The Lamb is Worthy

Okay, so what we're going to do now, if you are new to Watermark, we always spend a few minutes in prayer.

This is called a pastoral prayer, where one of the leaders will lead us in a time of prayer.

And I'm going to say this prayer, or I've written this prayer, I'm going to read what I've written.

But this isn't a time just for me to pray and for us to disengage.

This is a time for us as a church to pray.

And so I want to encourage you to listen to what's being said and then agree with it.

In your own heart, in your own mind.

So yes, Lord, I agree.

I also want to pray for that.

So let's pray as a family for ourselves and for the things we're going to bring before the Lord this morning.

So, oh, actually, sorry, before we pray, let's pray first.

I'll introduce Colin afterwards.

Sorry.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, Sovereign God, Merciful and Loving Lord,

we've gathered this morning, God, not just to be entertained or inspired,

not just to fill our minds with information.

But, God, we've come to worship you and to glorify your name.

We've come to meet with you, the living God, and to have an encounter with you.

God, we've come to have our hearts both challenged and encouraged.

And so, God, we ask you, Holy Spirit, to come and be here.

We so need you, God.

God, to come and worship and glorify your name is not only good and right as your creation,

but it's good for our souls.

And so we gladly turn to you.

We worship and adore you this morning.

Heavenly Father, we've come to declare your majesty,

that you are on the throne,

that you rule and you reign in splendor and in beauty.

God, we've come to sing of your faithfulness,

that there is no one as faithful and consistent as you,

that though we are faithless, we often go our own way.

God, you are so supremely faithful.

Father, we've come to tell of your mercy and your grace,

that though we sin a thousand times, yet your mercy is new every morning.

Lord God, if you should hold us accountable for each and every time

we've defamed your glory or lived for ourselves, who could stand?

But with you, God, there is unceasing mercy, and we praise you for that.

Father, we've come to revel in your beauty,

to have our hearts rejoice and delight in you,

and take joy in just how wonderful you are.

Father, there is no other being that delights us like you.

There is no human experience more satisfying than knowing you,

than being with you,

than being known by you.

Heavenly Father, even the most intimate and the most satisfying experiences in this world

are but a mere shadow, a hint of what we will one day experience

when we see you face to face.

Great and glorious God, we've come to worship and adore you

and find our delight in you.

Father, even as we describe your majesty and beauty,

we admit that we do not love you like we should.

We do not trust you as you deserve to be trusted,

and therefore, Father, we do not obey you as you rightly deserve to be obeyed.

Father, forgive us, we pray.

We confess that our hearts are prone to wonder, to turn in on ourselves.

By nature, God, we are self-seeking and self-serving.

And for this, God, we ask you to forgive us, but also to change us.

God, we need you to renew us and revive our hearts.

Oh, Holy Spirit, we need you.

Father, as we confess our need for you,

won't you hear our prayers and revive our hearts?

Fan into flame our love for you again.

Father, this church and our hearts are in your hands.

We cannot save ourselves.

We cannot sanctify ourselves.

We cannot work our way towards Christ-likeness.

But you can change us and make us more like Jesus.

God, come and do it, we pray.

Father, tear down the idols of our hearts.

Expose our unbelief.

Destroy our pride and our self-sufficiency.

And bring us to your throne of grace, we pray.

Heavenly Father, this morning, we also want to pray for our brothers and sisters in mainland China.

Our hearts break when we hear of the opposition that many of your followers face.

The pressure they face to worship and honor created beings, men,

as much as they are encouraged to worship you.

Father, we confess that many of our brothers and sisters in China love you more than we do.

Father, where we would have given in and fallen away,

denied your name or sought our own comfort,

they've held on to your name and they've honored you.

Father, even now, we feel hardly worthy to even pray for them.

We need their prayers and their faith.

But God, we stand with them this morning and we bring our brothers and sisters before you

and we ask you that you give them courage, God.

Give them faith.

Pour your love into their hearts, God.

Protect them and keep them safe.

Keep their hearts soft towards you and towards their oppressors.

And grow their faith, God.

Father, we pray for ourselves.

Grow our faith as well.

That when our day of persecution comes, we will not found to have shrunk back,

but we will stand resolutely for the honor and the praise of your name.

