Sermon for 5/1/22 "He Is Worthy" 13 Minutes

Revelation 5:11-14

This morning I'll be reading Revelation chapter 5 verses 11 through 14. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Revelation 5:11-14 In the verses before these,,, John,,, given this vision of Revelation while he was exiled in Patmos,,, was afraid that no one was worthy to open the scroll,,, but now Jesus has just received the scroll sealed with seven seals.

Revelation 5:11–14 (HCSB) 11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands. 12 They said with a loud voice: The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing! 13 I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say: Blessing and honor and glory and dominion to the One seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever! 14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped. God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- Last Sunday we looked at Acts 5:27-32,,, and after looking at each verse,,, we seen how we need to obey God rather than men.

And as I told you last Sunday,,, thankfully in the United States,,, we don’t have any type of persecution even close to what the disciples,,, and the early church had to deal with,,, or,,, what they deal with in other countries today,,, but it’s getting closer and closer to us,,, having to deal with severe persecution.

Right now,,, the effects are more subtle,,, but I imagine that it will get worse instead of better,,, but hopefully I’m wrong.

But regardless,,, we must be prepared,,, and rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit,,, like we should each and every day,,, and,,, like the disciples did then.

Because it was the power given to them by the Holy Spirit that gave them the faith,,, strength,,, and ability,,, to stand up to the high priest and the rest of their accusers that day,,, and,,, all the rest of the days of their lives.

This morning,,, we will look at these verses in Revelation and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week.

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When you look at the verses before this,,, verse 8 says: When He took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Once they have done this,,, in verses 9 and 10,,, it says they sang a new song about Jesus being worthy to open the scroll.

And the verses that we will look at this morning begin just as the voice of many angels join in.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 11 says: 11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands.

The living creatures,,, and the elders,,, were joined by the hosts of angels in heaven who added their words of praise in a loud voice.

This is a choir numbering millions,,, perhaps billions,,, all participating in perfect harmony.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 12 says: 12 They said with a loud voice: The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!

Their tribute is one that believers will sing throughout eternity,,, and one that we should be aware of today. “The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive:

power— “over our life”,,, “over the church”,,, “over the world”,,, “over the universe”;

riches— “over all of our financial interest”;

wisdom— “over the best of our intellectual powers”;

strength— “over our physical strength to be used for His service”;

honor—a pure desire to magnify Him in all of our ways;

glory—our entire life devoted to glorifying Him;

blessing”—all of our powers of praise for Him.

Jesus Christ has sacrificed everything for us,,, and He is worthy of all of this.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 13 says: 13 I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say: Blessing and honor and glory and dominion to the One seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!

Now as they all join together,,, he hears a full,,, deep burst of harmonious song.

Every creature … in heaven and on the earth,,, joins in heaping eternal blessing and honor and glory and power on God the Father and on the Lamb.

This verse parallels Philippians 2:10-11 , which insists that every knee will bow at the name of Jesus and every tongue confess Him Lord.

My Believer’s Bible Commentary says,,, although no specific time is told,,, it will be after the saved are raised to everlasting life and then after the unsaved are raised to everlasting judgment.

We,,, as Christians,,, have already acknowledged Jesus as Lord; but,,, unbelievers will then be compelled to honor Him.

All,,, will have to confess,,, to,,, the honor,,, and glory,,, that should have been given already,,, that the Father and the Son,,, deserve,,, and that,,, is something that we are assured will happen.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 14 says: 14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

In this final act of praise the four living creatures said Amen,,, and the 24 elders fall down,,, in worship to Jesus Christ,,, the One Worthy,,, to open the scroll.

With the heavenly vision of chapters 4–5,,, we now have the stage set for the dramatic events to follow the opening of the seven seals.

It is clear from this revelation that heaven is real,,, not imagined.

These two chapters reveal the indescribable glory and infinite majesty of the Godhead in heaven.

The following chapters reveal this sovereign power of God expressed in judgment on a wicked world sunk in unprecedented depths of sin and blasphemy.

And even though believers today don’t have the privilege of sharing John’s vision,,, or a similar one granted to Paul as he wrote in 2 Cor. 12:1–3 “Boasting is necessary. It is not profitable, but I will move on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who was caught up into the third heaven 14 years ago. Whether he was in the body or out of the body, I don’t know, God knows. I know that this man—whether in the body or out of the body I don’t know, God knows—” ,,,

Even without these visions seen by John and Paul,,, every believer can take the word pictures of Scripture that we see here,,, and anticipate the glory and the wonder,,, of the heavenly scene that we will someday see with our own eyes.

----------------------------------------------------------- The day is coming when this scene in heaven will take place.

Jesus Christ,,, the Lion of the tribe of Judah,,, the Root of David,,, the Lamb that was slain,,, the Redeemer,,, will return,,, and reclaim it as His own possession.

He is worthy,,, because He is the rightful Heir to the throne of David,,, He is worthy,,, because He paid the redemption price with His own precious blood,,, and He is worthy,,, because He loved us and sacrificed so much for each one of us,,, and we don’t deserve it,,, but He did,,, and for all of that,,, “He is Worthy”.

As I look at what is happening in the world I cannot help but think that the way that satan seems to be winning,,, even though we know that he doesn’t stand a chance,,, all the natural disasters that we are having,,, the way our world appears to be turned upside down,,, all of the many tragedies that happen in our world daily,,, makes it look like He will return sooner rather than later.

But,,, we are told not to worry about when this will happen.

What we are told to do,,, is to be ready because only God knows when that day will be.

I believe that we can agree that the delay comes about because we still have many that need Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

And the fact that God wants to give everyone the chance to accept His love and have that relationship with Him,,, makes Him even more worthy than we can ever imagine.

And that is what we always need to remember going forward,,, that “Jesus Christ is Worthy”,,, and we should always give Him the praise and glory,,, that He truly,,, deserves!

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