The One Who is Worthy
Sermon Notes
The One Who Is Worthy March 17, 2024
Revelation 5:1-14
It’s great to see you here this morning. It’s good to come together in worship. You’ve probably heard it said before, but people are worshippers. We are always worshiping something or someone. I’ve had the privilege of participating in some pretty incredible worship services in my life. Not all have been God-centered. I’ve been to a few secular concerts that were pretty lit, and I’ve been to college football games where 85,000 fans were giving their all to the game. I’ve also been packed in with thousands of people in front of Cinderella’s castle at 9:00 pm for the fireworks show. Those were all powerful worship experiences…. all the attention, energy, and money were focused on the event, the band, the team… giving it worth. On the God-centered side, I’ve been at camps with hundreds of kids singing at the top of their lungs. I’ve been at multiple Passion Conferences with 20,000 college students singing worship songs for hours on end. I’ve been in the Georgia Dome with 68,000 men all kneeling at their seats praying for their families. In 1997 I was on the National Mall (show picture) in Washington D.C. with nearly 1 million men for the Promise Keepers Stand in the Gap rally. And I’ve also been in a living room with a handful of friends, singing and praying with complete abandonment…. which is equally, if not even more powerful. Last week, I heard several people say, and I would agree, that as we sang Holy, Holy, Holy with just our voices at the end of the service it was one the most powerful worship moments we’ve had here at City Awakening. Each of these experiences was memorable and moving, but there’s really no way for me to describe what I experienced in any of those moments. Words don’t do them justice.
And that’s why I’m both excited and anxious to preach this message today, more so than normal, because I know there’s just no way I can do justice to what our text holds. The more I studied it, the more overwhelming it became in terms of trying to communicate the magnitude of what unfolds in Revelation 5. It is a giant crescendo in the Biblical narrative and it is the key to the rest of the Book of Revelation.
Go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Revelation 5. We’re continuing the second vision given to John in Revelation. Last week we studied Ch. 4, which was the beginning of the 2nd vision. John was invited up into Heaven, into the throne room where he saw this incredible scene of God seated on the throne and the 4 Living Creatures and 24 Elders bowing down to worship him. It’s a powerful scene and, as we’ll see, a precursor to what’s coming in Ch. 5. Let’s go ahead and jump in.
Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides, sealed with seven seals.
John sees God sitting on His throne and He’s holding a scroll. Sealed scrolls in ancient times were like legal documents. They often held some type of decree or message from the King. The details of the message were written on the inside and could only be read once the seal was broken, but there was a summary of the message on the outside.
There are several places in the Old Testament prophecies where a scroll is mentioned. In Ezekiel 2, the prophet Ezekiel sees God handing him a scroll and he says, “10 When he unrolled it before me, it was written on the front and back; words of lamentation, mourning, and woe...” Then God told him to eat it oddly enough! But this was a scroll that contained coming judgments of Israel. The prophet Isaiah received a similar vision of a scroll from God regarding Israel’s judgment. Then the prophet Daniel was given a vision of the tribulation that we’ll see in Revelation, but God told him to, “keep these words secret and seal the book until the time of the end.”
So, we can deduce that the scroll here Revelation 5 is a secret document telling of God’s coming Kingdom, His plans for salvation, and His plans for judgment. It’s literally God’s plan for taking back the universe, written down, and sealed. As we move forward in Revelation, we’ll see that it’s sealed in seven layers and John will get to see each of the seven seals broken one at a time. He gets to see each piece of the plan unfold. But something else must happen first. Look at verse 2.