Father, we pray these things in your praiseworthy and your trustworthy name.

Amen.

Amen.

So, Justin's going to come and read the scripture to us.

There you go.

But while Justin comes up, let me introduce Colin.

Colin Farrell, you can make your way up.

Colin is going to be bringing God's word to us this morning.

And it's the first time that Colin has preached at Watermark,

but not the first time he has opened up God's word.

And so, Colin, we're looking forward to you bringing God's word to us this morning.

Enjoy yourself and have fun.

But let's listen to the reading of God's word.

The scripture reading comes from Revelation chapter 5.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

Please follow along in your bulletins or on the screen.

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.

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice,

Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?

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

Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it.

And one of the elders said to me,

Stop weeping.

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.

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.

And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

And when he had taken the book,

the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb,

each one 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 book and to break its seals,

for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood,

with your blood,

men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

You have made them to be a kingdom of priests to our God,

and they will reign upon the earth.

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.

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 worship.

This is the word of God.

Just in case you're in any doubt,

the main point of the passage is simply that Jesus is worthy.

The two practical questions, however, are,

so why exactly is Jesus worthy?

And what difference does that make to us?

Before we get to any of that,

let's just commit our time in prayer.

Father, we thank you for your word.

We know that all scripture is God-breathed

and useful for teaching and training in righteousness.

So that we, your servants, may be equipped for every good work.

Father, help me to explain this passage well.

Help us to hear it and put it into practice.

For your name's sake.

Amen.

Kevin's introduced me.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Colin.

I'm a member here.

And for those of you who are new today,

we're doing a series in Revelation.

So if you've not already got one of these,

this will be useful for the rest of the series.

Because we're doing a series,

there's a context to this chapter.

So before we get into today's chapter 5

and why Jesus is worthy,

let's just do a quick recap of the first four chapters

and of why we're starting in chapter 5.

We're looking at the book of Revelation.

And from the first four verses of chapter 1,

we know that this book is a letter.

It's a letter from John to seven churches.

The seven churches he was involved in founding.

It's a letter that explicitly calls itself

the revelation of Jesus Christ,

which God gave him to show his servants

the things that must soon take place.

It's a revelation which,

from the beginning of chapter 1,

is explicitly made known to Jesus by John.

And so hence the letter to the churches.

It's a letter that also explicitly calls itself

a prophecy.

And unusually and encouragingly,

it tells us about the prophecy

that blessed are those who hear

and who keep what's written in it,

for the time is near.

The second and the third chapters

of the book, of the letter,

they've been direct messages

from Jesus to each of the seven Asian churches.

All of those churches are located

in what is modern-day Turkey.

And ten of us went with Chris and Fiona

earlier in the year

to have a look at those cities.

The size of those churches

is fairly small.

Probably smaller than this group here.

Maybe much smaller.

While there's probably a general theme

in those mini-messages to the seven churches,

choose between compromise and faithfulness,

choose between compromise and faithfulness,

there's very different specific messages

to the individual churches.

Because they've got different situations.

They're dealing with apathy.

They're dealing with affluence.

They're dealing with false teaching.

They're dealing with immorality.

But there's a fairly common structure.

And that structure has little echo

in today's chapter.

And that structure is,

this is me, Jesus.

I know you.

This is my challenge to you.

This is my encouragement.

And there's also a phrase that should perhaps

have us just pricking up our ears

in the message to the churches.

Because it's the same phrase

to each of the churches.

He who has an ear,

let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

And that's pretty much my prayer for this chapter.

The fourth chapter of the book,

we have a change of scene.

Four chapter one.

I looked, and behold,

a door standing open in heaven.

There's an explicit statement of intent.

Four chapter one, Jesus to John.

Come up here,

and I'll show you what must soon take place.

Four two.

Behold,

a throne stood in heaven

with one seated on the throne.

Kevin's one-sentence summary of chapter four to me

was,

God is on the throne

above all earthly powers,

and therefore,

Christians have hope,

and we don't need to live in fear.

And we ended chapter four

with the place rocking in the party sense.

Hearing two great songs of praise in heaven.

Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty

who was and is to come.

And the end of chapter four,

worthy are you,

our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power.

For you've created all things,

and by your will they exist

and are created.

