Join us in this inspiring episode of Hope for Today as we explore the timeless beauty and power of Psalm 145. We delve into the profound majesty of our Lord, celebrated through songs like ‘Majesty: Worship His Majesty.’ Discover how God’s glory demands our eternal praise and how this reverberates throughout generations. As we shift our focus to Revelation 19, we gather insight into the enormity of God’s kingdom and the soul-stirring sounds of praise that fill heaven.
Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Have you been washed in the blood of the Lamb, says the song? What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. It fills our hymn books. It’s filled the praise of Christians for centuries. There’s only one way to be there, and that’s to come through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER 02 :
This is Hope for Today. This world spills its praise on celebrities, athletes, politicians, and anything else that glitters for a moment and then fades away. But the God of heaven, the God of heaven does not fade, not one bit. He doesn’t stumble. He doesn’t lose one ounce of his glory. He is great, majestic, and he is worthy of praise that never, ever dies, never ends. Wow, this is a great message, a great study just ahead. Stay with us. We’re going into the Word of God right here on Hope for Today. Hope for Today First, we want to tell you about a free resource available right now at the Hope for Today homepage. This is called Does God Truly Love Me? Does God Truly Love Me? Written by our good friend Richard A. Bennett. And it’s designed to help you or someone you know find real assurance that the God we’re studying in this current radio series truly loves you and loves them. And Does God Truly Love Me is a free booklet available as a download in multiple languages. And this is going to provide real help to those who are struggling and doubting or just need to be reminded of the truth of God’s love. Just click, download, read. And by the way, share it with as many folks as you like. Look for Does God Truly Love Me at DavidHawking.org. Now here’s David with day one of Hallelujah to Our God.
SPEAKER 01 :
Turn to Psalm 145. When I think of the majesty of our Lord, it comes into my mind probably like yours, one of Jack Hayford’s songs. I think he’s written about 500 hymns now, but he wrote one that’s really good. It’s just captured the hearts of Christians for a number of years now. Majesty, worship his majesty. Unto thee be all glory, honor, and praise. Majesty, kingdom authority, flows from the throne unto his own, his anthem raise. So exalt, lift up on high the name of Jesus. Magnify, glorify. You know, I think sometimes we forget that the number one thing God wants from us is praise. On the final stanzas it says, Jesus who died, now glorified, King of all kings. He’s King of kings and Lord of lords. Hallelujah for his sovereign glory. majesty. In Psalm 145.10, it says, all your works shall praise you, O Lord, and your saints shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and talk of your power to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious majesty. Some translations say splendor. The glorious majesty of his kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures forever. throughout all generations. Back to Revelation 19. I’d like you to notice the scene of this praise, this shouting of hallelujah to God. What is the scene? It’s in heaven. It says in Revelation chapter 19, verse 1, after these things, I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven. It’s heaven we’re looking at. By the way, if you are into, um, The historical background of the writing of the book of Revelation, you know that John was somehow transferred in some sort of spiritual time machine into the future where he actually saw the events. If you stop and think about it, you and I who know the Lord… our reading about ourselves and what we will be doing. So as you read through the passage, just remember that if you know the Lord, that’s you. You say, hey, that’s me there. Did you hear my voice? A loud voice of a great multitude in heaven. You know, we need balance when we talk about how many folks are going to be in heaven. The scene of this praise is heaven. But when I look at the size of it, man, God blows my mind apart. He says a great multitude. In chapter 7, he says a multitude that no one can number. In chapter 5, he says 10,000 times 10,000. In the Greek mathematical system, 10,000 is the highest number they have. Multiplied by itself. There’s so many people. We need balance with that. Here’s what I mean. There’s a lot of folks talking about heaven. It ain’t going there. Amen. Jesus said, in the last day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, have we not done many wonderful works in your name? Have we not cast out demons in your name? Have we not prophesied in your name? He’ll say, depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you. Apparently, the scene at the end, before Christ comes, is there’s a lot of people who profess Christianity. Maybe it’s a lot like the early days of Constantine in the 300s, when he declared Christianity as a state religion. And all of a sudden, everybody brought their paganism right in. We’ve been suffering ever since. Christianity will be popular. People will mention they are Christians, whether they’ve ever made a commitment to Christ or not, whether they’ve ever been born again. Jesus said there’ll be many of them like that. So a lot of us, when we say, hey, how many folks are really going to heaven? It won’t be very many. You know, I’ve heard that from folks. But I want you to know that in reading the Bible, I’ve discovered that there are going to be more folks in heaven than I could ever possibly dream would be there. God’s into lots of people. He likes people. And he wants lots of them in heaven. And there will be a great multitude in heaven. All his servants, those who fear him, both small and great, says verse 5. They’re all going to be there. How many is going to be there? Well, there’s no way to count the number of them. There’s going to be so many people in heaven. I thought about this just a couple of days ago at one of these lots. You know one of those pagan symbols, Christmas tree? I went over to get one. The guy and his father, they bring trees down from way up near the Nevada