2 I also saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or even to look in it.
Before the seals can be broken and the scroll read, there has to be one worthy of the job. So, an angel starts the search. He’s calling out among the heavens, “Who is worthy to come and open the scroll and carry out its decrees?” ….. This reminds me of The Sword and the Stone. If anyone can pull the sword out of the stone, he is the one worthy of being king. But notice here that no one is coming forward to try…. it’s crickets. If you remember the scene of God’s throne from last week, I can’t blame them. Everyone around the throne knows they aren’t worthy. They know that to carry out the will of God you have to have the power of God. So, no one responds. Then John says in verse 4,
4 I wept and wept because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or even to look in it.
John is low-key freaking out. He immediately starts sobbing in response to the silence. He knows he’s not worthy… but then no one else either? Remember this is only a few decades after the resurrection. The church initially surged with thousands being saved at Pentecost and in the days after. Then, Paul was planting churches all over the place. But soon the apostles started being killed for their faith. Paul was put in prison. John was exiled. Plus, he just recorded the letters to the churches where Jesus called them dead, tolerant, compromising, and useless to the point of spitting them out of his mouth. So, when no one responds to the angel's invitation, John has to be wondering where the Messiah is. Was it all a mistake? Would all God’s promises go unfulfilled?
Maybe you can relate. Maybe you have those moments when you start spiraling because of the silence. You feel like God should be doing something and you start questioning what you believe….is God good? Does He even know what he’s doing? What’s the plan? For a moment, that’s where John is at. But it doesn’t last long. Verse 5 says,
5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Look, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
I imagine this elder coming up and wrapping his arm around John like he’s consoling a child and saying, “Hey, it’s going to be ok.” My 4-year-old daughter sleeps with a blanket and stuffed rabbit that she’s had since she was a baby. She can’t sleep without them. Occasionally, especially when she was younger, there would be a mild crisis at bedtime if she couldn’t find blanket and bunny, but then we would find it and remind her that it was going to be ok… all was not lost.
This is what happens to John. But it’s going to be ok because God does have a plan. He will do what He said. “In fact,” the elder says, “there’s the Messiah.” Notice how the elder describes him, as a lion and root. These are descriptions that come from Old Testament prophecies. In Genesis 49, Jacob is on his deathbed and gathers his sons around him. He goes through each of the twelve telling them what will happen to them in the future. When he gets to Judah, he says,
“9Judah is a young lion—…
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah
or the staff from between his feet
until he whose right it is comes
and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him.”
This meant that a descendant of Judah would rule and have authority over all people. That was a Messianic prophecy that pointed to Jesus.
In Isaiah 11, God gives Isaiah a prophecy regarding the coming Messiah as well. He says, “1Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him…”
Jesse was the father of King David and Jesus was a descendant of David as promised by God. He was a root of David.
These two descriptions of the Messiah point out two important things: 1) Jesus has the authority to be King as the lion from the tribe of Judah, and 2) He has the ability to be King as the root of David because the Spirit of the Lord rests on him. And then the elder also says that he has conquered, which means he has the victory to be King. He has the victory over sin and death. This is the one they were looking for. He has the authority, the ability, and the victory that gives him the right to break the seals and carry out God’s plan. So, John dries his eyes and turns to see this lion, picking up in verse 6,
6 Then I saw one like a slaughtered lamb standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth. 7 He went and took the scroll out of the right hand of the one seated on the throne.
This is a good place to recall the imagery from Ch. 4. This throne room is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. The glory of God is radiating everywhere, there’s thunder and lightning, light flashing off of the glass sea, and a giant green rainbow around the throne. There are four living creatures with heads like a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle, flying with their six wings and constantly declaring the holiness of God. Now John looks and expects to see a lion, but instead, he sees a lamb standing in the middle of all that. Such a powerful contrast. Jesus is referenced as the lamb 28 times in Revelation. It’s an important part of the imagery, and it’s not just a lamb, but a bloody lamb like one that’s been slaughtered on the altar. This powerful, authoritative, conquering lion is actually a lamb…who conquered by self-sacrifice. He conquered by laying his life down on the altar as a sacrifice.
