Worthy Is The Lamb Series

Colonel John Howard was ordered to retreat in the

Revolutionary War. But as he did, the British started to

charge, and he decided to surprise them. He ordered his men

to attack. They did and won a smashing victory for which he

received great honor. But General Morgan reminded him,

had his plan failed he would have been shot for disobeying

orders. His decision could have led to disgrace rather than

honor. Opposites can be so close, and in the case of Jesus as

the Lamb of God, these opposites comes together as one. The

disgrace of the cross became the basis for Jesus to be

honored, not only for all history, but for all eternity. A song

we will never cease to sing is the song, Worthy Is The Lamb

Who Was Slain. Every joy and every pleasure of the eternal

kingdom will be ours because of his sacrifice for us.

After ten billion years we might forget every aspect of the

history of earth and time, but we will never forget this song.

Rev. 5 is the worthy chapter of the book. Out of 7 uses of the

word in Revelation, 4 of them are here in this chapter, and

they all refer to Jesus as the Lamb of God who died for the

salvation of a lost world. This song of heaven exalts Jesus in

a way no other does, for it is not just the redeemed humanity

that praises His worthiness, but the angels, and all the beings

of creation. We are focusing on verse 12 which is the angelic

chorus portion of this grand universal musical.

The whole creation joined in one,

To bless the sacred Name,

Of Him that sits upon the throne,

And to adore the Lamb.

I think the church has underestimated the roll of angels in

the whole plan of God. This text tells us they are together as a

multitude beyond number praising the worthiness of the

Lamb just as loud, if not louder, than the redeemed. I fear

we have underestimated the cosmic consequences of the

cross. We are told that angels cannot know what it is to be

redeemed by the Savior, and there is no doubt truth to this,

for they were never lost. But Christians have gone to far in

separating the angels from the joy of salvation. They know

and feel more than we realize. They are the ones who rejoice

over every sinner who repents. They are the ones who sing of

the Lamb being worthy of 7 things: Power, wealth, wisdom,

strength, honor, glory, and praise. Seven being used all

through the book for completeness and totality. In other

words, there is nothing imaginable for which Jesus is not

worthy of honor.

The angels actually know more about what Jesus deserved

and merits for His sacrifice than do the redeemed. We tend

to want to make salvation man-centered, but the fact is, the

Bible expands the picture to include all of creation, and the

angels are deeply affected by this. It is superficial, therefore,

to put the angels down as does Anna Grannis in her poem:

There's a song the angels can never share

While the endless ages roll;

The song of one who has been redeemed,

The song of a ransomed soul:

Shall we sing it together, thou and I,

With the wondering angels standing by?

Shall we sing it there in the courts above,

The heaven gained through redeeming love?

Our text tells us it is not so. The angels are not just

standing by. They are singing just as loud as the saints.

They understand that Jesus deserves every honor that

heaven is capable of bestowing. To be worthy is to deserve

what you get. We are not worthy of the least of His favors.

We are saved totally by His grace. But Jesus is exalted as

King of Kings and Lord of Lords because He earned that

honor. He deserves it, and every knee will bow to Jesus

because He is worthy. Aristotle said three hundred years

before Christ, "Dignity does not consist in possessing honors,

but in deserving them." The whole point of heaven's praise

is that the Lamb of God deserves all the honors He receives.

The greatest rewards in heaven will be given to Jesus, for He

alone deserves them. We can't consider all 7 of His honors

but I want to select three to focus on that all began with the

letter W. Worthy is the Lamb to receive Worship, Wealth,

and Wisdom. These represent all of which He is worthy.

The first is the word praise which is the same as worship.

I. HE IS WORTHY OF WORSHIP.

We need to grasp this basic truth that praise or worship is

not to be founded on the worthiness of our circumstances