The Worthy Lamb
Encounters With God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 6 viewsBig Idea: Jesus, the slain yet risen Lamb, is the center of heaven’s worship. Application: Lift your worship to Christ, who alone is worthy of glory and praise.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
For the last several weeks we have been examining what happens to ordinary people when they have an encounter with the living God.
We began with Moses standing before a burning bush where God revealed Himself as holy and called Moses to reverence expressed by the removal of his sandals because he was standing on holy ground.
We examined Isaiah as he saw the Lord high and lifted up and discovered that an encounter with the holiness of God exposes our our own sinfulness but also reveals a God who choses to cleanse and send.
We watched Jesus meet a Samaritan woman at a well and completely redefine her understanding of worship. We watched the Holy Spirit descend upon the disciples at Pentecost empowering them to become witnesses.
We entered into a Philippian jail where Paul and Silas worshipped while suffering, and God sovereignly using that entire situation to bring others into an encounter with Himself.
And last week we traveled all the way to the right of the book, where John gives us a glimpse into heaven. The circumstances on earth not necessarily changed but John's vantage point transformed.
John saw a throne and more importantly he saw the One sitting upon it. This teaches us that regardless of what appears to be happening on earth, heaven is not in chaos.
God is still on His throne. He reigns, He is holy, and all of heaven declares that He is worthy. Now as we enter Revelation 5, we are introduced to a problem that seems quite peculiar because it's seen in heaven.
We were just reassured that the chaos of earth does not occur in heaven because He that sits on the throne is forever but now there's a scroll.
Suddenly there's a question that reverberates throughout heaven: "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break a seal?"
John becomes extremely distressed at this problem because if there is a problem in heaven, that means catastrophe for Earth.
Let us continue John's encounter with the Living God as it began last week and see how it takes us back again to the One who is worthy.
I. No One Is Worthy (vv. 1-4)
I. No One Is Worthy (vv. 1-4)
1 Then I saw in the right hand of Him who sits on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.
This is a direct continuation from last week. Chapter 4 did not end suddenly and get replaced by an entirely different scene. John is still standing in the throne room of God.
He has seen the one sitting on the throne. He has heard the living creatures crying out: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God the Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.
He watched the 24 elders fall before him and declare, "Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power..”
So far everything John has seen has communicated sovereignty, holiness, power, and absolute control. But now John's attention is drawn to something in the right hand of God: a scroll.
The scroll has writings on both sides. In the ancient world writing normally appeared primarily on the inside of a scroll but this scroll is so completely filled that it contains writings on both sides.
The image seems to communicate completeness. Nothing needs to be added. God's purposes have already been determined and it is sealed up with seven seals. (7 in Revelation means complete)
Although this is a heavily discussed topic among theologians, this scroll seems to represent God's sovereign purposes for history moving toward its completion.
And history is not holding God. God is the one holding history. From John's standpoint there is his own experience with the cruelty of Rome.
And here he sees that the persecutors of the church are not holding God's purposes. Satan is not holding God's purposes, God is. This is a comforting notion that nothing that happens happens by chance.
God has ordained and has dominion over the past and the future. In fact all of it, from beginning to end, can be symbolized as being written in one scroll. Because of this total and utter control, the apostle Paul can confidently say,
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
John has come to this understanding with this vision of heaven that we examined last week in chapter 4. But then something happens that changes the atmosphere of the entire scene:
2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?”
John notices that the angel speaking is powerful. He describes him as a strong angel and yet the strong angel asks the question, "Who is worthy?"
In other words who possesses the authority, the qualifications, the moral right to take what is in the hand of God and bring his purposes to completion? This question goes out across creation, Comes with the only answer,
3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.
The entire created order, the entirety of the known and unknown universe, heaven, earth, and under the earth: nobody is worthy. No angel, no prophet, no apostle, no king, no priest.
No human who has ever lived or will ever live, no one in all of the vast creation, is worthy to even take the scroll. We do not know how much time passed but there was a reaction from John.
