Worthy is the Lamb - Revelation 5 (Degraded Audio)

1:54Thank you, Thomas. I have an explanation. They live with us now in Johannesburg. You'll see that on our prayer card. I bear witness. And so they are a part of our ministry so much so that I completely dishonored them. But Dad and Mom, could you please stand as well? It's great to have them here. So we grew up in Katie. I know I lost the accent somewhere between California and Africa. But no pressure. Last Sunday, I was in Dallas preaching in a church, and he said, as long as by the time he gets to the scripture reading, he gets that Texas accent back, you know, to read the word of God. I thought, oh, boy, pressure's on. But you'll see it in our chapter this morning. There'll be a few other people in heaven, too. But dad and mom sold their house in Denton, where they've lived the last 15 years, and came to join us in the work in South Africa and Johannesburg. So if you want to know more, come back tonight. If you want to know more about Shepherd Seminary and much more about what the Lord's doing there, how you can pray for our church and our ministry, Thomas has been a real encouragement in his visits. I still remember a church picnic. Of a year or two ago, and he shared with us the fruit of your whole series in Psalm 119. And he summarized it for us. I bet you didn't know that was possible, but for us preachers. But it was a real encouragement and had one or two of his kids here, and they've stayed along at Ontatile and the baby home ministry there. And been a great encouragement in our home. This morning, my kids said, Okay, Dad, just clarify why we're driving two hours because we passed a lot of other churches. Why are we driving two hours to church this morning? And I said, Well, remember the pastor who wouldn't just let me take him to the lion park like normal. He said, You're all coming with me, and he's paying. Oh, yeah, Pastor Thomas. Okay, that's why we're going to Emmanuel the Baptist. So then they made the connection. But it's been a joy, and we're grateful for your involvement, even up in Malawi, with our broader sort of TMAI team and the Work of Grace Church and Master Seminary men and local pastors. If you turn in your Bibles, please, to Revelation chapter 5, my apologies about Romans chapter 6, but as the week grew on, as Sunday got closer, another chapter eclipsed that. And my own heart and mind, as you might understand, happens to a preacher, perhaps especially when he's on the road and he's not locked into the next chapter, the next verse. And I hope you'll see why. It seemed fitting that we would begin the new year with the end in view, as I believe Thomas did at the end of last year as well, turning to Revelation and looking at Christ as the Alpha and the Omega. What better vision for us to enter? Into the new year with a vision of where all history is headed, where the universe is going, and who sits on the throne. There was a London man in the 17th century who visited Scotland to hear some of the best of the Scottish preachers of the day, and he came back with this remark. He said, Mr. Blair showed me the majesty of God. Mr. Dixon showed me all of my own heart. But there was this man, Mr. Rutherford, Samuel Rutherford, and he showed me the loveliness of Christ. That's what the Apostle John does here in Revelation chapter 5, this magnificent vision. And I can't think of a better wish for the new year, a better resolution for 2018, a greater prayer for us to be praying for our churches and our homes than to know Christ better, to see him bigger, to love him more. And I don't know many places that do that better for us. In Revelation chapter 5, we've been going through Revelation on Sunday nights, and it's been a feast for our souls. One author captures well the focus of Revelation 5. Before I read it in a moment, he says, Throughout history, there have been many pretenders to Earth's throne who have sought to conquer and rule the world. The first and most powerful and notorious usurper was Satan. After his rebellion against God was crushed, he and his angelic followers were thrown out of heaven, and he became the God of this world. Satan then inspired a host of humans to try their hand at conquest: men such as Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Alexander the Great. The emperors of Rome, Attila the Han, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler. Not to mention all the oppressors and dictators, as my uncle and I were just discussing. He worked for a number of years in West Africa. All the oppressors, all the dictators that have so ruined and ravaged our continent of Africa for centuries. In the future, says this author, will come the most powerful, Satan-possessed, human conqueror of all, the final Antichrist. All of these men, all of these wicked rulers, have one thing in common. Do you know what that is? They failed. They failed. Only one, he says, has the right, the power, the authority to rule the earth, the Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings, right? And Lord of lords. One day, he will take back what is rightfully his from Satan, the usurper, and all the rebels, human and demonic. That's a pretty good summary of the whole book of Revelation. And Revelation 5 is a pretty good chapter to encapsulate what all of John's 22-chapter vision is about. Imagine what an encouragement this would have been to John and the beleaguered band of early Christians, the first churches, as a persecuted minority, despised as blasphemers by the Jews, called illegal and occult by the Romans, mocked as fools, this tiny little flock, surrounded by wolves. Nothing could bring greater comfort for these Christians. us today, like this huge vision of God, this majestic picture of Christ ruling on his throne, carrying out his plan, unshaken, unstoppable, undefeated, and unaffected by the next elections or the last elections.

