Revelation 5:1-14
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The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia
I think I have told you before-The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis one of my favorite books all time.
Disney actually did a pretty good job of recreating it in the form of a movie.
If you have never seen it its worth getting and watching.
That book and movie was obviously meant by CS Lewis to be symbolic and really it is full of winks and nods of the Gospel.
If you’ve ever seen it you know the hero is Aslan the great powerful Lion is the ruler of Land of Narnia.
My two favorite scenes are when Aslan lays down His life for one of the children Edmund who wanders off and it enticed into sin and temptation.
Aslan dies- The witch declares that they will take over Narnia forever and then thrust a sword into the heart of the Great Lion and he is killed.
Thats my second favorite part.
My very favorite portion of the movie-
After that, Aslan’s army prepares for a fight agains the wicked forces of the Witch but they are fighting without Aslan.
Its clear CS Lewis is picturing that this battle is quite literally between the good and evil.
And, in the movie, the battle looks all but over. They even begin to retreat. They are no match for evil without Aslan.
The scene turns back to Aslan. Laying lifeless.
The two girls who were staying by his side start to leave when all of a sudden hear a noise and the Lion is gone.
All of a sudden you see Aslan appear alive and well.
At that point in the book and the movie, you know its going to end well. But the movie doesn’t end there.
Aslan begins to make His way to the battlefield.
He’s running toward them, They are fighting. Repeat.
Towards the end, when it seems that they have all but lost the battle, Aslan shows up alive and well, and kills the witch.
It really is an imperfect but it is a beautiful allegorical picture of the heart of the story of the Bible.
We will come back to that.
I want to give you some context for this passage.
We are picking up in the middle of a letter that was written by John the Apostle.
At the time of his writing this letter John was living in exile on an Island called Patmos. Essentially, he was banished and imprisoned on this island.
But on this island, God would speak to John and reveal to Him in visions prophecies of things to come.
So essentially, John is writing a spirit inspired letter about what he saw and heard.
And John is writing to a group of churches.
Revelation 1:4 it says John is writing to the seven churches in Asia.
In the first chapter, John explains his own situation and he begins to recount the things which the angel said and showed Him while he was in exile. John sees Christ in all His glory and He writes about that.
In chapters 2-3, John writes specific warning and encouragement for each of the seven churches, who all had unique difficulties and problems in their midst.
In chapter 4, John sees a vision of Heaven.
He sees the throne. He sees One sitting on the throne, and he sees angels constantly proclaiming that the one on the throne is holy, holy, holy.
Chapter 4 ends with an introduction to 24 elders- Most take these elders to be representative of the 12 tribes of Israel and then the 12 apostles.
Taken together the symbolize all of God’s chosen people.
And those 24 elders say something at the end of chapter 4.
“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
So coming to chapter 5, John has had an awesome opportunity to briefly gaze into the heavenly places.
But as we come to chapter 5, we have a scene of heartbreak and then hope.
Look with me in verses 1-2
I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?”
Verse 1 tells us John sees a book(literally a scroll) written inside and on the back.
Now the first question that arises is what is written on it? What does the scroll say?
From the rest of Revelation, we know that the scroll contains the plan of God for making all things new.
The scroll contains the plan for punishment of the wicked.
The plan for the vindication of the righteous.
It contains God’s plan to make all things new.
To reverse the curse, and bring His people into eternal fellowship in His Holy presence.
But see there’s only one problem. The scroll is sealed up with seven seals.
Now, you should know Revelation, being a book about the end times will often use numbers strategically and symbolically. Not all numbers are symbolic, but some are.
7 in Scripture is pretty well agreed upon to be the number of God and perfection.
So the idea here is that there is a scroll, and it is sealed up with seven seals. Meaning it is sealed perfectly.
This would have been more recognizable to John is his day and time. He would have been more familiar culturally.
But during this time, whenever Kings would send, they would have a stamp or a ring and they would seal up the scroll by taking the Kingly seal dipping it in wax and sealing it up along the edge of the scroll, and this is key- only people with the proper authority and credentials were allowed to break the Kingly seal.
