Roaring Lamb - Revelation 5

Introduction: Connecting the Lord’s Supper with the Resurrected Christ

As we come to the Lord’s Table this morning…its important to remember We memorialize a death, We do not memorialize the dead!

Paul reminds us in 1 Cor. 11:26 “26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” There it is - we proclaim a death, but in this act we anticipate the return of the risen and living Christ!

I want us to consider today the resurrected Christ from Heaven’s perspective, I want us to see the scene in heaven that theologians sometimes call the session of Christ. This is forty days after his resurrection when Christ ascended into heaven and was seated at God’s right hand to reign over all creation.

The first portion of the scene takes place between the death and ascension of Jesus…then is the second portion of the vision we see His Session.

God is in control of the future (5:1)

a. This is an interesting parallel passage to the end of John 15 where Jesus promises his disciples that the world will hate them because of him…here in Revelation John as experienced the hatred of the world and is looking for reassurance that God’s plan is working. The church is suffering and John is eager to encourage them, so God grants him this vision.

b. The scroll is God’s plan and his purposes for the future - it is in his right hand, the hand of power and authority and he is seated on his throne which emphasizes his sovereign rule over all things.

c. The scroll is full, written within and and the back, this signifies that no detail is left to chance.

d. This scroll reminds John that God is not only in control of History, he has planned it.

e. It is vital that YOU understand that God is in control of all things. Often times we think we are running the show, but we are not.

Psalm 33:11 – The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

Prov. 16:9 – The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lords establishes his steps.

Prov. 19:21 – Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Job 42:2 – “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

f. The early church must have often wondered if God was in control. They were suffering for their faith in Jesus. You may be wondering if God is in control….maybe things are all wrong in your life right now..there is not option, you must trust that he is.

What happens when we try to be in control - We panic, we live in fear, we are anxious, we get depressed, we doubt, we may self-medicate by indulging in sinful activity.

What does it look like to recognize God’s Sovereign Rule?

Popular phrase - Let God and Let God - but I think this is wrong. We are called to a passive life as if what we do doesn’t matter.

The answer is to live our lives as faithful as possible and to walk in wisdom and sound judgment to the glory of God. We realize that this does not dictate every outcome. But we do strive for faithfulness.

The Center of History – No One is Found Worthy to Open the Scroll (5:2-3)

a. Why doesn’t God just open the scroll?

b. What Scripture is telling us is that we are witnessing the climax of history, the center of all things, the pinnacle of God’s plans for the world.

c. God is not opening the scroll because this moment signifies that something extraordinary has been achieved as the central act of God in all of history.

d. God waits at this moment, because all of the purposes of history that will be revealed at the opening of this scroll hinge on these events. So the tension builds as NO ONE IS FOUND WORTHY TO OPEN THE SCROLLS.

e. Here we are reminded that God has a specific plan that can only be advanced by his sovereign purposes…..and what is going to be revealed is that all of History hinges on the death and resurrection of Jesus.

f. In the Lord’s Supper we are also reminding each other that God is in control of history by ordaining the death and resurrection of His Son - the central ordinance of the church is a memorial of the central event in all of human history!

John Weeps Because There is No Jesus in Heaven (4)

a. Consider this for a moment – John is no ordinary fellow, he was the closest disciple to Jesus. Don’t you imagine that he was expecting to see Jesus all along and now no one is found worthy to open the scroll?

b. This is why John weeps….if Jesus failed on the cross and if Jesus failed after resurrecting from the dead….then there is no hope, our faith is in vain.

c. If Jesus has failed, then we should all weep.

i. I Cor. 15:16-17 – For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised, And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile AND YOU ARE STILL IN YOUR SINS!

ii. This is such a powerful point of tension in this vision - because every ounce of hope for humanity is found outside of self and rests in Christ alone! As the very first line of the powerful hymn says - IN CHRIST ALONE, MY HOPE IS FOUND.

If there is no risen Christ in heaven all we can do is weep - because there is nothing good in me, nothing worthy in me - but in him there is grace enough for every sinner - there is nothing so foul that Christ’s blood cannot cleanse!!! But there is absolutely nothing in me, nothing in you, nothing in the angels, that can cleanse the tiniest speck or make amends for the smallest misstep.

Today if we think of Jesus as dead....all we can do is weep with John…everything is without meaning…and there is no hope at all in this world.

The Moment All Eternity Has Been Waiting For (5:5-14 – don’t read entire passage – build it up)

The Arrival of the Triumphant Lion (5:5)

i. The Lion has CONQUERED!