You probably noticed that this lamb has some extra parts as well…. seven horns and seven eyes. In literature, horns represent an animal’s strength, and seven, as we know, is the number of perfection or completion in Biblical literature. So, the seven horns represent Christ’s perfect power and strength. Similarly, eyes represent insight and knowledge. So, the seven eyes represent Christ’s perfect knowledge and wisdom. Both of which represent the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s power and presence within the Messiah. In this moment, then, John sees the true Passover lamb that died so that others could be redeemed. That lamb that belongs on the throne has conquered evil and inaugurated God’s future Kingdom, and as we’ll see in the coming chapters, he will open the scroll and he will put into action God’s plan for the fulfillment of that Kingdom. But we’re not there yet. Look at verse 8,
8 When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and golden bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song:
You can go back and listen to last week’s message for a little more insight into this, but the four living creatures are angels. Specifically, according to Ezekiel, they are cherubim, and they stand around the throne of God and constantly give Him praise as we saw in Chapter 4. We find Cherubim in other places in Scripture, and it’s interesting the role that they seem to have. For instance, in Genesis 3, God placed two Cherubim outside of the Garden of Eden once He removed Adam and Eve. Their role was to protect the garden so no one could enter it. Throughout Jewish history, the cherubim are seen as guardians of God’s holiness. Just like guards before a king’s throne.
The twenty-four elders, as Pastor Louis said last week, are representatives of the church. They are not angels, but real people and they represent all the redeemed saints up until this point in time. That’s important because of what they are holding.
Verse 8 says they are each holding harps and bowls of incense. Harps were an important part of worship throughout the Old Testament. We know that David played a harp and wrote songs. But harps were also an important and symbolic part of Old Testament prophecy. In multiple places a harp was played before prophecy was given. In 2 Kings 3, the harp even seems to usher in the spirit of God on Elisha and then he prophesied. So, the 24 elders playing harps here in Revelation 5 are an indication that what’s about to happen is the fulfillment of all the prophecies that have come before. It’s not just about music, but a declaration.
As for the bowls of incense, they were used in the temple by priests. The priests would go into the inner court carrying the bowls of incense while the people stayed in the outer court and prayed. In Luke 1, we find Zechariah chosen to go in and burn incense. The idea is that the incense represented the prayers of the people and the smell would go into the presence of God in the innermost room of the temple, the Holy of Holies. Here in Ch. 5, all the prayers of the saints, all the prayers for God’s kingdom to come, are being presented before God. This should give us comfort and peace to know that our prayers aren’t lost. Sometimes it feels like our prayers hit the ceiling, but when we are praying for God’s will to be done, for His kingdom to come, then we can be sure our prayers are not only being heard but they are being kept to be presented to God by these elders around the throne. John McArthur says it this way,
“All the anticipation of holy writ, all that believing, hoping prayer, all that believers have cried for to deliver them from sin and disease and Satan and flesh and demons and the cursed universe, all that prayer that has gone up for centuries and centuries for God to act, for Christ to come is now in a consummate way lifted up in one final plea for the action to start. And all that the prophets have ever said about this moment is strummed in a final effort to play the tune that will lead to the final end.”
In other words, it’s about to go down.
I want to point out one more thing before we move on. Verse 9 says they sang a new song. You can find that phrase throughout the Bible, especially in the Psalms. People sang a new song any time there was a fresh work of God. Singing was their response to God’s new work of grace in their lives. You can go back to Exodus 15 after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and find the first recorded song that Moses sang to celebrate God’s deliverance. I think this is a valuable way for us to look at the role of songs in our lives today. We gather here on Sunday mornings, and we sing. They may be the same words and tunes from weeks before, but they should be a response to God’s fresh grace in our lives. He is always doing a new work in our lives, and we should be singing in response. That doesn’t mean you have to write a new song every day. It’s more about recognizing and responding to God’s work in and around you. Here in Revelation 5, the elders are responding to the Lamb taking the scroll. The words are very similar to what was said in Ch. 4, but this time it’s a song in response to something new. And what do they sing?
9You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slaughtered,
and you purchased people
for God by your blood
from every tribe and language
and people and nation.