They did this for confidential war plans and other important things that only those with the proper credentials could.
This scroll is sealed up perfectly. 7 seals. This leads us to the problem in verse 2.
And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?”
The problem here is that this scroll contains all the wonderful plans of God to make all things right.
But because it is sealed perfectly, whoever opens this scroll must be perfect.
So the angel cries out with a loud voice: Who is worthy? In other words, Who is perfect? Who can we trust and look to that can possibly take the scroll from the right hand of God the Father and reveal the plans of eternity.
And we look and verse 3 and here is what they find.
And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it.
In other words, no one was found worthy. The strong angel’s voice was loud enough to touch every ear that has ever had life. No one among common man was found worthy.
Not Adam. Not Moses. Not David. Not Abraham. Not Peter, James, or John. Not Paul. Not you. Not me.
No one was found who was worthy.
They cant find anyone who meets the holy requirement of God to enter his presence and take the scroll.
And why is that?
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Verse 3 shows us our condition on our own. There is none worthy. No one among common man can approach God and open the seal.
And here we find the problem and dram in chapter 5.
If no one can open the seal. If no one can open the scroll. Then the plan of God remains sealed up. Unrevealed and unexecuted and thus, unrealized.
Which means, the glorious plan of God to make all things right is unfulfilled.
Do you see the problem here?
This thought in this moment overwhelms John.
Look at verse 4
Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it;
John begins to weep-
Surely we can understand this grief.
If opening the scroll means God’s plan of redemption will be executed and fulfilled.
If opening the scoll means that all the curse sin is dealt with, and that those who believe in God are saved, and the wicked are punished forever is realized, Surely we can understand John’s tears.
If no one is found worthy, how can God’s plan ever be executed?
John’s weeping is warranted because he understands what this means.
If no one is found to open the scroll, then the curse of sin and the pain of death are permanent for every one.
There is no hope. No triumph for believers, no new heaven or new earth. We are left plunged forever into hopelessness
And again, thats really the point here. In and of ourselves, common man cannot approach God. We have no ability to make things right on our own.
Imagine the sorrow of that.
Imagine the pain of death and wickedness winning forever. No hope. Thats the image John is dealing with.
John is weeping uncontrollably...
SDFS
But the passage doesn’t stop there.
Look at verse 5-
and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”
One of the elders speaks up, And his message to John is “Stop weeping.”
But how can he stop weeping? No one is worthy. We won’t see God’s wonderful plan fulfilled.
The elder looks at John and says, “Stop weeping and look.”
“Behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”
This is such a beautiful picture. John weeping uncontrollably.
And the elder says, wait just a second!
Look!
There is one worthy.
Its the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The Root of David.
So John hears this the great news. Look theres a Lion, the root of David. He has conquered! John stop your weeping there is one worthy.
Now what is interesting here is that John is told to look at the Lion.
So logically, what you expect to see next is that John looks and sees a Lion, but thats not what he sees.
Look in verse 6.
And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and 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 hears that He is a Lion but he looks and sees a Lamb.
So which is it?
Is it a Lion? Or is he a Lamb?
Yes. He is the Lion- He is the conquering King, but he is also our Lamb.
Its interesting to me here he says he sees a Lamb standing, as if slain. That doesn’t make sense does it?
Generally, when we think of something being slain, we refer to them having been killed.
What do slain things do?? They lay down. Why? Because They are dead. Slain things don’t stand up.
Oh but this Lion who also a lamb did.
Church- If its not clear already, John’s vision is of Jesus.
John sees Jesus- As if slain- means I believe he bears the marks of his crucifixion, stands because he rose again on the third day after they crucified Him. Death could not hold Him.
He goes on to describe Him and this obviously symbolic language. He has seven horns, seven eyes, seven spirits, sent out to all the earth.
In other words- He has perfect power- Horns being symbolic of authority. He is the Omnipotent One. All powerful.
