Revelation 5:1-10: The Lamb's Song

Well, good morning, church family.

If you have a Bible or want to turn with us, I invite you to turn to Revelation chapter 5.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

We're going to look at the first 10 verses there.

The Bible's in front of you.

You can find that on page 967.

967.

It's a joy to turn with you in the book of Revelation.

We're going to back up one verse and begin in chapter 4, verse 11.

Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.

Then I saw on the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.

And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?

And no one in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, was able to open the scroll or look into it.

And I began to weep loudly, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it.

And one of the elders said to me, Weep no more.

Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.

And between the throne and the four living creatures, and among the elders I saw a lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne.

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.

And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scrolls and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God, from every tribe and language, and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom, and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.

If you turn one page to the left, look at these words that John wrote as he opened his book, chapter one, verse three.

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it.

For the time is near.

Let's pray together.

Our humble prayer, O God, is that you would reveal your Son Jesus to us this morning.

It's Him who we seek.

It's Him who we worship.

We want to be blessed, O God, but we confess that we're easily distracted.

We can't see you apart from you revealing yourself to us as the Son of Man, the Lion of Judah, the Lamb, the Word of God.

So would you help us to see you?

Help us to hear you and to walk in joyful obedience, we pray.

Amen.

It's been a beautiful summer here in DC, pretty mild, at least by my recent memory.

Except for last week, maybe, but the sun is shining, the lake is calling, and school is out, at least for a few more weeks, kids.

And our family loves just rolling down the windows and blasting our favorite songs of the summer.

What has been your song of the summer so far with the windows rolled down?

If you were driving down Independence Avenue alongside the National Mall in 1988, or even fast forward 35 years later, you might be playing Fast Car by Tracy Chapman or Luke Combs, depending on your generation.

Or maybe you're a Swifty, like Pastor Tom.

You know, Lake George, he says, I hear that Taylor's playing in LA this weekend.

My family, uh, we took a road trip to Montreal this summer, and somehow, I really don't know how this happened, but what does the fox say has risen on our Billboard Hot 100 as a family during this summer?

There's something about music that transports us to a season or to a place or to a moment in time.

And in our passage today, we get a window into the Billboard Hot 100 of heaven, one of eternity's all-time favorite songs.

And like all good songs, there's four parts: there's a prelude, there's a tension, there's climax, and resolution.

Or if you're a note taker, we're going to be looking at four headings: creation, fall, redemption, and consummation.

And as we listen together to God's word, our prayer is that he will transport us before this throne room ourselves, that he would speak to us through his word.

So it's good for us to be asking these questions.

What is the Spirit saying to us this morning?

What does God want us to hear?

And our prelude begins at creation, which is why I snuck back a verse to chapter 4, verse 11.

Look back at that verse with me.

Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive honor and glory and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.

John's vision here opens up to heaven, a vision of our Lord and our God receiving worship.

And it's good to ask us why is God receiving worship?

Just for a moment, I want you to put the apocalyptic descriptions to one side, the angels and the elders and the four living creatures.

We can have uh an opportunity to discuss that one Sunday evening.

Uh some people say the 24 elders represent perhaps the unity of God's people, the Old Testament, the 12 tribes of Israel, and the 12 apostles in the New Testament.

We can talk about that later.

So put the apocalyptic descriptions in the way.

Don't let them distract you this morning to what this passage is teaching us.

And it's really simple.

Verse 11 in chapter 4 is teaching us that God is worthy of our praise because he is the creator of the world and everything in it.

God is the creator of the world and everything in it.

I love how one commentator put it.

These praises of God for his eternal perfection and creative achievements are the prelude to the new song that is going to come that will laud God and the Lamb for redemption, which is the climactic display of their divine worthiness.

You'll hear this question a lot around here.

Westminster shorter catechism, what is the chief end of man?

To glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

I see a few people saying it on your lips.

Glorifying and worshiping God is a part of the church's DNA.

Not just this church, but worshiping God as creator is a part of the DNA of the church.