10 You made them a kingdom
and priests to our God,
and they will reign on the earth.
Jesus is worthy! Jesus is worthy to take the scroll and open it! That’s what they’re singing. And they give us 3 reasons why he is worthy.
1. He was slaughtered. Jesus willingly laid down his life on the altar as a sacrifice for our sins. Isaiah 53 says he was he was “led like a lamb to the slaughter.” He fulfilled the need for a perfect blood sacrifice, which satisfied the wrath of God once and for all.
2. He purchased people for God. Like slaves bound by the chains of our sins, Jesus paid the price for our freedom. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:20, “You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price.”
3. He made us a kingdom and priests. He didn’t just free us so we could try and make it on our own. No, he died for us, and he freed us to give us a purpose and a place. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” He brought us into His family. He gave us a place at His table.
The song of the elders reveals, piece by piece, God’s plan of redemption. Jesus is the only one worthy to take and open and scroll because Jesus is the only that could accomplish all of that!
It would be enough for us to stop there. That’s enough to give us a new song of praise. But I want to finish the chapter so let’s keep going.
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands. 12 They said with a loud voice,
Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing!
Notice, the choir is growing, and they aren’t whispering! I remember years ago at a previous church we had an older gentleman visit with his son. At the time we had a full band, drums, lead guitar….. we didn’t hold back. So, during the service, I was a little worried about what this man was thinking. But later that week, the member told me his dad loved the service because for once he could actually hear what people were saying in church.
Here’s a word of warning: If you don’t like loud, you’re in for a rude awakening in Heaven. It’s going to be loud! God likes it loud! We’re talking millions of angels shouting out this song. When John wrote this, they didn’t have words for anything more than ten thousand because they didn’t count anything that went that high. So, thousands of thousands meant there were so many he couldn’t count them….millions of angels joining in the chorus but notice what verse 12 says, “They said…”
This may not be important, but as I was studying this, I thought it was interesting. There is very little, if any, evidence in the Bible that angels sing. A lot of very respectable theologians hold this opinion. If you think about it, most of our theology on this comes from popular-held opinion which comes from TV portrayals or songs like, Hark the Harold Angels Sing.. But anytime we see angels declaring something, they are saying it…. even when they appear to the shepherds. You can do some research yourself and see if you can find a verse that says angels sing.
There is one verse in Job 38 that could suggest they at least sang at one time, which would have been at creation, but it’s also poetic language that we can’t necessarily take literally.
Why do I even point this out? In Revelation 4, the four living creatures, angels, are before the throne worshipping God constantly, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy… Here in Ch. 5 the elders, representing all the redeemed, sing a new song and it’s the song of redemption. When we get to verse 12 and the thousands of angels join in, they are saying, “Worthy is the Lamb…” It’s an echo of the song of the elders but not their song. It’s interesting because these angels don’t have a new song to sing. They don’t need to be redeemed because they are not fallen creatures. That’s not to cheapen what the angels are saying by any means, but I think it serves to highlight the song that we, as those redeemed by the blood of Jesus, sing. It gives weight to what we sing. That’s why we try to sing Gospel-centered songs here at City Awakening. We don’t want to just sing pretty songs. We don’t just want to sing songs about God (although those aren’t bad). We want to sing songs that capture the fullness of the Gospel message; that tell the story of who Jesus is, our great need, and what he has done for us…. because that’s the song we’re going to be singing for all of eternity! And in a way, we get to lead and direct the worship of the angels as they echo our song.
As we get to verse 13, notice the choir continues to grow.
13 I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say,
Blessing and honor and glory and power
be to the one seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb, forever and ever!