Seven Eyes- He has perfect sight and perfect knowledge. He is the Omniscient One
Seven Spirits- He has perfect presence- He is the Omnipresent One
He is the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God.
And those attributes are attributes that only God possesses.
In other words, John sees the glorious picture of the God man. He sees Jesus.
But Jesus doesn’t just stand there.
And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
The Worthy One- approaches the Father.
He walks into the presence of God and stands there in His own merit. And he take the book from the Father. Only one equal in glory and power can do that. But how?
Because he has shed His blood. He has risen victorious over the grave and he as our worthy substitute will break the seals.
In other words, he is the one who will execute God’s plan. He will make all things right. He will bring an end to evil and wickedness.
He will usher us into the presence of God.
Apart from Christ, there is no hope. We can’t go there apart from Him.
But because of Christ, the elder can tell John, “Stop your weeping.” No more crying. Look to the Lion.
This week has been a tough week. In our community. We’ve seen a display of wickedness right here at our back door that takes your breath away.
This past year has been a tough year. Last year this time, we were outside sitting in our cars worshipping.
Sickness and death have been a weekly almost daily reality for us. My own grandfather past away as a result of Covid19.
Just in the past year, we’ve had 4 people within our congregation find out they have cancer. We’ve lost a member of our church this year. This week 4 people I knew passed away.
And we look at this world around us and at times all we can do is weep.
But this passage and the Gospel of Jesus Christ tells us that one day, All this weeping will stop.
But weeping only stops when we look to the Lion.
My message today as it is every Sunday, is that there is hope only in Christ.
In this world, there’s pain. There is sickness. There is wickedness and there is death. Really it just a bowl full of sorrow.
But there is hope in the Lamb that was slain who got up.
He can turn our weeping into joy.
And he can transform our hopelessness into worship.
Look at the rest of this chapter and we will move very quickly through this.
And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Jesus takes the book.
The elders fall down before the Lamb holding the prayers of the saints.
This is the moment all of history has waited for. Prayers have been offered up.
Lord how long?
Go, Why?
Lord, please give us rest!
Lord, save us.
Those are the songs we sing currently.
Now they are going to sing a new song. The sight of Jesus provokes this New Song.
They proclaim that Jesus is worthy.
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
In other words, this songs tells us He is worthy because He did what he came to do!
He purchased people from every tribe tongue and people and nation and he did so by laying down His life.
He has made us a kingdom of priests to reign with him.
This is cool here. Don’t miss this one.
We are a kingdom of priests.
Which means- Believers have been given close access like priests to God through Christ, and we will reign with Him on the earth.
Thats why he is worthy. Thats why we sing praises to Him as believers.
But you should know this as well.
Believers will not be the only ones who will sing His praises.
look at verses 11-13
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, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” 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 blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”
Jesus is worthy and one day, every created thing will recognize Him as such.
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
One day Every created thing will shout forth that He is King forever.
Every single created thing will one day submit to their Creator and declare He is worthy.
This passage contains the message of the Gospel.
This passage is the good news of Christ.
Hopeless in and of ourselves. Thats the bad news.
The good news is that: There is ONE worthy, and apart from Him there is no hope.
Unbeliever- Trust in Him today. He rose again. He is worthy. He is the only one worthy of your trust.
With Him, there is Hope. Without Him there is only weeping.
Believer- Even in a week like this one-
Never doubt that he is worthy. Never doubt that He is going to make all things new. He didn’t get out the grave for no reason. He brought with him the keys death hell and the grave.
The pains of this world can often drive us to weep.
At times it feels like the pain in continuous.
Revelation 5 reminds us that our weeping is temporary.
One day what is written in that scroll will be realized.
and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
One day, the weeping will stop for those who are in Christ.
The other side of that, is those outside of Christ there is only weeping where you are headed without Christ.
“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Jesus said the lawless will be punished Matthew 13:42
and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
My goal today is that you would look at the Lion and know everything is going to be alright. But you must believe, and submit to Him or you will also face His wrath and this is just the beginning of the weeping.