7:46Remember in Revelation 2 and 3, John has been looking around at the troubled condition of the churches in Asia Minor. But now, from Revelation 4 and 5, from looking around, John looks up. We need that often, don't we? There he is, a political prisoner on the barren island of Patmos, consigned to hard labor, and yet now his heart is lifted up. He is catapulted into heaven, escorted into the very throne room of Almighty God. While the earthly outlook was bleak, the uplook was bright. And we're going to see that here in Revelation 4, and particularly 5. The throne of the universe was not vacant, it is and was occupied. And in Revelation 4, John sees God in majestic beauty, in radiant splendor, in dazzling images of jasper, diamond, and ruby-red sardis colors, this multi-dimensional light streaming out from every side there in Revelation 4. And the Lord God Almighty, enthroned by this emerald rainbow around his throne and encircled by this crystal sea, breathtaking, staggering beauty. All attention in heaven is fixed on the main attraction, the living God, the king in all his beauty, seated on his throne. But as we enter Revelation 5, all the supporting casts are still there around God's throne. Those four bizarrely beautiful living creatures covered with eyes, wings, hailing the holiness of God, the 24 elders falling down from their thrones, casting their crowns before God in all his glory. The Spirit of God is present still in chapter 5 and all of his sevenfold glory. God the Father at the center of it all. But who's missing? Children. We serve a triune God. Let me ask you: if God the Father is there so far in John's vision, and God the Spirit is there, who's missing? God the Son, the one we've just sung all our songs to, right? Where is the Lord Jesus Christ in it all? If Revelation 4 extols God as Creator, chapter 5 extols Him as Redeemer, showing that by virtue not only of creation, but also by virtue of redemption, God owns the earth, and God's Son is the rightful heir, and he will come to claim his planet. That's what we see here in Revelation 5. Let me read it, and then we will pray. Revelation 5, John continues.

10:30I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals? And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly, because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, Stop weeping. Behold, the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals. And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders, a lamb standing as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You've made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. Then I looked and heard the voice of Many angels and around the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them, I heard saying, To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. The four living creatures kept saying, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshipped. Our Father, as we come to this glorious vision, my fear is that anything I would say would only diminish to the brightness, the stunning grandeur of this vision of our coming King, the Lord Jesus Christ. But yet you call us to preach the word and explain the text so that we might worship better. We know we will not rise higher in praise until we seek deeper in doctrine and in the reading and studying of your word. May we be caught up, Lord. Think of the words of the hymn writer long ago who prayed, Give me the wings of faith to rise within the veil and see the saints above how bright their glories be, how great their joy, how bright their glories be. Oh, Lord, help us to take.

13:30See, hear, feel, know, believe, and hope, and something more of what is the glorious business of heaven even now. The occupation of the 24 elders, the four living creatures, the church triumphant, the saints who are already safely home while we are but aliens and strangers and exiles in this Babylon of this fallen earth. Fill us with this Christ-centered, glorious hope and joy at the outset of this new year in this broken and restless world. In your Son's name, we ask it. Amen.

14:07If you would like a title this morning, it seems there is only one appropriate title, Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. We're going to look at three scenes of the worthy Lamb this morning. Three pictures of the greatness of Christ, scenes of the worthy Lamb, so that heaven's theme would become our theme on earth, so that the Christ-centeredness of our future home would be more the characteristic of our earthly existence, and so that the hope of heaven would be more our hope until we get there, as it is the hope of history and as is the focus of all eternity.

14:48The first scene then is the search, and then we'll look at the surprise and then the singing. First of all, verses one to four, the search. Unbroken from chapter four, uninterrupted, ongoing. Corporate worship service is happening here. We get to eavesdrop in on the ultimate Sunday gathering, the ultimate mega church, the ultimate praise concert in all its purity. We saw in chapter 4 this, something of what was going on around God's throne. And now John zooms in not just on what was happening around the throne, but on the throne and at the right hand of God, that place symbolic of power and authority, what was in the hand of God. Look at verse 1 there in the text, in your Bibles. Verse 1 begins: John says, I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book, or could be translated a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.

