Worthy is the Lamb
Revelation • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Let’s turn our bibles to Revelation chapter 4 verse one
1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
I believe the grammar used here by our Lord specified for us that the things which He was about to show John,
(who some believe represented us, the Church recently Raptured, in Heaven with Jesus.)
And that He was now going to show him things that was about to happen on the earth, now that the Rapture,
Or the end of the church age had taken place.
Now that we understand what happened to the churches, Jesus continues His revelation to John.
We say, what happened to the churches, because, after this,
The Churches are no longer mentioned.
That’s it!
god dealt with the Old Testament according to the Law, and the Prophets, and the circumcision.
After Jesus’ miraculous birth, His death, and then His resurrection from the dead,
Those who of the earth who believed on Him, gained life eternal, and those that didn’t recieved the condemnation that the Law was never designed to satisfy
Therefore, After Jesus, God dealt with His creation, through His Grace.
The church age is under the age of this grace.
Meaning that although, we are deserving of condemnation, Jesus forgave us our sin debt
By offering His blood for us, you and me on the cross once and for all.
This is called Grace.
But what happens after this church age of grace is ended?
Like what we see here in the verses that follow Revelation chapter 4.1?
What Jesus calls the “After This?”
As we go forward from this point, please be reminded, that this is what the scripture says.
This is, in no way shape or form, what Pastor says.
This is is Scripture.
2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.
He was in the Spirit?
What does that mean?
That makes sense, because his body was not yet glorified in the Rapture.
It means that he was taken up in his spirit because, the Rapture hasn’t happened yet at this point in John’s earthly life, so he was only taken up in the Spirit.
3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.
John saw someone on the Throne, (God)
And, He was like a Jasper and Sardis stone with a Rainbow all around the throne.
You see, the enemy of God, is a master counterfeit.
It was God who gave the world the beauty of the Rainbow, as a promise that He would never again destroy the earth through a flood.
But, even though it belongs to God, the rebellious world has taken the rainbow as a image to display inclusivity.
In the days, months and years following the horrific terrorist attacks on 9-11, the Islamic community rallied to buy the land that has become known as “Ground Zero”
Because the twin towers were no longer standing occupying the space,
They proposed to use the land for the building of a Mosque.
This is true. This really happened.
I was appalled that this intention was even reported on.
America saw through this blatant attempt as a means to plant a flag of victory at ground zero to forever commemorate the achievement of destruction at that site.
It in that same sense, we Christians ought to see the theft of the Rainbow by these people as an affront to God’s holiness
You see, it was because of their sinful deeds that God flooded the world to in the first place,
So, now these groups using the rainbow as a supposed symbol of inclusivity, have really adopted it as sort of a… “Ha-we’re still here and doing it anyway.”
As a planting of their flag so-to-speak, as an affront as I said to His Holiness.
As for the stones John saw of Jasper and Sardis, or as some translations have it as the Carnelian stone, are the white and red stones.
Which, are the first and the last stones in the Breast Plate of the high Priest
For Jesus is the Alpha & Omega, AMEN
4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Some had proposed that these mysterious 24 elders are some type of angels.
But, we can quickly put that argument to rest, as Angel don’t age, only humans do
So, there would be no such thing as an Elder Angel as they were all created on the same day.
Therefore, these 24 Elders, are human.
Many scholars have now taken the position that these elders are also representing the entire human race.
12 sons of Jacob, and the 12 tribes of Israel make 24, or
The number 24 is mentioned six times in scripture.
Each time it is mentioned, it is associated with the priest of Israel
They could be representing the church as well, etc…
No one really knows for sure, but there are other ideas, on who they may be, but who ever they are, they are human
And, they are in heaven with Jesus before the coming Tribulation
And leaders of God’s people that sit on thrones with Him,
Also, as we’ll see in a bit, they were redeemed, again pointing to the human need for redemption,
Also, the word elder is never used to describe an Angel.
They were wearing white robes, and crowns of gold on their heads.
The greek word used here for Crown is “stephanos,” which means a “Victor’s Crown.”
As if you won a race.
Not to be confused with the another word for Crown, “Diadema” which means the ruler’s or King’s crown.