If we don't start at the beginning, if we don't understand what the Bible has to say about who God is as the creator, then the story will be over before it even gets a chance to begin.

And if there's anything that life has taught me over the last few years, it's that life is so short in light of eternity.

So don't miss the invitation to worship.

Because we all worship something.

And the Bible tells us who and what we are to direct our attention and worship.

It's for God, for his creating and sustaining grace.

So God is worthy of our praise because he is the creator of all things.

That's the first point.

But the second is this that we are not.

We are not worthy of praise.

And we see that in these first four verses.

Where John and the angels go searching for someone who is worthy to open up this scroll, to break the seals of the plan of redemption.

And they search heaven and earth and under the earth, and they come up empty.

John is empty.

And what does it say that he does in response to his failed attempts?

It says that he wept.

He weeps and he weeps.

The scroll here, this is not the Lamb's book of life.

If you are thinking about that in Revelation, all the names that are listed, who will be in that eternal kingdom with God.

This scroll, most agree, is God's plan of redemption and salvation for his people.

And it is complete.

There's not a white space empty on this parchment.

It is covered within and without.

His beautiful, glorious plan of redemption.

And it was time to set his plan of redemption into motion.

But there's one problem.

The seal was keeping the scroll shut.

Who's worthy?

Who's worthy to even look into it?

Maybe just peek.

A glimpse into God's glorious plan of redemption.

Now, some of you might know that I serve as a chaplain at Arlington Cemetery as an Air Force reservist.

And I have a privilege to serve along some of the finest young airmen in the Air Force.

And was standing next to an incredibly bright staff sergeant the other week waiting for families to come.

And I just asked him, What do you think happens after we die?

Which is a fair question.

It's another way of asking Westminster's shorter catechism, question number one.

If you think about it, what is man's chief end?

What is the purpose of life?

We're surrounded by 450,000 reminders of death.

And so I asked this young airman, what's the point of it all?

It's an occupational hazard.

And he said to me, uh, really bright, he said, Well, there's there's two philosophies that come to my mind.

First, you know, there's existentialism, where it's up for each individual to make their own meaning in life.

So that's what a lot of people choose is existential living.

And then there's nihilism, where it doesn't really matter because life is just meaningless.

So it doesn't really matter where we go when we die.

And I said, Well, what do you what do you think?

What do you think is what do you think happens when we die?

He said, I I don't really know.

I wouldn't really consider myself a religious person.

I'm just trying to be a good person.

Just trying to be a good person.

And you know what?

He's a really amazing person.

From everything that I've gotten to know about this young man, he is a fine and a good person.

And I don't have to tell you, I think that some of the best people that I know are far away from knowing God.

But all of Scripture is clear.

Since Adam and Eve, since we have inherited their sin nature, there's none righteous.

No, not one.

So I want to reread verse 3 here.

It says, and no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it.

You know what that means as I was reading this and just reflecting on it?

There's a lot of people who tried.

There's a lot of people throughout history who have tried to open the scroll because of their good works.

But there is no amount of good that a person can do to tip the scales of eternity in their favor.

There's none righteous.

And I wonder if that's how you think of yourself this morning, as unworthy, as unqualified, weeping like John.

But I think more often than not, if we look deep into our hearts, especially in this city that prizes competency and resourcefulness, we think we're pretty good most of the time.

I'm a decent person.

If there's problems in life, I can have the network or the capital or the resources to be able to solve those problems in life.

That is often how we think.

And the young man that I was speaking with at the cemetery, he wasn't saying, I am a good person.

Because that is an even deeper and darker lie.

He was just saying, I want to try to be a good person.

But too often, I think we believe the lie, you know, that I am a good person.

And it's worth asking, do we have a higher opinion of ourselves than we ought?

John's response, I think, coming up empty is instructive for us.

Because John was recognizing his unworthiness.

Because, you know, when the angel came back and said, you know, we can't find anyone to open the scroll, John doesn't, you know, offer his hand and say, Well, why don't you let me try?