15:46Eight times, this scroll or book is going to be mentioned in the next nine verses. You think we ought to understand it? Probably better know what it is. For 3,000 years, long before Gutenberg, guess how books were made? Paprous parchment scrolls, stretching out sometimes as long as 10 meters. They could be written in front and on the back if you had a lot to say. Then it could be rolled up tightly, and for important legal and royal documents, it would then be sealed with a wax or a clay seal, right? Then it would be stamped with the insignia, the brand, as we'd say today, right? That's the current lingo, the status, a little more important than that, on the seals. And if this was your last will and testament, perhaps an imperial edict sent from Caesar's high throne in Rome, it would be given seven different seals.

16:47Ezekiel saw this in Ezekiel chapter 2 when the Lord handed him a prophetic scroll. Perhaps some of Daniel's visions are also in the backdrop here. Seven also points to fullness and completeness of God's future plan, right? Nothing has been left out, omitted, or forgotten. All has been included. God's perfect and exact outline for the end. So this scroll at the heart of this chapter is a title deed to the earth, you could say. It is God's last will and testament for the world, his plan for the ages, the consummation of human history, God's script for the future, if you'd like. His prophetic plan for how the world will end and how his son will return and triumph.

17:36God's script for the final chapter of history, notice it's already written out. I hadn't seen this before, studying this recently. It says it is sealed up. There's no space left for later edits or changes. It's not up in the air, incomplete or uncertain, right? It's fixed. It's signed. It's sealed and it's about to be delivered. Look at verse 2 as the vision continues. John says, Says, and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice. Could have been Michael, maybe Gabriel, or another high-ranking angel. By the way, angels don't need microphones, they don't need loudspeakers. This angel's thundering shouts pierced the heavens, they filled the earth. His commanding presence and power gave force to his summons, which follows there in verse 2. Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals? It's like Goliath calling out to the ranks of Israel. Remember in 1 Samuel, who will come and face me in battle? So this angel, as it were, pounds his pulpit. Dares anyone to approach the ranks, the throne of God, rather, and take the scroll. Who is the rightful heir to this earth? To whom belongs the inheritance? Who has the power to defeat Satan and all his forces and to take back this planet? Who can wipe out sin and overturn evil? Who can reverse the curse and end the groaning of all creation? Who is strong enough to usher in God's kingdom and dominion to conquer all other kingdoms and to inherit the kingdoms of this world so that they'll become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ?

19:23Only a legally authorized person could open an officially sealed document, right? Because opening the document is a good thing. Instructions, as we're about to see, and as the rest of Revelation shows, opening them is to execute them in the ancient world. Breaking the seals means carrying out the plan. So the visions unfold, and the seals, and the trumpets, and the bowls in Revelation 6 and following. But if no worthy one was found to break the seals, to begin these judgments, to right all wrongs, to bring history to its climax, if no one is found, then God's whole future plan is forfeited. History is derailed. Your life and mine is pointless. It really is all meaningless and vain. And Satan wins. How's that for entering the new year? Without Christ. And so, verse 3, keep reading. John says, And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. This call goes out to the furthest reaches of the cosmos, but it's unanswered. Only the sound of crickets.

20:35This angelic invitation is answered by a deafening silence. The strong angel can sound the call, but he cannot answer it. Myriads of other angelic forces in heaven are likewise powerless. All the righteous ones in heaven, have you ever thought about this? From across the ages, they're also left speechless. Not Abraham, not Isaac, not Jacob, not Joseph, or Job or Moses or David, not Elisha or Elijah or Isaiah or Ezekiel. No one qualified. No one had the right.

21:10Resume, you could say. None had the power and authority to perform such a weighty task to unveil and to execute God's script for the end of the age. Because all of these candidates, you understand, what disqualifies any other candidate? It's what is seen back in chapter 4. If you're a creature of the Creator, you are disqualified. You don't even have to be fallen. Because in Revelation 4, even unfallen, sinless angels cover their face, cover their feet, and bow in the presence of the infinite because they know they are finite and they dare not approach him. We sang in the car on the way here that verse. I've often wondered in Holy Holy, the third verse, though the darkness hide thee, though the eye of sinful man thy glory cannot see. By the way, that includes though the eye of angels, cherubim, and seraphim, they cover. We're creatures. He is the creator. We cannot come any nearer.

22:11Who can take the scroll? Who will execute the plan? As it's been said, by God alone can God be known. And so it is the Son of God alone who qualifies. Who also had to be another man, as we sang a moment ago, a second Adam, a perfect man to restore what we lost. The first Adam. And so the next verse reads: Look in your Bibles. Then John says, I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it.

22:44You and I need to feel what John is saying here. Until the seals are broken, the purposes of God for the world are not only unknown, they are also unaccomplished. Did you know this is the only time in the Bible there are tears in heaven? Because, chapter 4, John got escorted up into heaven. Why? Why? Notice what the text there is. He says, I began to weep greatly, could be translated loud sobbing. Why does the apostle have an emotional meltdown in glory?