So chapter four ends with

God on his throne

and a great song of praise.

Which brings us to chapter five

in our passage today.

We're still with John.

We're looking at the throne.

John hasn't got what was promised in 4.1.

Come up here,

and I'll show you what must take place after this.

But the stage is set,

and I say the stage is set deliberately

because there's even more than chapter four.

Quite a sense of wow,

theater, drama,

panning of camera angles,

and dramatic music.

Can you see it?

Have a look at the chapter.

Verse one,

verse two,

verse six,

verse 11.

I saw,

and I saw,

and I saw,

and then I looked.

Verse four,

verse seven.

I began to weep greatly.

And he took the book.

Verse two,

11,

12,

and 13.

Proclaiming with a loud voice,

saying with a loud voice,

and I heard,

and I heard.

In this dramatic stage,

what's it set for?

Well,

it's set for a question,

an answer,

and a response.

Verse two,

and verse three,

we have a question,

and it's a surprising one.

Verse three to verse ten,

we have an answer,

and that's also a surprising one.

In verse 11 to 14,

we have a response,

which ripples out.

So let's start with verse one,

and that first,

I saw.

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.

We actually don't need to get

too much into what this book,

or scroll,

depending on your translation,

is or will say,

since we'll find that out

in the next few chapters.

But for our purposes,

here's John,

and he's still waiting

to find out

what must take place

after this.

And here's God

on the throne,

above all earthly powers,

holding a book,

written all over,

sealed.

The reasonably obvious implication

is that this is God's message,

this is God's plan.

And that's what John's here to hear.

And that would almost certainly

be the assumption

of those listeners

in the seven churches,

because there's some pretty strong

Old Testament links,

Chris Thornton's hyperlinks here,

references from Daniel,

Ezekiel,

and Isaiah.

And so,

the book's there,

next obvious thing

is to open the book.

And that's where we get

to verse two,

and a somewhat surprising question.

And I saw a strong angel

proclaiming with a loud voice,

who is worthy

to open the book

and to break its seals?

Strong angel with a loud voice,

because verse three tells us

this question is heard everywhere

in heaven on earth.

But that's really not

the most obvious question.

Verse one,

there's the book,

it's sealed.

And then you get this question,

but how about the one

who sits on the throne

just opening the book?

How about the angel going,

who's going to open the book?

That's not the question.

It's kind of a strange question,

and verse three

kind of underlines that.

No one in heaven

or on earth

or under the earth

was able to open the book

or to look into it.

There seems to be

a question

without an answer.

So,

let's ask ourselves,

why this question?

What does asking

this question

that seemingly

no one can answer

teach us?

Well,

it could be to underline

that none of us

in our own right

is worthy

to front up

to God at all.

It's true,

it's biblical,

it's always worth remembering,

it's probably not

the main point.

It also could be

to underline

that none of us

is worthy to know

anything

about God's plan

other than what

he chooses

to share with us.

It's comforting

to know

that there's a plan,

there's a plan

for our individual lives.

It's so frustrating

not to ever know

what that is,

necessarily.

That's also true,

it's also biblical,

when we add

that the other side

of frustrating

is trust,

trust in God.

There's a total aside

on that thought.

A useful afternoon

or evening

would be to look

at the last five chapters

of Job

and try and work out

why Job says

in the last chapter,

these are things

too wonderful

for me to know,

which I didn't know,

and I repent

in dust and ashes.

That's a total aside.

Again,

this probably,

while it's worth registering,

it's not the main point.

Rather,

the very point

of the question

seems to be

simply,

there is only

one answer.

No one

in heaven

or earth

or under the earth

is able

or worthy

other than the one

we're about

to find out about.

It's a kind of siren

going,

this next bit's

important.

Listen to it.

Verse four.

Then I began

to weep greatly

because nobody

was found

worthy to open

the book

or to look

into it.

John is devastated,

which again,

perhaps underlines

the importance

of getting an answer

to the question.

But he's comforted

and corrected,

verse five.

And one of the elders

said to me,

stop weeping.

Behold,

the lion that's

from the tribe

of Judah,

the root of David,

has overcome

so as to open

the book

and its seven seals.

