 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Editorial:
"There's Nothing New About Change"
Anna Rankin
Comment:
Embracing the Stranger
Denise Wright
From
the Director: Change and Decay – so what's new?
David W Porter
Alwyn
Thomson
Ethel White
A
Changing Church
Chris Easton
Women,
the Church and Change
Lesley Carroll
Interview
with Noel Fallows: Multi-cultural Church Life
Anna Rankin
Urban
Grit
Ken Groves
Higher
Throne
Keith
Getty & Kristyn Lennox
2003
Conference: Reconciliation – Illusion or Elusive?
What's
Jesus got to do with Forgiveness?
Stuart Noble
Review:
Lost in Translation
Gareth Higgins
Review:
The Church Beyond the Congregation by James Thwaites
Claire Martin
Review:
A Time for Mission by Samuel Escobar
Ben
Walker
Review:
Against the Stream by David W Smith
Cheryl
Reid
Review:
Evangelicalism and National Identity in Ulster, 1921-1998 by Patrick
Mitchel
David Hewitt
Review:
I was a teenage Catholic by Malachi O'Doherty
Fran
Porter
Higher Throne
There is a higher throne
Than all this world has known
Where faithful ones from every tongue
Will one day come
Before the Son we'll stand
Made faultless through the Lamb
Believing hearts find promised grace
Salvation comes
Hear heaven's voices
sing
Their thunderous anthem rings
Through emerald courts and sapphire skies
Their praises rise
All glory, wisdom, power
Strength, thanks and honour are
To God our King who reigns on high
For evermore
And there we'll find our home
Our life before the throne
We'll honour Him in perfect song
Where we belong
He'll wipe each tear-stained eye
As thirst and hunger die
The Lamb comes as our Shepherd King
We'll reign with him.
Keith Getty &
Kristyn Lennox
Copyright © 2003 Thankyou Music/MCPS
Text: Revelation
7: 9-17
FROM THE ANCIENT kings and heroes, to our own CNN images of both diplomatic
elegance and brutality, the landscape of history has often been shaped
by great seats of power. And yet the Bible teaches that all the governments
of this world pale before the authority of the higher throne of heaven.
Isaiah prophesied of this throne:
'For to us a child is born . . . He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.' (Is. 9:6-7).
What is this 'higher' throne in Revelation 7 and how does it impact our lives and our worship?
It is eternal
'Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honour and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.' (Rev.
7:12)
When all we can ever
have here on earth is only ever temporary (Mt.
6:19-20), this is something to cling on to and really live for. Vaughan
Roberts writes of a world that lives for the moment, that 'looks down'.
U2 sing, 'you've got stuck in a moment and you can't get out of it.' Consistently
cultivating an eternal view in our lives will loosen our grip on earthly
treasures.
It is for everyone
'After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude . . . from
every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne.'
(Rev.
7:9).
It was never God's intention for people to be divided. We are each made deliberately different, by one Creator, but we are also called to declare his glory as one body. God's throne is higher than any geographical, racial or linguistic boundaries and in the chorus of the hymn a new song, a new anthem is being sung by a new nation.
Worshipping God in our singing is not only a wonderful expression of loyalty to Christ but also a great expression of unity – an expression that will be broader and perfected around the throne of heaven. Let.s grasp the many opportunities we have to express the unity we find in Christ, this side of heaven.
It makes us perfect
'They were wearing white robes . . . And they cried out in a loud voice
"Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb."'
(Rev.
7:9-10).
We will one day stand faultless before the Lamb who saved us. No other throne could offer complete forgiveness and restoration. Until this completion we can respond daily to his Spirit renewing, changing and perfecting us – we must expect this to happen. And we do not lose heart as we are energised and inspired by the great hope that, though undeserving, we will stand clean, dressed in white before our Lord.
It answers the
question of suffering
'The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat . . . and God
will wipe every tear from their eye.' (Rev.
7:16-17)
At this throne suffering is not forgotten, but answered. Every heartache, tear, pain, disappointment and loss is caught in the loving hands of our Father. Suffering has not been senseless, will not be misunderstood and will not go without justice. This throne holds the only ruler who could relieve and eradicate pain. While Christ responds to our suffering today with strength and comfort and sometimes complete healing, the ultimate answer to pain does not lie in this life but in the next – this is our hope.
It satisfies
'Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.' (Rev.
7:16)
Imagine a throne where all God-given desires are met. CS Lewis writes that desires on earth which have not been met mean that we were made for another place. We cannot expect to find all we need and long for in this world and so live in hungry pursuit of it – we will always be disappointed though are hands seem so full. We must remind ourselves that the majority of the world's population today desperately try to find enough work to simply provide food for their families – if they don't, they go hungry that day. In heaven we will all be emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually satisfied – forever.
It points to a
King
'For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd.' (Rev.
7:17)
The Lamb as Shepherd is an interesting paradox – something that is weak, vulnerable and also reminds us of sacrifice becomes the leader and protector. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, did a very unusual thing for a king – he made himself nothing, taking on the life of a servant (Phil. 2) and gave himself for all mankind. It is this king who occupies the highest throne – he who made himself low will be raised above all others by God. Where many of today's leaders find their power and greatness through egotism, manipulation and fame, here is authentic Christian leadership. Jesus said that all those wanting to become great should become least, the servant of all. By this definition, according to Martin Luther King, all men could be great.
Often, worship today – our lives, thoughts and singing – is preoccupied with our experience of God and life now. Yet the reality of his throne should not only inspire us with an urgency to speak of him in all we do, but it should also inspire us to invest in and look forward to the promise of real life. Life on earth is only a shadow of all that is to come. This is our training ground, but one day school will be out and real life will begin – a life of joy, service, fulfilment, responsibility and adventure. There we will find our home before the throne where all heaven's voices will sing in perfect song, honouring the Lamb.
 |
||
 |
 |
|