Worthy is the Lamb Revelation 5 Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the sermon this morning I mentioned that God our Creator gave us the gift of song and music. We were created to sing to sing His praises in particular. And yet, I can recall that when I was a little boy, singing was not my favorite part of the worship service. I think part of the reason for that is because my father didn t sing. He would mumble along a few syllables here and there, but he never showed much enthusiasm or excitement when it came to singing, and neither did I. But then as I grew older something changed in me; something made me not only want to sing, but to enjoy singing. In fact, at the age of 18 or 19 I joined the church choir at First CRC of South Holland. Truth be told, I had an ulterior motive for that. Her name was Laura and she sang soprano. But the real reason I WANTED to sing is because I had matured in my faith and I came to know and to love Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I came to understand what it meant to be a Christian; and to know what it meant that God so loved me that He gave His one and only Son to die, to save a wretch like me. And one of my favorite songs in the Psalter Hymnal became #350 When I Survey the Wondrous Cross and when I sang in choir one of my favorite anthems was What Wondrous Love is this O My Soul. For me, those two songs captured the beauty and wonder of God s love and sacrifice and it was especially this verse that moved my heart to praise God: To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing, To God and to the Lamb, Who is the great I AM, While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing. This passage we just read from Revelation 5 we find the heavenly hosts singing praises to the Lamb of God who sits upon the throne. And that is going to be our focus tonight as we consider 1
this second sermon on Why We Sing. We sing, because Christ, the Lamb of God is worthy of all praise and honor and glory and power. Our Theme: The Lord Reveals the One who Alone is Worthy to Open the Scroll. 1) The Desperate Search for this One (1-4); 2) The Triumphant Appearance of this One (5-14). 1) The Desperate Search for this One Let s take a moment to look back at chapter 4. John was in the spirit and was taken up to heaven; there he saw a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. He described that person as having the appearance of jasper and carnelian, encircling the throne was an emerald rainbow. All the living creatures and the elders sitting around the throne were singing praises to Him. Here in chapter 5, that scene continues, and John s attention remains focused on the one who sits on the throne, particularly what he is holding in his hand. Verse 1 says he was holding a scroll (literally a book), in his right hand. It had writing on both sides, and was sealed with seven seals. We are familiar with what a scroll looks like. It would have been a numbers of papers rolled up tightly. The seven seals was a way to secure the contents of the scroll. Only someone who had proper authorization could open the seals and read and reveal the contents of the scroll. But what exactly was the scroll? What was it about? Was it the book of life, as some suggest? The fact that the one sitting on the throne was holding the scroll in his right hand gives us our first clue. It would seem that this book was not the book of life, but rather a book of judgment. The right hand is ordinarily associated with dispensing judgment and justice. Sure enough, as we look ahead in Revelation we see that this is indeed the case. This scroll, this book, contains God s sovereign plan of judgment and redemption for the world. That plan was set in motion by Christ s death and resurrection, and we are living right now in the days of fulfillment, before Christ s second coming. 2
But notice, congregation, the scroll, this book has already been written. The fact that it has writing on both sides--front and back would seem to suggest fullness and completeness; in other words, there s no room to write anything else. From John s perspective, the scroll in God s right hand signifies that judgment regarding the world has already been rendered. Everything that is to happen in the last days between Christ s ascension and second coming has already been pre-determined and fore-ordained by God. This may seem like a subtle and almost insignificant point in the text, but I assure you beloved, there is great theological consequence to this point, not to mention great comfort and peace. For, there are those in the church of Jesus Christ who believe in the Openness of God (Open Theism); they believe that God does not so much control and determine the present and future as much as He directs it; God does not really decree what is to be, but rather He declares what He desires to be; God is not the God of certainty, but rather He is the God of the possible. But here in this passage, and throughout the book of Revelation for that matter, we clearly see a God who is immutable (not subject to change or indecision), omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and all seeing. Because of that, we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that our God is completely trustworthy, reliable, the sole foundation of all our hope. Now, as we go on to verse two and three, John sees a mighty angel (perhaps he s Michael or Gabriel we re not told) who comes forth and asks in a loud voice: Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll? But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside. So do you see the conundrum, the puzzle, the dilemma? Here we have God s set foreknowledge, His perfect plan, His decree for all creation, His will which determines the future of heaven and earth, His judgment regarding the very well-being of Christ s church in the world (His Good News, word of hope for a persecuted, oppressed, battle weary people). 3
