WORTHY IS THE LAMB
Rev 5:1-14
Intro: Rev 5:1
The school has a calendar with “Red Letter Days”. First day of school, testing, holidays, Final Exams, and the Last Day of School.
There are many important days on the Heavenly Calendar that are “Red Letter Days”. Creation, the Flood, Israel Delivered, Birth and Death of Jesus Christ, the Rapture, the 2nd Coming, Judgement Day, etc. We will look at one of those “Red Letter Days” today.
Picture this: The Rapture has just happened. All Heaven has witnessed the sinful decadence of the world for countless centuries, the rebellion against God, and Satan’s continued assault on God and the world. The martyred believers in Heaven have been asking “How long O Lord until you judge the earth?” The angels have been waiting for the moment in time that Jesus will pour out His judgement upon the evil world. In chapter 5, that moment is fast approaching.
The Lord Jehovah is sitting on the Throne and holding a book (scroll) that has 7 seals. The opening of the seals of this scroll will set in motion the 7 year period of Tribulation when God pours out His wrath upon the Satan and sinful man that has rejected Him.
A. THE SEARCH FOR ONE THAT IS WORTHY. (5:1-4)
1. Rev 5:1-2
The time is right for the Scroll to be opened and the judgement of the Tribulation to begin.
But who will open this scroll?
The angel asks “Who is worthy to open it?” Only One of sinless perfection and worth would have the divine right to open the seals.
ILL- King Arthur releases Excalibur from the Stone.
In Arthurian legends, King Uther was a selfish warring king that destroyed his own kingdom by taking a duke's wife by magical deception. That Duke was killed in battle as the affair was going on. Some of the other dukes rebelled against him and cornered him to kill him and take Excalibur, the sword of kings. As Uther was dying of a mortal wound he stabbed the sword into a large stone and exclaimed "If I can't have Excaliber, no one can." The other knights tried to free Excalibur but could not. Merlin the Magician spoke out "He who pulls Excalibur from the stone, He shall be king."
After that, each year the knights of the land would gather and hold tournaments to win the right to try to free Excalibur and become king. One year, a squire had lost his knight's sword and went looking for it. He stumbled upon Excalibur in the stone and merely touched it and it leaped from the stone into his hand. There was an uproar, but just as Merlin had said, the sword could only be freed by the only one worthy to do so.. Arthur was that young squire and it turns out, he was actually Uther's infant son that was taken into hiding 2 decades before. So, Arthur had the pedigree of a king and he had the pure heart that the nation needed in her king.
Similarly, the angel is seeking the One who is worthy to open the Scroll.
2. Rev 5:3
The response is silence throughout Heaven. No one that has ever lived, no angel, no created being is worthy to open the seal.
3. Rev 5:4
Here, John may not know exactly what is going on in this Heavenly scene, but he realizes it is of great importance. He knows God has a plan that He is about to execute, but there is no one worthy to open it. He begins to weep in despair that God’s will is blocked. He doesn’t realize that the angel’s question was rhetorical. All heaven knew that there was no one worthy to open it except for One.
B. THE LAMB IS WORTHY. (5:5-10)
The elder tells John to stop weeping because there is One that is worthy to open the Scroll. Of course, it is Jesus. But the question before us is:
Why is Jesus worthy to open the scroll?
1. Because of Who He is! (5:5-6a) Jesus is referred to in 3 ways and each way speaks to His worthiness to open the scroll.
(1) The Lion of Judah. Gen 49- This is a Messianic title that references the prophecy that Messiah will come from the tribe of Judah and be the all-powerful and everlasting King.
(2) The Root of David- Is, Jer, gospels. Title that says Messiah will be/is a descendant of King David. Both of the first 2 titles refer to Jesus as King.
(3) The Lamb of God-
Jn 1:29 calls Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins and mine so that we could be saved.
Rev 13:8 calls Jesus “the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world.”
This was not something that Jesus decided to do after man sinned. He knew that man would sin long before man was even created. So God planned in advance to one day redeem fallen man thru the death of Jesus Christ. Think about it- Before you ever sinned God had already prepared the way you could be forgiven and redeemed from your sins.
Read (5:6)
** As the crowd separates so that the King of Glory can be seen, John sees Jesus, the Lamb of God standing there.
* "As if slain"- He sees the Lamb standing there. He is no longer slain. No longer dead. He is risen from the dead and is standing there in Heaven. He is not dead, but the scars are still there that indicate that He once was. The scars He wears in Heaven on this day were those He received as He suffered and bled and died to pay the price for your sins and mine so we could be saved. As we are resurrected with our new spiritual bodies, we will be without defects and blemishes, but when you and I see Jesus face to face we will, evidently, see the visual scars that He suffered so that we could be saved. The scars from the crown of thorns He wore and imagine the moment He opens His arms to welcome you into Heaven, the scars from the nails in His hands will be obvious.
2. Because of What He did! (5:7-10)
(1) He died for us. “You were slain”. Jesus died on the cross to provide all the world an opportunity to be forgiven and to be saved.
Jn 3:16 For God so loved that world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
(2) He redeemed us. “Purchased for God”. All people are sinners and are in bondage to sin. Sin creates a prison that destroys their lives, imprisons them, and enslaves them. But Jesus has paid the price for our sins so that we could be forgiven and set free.
Eph 1:7-8 In {Jesus} we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.
Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us
(3) He transformed us. “Have made them”.
When Jesus saved you, He wasn’t thru with you yet.
He has much more for you than merely living forever in Heaven!
2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
You are no longer a worthless sinner, you are a new creation.
Col 1:21-22 "And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-- "
He has transformed you and now you are holy and blameless. He didn't stop at erasing your past sins, He transformed you into something holy unto Him.
Rev 5:10 "You have made them to be a kingdom of priests to our God and they will reign upon the earth."
He has exalted You and you are now a priest and a king!
C. WORSHIP OF THE LAMB. (5:11-14)
In response to what has been revealed in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, all of Heaven begins to worship Him.
1st the Angels worship Him- (Rev 5:11-12)
In response, the rest of Creation worships Him (Rev 5:13-14)
In Heaven, the angels and all of redeemed mankind praise and worship the Lamb of God while those on the earth wait in ignorance for the wrath of God to be poured out on them beginning with the breaking of the 1st seal just moments away.
Where will you be on that day?
Will you be before the throne singing praise to Jesus Christ and worshiping Him?
Or will you be left behind here on the earth awaiting the fiery wrath of God to be poured out on you?