1. What? Notice that the sentence does not specify – this means that he has CONQUERED EVERYTHING!

2. Aorist Tense – action in the past that has been completed forever!

3. The Battle against sin, death, and the devil has been fought and won and will never be fought again.

ii. Here John sees that God’s purposes have been fulfilled…he knows that Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He knows that Jesus is the Messiah King in the line of David. Now he knows for certain that Satan, that old dragon, has been defeated forever….he could not stop the plan of God, and God’s purposes for history can proceed as planned because Jesus has conquered, he is victorious.

The Presence of the Risen Lamb (5:6)

i. In one of the most dramatic scenes in the Scripture John turns to see Jesus…this is what he has been waiting for….and he turns to see that this Lion who roars victoriously is a lamb.

1. Here we see again that John is being reassured, as we are, that the same Jesus he ate with after the resurrection, the same Jesus who hung on the cross and asked John to take care of his mother, this same Jesus, the Lamb of God slain for the world, he is the conquering lion. What he accomplished in his death and resurrection will stand for all eternity.

2. We can be assured with John that the death and resurrection of Jesus accomplished everything.

3. We are reminded that Jesus conquered by dying as a spotless, sacrificial lamb. We are reminded that he did not remain dead, but that he rose from the grave in victory and in power. We are reminded that Satan could not hold him in the tomb.

a. “The devil had, as it were, swallowed up Christ, as the whale did Jonah; but it was deadly poison to him; he gave him a mortal wound in his own bowels. He was soon sick of his morsel, and was forced to do by him as the whale did by Jonah. To this day he is heart-sick of what he then swallowed as his prey.” – Jonathan Edwards

b. In the Supper - we eat a meal of victory - we remember his death to proclaim its efficacy:

Its substitutionary power

Its power to destroy the curse of sin and death and therefore strips Satan of his authority over the fate of planet earth.

We proclaim his victorious death in the certainty of his return to make all things new!

The Coronation of the Lamb (5:7-8)

i. The one who died for us takes the scroll – and heaven erupts in worship.

Ii. The writer of Hebrews wrote about this moment: Hebrews 1:1-4 “1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

iii. Why is this moment so important? Isn’t Jesus already God?

Yes, The Son is one with the Father, but Jesus is the Incarnate son who took on human flesh. His divine nature in no way changed, but he took the throne as a man, as the 2nd Adam, the head of humanity…the 2nd Adam who kept covenant with God, who redeemed a people for himself has been coronated in heaven and will return to a new earth to reign forever and forever and ever.

Mission Accomplished (5:9-14)

a. With the death, resurrection and coronation of Christ History is no longer in doubt.

i. In vs. 6 we see that the lamb has seven horns representing his perfect authority because of what he accomplished.

ii. We also see that he has sent out the perfect Holy Spirit, who is God. The spirit is sent out to gather all those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and to empower his people to live for him and to accomplish his mission.

iii. Vs. 9 we hear in this new song, that Jesus has purchased the salvation of particular people – the scrolls contain God’s plan of eternal blessing for the redeemed and eternal damnation for the lost…..History is not in question any longer.

b. The cross and resurrection of Jesus signify that Jesus is victorious and that the eternal plans of God will not be thwarted.

c. What John can write to the suffering church and we can know for certain is that salvation from sin and death is guaranteed for everyone who will trust in Jesus as the lamb whose blood was shed for the forgiveness of your sin and who will submit to him as your Lion who rose victoriously to rule and to reign for all eternity.

Will you worship this Roaring Lamb?

A. Romans 10:9-10 “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

i. One of the powerful pictures of the Lord’s Supper is that is shows us that everything we need for salvation and sanctification is outside of ourselves and is found in CHRIST ALONE - we literally ingest bread and wine - Jesus is the true bread and true wine - all satisfaction for sin is found in him alone.

ii. Stop looking within for hope - and look to Christ. See him hanging on the cross, see the crown of the thorns on his head, here him groan in agony has he suffers all of the darkness of hell in your place and for your sin - there is your hope.

Stop looking for enough works to prove your own righteousness - look to Jesus in the grave, dead for three days…and then see the empty tomb, the risen Christ…his sacrifice was found worthy, his righteousness sufficient for every sinner who repents and believes in him.

Stop looking around comparing your faith to one another - look up, set your minds on him who seated in the heavenly places…you are with him there if you believe and you have access there with the company of the redeemed - Moses, and David and Paul, and John, Mary, and Priscilla, and Ruth, and Rahab and Sarah... are there with you....all redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

He is the object of faith, he is our hope, he is alive on the throne - WEEP NO MORE and WORSHIP