But to John s great disappointment, to his painful despair, he s weeps and weeps, he s overcome with anguish, great sadness because no one appears, no one is found in heaven or earth who is worthy, who is qualified, who is sanctioned or authorized to open the scroll and put God s perfect plan into action not Gabriel, not the powerful Michael, not the archangels, nor any of the heavenly creatures; no one is found worthy among them. It s as if for a moment, John s destiny and hope, as well as the destiny of the church and the world hangs in the balance. In his commentary Wm. Hendriksen explains why no one volunteers, why no one steps forward to open the scroll. Why not? Because that would be to accept the commission to bring to pass what is written therein (p. 111). The way Hendriksen explained this (the illustration he used) really helped me understand what was going on here). He compared this to an admiral of a great fleet who receives his orders, but the Admiral is not permitted to open his orders until the fleet has already underway, out to sea. So the fleet sets sail, to what destination and for what purpose no one knows, not one sailor, not even the admiral himself. That won t be known until the moment the admiral breaks the seal, (opens the safe) and reads the orders for his fleet. Then it becomes his responsibility, his duty, his calling to see to it that the orders are carried out. But imagine the chaos, the waste, the madness of an entire fleet set out to sea, fueled and supplied, crew ready for duty, ready to carry out those important orders, but no admiral is found to break open the orders and carry them out. That s the despair John is feeling! I believe what John felt in his soul was an awful, terrifying, dark, hopeless moment when (if even just for a second) he imagined the world without a Savior, without a Redeemer, without Jesus Christ crucified for sinners, and sitting at God s right hand. As verse 4 says, I wept and I wept. Because a world without Christ is a world without hope. Now, beloved, we have to understand that the scene that is played out before us is all for dramatic effect as it were. It s what Hendriksen calls pure pageantry. It s not like such a 4
moment ever happened in history. It s not like God had to search heaven and earth, high and low, for Jesus Christ; it s not like there was an unsuccessful search for the One to open the seal. Of course not. We know as much. The identity of Christ as the One who is worthy was known from before the foundations of the earth. So, in this vision, God is deepening John s appreciation of who Christ is; deepening his understanding of what Christ has ascended into heaven to do. Tonight, God is also impressing that upon our hearts and minds--the immeasurable worth, the incomparable greatness of Christ. And what a wonderful thing to meditate on tonight, and to take with us in the week ahead. To consider together the worth and the greatness and glory of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. To know without a doubt that Jesus Christ has secured my salvation, so that my home in heaven above is secure; and to know that my present as well as my future is not in doubt. That God is executing His perfect plan right now -- for you and for me, and for everyone. 2) The Triumphant Appearance of this One (5-14) So that is the Desperate Search. Secondly we turn from John s tears of sadness to joy and gladness and rejoicing, for we know that Christ is the one who willingly steps forward to open the seals and carry out God s purposes. That is what takes place in vv. 5-7 the triumphant appearance of the One who would open the scroll. Verse 5 tells us that one of the elders came to John and consoled him saying, 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 it seven seals. When we think of Jesus as the Lion of Judah, the image that comes to mind is a ferocious beast, a strong and mighty lion who (like king David of old), defeated all his enemies, who swallowed up any and all who would dare to defy the Kingdom of God. 5
The fact that this Lion was of the tribe of Judah clearly places Jesus within the house and line of David, as a son of David; it calls to mind the OT prophesies which declared that David s house would be a dynasty his throne would be established for time and eternity. But boys and girls, what is so surprising, what is so remarkable in this passage is that while the elder tells John not to weep, not to worry because the Lion has triumphed, what is it that John sees? Look at verse 6. To our surprise, it s not a lion that John sees, is it? No. On the contrary, John looks and sees (not a lion, but) 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. The Lion has become a Lamb. As we might expect, the Lamb that John sees is a sacrificial lamb, as spoken of in Isaiah: as a lamb led to the slaughter; as mentioned by Peter in I Peter 1:19, we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. Why, we ask, is there this sudden and almost unexpected change of imagery? What accounts for this? People of God, it s really quite simple to understand. The Lord is revealing to us the reason why this One, the Lion of Judah, the root of David is worthy to open the scroll. The Lion of Judah is able to open the scroll (the Lion has triumphed), precisely because he came into this world to be the sacrificial Lamb, the Passover Lamb; because Jesus was willing to lay down his life, to suffer and die on Calvary s cross, to have His innocent blood shed for the sake of guilty sinners like you and me. That s why He is worthy! The Lion of Judah is worthy because He willingly, lovingly, gently and unselfishly set aside His great glory and power and might, allowing himself to be humiliated, stricken, and smitten and afflicted, slain by the hands of His captors. 6
But in the end, it was Christ s sacrificial death that sealed his victory over His enemies and over the powers and principalities of Satan. It was the very nature of His sacrificial death that made the Lamb triumphant! The Lamb, therefore, stands at the center of the throne in heaven. John s vision in Revelation 5 ties in with what we see in Hebrews 1: 3 often referred to as the coronation passage of Jesus Christ. It says, After he had provided purification for our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs! The three songs, the three doxologies sung in Revelation 5 are sung in celebration of the lamb s worthiness. The first doxology is the longest in chapters 4 and 5, and rightly so because it centers on the reason the Lamb is worthy! Verse 9: 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 tongue tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on earth. Notice, the Lamb who stands in the center of the throne is no ordinary Lamb. This Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. This Lamb is to be feared by all the nations. This Lamb will bring judgment on the earth on all those who fail to look to Him as King and Lord. The seven horns symbolize Christ s power, the honor that belongs to Him as the Almighty King. The seven eyes symbolize that he is all seeing and all knowing. Here is a King whose power extends to the ends of the earth, who s keenly aware of the plight of His people amidst the tumult of the nations; who sees the needs of his people, who has compassion for their pain, suffering, torment and oppression; who helps them overcome their trials, tribulations, and temptations. So, this is the One who is worthy. And He is worthy of our praise, because this Lamb is our Savior and Lord, and because of Him we have life forevermore. And now, we can join our voices with the saints in glory, with the angels and heavenly creatures in bringing praise and honor and glory and power to the Lamb. Amen. 7