And if you've

ever wondered

where the lion

in C.S. Lewis

Narnia stories

comes from,

here's probably

a fairly good bet.

There's actually

no exact Bible

references being

picked up here,

tribe of Judah,

root of David.

But there's some

pretty strong echoes,

more of Chris's

hyperlinks

from Genesis

and from Isaiah.

And those

early church readers

will probably

have picked those up

more easily than us.

And the gist

is reasonably clear.

There's

a clear sense

of strong ruler,

king,

Messiah,

promised one.

And that kind of

ties quite well

to this

has overcome.

Comment in verse 5.

Which brings us

to a surprising

answer

to the angel's

question.

Verses 6 and 7.

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.

And he came

and took the book

out of the right hand

of him

who sat on the throne.

Verse 7 first

because it's

actually quite easy

to skip over it.

And it's

like that short

phrase in

Genesis 1.16

which to save you

looking it up

is

and he made

the stars also.

It's one of those

phrases that

you kind of just

go over

and then go

what just

happened?

It's something

we really don't

quite register

when it's actually

something

pretty stunning.

Here's the seal

book.

We've just heard

a resounding

silence to the

question

who's worthy

to open this

book?

And now

he

and we're about

to find out

who he is

fronts up

and takes the

book out of

the hand of the

one who sits

on the throne

who recall

from last week

is the one

above all

earthly powers.

So

who is this

one

who

unchallengedly

if that's a word

is worthy

to do this?

Verse 6

It's a lamb

standing

as if slain

having seven

horns and

seven eyes.

Seven horns

and seven eyes

is instant

understanding for

the original

Asian church

readers

less so for

us.

So seven

is the number

of perfection

like eight

is the number

for fortune

or luck

for us.

Horn

is the

biblical symbol

of strength

eyes are the

biblical symbol

of wisdom.

So the picture

is one of

perfect power

perfect wisdom

and seven

spirits also

suggest

omnipresence

i.e.

God is

everywhere.

But

this is a

lamb

and a lamb

that's been

slain

and that doesn't

immediately tie

with verse 5

with what was

being described

there.

The strong

lion from

the tribe

of Judah

the promised

root of David

the one

who is

overcome.

But that

slain lamb

is a

description

that's

underlined

verse 9

you were

slain

verse 12

the lamb

that was

slain

and

peeking

outside

chapter 5

it's

underlined

in chapter 7

and it was

there in

chapter 1

as well.

The lion

of Judah

and the

root of

David

is also

unexpectedly

for many

the slain

lamb.

So

why

exactly

is

a slain

lamb

uniquely

worthy

to take

the book

and to

open it?

Verses

8 to

10

actually

our answer

is verses

9 to

10

but let's

pause

for 30

seconds

on verse

8

again

so we

don't

pass

over it.

Verse

8

the

immediate

reaction

to the

lamb

taking

the book

in verse

7

the elders

fall

down

as one

commentator

puts it

they give

him their

most profound

adoration

and worship

and that's

probably a

fairly good

cue for us

as well.

And in

passing

if you ever

wonder about

the power

of prayer

the value

of prayer

note

where our

prayers are

since saints

are simply

Jesus followers

our prayers

are incense

in golden

bowls

before the

throne of

God

so be

encouraged

to pray.

also in

passing

and somewhat

less seriously

if you ever

wondered why

harps get

associated

with heaven

this verse

is one

reason why.

Back to

our question

why exactly

is the

slain lamb

uniquely

worthy to

take the

book?

Bearing in

the mind

that the

answer to

that question

seems kind

of important

if the

whole point

of the

angel's

question

is to

provoke

the answer

no one

but

this

slain

lamb

is worthy.

Our

answer is

here in

verse 9

and 10

and they

sang a

new song

saying

worthy

are you

to take

the book

and to

break

its seals

for you

were slain

and purchased

for God

with your

blood

men from

every tribe

and tongue

and people

and nation

you've made

them to be a

kingdom and

priests to

our God

and they'll

reign upon

the earth.

Why is the

lamb worthy?

Three reasons.

First, he's

worthy because

he was slain.

He is the

true sacrificial

lamb that

satisfies the

justice of

God.

John's

original readers

will have got

the point much

quicker than we

would have done

because again

because of

Chris's hyperlinks

and their

reference so

let me give

us some.

Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53:6

verse 6

and 7

All we

like sheep

have gone

astray.

We have

turned

everyone

to his

own way

and the

Lord has

laid on

him

the

iniquity

of us

all.

He was

oppressed

and he

was afflicted

yet he

opened not

his mouth

like a

lamb that

is led

to the

slaughter.

Isaiah 53

the

righteous

one

my

servant

will

justify

the

many

as

he'll

bear

their

iniquities

because he

poured himself

out to

death and

was numbered

with the

transgressors

yet he

himself

bore the

sin of

many

and

interceded

for the

transgressors.

John 1

29

36

John the

Baptist

speaking

the

next day

he saw

Jesus

coming

towards

him

and

he

said

behold

the

lamb

of

God

who

takes

away

the

sin

of

the

world

the

next

day

he

looked

at

Jesus

as

he

walked

by

and

said

behold

the

lamb

of

God

well

lastly

1 Peter

18

1

18

to

19

you

were

ransomed

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

Jesus

the

slain

lamb

is

literally

faithful

unto

death

Luke

22

42

Jesus

praying

Father

if

you're

willing

remove

this cup

from

me

nevertheless

not

my

will

but

your

will

and

so

we

celebrate

the

cross

God's

justice

and

judgment

on

sin

also

meet

with

God's

grace

because

of

the

slain

lamb

if

there's

anyone

in church

who

doesn't

understand

that

then

please

talk

afterwards

to the

person

who

brought

you

or talk

with

me

so

he's

worthy

because

he's

slain

second

he's

worthy

because

he was

slain

and so

by his

blood

he

ransomed

or purchased

depending upon

your translation

for God

men of

every tribe

and tongue

and people

and nation

look around

us for a

taster of

what that

looks like

and so

we give

thanks

and we

celebrate

our unity

in a new

body

and we

can't

exclude

anybody

from

that

third

he's

worthy

because

he's

made

this

ransomed

purchased

group

a kingdom

and a

priesthood

to God

and they'll

reign

and so

we have

a glorious

new role

and a new

future

and that's

probably

another of

those verses

or comments

that we

don't

really get

we pass

over

but it's

worth

just

thinking

about

something

rather

stunning

dwell on

it

and it's

praiseworthy

in a very

real sense

the lamb

is God's

plan

the looked

for lion

of Judah

and the root

of David

is also

the lamb

that was

slain

the rescuer

and creator

of a new

people for

God

to serve

God

bought

through the

cost of

his blood

and literal

sacrifice

for us

and that's

why he's

uniquely

worthy

pause button

two side

thoughts

why do

organizations

like faith

comes by

hearing

place such

emphasis on

translating the

bible for

every

people

every language

group

it's because

of verses

like this

the purchase

price is

paid

for every

tribe

and tongue

so let's

get that

news to

them

and add

their unique

voice

to this

song

also note

some of

the tenses

here

you were

slain

past tense

Jesus is

now visibly

and gloriously

alive

and so he's

a marker

and a guarantee

for us

in death

you ransomed

you have

made

they shall

reign

there's a bit

of a commentary

debate on that

shall reign

as to whether

it's current

or future

but the gist

of all three

of these

is

it's a done

deal

it's echoing

the same

thought

of it's

overcome

he's overcome

this is all

certain

back to our

new song

we've had the

question

who's worthy

we've had

the answer

the lamb

is

and now

we've got

this growing

response

in verses

11 to 14

first 11

and 12

then I

looked

and I

heard the

voice of

many angels

around the

throne

and the

living creatures

and the

elders

and a

number of

them

the number

of them

was myriads

of myriads

and thousands

and thousands

saying with a

loud voice

worthy is the

lamb that was

slain to

receive power

and riches

and wisdom

and might

and honour

and glory

and blessing

the praise

and worship

which started

with the four

living creatures

and the elders

in verse 9

ripples out

to the host

of angels

in verse 11

and it

continues to

ripple out

in verse 13

to

everything

in heaven

and earth

but verse 11

and 12

John is looking

and hearing

a huge

and loud

swell of

praise

in heaven

for the

slain lamb

and note

this is actually

saying something

more than

before

about the

slain lamb

being worthy

first

