Sermon Central
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Revlation Chapter 5 - Worship Series
Contributed by Pastor Bruce A. Shields on Jun 19, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: Chapter 5 vs. 8-14 will take a look at Heavenly Worship
Revelation Chapter 5
Vs. 8 - 14: WORSHIP
Rev. Bruc A. Shields
First Baptist Church
Tawas City Michigan
www.tawasbaptist.org
Key Verse; Revelation 1:19
“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.”
Revelation Chapter 1: Things you have seen,
Revelation Chapter 2 & 3: The things which are,
Revelation Chapters 4 – 22: The things which shall be hereafter.
Chapter 2 & 3 – The Things that Are.
Chapter 1 – We see the Lord Jesus as the Glorified One.
Chapter 2&3 – We see the Lord Jesus as the Head over the Church.
Chapter 4-22 – We see the Lord Jesus as the Triumphant One.
We will see the Lords striking message to the seven churches of Asia.
They are applicable to the churches of today.
Before the vision of the Father in Heaven in Revelation Chapter 4, we have the vision and words of the Son, Jesus Christ in Chapters 1 – 3.
We must know the Son before we can know the Father. He is the only way to God.
WORSHIP
8a – And when He had taken the Book, the four Beasts and twenty four Elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
“When He”– Refers to the Lord Jesus.
“The Book” – is the Book with the Seven Seals which no one in heaven, on earth or beneath earth was worthy to open.
“The Four Beasts” – The number 4 symbolizes the Earth, or what is terrestrial, the totality of created and revealed, according to the Bible.
God chose four men to write about the life of Jesus, corresponding to these four creatures.
Matthew sees Jesus as the lion or king. (The lion is associated with the royal tribe of Judah to which King David and his descendants belonged.) Accordingly Matthew begins his gospel with the words ’A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham’, and continues by tracing his lineage all the way down. What could be more fitting for a king?
Mark sees Jesus as the exact opposite, an ox or servant. There is no genealogy, nor even any kind of birth story. It wouldn’t be appropriate for a servant. Neither is there much teaching recorded. Mark is all about action. Jesus is serving his father. Appropriately his gospel is the shortest.
Luke sees Jesus as the man. He gives us all the details about his birth, and then traces his ancestry right the way back up to Adam (whose name means man). It is Luke who gives us the more personal details of Jesus’ life. Only he tells us how Jesus was thrown out of his own city of Nazareth and sweated droops of blood in Gethsemane.
John sees Jesus as the flying eagle that soars up in the heavenly realms. This represents God. In John the birth story is very different from what Matthew and Luke give. Simply, ’In the beginning was the Word’. We are seeing not man, but God. John is the gospel of ’I am’. I am the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection, and the life, the way, the truth and the life, the true vine. Who but God can say such things?
“Twenty-four Elders” – They are representatives of the Old and New Covenant Church.
“Fell down before the Lamb” – this proclaims the deity of Christ.
“Every one of them had harps and golden vials full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” – In the Greek, this refers to the 24 Elders only. All the prayers that have ever come up before God for things to be rectified are about to be answered in the opening of the Book.
“And they sang a new song” – A NEW song refers to being made new. The Elders represent the Old and New covenant churches, and they have been made NEW through covenant with God. This is a redemption song that only the redeemed can sing.
“Saying, ‘You are worthy to take the Book, and to open the Seals thereof’” – This proclaims that by Jesus’ Death He has acquired a right to approach where no one else could approach, and to do what no one else could do.
“For you were slain” – Here the song tells us exactly WHY Jesus is worthy, because of the Cross which made this possible.
“And have redeemed us to God by Your Blood” – This proclaims the manner in which Redemption was purchased.
“Out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” – This verse proclaims to us the fact that Salvation secured by the Death of Christ universally applies to ALL classes and peoples of the Earth.
