In the last chapter we saw that Revelation is a book of life. In this chapter we will see that it is a book of praise. In Revelation 5:8-14 there are the praises in the beginning of the book; then in 19:1-7 there are the praises again at the end. In between, in 7:9-12; 14:1-3; 15:2-4; as well as in other places, there are also praises. Revelation is really a book of praise.
Why are there so many praises in the book of Revelation? It is mainly for Christ. Christ has won the victory, Christ is victorious, and Christ is worthy. So all things in the heavens, on the earth, under the earth, and in the sea are praising Christ. If everything in the whole universe must praise, then what about the church? Should the church be silent? How poor Christianity is today! Not only those in the heavens, not only those on the earth, but even those under the earth and in the sea are praising. What about us? We have to take the lead to give more praises. We see how wrong Christianity is today. They build up their cathedrals and church buildings with stained-glass windows and make their places of so-called worship so dark. When you enter these places, it is so dark, and the roof is so steep that you are afraid to open your mouth. That kind of building keeps your mouth shut. Have you ever been in a Catholic cathedral? It simply frightens you into silence. Who did this? It was Satan.
So many Christians talk about 1 Corinthians 12, but they have missed the first three verses. Verse 1 says something about being spiritual, and verse 2 says that when the Corinthians were Gentiles, they were led away to dumb idols. All the idol worshippers are dumb worshippers. The word dumb in this verse does not mean that they were stupid, but that they made no sound. Dumb idols have dumb worshippers. All the worshippers of idols are silent. Once, I saw several hundred people worshipping idols without any voice; all of them were so dumb and silent. I have also seen Catholic churches in many places. I discovered that all the worshippers in the Catholic churches are also dumb. They go to some of the images and burn candles without any voice. They are so dumb and so silent.
Christianity teaches people that they must be silent when they worship God. Is there any scriptural ground for this? Acts 2:47 says that the early church was praising God. Can you praise God silently? In a sense, you may pray to God silently, but I do not believe you can praise God silently. Who can praise without uttering something? Do you see the subtlety of the enemy?
In a sense, the services of today’s Christian churches are almost a dumb worship. They have pastors to give the message, and the audience sits and listens. Everybody knows how to listen, but very few know how to praise God. They do not have any spiritual praising; what they have are the formal solos and the special numbers by the choir. We need to read the book of Revelation again. If in all realms of the entire universe everyone is praising, why must we keep silent? I am afraid that many Christians will be surprised that so many in the universe can praise, but they are not used to praising.
Suppose we were all to come into the meeting place in such a silent way: everyone sits quietly, waiting for the song leader to call a hymn; then the pastor offers a prayer and gives a sermon; then there is the benediction, and we are dismissed. Do you like this kind of meeting? You may say that you do not know how to praise, but at least you can say, “O Lord! Amen! Hallelujah!” At least you can shout, “Praise the Lord!” Everyone can sing that Jesus is the Lord! Of these two kinds of meetings, which do you prefer? Which do you think the Lord prefers? Do you prefer a noisy kind of meeting, or do you prefer a silent one? Regardless of how much you simply listen and hear, there is nearly nothing satisfying and refreshing; there is nearly nothing nourishing. But the more you say, “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah! O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!” the more you are satisfied. The more you sing it, the more you are refreshed and nourished. Why is this? It is because you are exercising your spirit to contact the Lord. The Lord is not a thought or doctrine. The Lord is the life-giving Spirit, and the Spirit is the breath. Christ is the intensified Spirit, the sevenfold breath. He is not waiting for us to understand Him; He is waiting for us to breathe Him in. The more we say, “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah! O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!” the more we breathe Him in. This is really good for our spirit, and it is really good for Him too. We can sense the inner satisfying, the inner watering, the inner refreshing, and the inner nourishing.