4 Then I was crying greatly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
John begins to weep and the language here is stronger than just simply saying that John became emotional. The Greek word here is eklaiōn poly. The verb is imperfect. John is weeping and continuing to weep.
This is a sustained bitter weeping. I want you to understand who's crying here. This is the Apostle John. John is no chump. He has lived through extreme hardship.
John followed Jesus through opposition and persecution. He watched the church suffer. He has spent decades caring for the people of God. Early church tradition says they tried to boil him alive, for crying out loud!
Now in Revelation 1:9, he tells us that he is exiled to the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the witness of Jesus, describing himself as a participant in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Christ.
John is an old battle-tested servant of Christ. It would have taken something severe to rattle this man and he is now crying like a baby. Why?
John understands that there is much more at stake here than whether somebody can open a scroll. If that scroll remains closed, what happens to everything God has promised?
What happens to the suffering church? What happens to the martyrs? What happens to justice? What happens to evil? What happens to the enemies of God? What happens to the kingdom?
What happens to God's promise that history is actually going somewhere, that it is going to actually end at some point?
John has just been shown that the scroll containing God's sovereign purposes is safely in God's hand but nobody can open it.
And from where John is standing at that moment, he cannot see how God's purposes are going to move forward if nobody can open this. Do not rush past John's tears.
There are moments in the Christian life when we know exactly what John knows. We know God is on the throne. We know God is sovereign. We know God is holy and faithful. We know His promises to be true.
And still there are moments when we look at what is happening in front of us and say, "Lord, I just don't see how." “I know what you've said. I know what you've promised. I know who you are.”
“But I cannot see how this thing gets resolved.” And sometimes that notion brings the most fearless of us to tears.
Knowing that God is sovereign does not mean that faithful people never weep when they cannot see how His purposes are going to be accomplished. John's tears are real. His distress is real.
I find fascinating that John is writing Revelation after the vision is over so he writes verse 4 while already knowing verse 5, but under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John does not skip his tears. He takes us into them.
Because sometimes we live in. in verse 4 while already knowing verse 5. We cry over what appears impossible while the answer already exists in the purposes of God:
II. The Lamb Is Worthy (vv. 5-10)
II. The Lamb Is Worthy (vv. 5-10)
5 And one of the elders said to me, “Stop crying! Behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
“stop crying!” says one of the elders. “Behold” or look… the answer to the problem is that someone has overcome. And he identifies Him as the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David. Both descriptions reach deep into the OT.
9 “Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lioness, who dares rouse him up?
10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Jacob is dying and blessing his sons and Judah receives this extraordinary promise of kingship. The scepter will belong to Judah and now at the end of the Bible, John is told that the Lion from the tribe of Judah has arrived.
But he's also called the Root of David. That language points us towards Isaiah:
10 Then it will be in that day, That the nations will seek the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a standard for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious.
Jesus is the promised Davidic king. And the elder declares that He has overcome and that is why John can stop crying. Someone is worthy. Somebody can take the scroll. Somebody can bring God's purposes to their appointed completion.
6 Then I saw in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.
John is told, "Behold the lion." He looks and he sees a Lamb. That contrast is intentional. The victorious Lion that John sees appears as a Lamb standing as if slain.
The significance of this imagery is enormous. The Lamb is slain, yet standing. He died but he's not dead. The wounds testify to his sacrifice. His standing testifies to his victory. The Lion has conquered as a Lamb.
Jesus did not overcome by avoiding the cross. The cross was the means through which He conquered. Scripture testifies,
15 Having disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them in Him.
Jesus defeated sin, death, and the powers of darkness through his sacrificial death and resurrection and now he's standing in the midst of the throne.
Last week we emphasized that there are only two fundamental categories of existence: Creator and creation. Everything John saw surrounding the throne belonged to creation.
But now the Lamb is not merely another creature standing somewhere among the heavenly multitudes; he is in the midst of the throne. In his description of the Lamb he says
“having seven horns and seven eyes”
In Scripture the horn regularly symbolizes power and authority. Seven, as we said last week, symbolizes completeness so this Lamb possesses complete power, complete authority. Additionally…
“the seven Spirits of God”
We established last week that this does not mean that there are seven Holy Spirits. The imagery communicates the fullness of the one Spirit of God. The Lamb who looks slain is not weak.
