Today’s Scrip-Bit 27 December 2020 Revelation 4:8b.

27 Dec 2020 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Revelation 4:8b.     ​Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Yuh know people, if we think things were bad before with the physical gathering in church, well they even worse now with the tighter lockdown in our province. Brother! When it going to end eh? But if people refuse to obey the few rules we have to keep the pandemic under control, then what yuh expect eh? And with some new variant now on the scene too, it’s only going to make life more difficult, even with a vaccine or two being slowly administered. 

But right now all of that is immaterial, we only concerned with getting together by whatever technological means possible and offering some praise and worship to Almighty God on this His special day. So let’s get going with this oldie but goldie nuh, that reputedly, in a poll in the U.S and Canada was chosen as the greatest hymn. Oh my, my! 

And you must be wondering what hymn that could be eh? (smile) Well it’s one written by an Anglican Bishop Reginald Heber (1782 -1826) a long time ago, but still persists as a favourite of all believers. It’s the immortally titled ‘Holy, Holy, Holy.’ The hymn that pays tribute to our marvelous and wonderful Godhead our Three in One Trinity. Therefore, in loud but sweet, harmonious and soulful tones, let’s raise our voices heavenwards, in sincere praise to our great God. 

‘Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee; Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty! God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity! Holy, Holy, Holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee, Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be. Holy, Holy, Holy! though the darkness hide Thee, Though the eye of sinful man, Thy glory may not see: 

Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee, Perfect in power in love, and purity. Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! All thy works shall praise Thy name in earth, and sky, and sea; Holy, Holy, Holy! merciful and mighty, God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity! Holy, Holy, Holy! merciful and mighty, God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!’ 

Amen mih people, Amen! And the wonderful thing about that hymn is that all the numerous sentiments contained therein are true! Our God is merciful and mighty! And it is indeed a Godhead made up of a Trinity of three persons; Father, Son and Holy Sprit! And yuh better believe all the saints adore our wonderful Godhead – although sometimes you wouldn’t think so, judging from our behaviour. (smile) And that part about the saints casting down their golden crowns and Cherubim and seraphim falling down before our God, well all of that is also true. 

Listen to the Good Book tell it nuh. ‘And round about the throne were four and twenty seats (thrones): and upon the seats (thrones) I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment (robes); and they had on their heads crowns of gold…And 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 (living creatures) full of eyes before (in front) and behind…And 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. 

And when those beasts (living creatures) give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The 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, Thou 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 (by your will they exist).’ (Rev. 4:4, 6,8-11) 

Yes mih bredrin, ole Reggie didn’t lie at all when he put this marvellous hymn together so long ago. And yuh better believe that the parts about the eyes of sinful man can’t see His glory, and there’s NONE beside Him; that only He is holy, perfect in power, LOVE and purity…all of that’s also gospel truth! Consequently, it’s a no-brainer that our voices should rise early every morning to Him in praise and thanksgiving, and all the things He’s made ought to also worship and adore Him. That’s why so many of the psalms are filled with praises to Almighty God – Ps. 63:1; Ps. 59:16; Ps. 108:3; are only a few of them. 

And we going to quote these magnificent words form Psalm 148 – All creation to praise the Lord. ‘Praise ye the Lord (sing Hallelujah): Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also stablished (established) them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.’ (Ps. 148: 1-6) 

Yes friends, everything that God made and set in His wonderful universe ought to praise Him! And we going to finish this li’l introspection of our hymn (smile) with another mighty piece of scripture which I’m sure Reggie also took into consideration when he wrote it. It concerns Isaiah’s vision and commission. 

Isaiah says it thus: ‘In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train (the train of his robe) filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain (two) he covered his face, and with twain (two) he covered his feet, and with twain (two) he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.’ (Is. 6:1-4) 

And yuh better believe that yes, ye fellow saints of Christ, else crapaud smoke yuh pipe! (smile) Seriously though, there’s no doubt whatsoever that the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob indeed deserves our praise, thanksgiving and adoration! We all know and privately admit it. So let’s start doing that on a much wider scale nuh. It is our bounden duty as wonderful creatures of His awesome and amazing creation! Much LOVE!