I think I can I can unlock the scroll.

You know, he understands that he too is unable to break the seals, to open up the scroll.

And he weeps.

And I wonder when is the last time that we've truly wept over our sin?

And I don't want you to be too hard on yourself this morning because, in a way, that this is part of the liturgy of the church each and every week.

One of the reasons we confess our sins is precisely this reason.

So we can bring home this bulletin, this worship guide with us throughout the week and pray this prayer of confession.

That is a great place to start.

If we're saying, okay, I hear you, I'm not worthy.

What do I do?

Where do we start?

It's a great place to start.

Each and every week, we start on the Lord's Day by confessing our unworthiness, by weeping over our sins, because God is deserving of our worship because He created the world and everything in it.

We are not.

Every single person who has attempted to live a good and righteous life has failed.

Except one.

Except one.

So we come to the climax of this song, of this story, of the redemption, of this plan of salvation.

And this is the point that Jesus is worthy of our worship.

Jesus is worthy of our worship.

Look at verses five and six.

And one of the elders said to me, Weep no more.

Why?

Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.

And between the throne and the four living creatures, and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain, with seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

So we had this pit in our stomach, you know, in point two, recognizing the fall, our unworthiness.

We see that there is one who is worthy to break the seal.

Jesus himself.

Ben, I want to start singing the next song right now.

He's called the Lion of Judah, the root of David.

There is no mistaking who John is talking about here.

There's no mistaking that Jesus is the person that he is speaking of.

Because he is the one who has conquered over sin and over death.

Through his death, the conquering lamb is transformed into the slain lamb.

Sorry, the conquering lion we see is transformed in an instant in these verses into a slain lamb.

The seals could not be opened until the grave was empty.

Christ was bruised and beaten.

But it's only a few pages into Scripture where we see that there will one day be a seed who will come from the woman who will crush the head of the serpent once and for all.

Yes, he will be bruised.

His heel will be bruised.

But the serpent will be crushed once and for all.

And this verse, verse 5, beautifully echoes Isaiah's suffering servant, which we read about earlier in the service.

Isaiah 53.

Look back in the worship guide.

He was despised and rejected, pierced for our transgressions.

The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Verse 7: He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.

Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before it shears is silent.

This servant, the one who is worthy of opening the scrolls, is Jesus.

And he is alive forevermore, bearing our iniquity, conquering over sin and death.

And I love the way that C.S.

Lewis paints this picture in his book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

The children have just crossed the Great Sea and they've arrived in the foothills of Aslan's country.

And there they saw it.

Something so white on the green grass they could hardly look at it.

They came on and saw that it was a lamb.

The lamb welcomes them to shore for a fireside breakfast of fish, reminiscent of Jesus' breakfast with his own disciples after the resurrection.

And then Lewis writes, His snowy white flushed into tawny gold, and his size changed, and he was Aslan himself, towering above them and scattering light from his mane.

Lewis beautifully pictures Aslan as the lion and the lamb.

The triumphant lion is the slaughtered lamb.

The mighty king is the crucified and divine Savior.

This is the gospel.

The Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God has taken away the sins of the world.

The Passover Lamb, which was sacrificed to redeem the people, has come once and for all to take our place, to bear the judgment that was deserved for us.

And I'd encourage you later today, if you have an opportunity, to go back and read Daniel chapter 7, which is just the backdrop of this entire story and picture, another apocalyptic book that is hard to understand at times.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

But you can see this throne room experience.

This opportunity where the Son of Man is coming to the throne to receive authority over an eternal kingdom.

But you know what happens at the end of Daniel?

That scroll is sealed shut.

It's not until Jesus comes that he fulfills the prophecy that Daniel is speaking about and breaks the seal for all eternity.

Jesus is the one who's worthy to take the scroll, and what happens as a result?

All of creation falls down in worship of the King, singing this new song, this song of redemption.

And we're not told why until actually the song itself.

The song in verses eight through ten help us actually interpret the scene that we just saw before.