He possesses complete power, perfect knowledge. That's what "seven eyes" means, and the fullness of the Spirit. And the Lamb does what no one else in the universe could do:
7 And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sits on the throne.
And with that the search is over. In verse number 2 the question was asked, "Who is worthy?" In verse 3 the answer was nobody. Which causes John to cry in verse 4
In verse 5 John is told to stop weeping because someone is worthy and now in verse 7 the Lamb takes the scroll. The one sitting upon the throne gives it to him.
Jesus possesses the authority to carry God's purposes for history to their completion. Jesus spoke about this Right before the Great Commission, when he said,
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18)
And heaven immediately responds:
8 And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Last week we watched the living creatures and the elders fall before the one sitting upon the throne. Now they fall before the Lamb. And the bowls contain the prayers of the saints.
This is especially significant in a book written to suffering churches. The prayers of God's people have not disappeared. The prayers offered through tears and under persecution are not ignored.
Considering that this scroll contains all of God's purposes of all history, this would mean that your prayers, the ones you have prayed and the ones that you have yet to pray, are in those golden bowls.
9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
10 “And You made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”
And we discover why the Lamb is worthy. Last week we discovered that God is worthy because He is Creator. Today we discover that He is worthy because He is the Redeemer.
Jesus did not merely make salvation theoretically possible. His blood actually purchased a people for God from every tribe, from every tongue, and from every people and nation.
The Lamb's redeemed people transcend ethnicity, nationality, language, culture, and geography.
This means that all of the people that we will see gathered around the throne will not look alike, won't speak alike, and won't come from the same culture. But they will have one thing in common.
They were all purchased by the same blood and Christ has made them a kingdom and priests to our God.
Sometimes you will cry because you don't know what God is doing but by faith we know that He has worked all things out and none of His promises even have the possibility of failure.
III. All Creation Worships the Worthy Lamb (vv. 11-14)
III. All Creation Worships the Worthy Lamb (vv. 11-14)
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,
12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”
John's point here is that he cannot count the number of them. It is an overwhelming heavenly multitude that surrounds the thrones and all of them have one thing to say:
“Worthy is the Lamb”
This is the Lamb that was slain. His wounds are not an embarrassment in heaven. The cross is not something Jesus overcame and then left behind as if it was some unfortunate episode in His story.
His sacrificial death is part of the reason heaven declares Him worthy. The One they worship is the Lamb who was slain. And once again Revelation uses seven to communicate fullness and completeness. Everything belongs to Him:
All power. All riches. All wisdom. All strength. All honor. All glory. All blessing.There is nothing lacking in the worthiness of Christ but John isn't finished. The circle gets even larger:
13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.”
14 And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
Two categories of existence, only two: Creator and creation. Everything that exists was either created or is the Creator. And John's language is unmistakable. He says, "every created thing."
Everything in heaven, everything on earth, everything in the sea, and everything under the earth. And what is everything doing? Worshiping. The lamb is not included among the creatures offering worship.
The Lamb is receiving the worship of every created thing. If every created thing is on one side worshiping God and the Lamb, then the Lamb cannot belong to the category of created things:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
John could not have made the distinction more clear. If it came into existence, it came into existence through Christ. Therefore Christ Himself did not come into existence. The Lamb is Creator, not creation.
This means that the Lamb is both Creator and Redeemer. Do you understand why He is worthy?
And so ultimately the living creatures and the elders say, "Amen," and fall and worship. Seven weeks ago we began with Moses taking off his sandals.
We continued with Isaiah crying out, "Woe is me." The Samaritan woman encountered the Messiah. The disciples were filled with the Spirit. Paul and Silas sang in prison. John fell before the throne.
And now all creation declares, "Worthy is the Lamb." That's where encounters with God lead. They begin with Him revealing Himself and they end with us declaring “Worthy is the Lamb”