You’re probably wondering what he means by every creature. This one’s easy. He means every creature! From the angels to the ants. Every single creature cries out in adoration of the Lamb of God. The phrase here is similar to the chorus above it. Between the two they mention that Jesus is worthy to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, blessing, honor, and glory. 7 things that represent his complete worth. 7 words that show we should hold nothing back in worship. Remember we are all worshippers. We come into the world as worshippers. You came into this building today as a worshipper. Someone or something sits on the throne of your life, guaranteed. But this passage shows us that there is only one worthy of our worship. That’s the big idea for today. Jesus is the only one worthy of our worship. He is infinitely greater, and his work is exponentially more significant than we could ever imagine.
Imagine the greatest athlete, the most successful businessman, the coolest pop star, the best political leader…. not even one of them is worthy to take the scroll and open it, and that means not a single one of them is worthy of our worship, only Jesus. I love what Pastor Kevin DeYoung says,
“Whatever good you think Jesus has, He has more. Whatever honor you think He deserves, it is not enough. He is worthy to receive every accolade and every reward, every award, every ascription of praise we could think to heap upon Him and more. It is an absolute certainty that everyone in this room, no matter how long you’ve been a Christian, no matter how many songs you’ve sung, how many sermons you’ve preached, it is an absolute certainty that everyone in this room thinks too little of Jesus. You cannot think of Him too highly. You cannot sing songs to Him too gustily. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
Amen! Amen, which is exactly what the angels said next in verse 14.
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Amen most literally means “Let it be so!” Yes, let it happen! Let Jesus, the worthy lamb, receive all glory and honor and power forever! The question is, “Will we join in now with that worship?” Will we direct our worship to the only one that is worthy today? We’re already worshipping, but who are we worshipping? I want to give you 3 quick ways we can evaluate and practice this in our lives.
1. Sing a new song.
God’s mercy is new every morning. His grace is covering us constantly, yet we get caught up in the same sad songs of sorrow and despair. We sing the blues way more than we sing praise. We need to put on our Gospel glasses and look through the lens of salvation. We are worshippers, but we have to be intentional about who gets the worship and why. In heaven, whole-hearted worship of Jesus will come naturally, but for today, we have to work at it. We must maintain our perspective. We have to fight the lies of the enemy. We have to prioritize our time and energy so that Jesus gets the glory in our lives.
2. Believe Sundays matter.
Our worship is a daily response, but the church gathers on Sundays because Sundays matter. You can watch a game on TV, and you can stream a concert online…. but why do you put in the effort to be there in person? Because there’s something special about being with thousands of other fans giving their worship. There’s a big misconception in society about going to church to get something you need. You look for the church that has all the options we’re looking for…the music we like, the best children’s ministry, the service projects, the teaching that makes us feel better…. Those things have their place (not the teaching that makes us feel better), but we come here to give not to get. We come here to join in worship, to lift our voices as one louder chorus than we can sing on our own. We come here to put all our energy and time into worshipping the one that is worthy. The cool thing is that in giving our all in worship, we get exactly what we need. Our hearts get realigned. Our desire for the world fades. Our sin becomes small. We find peace and joy in the presence and power of God. That leads to the last point.
3. Find peace in the Lamb.
When John thought no one was coming to open the scroll, he wept. There was hopeless anxiety and fear that came over him. But then the elder pointed him to the lamb and his weeping stopped. When we look to the lamb, it should give us an overwhelming sense of peace knowing that there is one who has conquered sin and death. There is one that purchased us with his blood and gives us a place in God’s Kingdom. He has the authority, the ability, and the proven victory to open the scroll and take back the universe….and we belong with him! Set your mind on these things and you will have the peace of God that surpasses understanding.
As we pray together, I want to give you the chance to respond this morning. If you have never surrendered your life to Jesus, then I want to give you a chance to do that now. Will you believe that He is the only one worthy of our worship and trust in his saving work on your behalf? If you believe that for the first time today, then during this last song, I just want to invite you to come to the back and find me. I would love to pray with you.
If you came in as a believer this morning, then you know what to do. We’re going to worship! Let’s lift our voices together. Maybe you want to get on your knees. Let’s join in the choir of angels and sing a song of the redeemed!