…worshipping the Creator of the universe…should come automatically to His creations… 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 18 August 2019 Revelation 4:11.

18 Aug 2019 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Revelation 4:11.    ​Thou 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 (by your will they exist.
 

Oh my fellow believers, I bring you warm and plentiful greetings of peace and LOVE this Sunday morning from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Remember it’s the Lord’s Day; the day He rested after creating our universe, and He expects us to get in some rest today too, but also to join together with other believers in sincere fellowship in His sanctuary. And believe me, He doesn’t care whether our meeting place is a splendiferous cathedral, or merely a poor, broken down hovel. 

Remember what Jesus said: ‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’ (Matt.18:20) Yes friends, our great and merciful God simply wants us to gather together to worship and praise Him and hear His Word so that we can be encouraged, our faith strengthened to go out and face the enemy with zest and confidence during this upcoming week. So today, please let’s make it a point to gather with believers of like faith and raise our hearts and voices to heaven in praise and exaltation.

And as always, we begin our proceedings with song, today’s being one supposedly chosen in a poll by the Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada, as being the greatest Christian hymn ever. We call it’ Holy, Holy, Holy.’ Some might not call it the greatest, but it surely is amongst the greatest! It was written by the Anglican pastor Reginald Heber (1783-1826), apparently for use on Trinity Sunday, the Sunday after Pentecost, a feast day in honour of the Holy Trinity. 

As you can see it speaks specifically of the Holy Trinity with several references to passages of scripture in the Good Book. The claim has also been made that John Bacchus Dykes composed a tune for this hymn in 1861 and titled it ‘Nicaea’ as a tribute to the First Council of Nicaea, which formalized the doctrine of the Trinity in 325. 

And now that we have all that knowledge of the tune’s origins, let’s sing it in loud, harmonious voice nuh, making heaven sit up and take notice. All together now: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee; Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty! God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity! Holy, Holy, Holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy. sea; Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee, Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be. 

Holy, Holy, Holy! though the darkness hide Thee, Though the eye of sinful man, Thy glory may not see: Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee, Perfect in power in LOVE, and purity. Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! All thy works shall praise Thy name in earth, and sky, and sea; Holy, Holy, Holy! merciful and mighty, God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity! Holy, Holy, Holy! merciful and mighty, God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!’ 

Oh my people, I’m sure that all three personages of our Trinity were touched by that soulful and harmonious rendition! You know our God likes His praise. (smile) As the sons of Korah sang: ‘Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.’  (Ps.47:6-7) 

But the words themselves are ever so relevant to the believer’s life.  Just listen to these sentiments nuh. ‘Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.’ And so should it my faithful brethren. Bruh David enshrined it in Psalm 5 when he declared: ‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.’ (Ps.5:3) And our God sure is ’Merciful and Mighty! No doubt about that whatsoever. 

As Isiah said when the Lord commissioned him, and he saw the wonder of the Lord on His throne with the seraphim all around Him. ‘And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.’ (Is.6:3) And so it is indeed my people! 

Then in the second verse of the hymn, we have the vision of John per the activities in heaven: ‘And round about the throne were four and twenty seats (thrones): and upon the seats (thrones) I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment (robes), and they had on their heads crowns of gold…. And 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 (living creatures) full of eyes (symbolizing wisdom) before and behind. 

And the first beast was like a lion (representing strength), and the second beast like a calf (representing service), and the third beast had a face as a man (representing intelligence), and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle (representing swiftness). And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him (depicting movement); and they were full of eyes within: and they rest (cease) not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. 

And when those beasts (living creatures) give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The 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, Thou 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 (by your will they exist.’ (Rev.4:4, 6-11)) 

And that says it all friends! The scholars though expand on it some: ‘4:9-11. All of heaven worship the Father. The angels extol His character, and the elders (church) extol His creative powers. God has the right to rule and the sovereign authority to judge the earth, because He is both holy and the Creator of all.’ Please let’s remember that and live accordingly my fellow believers in Christ, for it will stand us in good stead down the road. Much LOVE!

…our Godhead…perfect in power…in LOVE…and in purity…