Sermon #1,265: Revelation 5: , Easter 5, Cantate, Bethany-Princeton MN WHAT IS THE NEW SONG, AND WHO SINGS IT?

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1 Sermon #1,265: Revelation 5: , Easter 5, Cantate, Bethany-Princeton MN WHAT IS THE NEW SONG, AND WHO SINGS IT? The Text, Revelation 5: 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. 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... 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth. 11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing! 13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever! 1

2 14 Then the four living creatures said, Amen! And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever. Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. By Your Word of truth, lead us to the joy that is from You. Amen. Dear fellow redeemed in Christ, the Lamb in the midst of the throne: There. You heard the new song, which was prophesied Psalm 98 in the words we said today, Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! But what hymn number is it? How long does it take to learn the music and the words? Do they just sing those words over and over in heaven? We get worried about stuff like that. We want to be singing the right song. We want to sound good when we sing it. We might even be jealous of the saints in heaven and the angels who don t struggle to sing perfectly. Even when we read this part in the Bible, we can think the words that are being sung in Revelation 5, only those words are the new song, and this was written almost 2,000 years ago, so how can it be the new song? But none of that is what the Lord means by the new song. Revelation 5 reveals to us what the new song is. You can easily miss it by getting lost in all the strange things that confront you in this chapter: the scroll, a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, golden bowls of incense, etc. It seems so unfamiliar. But in Revelation 5 we aren t really hearing about some unknown world and unknown song. The world we see pictured for us in Revelation may not look like the world we know. But it is ours. This is the kingdom in which we live as Christians. We don t get to see it yet in its glory. Here the Lord is showing this to us revealing it. What is revealed is a revelation, the title of this book. The real title is the Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John. Jesus is the one showing this to His apostle John, 60-some years after John saw Jesus go up to heaven. This is the risen Jesus showing John things to show us. Sometimes in Revelation, what Jesus reveals looks scary: beasts, dragons, devouring locusts, lakes of fire. It won t actually look like that, but Jesus is making the ones who are evil and dangerous look evil and dangerous. 2

3 Then there are the high points in Revelation, where Jesus shows how glorious His Church really is. We don t see how glorious His Church really is. So thoroughly do we not see this, that when He shows us it looks unfamiliar like this. We think this is about some other-worldly life where they sing this new song, whatever that is. It s tempting to think just that this is a vision of heaven. Heaven is involved, but actually He is showing us the glory of His Church, the reality of His Church and its true glory, even on earth. For now we can have this only by faith. He shows you this so you can believe it, to encourage you. In Revelation 5 Jesus is having to reveal this new song of which the Psalms speak, because so much of our life is filled with the old song of our old sinful nature, the song we don t even have to be taught. That part is portrayed in this scene too, in a couple of important details. The first one is when the apostle John says: I wept much. Why was St. John weeping? Because he was shown a scroll that is all sealed up. This scroll is how God pictures everything about His Church, everything that will happen to it, being written in a book as far as God is concerned. The scroll contains the answers to our questions: What will happen to me, to my faith? What will happen to my children and loved ones? Will they be with me? What will happen to the church? Will persecution get too bad or temptations be too strong for some? The tears John weeps come from being uncertain about the future and our salvation. What does this have to do with the old song of our old sinful nature? It is the pessimism about life and about the church. It is the fear and dread of what will happen. It is the grief and sorrow that death brings. It is being perplexed about what happens in life, why God allows this or that, being confused and always asking, Why, Lord? It says life is one sad song. The second detail that reveals the old song of our old nature is the one that mentions golden bowls, which are the prayers of the saints. The people who have these golden bowls are the 24 elders 12 for the Old Testament tribes plus 12 for the New Testament apostles. So they represent the whole church, every single believer who has ever lived or will live. But here it isn t about what s happening in heaven, where they don t need to pray; it s about what s happening on earth. Why do you 3

4 need to pray? You need help. You have struggles. You feel weak. You whimper. You have worries and fears. You sigh and groan. That s what this is about. The ones who pray are the struggling church on earth. The old song, of the old nature, is the song of hopelessness. It is composed of complaints, grumblings, distrust, and seeking everywhere else for contentment, enjoyment, security and satisfaction. It says that who knows, maybe God has forsaken and abandoned you. Don t you listen to this, all the time? Don t you join in and sing this song? We are often misled this way. The devil is the one who leads this song and we join in. But God has not forsaken or abandoned you! Suddenly we hear Behold! Look! St. John is told, Do not weep and through him you too are told, Do not weep! We are shown the Lion who looks like a Lamb, a Lamb as though it had been slain who was slain but is alive forevermore. You know who this is. This is Jesus! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Your own Lamb, who went like a lamb to be slaughtered, who laid down His life for the sheep for you but rose victorious from the grave. He is just like a lion. When He became alive on the third day, first thing He did was descend to hell and shout His victory like a lion s roar. Jesus words of forgiveness are gentle as a whisper to you, but roar at the devil to silence His ugly accusations. This Lamb isn t lying down but standing, ready to act for you. Here He takes the scroll, and when He does this its contents turn into reality, its contents are able to be known, all weeping of troubled Christians is stopped, all tears are dried, comfort is given, confidence is restored, joy abounds, there is nothing but hope in the place of hopelessness. Why? Because your name is written in the Book of Life, as Jesus says in Luke 10: Rejoice that your names are written in the Book of Life. How do you know your name is there? Well, do you believe that He died for you? Do you believe that your sins are forgiven by His blood? It is true. We heard in the gospel lesson what Jesus said He would do. He would send the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, Jesus said, who will guide you into all truth. This is why the Lamb in Revelation 5 has seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. This is Jesus sending His Holy Spirit. The people 4

5 who hear His Word are thus divided into two groups. Some don t believe, they resist the Holy Spirit and oppose Christ, they persecute His Church and they run against horns that tear them. The others those who believe His Word is a light for their eyes, it takes away everything dark, the blood of Jesus the Lamb makes them clean and bright. This is picturing how the Holy Spirit gives us the pure clear light of faith faith in Jesus. Jesus the Lamb is always before you and sends His Holy Spirit to you in His Word so you ll have new eyes to see Jesus, what He s doing for you and for His Church. He puts the new song in your heart. This new song is the Gospel. As we see here, this song is all about the Lamb. You [the Lamb] are worthy for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood... It is all about the Lamb, Jesus. He is the center of everything. His cleansing blood makes everything new. He makes you new, creates in you a new clean heart and a right spirit. Who sings the new song? Everyone who takes refuge in the Lamb. Everyone who needs the Lamb of God to take away his/her sin. Everyone who needs the blood of the Lamb to wash him/her clean of sin. When you came to Baptism, when you come to the Lord s Supper, when you hear His Word of forgiveness, you come to the Lamb in the midst of the throne; or rather, He comes to you. He is there with you. He dwells in you. He strengthens you in faith toward God. He strengthens your prayers, His blood purifies them so they reach His throne as golden bowls, pure and acceptable to God in every way. Jesus blood, which you receive in the Lord s Supper, also strengthens you in love toward others. You sing this song simply by believing in Him. He leads this song. You just join in with your Amen, I believe. Living in a world that seems to take to the streets in angry protest, our way as followers of the Lamb is to sing the new song, to seek our vindication at the throne of the Lamb. So we take to the streets not in protest but in song! Let us not respond to whatever the world does with indignance but joy. The Lamb is in our midst! Let s take them over with a storm of celebration a storm of love and compassion for all who know not this song that begins, ends, and in between dwells in the presence of our dear Lamb, Jesus. Amen! 5