We begin a new sermon series today on the book of Revelation. We are studying that book on Wednesday evenings and this will go with that study. And I need to catch you up since we just finished the fifth chapter.
Some major points:
• Written by John the apostle to seven church in Asia Minor – present day Turkey.
• They were going through persecution and John who was their apostle was in exile on the Island of Patmos, put there by the Romans.
• The purpose of the book was to encourage, strengthen, and correct those churches.
• Written in genre of literature of their time known as “apocalyptic” just like the book of Daniel. Makes it difficult to understand. Most is symbolism and relies heavily on OT images and passages.
• So we need some help when we read Revelation, and most people have tried and stopped. Left behind series.
• I do not claim to understand everything, but what I do understand is enough.
• It is a revelation – a revealing of Jesus Christ. That is what it says in the first verse of the book:
Revelation 1:1 (NIV84)
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
So the major purpose is to show us Jesus Christ, in his glory, and that is not what most people go to the book to get. Most go to get some timetables or some hints about the end of the world. And they treat it like Nostradamus or some other secular fortuneteller, but it is not that. We do learn about the “last days” or the “consummation” and the Great Tribulation, but even in that the purpose is to reveal Jesus Christ, the Risen One in all of his glory.
Now we are joining this book at the fifth chapter. We are skipping over the first four chapters and we are doing that not because they are insignificant. I encourage you to read them. In chapters 2 and 3 there are messages directly to the seven churches in which they are commended for their faith and five of the seven are warned to repent.
But then the letter shifts the focus from earth to heaven and the throne room of God. That begins in Chapter 4 where John sees a door is open in heaven and he hears a voice that says
“Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
(4:1)
And he is caught up in the Spirit and taken into heaven and what he sees is a throne and God is on the throne and John doesn’t tell us what he looks like. He says that he is like jewels, like Jasper and sardius and there was a rainbow over his head like emerald. He is in the throne room of God Almighty. And around God are twenty four more thrones and on those thrones are twenty-four elders who are wearing white and have golden crowns on their heads. And the first thing we want to know is who are these elders and some say they are from the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles, but that is really not important. What is important that we grasp the majesty and the authority of the throne room, that the one who sits on the throne is in fact God himself and he knows all, sees all, and has all power.
And we get that message because coming out of the throne is lightning and there are sharp peals of thunder. And before the throne it looked like a sea of glass. And around the throne with the 24 elders on their thrones, the rainbow overhead, the sea of glass are also four creatures and they are really strange looking. One is like a lion, one like an ox, one like a man, and one like an eagle, but they have six wings each and they have eyes all over – all over their wings and eyes in front and eyes in back.
And by this time we say – “Okay – I am lost. I don’t understand this at all. Who are the creatures?” And again – what is important is not who they are but what they communicate to us. And we think they represent all of creation, because they never stop worshipping Creator God on the throne as they sing “Holy Holy Holy” and the 24 elders fall down in front of God and they sing and worship 11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” Revelation 4:11 (NIV84)
And John tells us of this scene in heaven where we are impressed with the power and the awesome majesty of God. God is in the center and He is on the throne. To the first readers that meant that Caesar was not all powerful. And they may have been under persecution because they would not worship Caesar, but they are reminded that God is on the throne and God alone is worthy of worship because he created all things by his good will. And that we understand. We understand that God is omnipotent – all powerful, God is omniscient – all knowing, and God is omnipresent – everywhere at the same time.
But there is a problem.
Revelation 5:1–4 (NIV84)
1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.
This is a crisis.
God has a scroll that is sealed and no one is worthy to open the scroll. And his readers identify because the seven churches have a crisis. Rome is after them. Some of them are being killed and persecuted because of Jesus Christ. And we know what it is to have a crisis.
It’s possible that you have experienced some crisis, big or small, in the past few days. Maybe you bounced a check, had a car accident, or got some bad news from the doctor. Maybe your company is threatening to lay off again. We know what a crisis is. It consumes us. But we know as well that compared to the big problems of this world – war, poverty, racism, dictators, markets that crash – that our crisis may not seem too bad. But where will we turn in the crisis?
Some people freak out.
Some hide and pretend it isn’t a crisis.
Some spend their energy blaming others.
John sees God the Creator being worshipped on his throne and he has in his hand a scroll. Those were the books back then. This scroll that God had was written on the front and the back – something very rare because their paper had vertical ridges on the back and it made it difficult to write. And it was sealed with seven seals. John loves the number seven – the perfect number in the Bible taken from the seven days of creation. There are globs of wax – seven of them on the scroll and that was how they sealed their letters and their important documents because if the seal was broken then someone had violated the secrecy of the seal. But there is no one who is “worthy” to open the seals. That word “worthy” here is very deliberate and meaningful. It was a commercial word related to scales that measured out their weights. To be worthy meant that you are equal and true. But no one – none of the elders, none of the angels, none of the living beasts representing all of creation was worthy of opening up the scroll.
So John begins to cry – really to wail. He drops into deep anguish and his response is appropriate.
God has a plan.
And we learn that on the scroll is the rest of the book of Revelation. It contains God’s plan. It is God’s ultimate plan for the redemption of the world. That means that if that scroll cannot be opened that the world would stay in its present mess -- that good would not triumph over evil, that humanity would go on sinning and suffering, that wars would never cease, and that there would be no judgment. That is why John cries because in all of creation there is no one worthy.