border. They’re actually in California, a little small town. And they grow all these trees and they’re selling them right here in our neighborhood on these lots. And they bring the trees down. Well, he heard me in Sacramento at one of our radio rallies. And so I had a wonderful time talking to him. By the way, they provided the branches, the actual live branches around the church. They provided them for us free of charge. But anyway, we were talking about it. He said that he likes a small town. He said, boy, you got so many people around here. You know, we’re talking about people and traffic. I said, boy, I sure hope you’re going to like heaven. He said, hey, I’m Chris. I’m going to like heaven. I said, well, there’s lots of folks up there. I don’t know what you thought. Maybe you thought just you and a few of your friends are going to be there. I don’t know. They’re going to come out of every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. The heavens are going to be filled with people. And I love to read this, a great multitude in heaven, the size of that praise. And look at the sound of the praise. Here’s where some of you check off. The sound, it says in verse 1, a loud voice. Look down in verse 6. It says the voice of a great multitude as the sound of many waters, as the sound of mighty thunderings. Chapter 4 says it comes out of the throne, these mighty sounds, these mighty thunderings. The number one word, most characteristic word of Revelation, is the word loud. It’s actually the Greek word Great. Mega. We use the word mega to really describe something. Like a megapolis is really a giant metropolitan area. Or mega trends. Very influential gigantic trends in the world. Mega is being used a lot in various literature and business articles. Listen. Mega is heaven. The mega sounds of the world are in heaven. And God’s into loud. And some of you are into quiet. Amen? Now we need balance here. God does speak in the still, small voice, and God does speak when it’s quiet. But some of you are convinced that is the only thing God wants, is quiet. You are wrong. Very wrong. But the good news is that God’s going to change your ears so you can handle it in heaven, okay? You’re going to have a brand new bicycle. Don’t worry. So when your kid turns up the sound system upstairs and you’re just driving, remember it’s loud in heaven. And at that moment, your kids are playing music so loud you can’t stand it. You say to yourself, praise God that he’s going to change my ears. You might also pray that God will help them with theirs because they’re blowing their ears away. A loud sound, the Bible says, God’s into loud sounds. Can you imagine what heaven is going to be like? What’s the subject of this praise? Chapter 19, verse 1, it says, Hallelujah. And the next word, salvation, glory, honor, and power. Verse 2 explains, because he judged the great harlot, this pagan religious system that’s existed from the days of Babylon till now. In its final form, who knows what it will be. But this system has corrupted the earth with a fornication. It was false. It was not true. And what are they shouting to God for? Now we got the truth. And God has smashed the smithereens of false. Now no more deception. There it is in all of its glory and purity, the truth of God. And they are rejoicing that he has avenged also the blood of all of God’s saints who have been killed in the name of false religion. They shout hallelujah. Also look at verse 6. The subject of the praise is hallelujah, and the next statement is for the Lord God omnipotent, all-powerful reigns. It’s hallelujah for his sovereign majesty. The Lord reigns. Don’t you love the Messiah and the hallelujah chorus? I almost feel like we could insert it right now and go for it. Get it on your stereo sets and your radios and play the Messiah and let God speak to your heart. Hallelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Let’s come to the second paragraph, verse 7. Hallelujah for our coming marriage. Are you going to be there? The marriage supper of the Lamb. Do you like weddings? I love weddings. They’re so great. The only one I didn’t like was the one I had to pay for. I just love weddings. You know, I’m into extravagance just because I know what the Bible teaches. And yet I’m into good stewardship. And I don’t believe you should spend too much money. You ought not to. But then on the other hand, what an occasion to spend money for. The Bible says that earthly marriages are a type of our Lord’s marriage to us. But there’s a lot of things about weddings that bother me. One is the cost. You know, it bothers me. All fathers of any daughters right now, if your daughter is not married yet, you need prayer and fasting, brother, let me tell you. You’re in for it. The year my daughter was married, I talked to several guys in the church who had their daughters married that year. I wanted to get a general idea of what its cost was, and I thought, well, this is going to be easy. And I talked to these men. I tried to get an average. I talked to five men. The average was $8,000 they spent. I mean, I was thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of $800. I mean, I couldn’t believe it. Why does cake cost so much? Why don’t you tell your daughter, why don’t you just bake your own cake? I mean, what’s going on here? And why do so many people come? I mean, why not? Well, you give a general invitation to the church, but do they have to come? Why do flowers cost so much? Why don’t we go in people’s yards and just pick them up? You know, I can’t believe it. And you’re looking at a dress for $500. You’re kidding me. Get one at Kmart. What are you talking about? I mean, there are reasons, you see, to be upset. But on the other hand, I like extravagance. But there’s something about weddings. A lot of you know what’s coming right now that bothers me greatly. You hear the organ playing after, you know, the opening deal, they light the candles and all that. Everybody stands, the doors fling open, and the guy that’s been paying for it all creeps down with this woman. The guy, the woman is just elaborate, man. She’s wearing this gorgeous thing that goes all over the aisle. And everybody’s so excited and she comes up. Hey, look, she is the bride. I don’t read anything here. Behold, the bride comes. No, I read, behold, the bridegroom comes. So I think we should change things a little bit. I mean, you want to bring the woman down like that, that’s okay. But the next scene, I suggest the hallelujah chorus. I suggest the doors fling open. Put him in white and bring him down. Here’s the bridegroom. And bring the dad that way, too. He paid for it. Let’s get this thing straightened out, folks. Boy, what is it going to be like in heaven, huh? Is it going to be great or is it going to be great? Blessed are those… who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. What a celebration it’s going to be. You’re going to be there? Let me tell you four things about that day. Our purpose is stated right there in verse 7, right away. Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory. That’s been the purpose of everything from the beginning. According to chapter 4, verses 9 to 11, God created everything to bring glory and praise and honor to Him. Give Him glory. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10.31 Give Him glory. You know when the Bible in the book of Acts, also in Revelation, describes those who have truly become believers, you know what it says? It says they glorified God. It’s a technical expression for belief. What’s our purpose? To give Him glory. Secondly, look at our preparation. You’ve got to be prepared to come to this wedding. You’ve got to have the right clothes on. It says in verse 7, his wife has made herself ready. Are you ready for the married supper of the Lamb? Jesus told several parables dealing with folks who should be ready. He said those that were at the wedding of God and did not have a wedding garment were cast into outer darkness, where there’s weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. They were thrown out of the wedding. Why? Because they didn’t have the right wedding garment on. His wife has made herself ready. There’s balance here, is there not? The eternal God saves us. God calls us to himself. God works his plan of salvation in us. God the Holy Spirit brings us to supernatural awakening as we call it being born again. God does it. But isn’t it interesting? The text says the wife has made herself ready. You see, we also have a responsibility to that message, to receive it and to believe it. And it’s God that’s working it in us. And there’s balance between those two things, the work of God and the responsibility of man. The wife made herself ready. And the next statement is the balance to that when it said, and to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright. Now what’s the fine linen? It says it’s a righteousness or the righteous acts of the saints. We notice in verse 14, the armies in heaven who come, they’re clothed in fine linen. Back up, please, in your Bibles to chapter 3 of Revelation, verse 5. Let’s look at Revelation briefly and see the white garments that supposedly are necessary For us to be prepared for the marriage supper of the Lamb. In chapter 3, in the messages to the seven churches, this one to Sardis. And it says in verse 4, you have a few names even in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white garments. for they are worthy. He who overcomes, by the way, all overcomers are true believers. The same writer wrote the book of 1 John chapter 5 and said, Who is he who overcomes but he who believes in the name of the Son of God? All overcomers are true believers. He who overcomes, verse 5, shall be clothed in white garments. And I will not blot out his name from the book of life. White garments. Look at chapter 4, verse 4. In heaven we have 24 elders who represent, we believe, the completed church of God in heaven. And it says in verse 4, they are clothed in white garments. robes. Look at chapter 6, please, verse 11, dealing with the martyrs of all the past who are asking God how long until He avenges their blood. And verse 11 says, a white robe was given to each of them. Look at chapter 7, verse 9, as we see a multitude of people getting saved during the tribulation. It says, “…a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes.” And I look down at verse 13, one of the elders said, “…who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” He said, “…Sir, you know.” He said to me, “…these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation.” and washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. That’s all I need to know. In order to get into this marriage supper, you’ve got to be clothed with the white garments. Jesus taught that clearly in his parables. You’ve got to have a wedding garment on, and it’s to be white. And it’s white according to the Bible because it’s been washed in the blood of the Lamb. There’s only one way to be at that marriage supper. There’s only one way to share the joys of heaven, and that is to come through the death of Jesus Christ our Lord. He died on the cross for your sins and mine. We are washed clean. By the blood of the Lamb. There is no other way. The prophet Zechariah said in chapter 13, verse 1, there is a fountain coming for cleansing. A fountain to the house of David. And the songwriter wrote, there’s a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins. And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Have you been washed in the blood of the Lamb, says the song? What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. It fills our hymn books. It’s filled the praise of Christians for centuries. There’s only one way to be there, and that’s to come through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look back at chapter 1 of Revelation. Chapter 1. when he’s giving his greetings to the seven churches to whom he was writing and saying grace and peace, in verse 5 he said it was from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth, to him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. There is no other way to have a white robe, to have that garment clean and fine that God wants for that wedding that he calls the marriage supper of the Lamb than to be washed, Are you ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, that’s Bible teacher and author David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David’s back in just a moment or two to put the finishing touches on our study time today. Stay right there. Right now, though, Matt’s here, and Matt, we have some wonderful resources that are really going to bless folks this month. Let’s talk about them.
