Worthy Is The Lamb
Revelation 5:1-14
August 7, 2016
As you know we are in the book of the Revelation
And we are currently looking at the events of the end times.
• It is the things “which must take place after these things”, that is after the church age.
• It is the events of Daniel’s 70th week that we have been discussing in the book of Daniel.
• It is the events of the end.
And this entire revelation began with John being caught up to heaven
Where he learned a very important lesson.
GOD IS ON HIS THRONE
John especially noted:
• His Glory and Wrath which was on the throne
• His Faithfulness which surrounded the throne
• His Judgment which came from the throne
• His Justice and Righteousness which was the foundation of His throne
• John was also mesmerized by the unceasing worship which was continually near the throne of God.
John was captivated by The Sovereign God of Heaven.
And as we left we sensed that the celebration in heaven
Was really about to crescendo.
The song of worship was beginning to turn toward the reality of creation.
Revelation 4:9-11 “And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “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.”
• It was heaven’s way of stating that God alone is the rightful owner and ruler
of creation.
• It was heaven’s way of declaring that all of creation should be in full
subjection to God and be giving all glory to God.
The reason this declaration is so definitively made is because
That is NOT what is currently happening.
We studied Genesis recently and we noted right off the bat that “God created the heavens and the earth.”
We noted that after 6 days God finished creating all things and He rested.
• He didn’t rest because He was tired.
• He rested because there was nothing left to do.
Creation was finished and it was perfect.
Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
God looked at creation and it was “good”, it was perfect, it was finished.
No tweaking was needed, no remodel was needed,
Nothing could be improved upon.
Creation started perfect
The obvious question to be asked when reading Genesis is:
“What happened?”
That answer is given in Genesis 3,
• The answer is that there was a Usurper.
• The serpent entered the garden and deceived the woman and threw sin into the world.
And now we live in all the muck of it.
Sickness, Death, Depravity, Immorality, Ambition, you name it.
We know that CREATION (which remembers life before the fall) absolutely HATES THIS new found state of affairs.
Romans 8:19-22 “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”
Creation remembers what life was like before the fall
And ever since creation came under new management
It has lamented the day longing to be set free.
The CHURCH represents those who have had our eyes opened to this reality, and now we WAR AGAINST this usurping regime.
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
We battle this reality.
Like Jude said, we save some, plucking them from the fire, but as a whole we realize that this creation is just sinking deeper and deeper into the grasp of the usurper.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.”
That is simply one of many passages which depict that
Things are headed down the drain.
Isaiah 24:20 “The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard And it totters like a shack, For its transgression is heavy upon it, And it will fall, never to rise again.”
The usurper stepped in as “the god of this world”
And has systematically ran God’s creation right into the ground.
He is like a BAD TENANT who has rented God’s house
And is trashing the place.
And the neighbors and even the house itself long for him to be evicted.
That is certainly the cry of heaven, and as we saw last week they are starting to sense that the usurper’s days are numbered.
• We saw heaven reminding God that He built the house and that the house belongs to Him and that the enemy should not be allowed to dwell there any longer.
That song actually erupts into excitement by the time we get to chapter 5
Because in chapter 5 we realize that God
Has actually pulled the rental agreement out of the filing cabinet!
(1) “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.”
This is actually a scroll, and it is the title deed to the earth.
If you’ve read the book of Jeremiah you’ve seen this before.
• As Babylon was in the process of destroying Israel and deporting people to Babylon it is obvious that property wasn’t very valuable.
• However, in order to prove that Israel would one day return to their land God had Jeremiah actually purchase a piece of land as a visible illustration.
Jeremiah 32 tells that story.
Jeremiah 32:9-15 “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver. “I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. “Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy; and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. “And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time.” ‘For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”‘
The custom of a deed was to record the details of the deed and roll it up and seal it. It could only be unrolled by the rightful heir and this protected the purity of the transaction.
Well here we find that God has pulled from the filing cabinet
The title deed to the earth.
What we are most curious about in this deed are the
“TERMS OF EVICTION”
That specify how God will go about removing a bad tenant.
For that is precisely what this scroll contains as you will see in chapter 6.
But you can imagine the excitement in heaven is now almost deafening
As heaven wants that scroll to be opened and the enemy to be evicted!
AND SO THE SEARCH IS ON!
(2) “And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?”
That is to say,
• “Who is capable of presenting the eviction notice to the enemy?”
• “Who hear can handle him?”
• “Who hear can serve him with the papers?”