it's actually

echoing the

words

at the end

of chapter 4

which were to

God

God is worthy

of glory

honour

and power

here

it's the

lamb

that's worthy

of these

things

so

anyone

who suggests

that God

Jesus

is not

also God

so

Jehovah's

witnesses

for one

amongst many

they're going

to have a

small problem

with this

verse

second

it's saying

loudly

that the

lamb that

was slain

is worthy

to receive

riches

and might

and wisdom

and blessing

and that

could raise

at least

two very

practical

questions

first

are we

offering

these

things

to him

are we

offering

these

things

ourselves

to him

second

if we're

focused

on any

of these

things

for

ourselves

riches

honour

glory

blessing

we're

focused

for any

of these

things

for ourselves

in our

own

lives

might it

just be

worth

remembering

that these

things

are ultimately

his

not ours

verse 13

and 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 honour

and glory

and dominion

forever

and ever

and the

four living

creatures

kept saying

amen

and the

elders fell

down

and worshipped

same point

as before

the lamb

and the

god

are equally

worthy

of honour

and glory

but now

also

dominion

and rule

forever

and note

this is a

song

that ultimately

all

are going

to be

singing

all of us

are going

to be

singing

and again

that may

raise the

question

for some

here

is this

already

your song

or not

and again

if you're

in any doubt

about that

talk afterwards

with the person

who brought

you

or with me

so

let's recap

we said

that in

chapter 5

we've got

the stage

set

in verse 1

for a surprising

question

verses 2

and 3

who's worthy

to open

the book

verse 3

to 10

we've got

a surprising

answer

no one

is worthy

other than

the lamb

standing as

though it's

been slain

we have a

response

rippling out

in verse 13

and 14

from all

that the

lamb that

was slain

is indeed

worthy

forever

I started

by saying

the main

point of

the chapter

is Jesus

is worthy

but the

two questions

to get our

heads and

hearts

round

two practical

questions

are

why

exactly

is Jesus

worthy

and what

difference

does that

make

so

why

exactly

is Jesus

worthy

again

well he's

worthy

he's

uniquely

worthy

because by

his death

and his

blood

he's ransomed

a new

people

a people

of every

nation

language

and tongue

tribe

and people

group

to be

a new

kingdom

priest

to our

God

and to

have a

new

and glorious

future

Jesus

the lamb

is also

worthy

in the

eyes

of heaven

and ultimately

in the

eyes

of all

everywhere

to have

honor

and power

and wealth

and might

and wisdom

and blessing

forever

what difference

does that

make

what difference

did that

make to the

original

listeners

readers

of the

seven

churches

I can

think of

at least

four reasons

first

God is

in control

he has

his detailed

plan

verse

one

second

that

detailed

plan

includes

them

and

gloriously

so

verse

nine

and

verse

ten

they

don't

need

to

weep

the

lamb

who

was

slain

is

worthy

to

open

and

reveal

God's

plan

to

them

can't

do

it

for

themselves

the

lamb

who

died

for

them

has

been

is

and

will

be

an

integral

part

of

God's

plan

a

plan

paid

for

at the

cost

of his

own

life

and

his

own

blood

and

it's

the

lamb

who

will

bring

his

people

to

God

as

a

heaven

worthy

part

of

that

plan

as

one

of

the

commentators

puts

it

we

need

not

fear

if

we

are

his

purchased

property

he'll

provide

for

us

if

we

are

priests

and

kings

in

his

ideal

we

may

trust

him

so

as

to

arrange

our

life

plan

to

secure

the

best

exercise

of

those

functions

or put

another way

when we

recognize

who

God

is

what

he's

done

what

he's

promised

we

should

have

no

problem

trusting

him to

carry

through

in the

future

his

actions

in the

past

should

give

us

confidence

in his

saving

power

in the

future

third

in the

light

of

this

that

God

is

in

control

and

that

his

plan

includes

them

gloriously

they

face

the

same

simple

question

as

God's

chosen

ransom

people

have

always

faced

in

scripture

and

that

we

saw

a

little

echo

of

in

those

mini

messages

to

the

seven

churches

in

chapters

two

and

three

this

is

God

this

is

what

he's

done

this

is

what

he

promises