So as promised, if they held faithful to the end they would be given crowns, AMEN
and indeed John’s vision confirms that they received them.
And so will you and I brother and sister Christian.
One day, not too far off from now, we too will be wearing these same crowns before Jesus.
AMEN AMEN
John also saw lightening and thunderings, and Seven Lamps of fire burning before the throne.
Thats the seven spirits of the Lord from Isaiah eleven two.
Next is the sea of Glass and four living creatures.
6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.
The sea of Glass has three different explanations proposed.
These are pure conjecture, because we really don’t know, what it means,
Here are three possibilities,
The church is before the throne, because the sea has been used as a symbol of humanity
It could mean the Water of the World, the planet.
or it could mean the water of Baptism.
As I said, no one really knows.
Now the four creatures are a bit easier to decipher as the four characteristics of Jesus.
7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.
The Lion is the King of the Jungle, Jesus is the King of Kings
A Calf or an Ox as some versions have it, are attributes of His servant’s nature.
He came to serve, carrying the burden of the World on His shoulders.
3. He was a man, the Son of Man.
4. And then the Eagle, who rules the heavens, as does God. Amen
These creatures had many eyes, signifying His omniscience, knowing and seeing all things in all directions.
8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11 “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”
Notice that even though they were wearing crowns of gold, they threw them down before the throne, and worshipped Him.
Again, I use that word, Notice, means, Think about this for a second,
These individuals, although crowned themselves with honor and gold,
Fell down and worshipped the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s
They did not sit in their seats, on their thrones, and crossed their arms and purse their lips.
Neither did they spend anytime whatsoever worrying about how the pulpit was arranged, or what volume the music was at.
They didn’t spend time worrying about the politics of ministry,
NO!
They worshipped him by throwing all of their sense of value at His feet.
Thats how we should worship here every Sunday, and every Wednesday, and every time we meet, and at home when we pray.
I don’t know how you have been taught up to this point, nor do I attempt to answer for them,
But Church, HEAR MY WORDS.
This is how we are supposed to Worship Him.
There is no other way!
This is how they worship in Heaven,
If you are a believer, then guess what,
One day, not too far off, If you truly are a believer, then you too WILL be worshipping like this any way in heaven before His throne.
So why not start now, here on earth?
Don’t think yourself above this kind of worship, these people in heaven had crowns of gold, yet they threw them down before the Throne as if they were nothing.
Where is your crown?
I don’t see anyone here with a gold crown.
One last point about the four creatures.
Did you notice, they were Living Creatures?
That means, Jesus was alive then and right now! Amen!
Now in Chapter 5 of Revelation, things take a slight turn to a scroll
1 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.
Right hand usually signifies power, or dominance, and in this hand was a scroll, that had seven seals.
In those days, there was no paper mills like we have today,
Recordings were written on Papyrus which was from a plant, or from parchment, which was animal hide.
In this case, the scroll was a long piece of Papyrus that had something written on it but was sealed seven times.
What they used to do was write a little bit of what needed to be said, then roll of the paper or papyrus up to that point and stop.
Then they would use a wax seal.
Then they would write the next section and so on, until it contained seven sealed parts.
Emperors Vespasian and Augustus Caesar had their Will’s written in this fashion and sealed in 7 seals.
But in Johns’ case, there wasn’t anyone in heaven authorized to break open the seals and read the scroll.
4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. 5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” 6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
Many miss why john wept here.
To put it into perspective, let’s step into his shoes for a moment
The man has been swept up to heaven, heard strange voices, saw some very strange creatures and things
He was understanding that what was coming wasn’t going to be good news,
Then he found that this scroll could have some answers to the worlds problems, but wait,
There isn’t anyone qualified to open it, so sorry.
Or so he thought.
John wept because he was only seeing with his eyes.
His focus was on man’s dilemma and missing the big picture.
Until one of the Elders came to him and said,
Stop crying, this isn’t bad news, Its good news because the Lamb that was in the midst of the throne the lamb that was slain stood,
Jesus, The Lamb of God.
The elder told John, the Lamb of God has prevailed,
Meaning,= He won.
Only He was worthy to open the Seal.
This is why we worship Jesus.
Because He alone is worthy of praise and worship.
Yes, Worthy is the Lamb
AMEN!
