Judgment Seat works are represented as crowns.
• They are legitimate crowns.
• Earned and forged in the fires of planet earth.
• Earth is the only place you can earn one of these crowns.
• The four living creatures are around the Throne.
• They have never lived on the earth that we have a record of.
• So then, what’s the purpose of these crowns?
• Are they meant as wardrobe fashion showpieces we strut around heaven with like we are going to a fancy ball?

The Example of the Twenty-Four Elders

• Well, take for your example these twenty-four elders who are ever before God’s Throne.
• What do they do with their crowns?
• They take their crowns and throw them on the floor before the Throne.
• Not wear them on their heads, throw them on the floor.
• Mark it down: all of your accomplishments, all of your work, all of your obedience to the promptings of your heart have only one high and holy place before the Throne: that’s the floor.
• Golden crowns, which rest so beautifully and worthily on the head, have only one place of abode: the floor.
• Now, it’s a beautiful floor; it’s a crystal clear and golden floor.
• Gold so pure that you can see through it.
• There are no impurities in this gold and this floor, but it’s a floor none the less.
• These crowns are gladly cast at the feet of the Father God.
• All of your work, all of your labor, all of your toil have only one right resting place, the floor before His Throne.

Why Floor Tossed Crowns?

• What does that show us?
• It shows that God alone deserves our praise, our worship.
• The Father God, He is Supreme.
  • Not your work.
  • Nor even your life long work.
  • Not the endless hours of volunteering or the week by week labor of faithful ministry.
  • Nor the time you spent visiting the widows or loving the unlovely.
  • Not the souls you have won or the victories you have gained in His Name.
  • Especially not the miracles you may have wroth by the Power of God.
• None of this is Supreme, only the Father God.
• I’ve been thinking about these facts this week.
• The constancy of ministry always seems to beckon.
• The call of His will always pulls on the heart.
• But in the end, every podcast, every Bible lesson I’ve ever taught, every move I’ve been led to make, every time I’ve set His will as number one, even this very podcast today, all of it can aspire to nothing higher than the golden floor before His Throne.
• It’s a marvelously liberating thought.
• We work so hard in our labors for God.
• Look at the Apostle Paul, for example.

Paul’s Work Ethic

2 Corinthians 11:23 (ESV) — 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.

• Paul’s work ethic was above and beyond the call of duty.

2 Corinthians 11:24–28 (ESV) 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

Your Labors for God Are No Different than Paul’s.

• Earn as many as you can.
• Shine up your crowns as much as you like.
• Make them glisten in the light of the glories of heaven.
• But in the end, it’s still nothing more than floor material.
• If this is what the end of all labor looks like, shouldn’t we act like it today?
• Shouldn’t we put all that we are doing before Him right now?
• The church needs some ‘casting crown’ practice.
• Put the Father God first, not your deeds of righteousness.
• Imitate the twenty-four elders.
• Spend time praising God for who He is.
• That is an accurate measure of well spent time.
• Mark it down, the most significant thing we can do is spend time with Him.
• Our highest expression of faith is worship.
• May the reality of these truths be yours as you plant your face this week before the Awesome Throne of God.
• Glory to His Name.
• So anyway, that’s how we know these twenty-four elders represent believers, the church, the body of Christ.
• And so, we see a glimpse of them praising God.
• We can learn from that vision.

Rachel, Leah, Jacob and Praising God

• There is nothing that pleases the Lord so much as praise.
• Per Augustine, it is man’s chief work.
• In this passage in Genesis, Leah names her fourth son Judah.
• Now, you learn something about faith if you look at how Leah named her children.
• If you read the story of Leah and Rachel, you will see that they were sisters.

Genesis 29:16 (ESV) — 16 Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

• Sisters that ended up married to the same man Isaac.
• Leah was weak-eyed, the scripture says.

Genesis 29:17 (ESV) — 17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.

• The soft eyes of Leah, as so translated in the KJV, were eyes that were visually weak or lacked luster—dull and unimpressive eyes. This was considered to be a significant defect among those who admired sparkling eyes that were lively and flashing.⁶
• Some commentators say her eyes were soft.
• The description of Rachel, on the other hand, is vastly different: beautiful in form and appearance.
• Leah’s weak eyes are up against Rachel’s form.
• From Jacob’s perspective, there was no comparison.
• Rachel had the stuff, Leah?
• Well, not so much.
• Leah was pretty plain while Rachel was just plain pretty.
• Two women from the same womb, married to the same man per the custom of the day: one loved, one tolerated.
• So rejected Leah looked for love and acceptance from her husband via the bearing of children.

Leah’s Children and Praising God

Reuben

• Reuben was her firstborn.
• You know sons bringing boys into the earth was a big deal in that culture.

Genesis 29:32 (ESV) — 32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.”

• Leah named her son per the way she felt inside.
• The name ‘Reuben’ means ‘the LORD has seen my misery.’
• Leah bet the house that a child would cover her deficiency.
• You know it’s no different today.
• How many live their lives through the eyes of their children.
• Trying to cover, compensate, or contain the hole they have at their very core.
• In the end, you find that no one not even precious children can take God’s place within the heart.
• Leah found that out.
• She had a son, but was unable to get the love she was looking for.
• So, the next child, another boy came along, and she named him Simeon.

Simeon

Genesis 29:33 (ESV) — 33 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.

• Simeon means ‘the LORD heard that Leah was not loved.’

Levi

Genesis 29:34 (ESV) — 34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.

• Then came son number three, and she named him Levi.
• Levi was named for her hope that her husband would become attached to her.
• But, again, it was not to be.
• Three sons were not enough to brighten Leah’s weak eyes in the eyes of her husband.
• Three sons, three strikes, so finally she decided on a different path.

Judah

• The fourth son came along.

Genesis 29:35 (ESV) — 35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

• And this time, instead of allowing the state of her physical eyes to pull her down, she lifted her eyes to the Lord God of heaven.
• She said, “this time, I will praise the LORD.”
• “This time, I’m not going to allow myself to get in the gutter of emotions.”
• “I refuse to be depressed, cast down, and distraught because my husband doesn’t look at me the way he should.”
• No, I’m going to set my heart to praising God.
• And, that’s what she did, and she named this fourth son, Judah which means to be praised.

Praising God Is a Commandment

Revelation 19:5 (NLT) — 5 And from the throne came a voice that said, “Praise our God, all his servants, from the least to the greatest, all who fear him.”

• And so, the commandment of God is to praise Him.
• You should be and ought to be praising God.
• God has commanded us to praise.
• It is not an optional exercise.

1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV) — 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Praising God Is Not A Time Filler

• In a church service, we call the part before we hear the sermon, ‘Praise and Worship.’
• So the music team sings three songs.
• We sing with them and we think that we met our praising God quota for the week.
• We use these songs like it’s some warm-up exercise for the congregation
• That’s not what praise is.
• Praise is preparation for receiving God’s Word.
• Praising God is fellowshipping God.
• It is a vehicle which makes God’s Presence real to us.

#041: How Breathtaking Is the Throne of God? [Podcast]

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