But it is important for us to hear that God has a plan. Without a plan and the power to make it happen, there is no hope. No one will ever get better. That great month you hand when you were twenty, and life was good and you didn’t have a care in the world – that was as good as it gets and it is downhill from there. You will never experience joy. You will never experience fulfillment. You will never feel fully loved. Because this is as good as it gets. You know – there are millions of people living like that – grabbing desperately for anything that can make them feel good today, because they either don’t know that god has a good plan for them, or they have rejected that plan.
God’s plan is not new. It was written out by God at the very foundation of the world. God’s plan is to become a human being, live a sinless perfect life, and then to give that life as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. And his plan does not stop there. God will bring judgment to this world, which means that evil will receive what is due, and there will also be rewards. That is why John cried, because life without purpose is a life without meaning. And God’s plan – although extremely slow by our measurements – gives meaning and purpose to life because in the end things are put right. And Jesus Christ is the plan.
God will win because there is a scroll. It is in his hand. He knows what he is doing. It may seem that there is chaos, but not in heaven. The scroll is in his hand and it has his plan, and it is not new, it is old. Eph. 1:4 says that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. It is an old plan.
Revelation 5:5 (NIV84)
5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Obviously what’s coming is the Lord Jesus Christ. The first century Christians in Asia Minor who had become Christians after first being Jewish would know this. Israel had long-awaited the Messiah who would be from the tribe of Judah. And the tribe of Judah was the tribe of the Lion. That was written by Jacob on his death bed in Genesis 49:9-10 when he said “Judah is a lion’s’ cub. The scepter shall not depart from Judah.” All the kings were from the tribe of Judah – David and Solomon were from the tribe of Judah. The Messiah would be from the root of David – meaning that he would be of that line. That was Jesus Christ. So we know that the one who will open the scroll is Jesus the Messiah.
Why is this person able to take the scroll and open the seals? Because He conquered - He earned the right by paying the price - His blood - and then when He rose from the dead He proved that He alone had conquered over sin, death, and evil. Now remember - we are looking for a lion, a conqueror, but John looks up and he does not see the victorious lion.
Revelation 5:6(NIV84)
6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
John expects to see a roaring lion and instead what he sees is a helpless lamb. Why? Well, the lion represent Jesus in his glory and power as King of Kings. The lamb represents him as the self-sacrifice Savior -- a slain lamb. He had wounds. The imagery here seems pretty weird to us, but again – it gives us an impression and a feeling. And we remember that as John the Baptist said he was the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Jesus is victorious but his victory was won not by sheer power, but by the power of love. He said “No one takes my life from me. I lay it down on my own initiative. (John 10:18) The plan was a lion and a lamb. This is strength in love.
Notice where He is standing. He is in the very center of everything. Jesus is the central focus of all creation and will be for all of eternity.
The horns represent his power, the eyes represent his wisdom. The 7 Spirits of God represents how he sees all and knows all. His power and knowledge are complete.
Rev. 5:7-8 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
The Lamb takes the scroll in preparation for opening it and releasing the final chapters of earth’s history. But notice what happens - the representatives of the angelic and human orders bow down and worship - and each has a harp and bowls of incense. The harps prepare for the incredible worship song they are about to sing and notice the bowls - they contain prayers - not just any prayers, but the prayers of the saints. Your prayers are right there in the throne room. They have been heard. Every prayer for someone’s healing, for justice, for an end to suffering – every prayer is right there in the throne room where the Lamb of God is in the center.
Rev. 5:9-10 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
They sang a new song. Do you know that song? Thou art worthy. That is the theme. No one else is worthy -- no angel, no human, no creature whatsoever could open the book. Not Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Peter, nor Paul. Not Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, Napoleon nor Eisenhower. Not Buddha, Mohammad, Joseph Smith, Pope John Paul nor L. Ron Hubbard. Not J Paul Getty, H.D. Rockefeller nor Bill Gates – not even Mother Teresa or Billy Graham. Jesus alone was the perfect one who is worthy because it was his blood.
Jesus Christ today still has the respect of most of the world. Most world religion give him honor and recognize his teachings. Americans still respect him – but here is the question: Did his blood purchase me?
That crucial point is where respect and admiration end and worship begins, for if we do more than acknowledge him we miss who he is and we will never worship. The words worship and worthy are connected. Worship is an old English word that means “worth – ship”
Here is our message from God today. Do we know the real Jesus? Does our vision of Jesus make us break into a new song, or are we just singing the same old song? Is Jesus worthy in our eyes? Have we looked and found that we could not open the scroll? Have we become exhausted in our struggles until we are ready and willing to accept Jesus Christ, the Lion and the Lamb, as the only one who is worthy. It is all about his sacrifice – sacrificial love. That is the strongest power in the world and that is why he alone is worthy. He changed places with us. He became a sinner and that makes him worthy.
And that is why there is worship in heaven. And the worship increases in John’s vision until it takes in all of creation.
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” 13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” 14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
See – the 24 elders and the four living creatures are great worship leaders for all of creation joins in the song -- worthy is the lamb.
Remember this: worship is not about singing songs you like but singing to the right person – Jesus. Worship is natural and unscripted when Jesus reveals to us who he really is. Are you ready for that? What follows in this book is rather shocking and if have not realized who Jesus really is – the lion and the lamb – the rest of the book is pretty scary.