Obviously it would require one who is not only stronger than the enemy,
But who also is not easily fooled by the smooth talker.
• Could you imagine what it would be like to haggle with such a deceiver?
If you weren’t careful he might actually convince you that he deserved this world and that it was all the fault of the landlord, not him.
• And even if you didn’t believe him and were still set on evicting him, who
out there is going to grab him by the shirt and put him out on the streets?
It’s going to take someone special to do it.
So the call goes out: “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?”
I imagine this to be a bitter-sweet moment for John.
For on one hand there is the excitement of waiting for one who will step forward; on the other hand there must be the remorse of knowing it can’t be him.
John would be no match for the enemy one on one.
In fact no human would be.
(at best we “resist” the devil, but Scripture never tells us to overthrow him)
Even angels aren’t in the process of rebuking the devil.
Jude 9 “But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
So as the call goes out throughout the heavens
For one to come and open the scroll,
Men and angels alike begin to examine themselves
Only to find themselves unable to do it.
(3) “And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was found worthy to open the book or to look into it;”
The search went out throughout heaven, earth, and all of hell,
And still no one was up to the task.
Satan was that terrible tenant that no one could evict or handle.
And the reality was more than John could bear:
(4) “Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it;”
W.A. Criswell wrote:
“[John’s tears] represent the tears of all God’s people through all the centuries. Those tears of the Apostle John are the tears Adam and Eve, driven out of the Garden of Eden, as they bowed over the first grave, as they watered the dust of the ground with their tears over the silent, still form of their son, Abel. Those are the tears of the children of Israel in bondage as they cried unto God in their affliction and slavery. They are the tears of God’s elect through the centuries as they cried unto heaven. They are the sobs and tears that have been wrung from the heart and soul of God’s people as they looked on their silent dead, as they stand beside their open graves, as they experience in the trials and sufferings of life, heartaches and disappointments indescribable. Such is the curse that sin has laid upon God’s beautiful creation; and this is the damnation of the hand of him who holds it, that usurper, that interloper, that intruder, that alien, that stranger, that dragon, that serpent, that Satan-devil. “And I wept audibly,” for the failure to find a Redeemer meant that this earth in its curse is consigned forever to death. It meant that death, sin, damnation and hell should reign forever in the hands of Satan.” (sited in: MacArthur, John, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Revelation 1-11, Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1999, pg. 165)
• Ever lose a loved one and weep?
• Ever suffer a hardship and weep?
• Ever see a person fall into immorality and weep?
• Ever contemplate the future and weep?
These were the tears of John.
It doesn’t appear that things will ever change.
No one can remove the enemy from the creation he is destroying,
It will forever be ransacked with sin and the curse!
That is in fact a horrific thought.
In fact the word “weep” there is KLAIO and it means to weep bitterly.
• It is used of Peter after he denied Jesus.
• It is used of Jesus as He wept over Jerusalem
This is intense and bitter weeping by John.
Incidentally, the tears John cries in verse 4
Are the only tears ever recorded to have fallen in heaven.
And the beauty is that those tears are totally unfounded
And they are cried purely in ignorance.
(Heaven isn’t panicked or worried)
(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.”
It’s almost as though one of the elders tells John to “get a grip!”
THERE IS ONE WHO CAN!
He is: “the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah”
He is: “the Root of David”
He has: “overcome”
Now if you’ll notice, all of these titles and phrases
SPEAK OF THE ULTIMATE CHAMPION, THE ULTIMATE VICTOR.
“the Lion” is a reference to Jacob’s prophecy in Genesis 49:
Genesis 49:8-12 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s sons shall bow down to you. “Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up? “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. “He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes. “His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.”
Hopefully you’ll remember from our study of Genesis that Judah was the next Patriarch.
And as Jacob prophesied over him, he blessed him with:
Praise, Power, Preeminence, and Prosperity
Judah was a lion!
“And as a lion, who dares rouse him up?”
That is to say, who would dare mess with him?
(Satan prowls around “as” a roaring lion, but this is the REAL LION)
The elder here tells John not to weep regarding who will deal with the enemy because “the Lion” is here.
Not only that but He is “the Root of David”
Oh, it’s getting even better!
Isaiah 11:1-10 “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea. Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious.”
(We’ve read that verse several times because it’s the one which reveals the 7-fold fullness of the Holy Spirit. It is also the passage which reveals who will be filled with that Spirit)
This is David’s descendant, and we all remember what David was like!
“Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten-thousands!”
When my dad was in hospice:
I asked him aside from Jesus or family, who did most want to meet?
He said, “David, I love the way he smack-talked that giant!”
Don’t weep John, one like David is here!
If anyone can handle that usurper, we’d send David’s descendant in to do it.
And this is one we have found is NOT SOME UNTESTED WARRIOR with much potential, We are talking about One who “has overcome”
• He’s already fought His share of battles.
• He’s already a champion.
• John, We’re sending in the best!
WE ARE SENDING IN THE MOST WORTHY!
WE ARE SENDING IN THE ONLY WORTHY!
We’ve got the perfect One for the job.
And that is what we want to look at this morning.
What is it that makes Christ so worthy?
3 things
#1 THE DEMONSTRATION OF CHRIST’S WORTH
Revelation 5:6-7
John was just told about an overcoming lion from the line of David.
Can’t you imagine him looking for the warrior of the century?
And notice what John says:
“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.”
Do you remember why Israel failed to recognize Jesus when He came?
Isaiah 53:1-3 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
He didn’t look kingly!
• He was a lion, but He didn’t look like one.
• He was the seed of David, but He didn’t’ look like it.
• He was an overcomer, but it didn’t appear He could.
John looks for a warrior and he sees “a Lamb”
And incidentally the Greek word used here is in the diminutive form.
It is ARNION which means “little lamb”
Let me go ahead and give you a SPOILER:
This little lamb is the absolute focus of the book of the Revelation.
• 1 time in the Old Testament is Jesus called the lamb (Isaiah 53)
• 4 times in the New Testament is He called the lamb
And yet 31 times in the book of the Revelation is He called the “Lamb”
Contrast that with the fact that He is only called a lion once.
This Lamb is the focus.
Obviously it doesn’t have to do with appearance for this Lamb even looks to be in a ROUGH CONDITION.
“a Lamb standing, as if slain”
• You can still see the battle scars.
• You can still see the wounds.
But there is more to this Lamb than meets the eye.
He also has “seven horns”
• Horns equal power, and 7 is the perfect number. This little Lamb is omnipotent, He has all power.
He has “seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God”
• We’ve read it several times in Isaiah 11 about the Spirit in His fullness. This is the One who embodies that Spirit.
• This is the deliverer mentioned in Isaiah 11 who will bring in that time of peace where the lion will once again dwell with the lamb.
We have our deliverer!
AND THIS LAMB DOES THE MOST AMAZING THING!
(7) “And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.”
This is THE event!
• It’s the grand slam in the bottom of the ninth
• It’s the hail marry in overtime
• It’s the 3-pointer at the buzzer
• ONLY INFINITELY BIGGER!!!
He took the book!
Daniel 7:13-14 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”
This Lamb demonstrated His worth
By approaching the throne and taking that book!
(See David approaching the giant here!)
And that leads to the second point
#2 THE DESCRIPTION OF CHRIST’S WORTH
Revelation 5:8-10
The immediate effect is worship!
The “four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb”
They all have “a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”
They hold close to them all that the church has cried out to God for.
All the prayers for relief.
All the cries for deliverance.
They’ve been waiting for this day!
And they are coming to worship.
And look at what they sing:
(9) “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals;”
YOU ARE WORTHY!
WHY?
“for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
YOU ARE WORTHY BECAUSE YOU ARE THE GREAT REDEEMER!
Who better to redeem creation from the usurper than the One who effectively redeemed humanity from him?
• Jesus was the One who died and purchased the pardon for sinners.
• Jesus was the One who set them free from sin
• Jesus was the One who made them children of God.
• Jesus was the One who took them from darkness to light.
• Jesus was the One who took them from outside the veil to inside the veil.
When He died on that cross He pulled off the greatest work of redemption the world has ever seen.
Who better to redeem this world than the greatest Redeemer of all time?
You don’t need a lion, you’ve got the Lamb!
Demonstration of Christ’s worth, Description of Christ’s worth
#3 THE DECLARATION OF CHRIST’S WORTH
Revelation 5:11-14
As we saw earlier, the worship is contagious!
The choir just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Those near the throne instantly declare Christ’s worth
And at once the angels join in!
(11-12) “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.”
Here we have an unnumbered choir of angels.
“myriad” was the biggest numerical word the Greeks had.
So John said it was “myriads of myriads”
It’s like if you say there was a bagillion of them.
And notice their declaration as well:
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
The elders and the creatures declared WHY He was worthy.