SPEAKER 03 :
In Psalms 86, 8 through 10, we see the majesty of our God. The psalmist states, “…among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord, neither are there any works like unto thy works.” All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great and dost wondrous things.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thou art God alone. Oh, what a great passage that is, Matt. You’ve got to ask the question, and folks are asking this question, why do we have confidence that the God of the Bible is the only true God? Are all religions just worshiping the same God? Do all paths lead to God? Do we have an accurate understanding of God? What might we be missing? Yeah, good questions. Well, this month we’re featuring The God of the Bible by David Hawking. In this essential and powerful study, David tackles the questions we’ve mentioned and so much more.
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The God of the Bible is just $20, and it’s a perfect companion resource to our current radio series.
SPEAKER 02 :
Speaking of which… We’re making this radio series, the current series, The Attributes of God, available for $20 on MP3 CD.
SPEAKER 03 :
Everything you’ll hear in this series from start to finish and some extra material we won’t have time to include.
SPEAKER 02 :
16 audio messages. And, Matt, we take two to three days on the radio, as you know, per message. And the MP3 set will save and preserve it all for your encouragement. in the years to come.
SPEAKER 03 :
Get the Attributes of God radio series on MP3 and share it with a friend or use it in a Bible study. And again, it’s just $20.
SPEAKER 02 :
And you can also add my dad’s original sermon notes for the series, just $10. And these are David’s original sermon notes and outlines for each message in the Attributes of God series.
SPEAKER 03 :
So helpful as you listen, review, or share these faith-building lessons with others. For more information on these resources, call or visit our website.
SPEAKER 02 :
And again, Matt, the resources we’ve talked about here, The God of the Bible by David Hawking, the book, $20. The Attributes of God radio series, our current radio series on MP3, complete, $20. And the sermon notes, David’s original sermon notes for the series, $10 for the complete pack. You can order by phone at 1-800-75-BIBLE in the U.S., 1-888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Bible is 24253. Or visit our website and order there, the website davidhawking.org. And just before David returns, please do remember that we would be honored to pray for you. There might be a burden on your heart, something that is so pressing or a need in your life. Maybe there’s a relationship problem or you’re having a hard time wrapping your head around God’s love for you. Whatever the case, we invite you to reach out and let us know how we can pray for you. And we’d also like you to pray for us as well. Pray that God would continue to use this ministry for His glory. Our study today is titled, Hallelujah to Our God. We want every aspect of this ministry to bring hallelujah to God, praise to Him. And as the Lord might lead, would you prayerfully consider joining with us in ministry with a financial contribution? Your support helps us keep this broadcast going out and helps us continue sharing the truth of God’s word without compromise. To let us know you’re praying for us or perhaps to give a special financial gift or to sign up for a regular monthly contribution, you can even make that automatic. If you like, well, write to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California. 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, BC, V2S 8P1. Or again, call us at 875-BIBLE in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Visit us online at davidhawking.org. And for your prayers, your support, and your encouragement, thank you. Thank you so much. Well, as promised, here again is David.
SPEAKER 01 :
I love to say hallelujah. And sometimes I say praise-aloo-yah. I don’t know what you come up with, but let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Hallelujah means praise the Lord. And interesting, it’s in every language of the world. Hallelujah. And I hope that this particular study will be a blessing to you. It is to me. And I kind of thought to myself, we should have played the hallelujah chorus. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. It gets into your heart. You just want to sing it. Well, our point here is that our whole life needs to be a hallelujah to our God. We need to praise God for everything. And I hope that our little study here of this wonderful Word will encourage your heart to praise our blessed Lord and say hallelujah to our God. Thanks for your wonderful support. We depend upon you, you know. We don’t have any organization or church behind us. We trust the listeners in every broadcast area to support the broadcast. So it’s coming to you because you are supporting it.
SPEAKER 02 :
God bless you. Well, thank you, David. And friend, if as David mentioned, you’d like to show your support for this ministry, you can call us at 800-75-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S. Or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. BIBLE is 24253. Or you can give online at davidhawking.org. And on the website, you’ll also find our mailing address. Well, next time is day two of Hallelujah to Our God. Invite a friend to listen along with you right here on Hope for Today.
