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May 02, 2010
“Worthy Is the Lamb”
Revelation 5: 1 - 14
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Patmos is an Island in the Agean Sea off the coast of Turkey. It is today a part of the nation of Greece. It is best known among Christians as the location where John the Apostle received a vision from God. John wrote down what he heard and saw in that vision and his account is the book of Revelation in our Bible.
John was on Patmos because of his apostolic activities. He was known as John the Evangelist and he had evidently been so effective at building up the church and converting people to Christ that some court of the Roman Government exiled him to the Island. While he was there and not allowed to leave from there, the Spirit of God came to him and gave him The Revelation. This Revelation contains some of the History and the important parts of the future of the world. The problem is that these bits of future and history are presented in symbols that are sometimes difficult to understand.
In the beginning of the book John informed his readers that it was on a Sunday that he received the Revelation. He heard a voice behind him and saw someone walking in the midst of 7 lampstands. This person was the glorified Jesus. In the first part of the Revelation Jesus dictated to John letters to the seven churches in the province of Asia who were symbolized by the 7 lampstands.
After those 7 letters were dictated, John saw a door in heaven and was invited to go up and observe what was beyond the door. When he passed through the door he found himself in God’s throne-room. God was seated on his throne and before and around the throne were two types of beings. There were 4 whom John referred to as the 4 living creatures and there were 24 Elders each sitting on a throne. The four creatures are said to represent all creation and the twenty-four elders are said to represent the Church.
The 4 creatures led worship in God’s presence by singing “Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” Then the 24 elders threw their crowns before God’s throne and sang “You are worthy, Our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your power they existed and were created.”
Then John saw that in the right hand of God there was a scroll “written on the inside and on the back, sealed with 7 seals.” It was customary to write only on the front of a scroll. That this one was written on both sides conveys the fullness of what was written.
Then John heard a mighty angel proclaim “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” No one came forward to open it. John began to weep because he seems to have understood that he had been transported there to see or hear the contents of that scroll. And now no one could open it.
At that point one of the 24 elders said to John “Do not weep. See the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals”. Then John saw “a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes,…”.
This lamb is a symbolic representation of the murdered, resurrected and glorified Jesus. As John observed, this lamb took the scroll from the right hand of God with the obvious intent of opening it. At that point the 24 elders began to sing a new song. They sang “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation; you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God and they will reign on earth.”
Then Millions of angels began to sing “Worthy is the lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
As the rest of the book of Revelation proceeds, John is proved to have been correct in his assumption that he had been taken into God’s throne room to view the contents of that scroll. The rest of the book of Revelation contains depictions of what was written on that scroll. It turns out to have contained the future of the word, the future of the Church, and the future of all those who believe in Christ.
Only Jesus was worthy to open the future. We might think his worthiness would come from his being the divine Son of God. But the elders and the angels said that His worthiness came from his being slaughtered. He was worthy to open the scroll containing the future because by his death and resurrection he had brought that future into being. He had guaranteed that glorious future, full of severe judgments to be sure but also containing victory for us on earth and a glorious eternal life for us in an eternal kingdom.
In a few minutes we are going to be participating in a reenactment of the memorial meal that Jesus instituted on the night before his death. In this meal the slaughter of the Lamb of God is remembered.
As you take the bread and then the wine in this humble place to the accompaniment of restrained organ music, I want you to remember that in heaven angels and elders are singing “Worthy is the lamb to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
In Him, because of his Death and Resurrection, our glorious future is guaranteed. Praise be To God and to His Lamb Forever and ever, Amen!
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at May 2, 2010 02:20 PM