Now the angels declare WHAT He is worthy to receive.
Because of who He is and what He did you should give Him “power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
And it’s not just heaven that worships.
(13-14) “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.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.”
Did you catch that?
“every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them”
That may seem strange given that in just a few chapters
Much of the world will be cursing Him, but it isn’t.
There is a difference between
Recognizing Christ’s worth and submitting to it.
You may remember the triumphal entry when all of Jerusalem worshiped Him.
Jesus even said if they didn’t the rocks would.
All of creation will at this point praise Jesus because He is worthy of it.
He is the only One who has the ability
To throw the usurper out of creation and set creation in order.
THE ANTICIPATION COULDN’T BE HIGHER!
• We’re about to see Jesus clean house!
• We’re about to see Jesus kick Satan out!
• We’re about to see Jesus put God’s house back in order!
So John’s vision begins with a view of heaven.
It starts with a throne, it ends up focusing on the Lamb who was slain.
SO, WHAT’S THE POINT HERE?
Namely that Jesus Christ is worthy of all!
The only victor this world will ever know is a Redeemer.
(it’s not the battle general, or the wise philosopher, it’s the sacrificial Lamb)
Every ounce of heaven’s anticipation and our hope
Rests upon Jesus’ ability to redeem.
And because He has done it and will do it again, all of heaven declares Him worthy!
They say He is worthy of:
“power” (dunamis) it speaks of His authority.
“riches” (ploutos) which speaks of abundant wealth
“wisdom” (sophia) which speaks of His understanding
“might” (ischus) which speaks of His strength
“honor” (time (timay)) which speaks of His value
“glory” (doxa) which speaks of His praise
“blessing” (eulogia) which means to speak well of
SO LET ME ASK YOU.
The angels ascribe “power” or authority to Jesus.
Do you believe He is worthy of that?
Then do you give Him submission?
The angels ascribe “riches” to Jesus.
Do you believe He is worthy of that?
Then do you give Him your wealth?
The angels ascribe “wisdom” to Jesus.
Do you believe He is worthy of that?
Then do you give Him your obedience?
The angels ascribe “might” or ability to Jesus.
Do you believe He is worthy of that?
Then do you give Him your trust?
The angels ascribe “honor” or value to Jesus.
Do you believe He is worthy of that?
Then do you give Him your priority over earthly things?
The angels ascribe “glory” or doxology or praise to Jesus.
Do you believe He is worthy of that?
Then do you give Him the praise of your lips?
The angels ascribe “blessing” or a eulogy to Him. That He is worthy to be spoken well of to others.
Do you believe He is worthy of that?
Then do you give Him your public testimony?
Some give Jesus those things
In hopes that He will give them something in return.
“I’ll praise Jesus if He’ll provide for me or protect me”
To do that is to ask Him to prove His worth to you again.
That is not the worship of heaven.
The worship of heaven says that Jesus is already worthy
Simply because of what He did on the cross,
Apart from any other benefit or blessing.
Heaven says the cross alone makes Christ
Worthy of every single gift that could be bestowed upon Him.
Because He died on the cross Jesus deserves
My submission, my offerings, my obedience, my trust, my priority,
My worship, and my public testimony.
Even If He never does another single good thing for me.
HE IS ALREADY WORTHY!
SO HOW’S YOUR WORSHIP?
• Does it even exist?
• Is it merely lip service?
• Is it done in order to get Him to give you more? (manipulative)
THE LAMB IS WORTHY OF ALL OF YOUR WORSHIP
And He’s the only One who is!
This morning we come to commemorate His worth
As we partake in the Lord’s Supper.
We do this to proclaim His great worth!
We do this to glory in the redemption He accomplished!
BUT BEFORE WE PARTAKE the Scripture says that we should examine ourselves to make sure that we partake in a worthy manner.
1 Corinthians 11:27-28 “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
Jesus is worthy of the best worship.
And we are warned not to worship in an unworthy manner.
Well what does that mean?
Jesus spelled it out to us.
Matthew 10:37-39 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”
There you have it church.
We are commanded not to try to bring Christ less than He is worthy of,
And He is worthy of everything.
As you examine yourself before partaking in the Lord’s Supper
Ask the Lord to reveal to you an idols
Or any habits that are unworthy of Him.
And study His word to see what those things might be.
After all He is worthy of all power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.
As Isaac Watts so eloquently put it in his hymn
“When I Survey The Wondrous Cross”
“Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”