So take a look with me at the song itself.

Verse 8, 9, and 10.

Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals.

For you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people, for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.

The previous song of the elders in chapter 4, verse 11, was directed, if you look back at it, to him who sits on the throne, our Lord and our God, and praise for his work of creation.

But look at this.

Who is the second song directed towards?

Who is the praise directed towards in this second song?

The praise is directed towards the Lamb, the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God who has taken away the sins of the world for his work of redemption.

It's important for us to see and understand and rejoice in the majesty of God and his saving grace through his Son Jesus.

Because of the Lamb's blood, God ransomed a people for himself that are representative of the nations, every tribe, tongue, and nation.

And he made them a kingdom of priests to God.

That is amazing.

These words they hearken back to Exodus chapter 19, verses 5 and 6.

Exodus 19:5

That God would make a kingdom and priests for himself.

He invites us to reign with him on earth.

Isn't that amazing?

Jesus is worthy, and he invites us because of his inheritance to reign with him.

Here's what Exodus 19 says.

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples.

For all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Here's how the late Tim Keller put it.

Here's how you know you're worshiping the real God and the true God.

He makes you feel as royal and powerful as a king.

And it makes you feel as pure and as acceptable as a priest.

And for many of us, this is a radically new self-image.

Don't forget what I said in point two, which is important, to understand our unworthiness, which is true.

But when God looks on us, he sees Jesus.

We are accounted righteous.

We can have a reorientation of our self-worth because in Christ we already have everything that we long for in this life.

And understanding God in this way gives us a new perspective on this world.

Fourth point, the resolution to this song, the consummation of all things.

Jesus makes us worthy.

Jesus makes us worthy.

We don't make ourselves worthy, but Jesus makes us worthy.

How does John describe the redeemed in the book of Revelation?

He does in several different ways, but one of my favorites is Revelation chapter 14, verse 6.

Revelation 14:6

Listen to these words.

The redeemed are people who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

These have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits from God, for God and the Lamb.

And in their mouth no lie was found.

For they are blameless.

They are blameless.

So when God looks upon his people because of the blood of Jesus Christ, he sees that they are accounted righteous and they are blameless in his sight.

God's plan to purchase the people for himself was so that we might become that redeemed, the ransomed people of God, and be blameless in his sight.

Hallelujah.

Listen to how Peter puts it in 1 Peter 1.

Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

From before the foundation of the world, God had a plan to redeem a people for himself by his own blood.

And we see that beautiful plan of redemption opened up here through the death of the Lamb.

Slaughtered, slain.

And it was only through that blood, the perfect obedience of Jesus, that we can be accounted righteous in his sight.

That we can too be that kingdom.

That we can feel royal, that we can feel pure, like a priest.

It's only because of the blood of Jesus that that is true.

And friends, when we start to get this, we can truly become the people that God intended us to be.

When Jesus opened up the seals and we see the purpose of history, then we can begin to make sense of the world that we live in.

How it can be so messy at one time and so glorious in the next.

Peter understood that even our sufferings are according to the will of God.

Only a person who understands this, that Jesus is coming and that he is making all things new, as the book of Revelation will go on to say in chapter 21.

Only when we understand all of the chapters of this story, creation, fall, redemption, and consummation, can we understand God's plan for us?

Can we understand who He is and what He's done for us and His call for us to walk then in joyful obedience?

He enables us to live in this way so that we can go out singing this beautiful new song.

Despite the chaos of the world and the death that seems to reign around us, God's perfect plan cannot be thwarted.

And indeed is already being fulfilled.

Creation, fall, redemption, consummation.

Because we know Jesus is coming again, we can join heaven and singing, worthy is the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.

And so let's join in heaven as we sing that song even now together.

Let's pray together.

Father God, we ask that you would indeed help us to sing the same songs of hope that they sing in heaven.

Would you give us the ability to know the humility required for us to come?

And to know the hope of those who bow down and sing that you would see us as blameless and righteous in your sight because of the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.

Worthy is he, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.