23:19It seems he despairs for a moment. He's thinking, Will good not triumph over evil? Is there not some meaning behind all this madness on this broken earth? Is there no hope for Messiah's final victory? Will Satan's kingdom have the last word? This is a faithful Jew for centuries, God's people, like Simeon of old in the temple, right? And Anna as well when they received the Christ child. John also, the apostle, longed for the arrival of God's kingdom, for Messiah's final rule upon the earth, to remove sin and evil, to bring in righteousness and peace forever. Plus, he's just looked at five of the seven churches are at risk of Jesus shutting them down. And all seven of the churches are either infected with sin or affected by persecution.

24:13Things look so bleak. Who will step forward to rectify it all? Who's going to fix this mess? Who's going to heal our broken planet? And as that great Dallas preacher that I'm sure many of you knew of in the previous century, W.A. Criswell, once put it as follows: John's tears represent here the tears of all God's people throughout all the centuries. Those tears of the Apostle John and the tears of Adam and Eve driven out of the Garden of Eden as they bowed over the first grave, as they watered the dust of the ground with their tears over the silent, still form of their son, Abel.

24:50Those are the tears of the children of Israel in bondage as they cried unto God in their affliction and slavery. These are the tears of God's elect through the centuries as they cried unto heaven. These are the sobs and the tears that have been wrung from the heart and soul of God's people as they looked on their silent dead, as they stood beside an open grave. As the experience and the trials and the sufferings of life and heartaches and disappointments, indescribable, such is the curse that sin has laid on God's beautiful creation.

25:21Do you hear? Do you feel something of what John is saying here? He's weeping. No one is found. Surely you have shed or will shed. Some of these tears, as have I. Times where we wonder, how long, O Lord, how long will evil tribe? Who will come and make sense of history? Lord Jesus, come quickly, right all wrongs, fix this mess. So John wept. And we come now from the search to the surprise, verses five to seven. How good it's about to get as this vision comes to its climax. Verse five to seven: the surprise. Look there at verse five.

26:00And one of the elders said to me, Stop weeping. This is one of the 24 elders representing God's church and perhaps even God's people across the ages. And he rebukes the apostle. Get a hold of yourself. John, pull yourself together. Stop weeping. Why? Next phrase. Look there in your Bibles. Behold, the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome. He's as to use a bit of Narnia language, if you would allow. Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the jungle. Thomas saw lions with us, right? Majestic and mighty, fierce and ferocious, conquering and consuming, dominant and domineering, triumphing over all his enemies. He's the lion, and he's not just any lion. He comes from the leading tribe among the 12, the tribe of Judah, right? As Genesis 49 predicted, the scepter would not depart from Judah, remember? God's Messiah, his anointed ruler who would come and reign, whose kingdom would have no end. And he is of the root of David, legal heir from the royal messianic line. And then we read those wonderful climactic words here. And he has overcome. He's defeated Satan, all his demons, crushed sin, conquered death itself, triumphed over this world system, over unbelief, over every conceivable foe. How? How did he win? The whole theme of Revelation, two words, right? Jesus wins.

27:40But how? How does he win? As we're about to see, it's at Calvary. Through a cross, through a Roman instrument of torture, through dying for guilty sinners like you and me, and rising triumphant on the third day, Christ alone is qualified to take that scroll from the hand of Almighty God, to read its contents, and to carry out its edicts. When John finally wipes his tears and regains his vision, expecting to behold a lion, a royal figure armed and dangerous, a rider on his white horse, a king robed in splendor. Instead, John meets the sweetest surprise of his life.

28:25A totally unexpected sight, the most extraordinary vision he had ever. Laid his eyes upon in his 90-plus years as once an eyewitness of Christ. Look what happens in verse 6. And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders a lamb standing as if slain. Notice, not a mighty lion, but the Greek word here is a little pet lamb. Helpless, gentle, meek, vulnerable, seemingly defenseless. This is a Jew looking. See this through Jewish eyes. The Passover, you raise a tender pet lamb for an entire year, only to slit its throat over the father's lap with the children standing around as they watch its blood pour out and its life extinguished as their substitute for their sin. The innocent for the guilty, the pure for the impure, the spotless for the sinful.

29:29So that the angel of death and the wrath of God would pass over their home because the blood was on their doorpost. This is the lamb. And yet there's this irony, this surprise here that John says it's a lamb as if slain, slaughtered, a sacrificial lamb, but then he's standing, risen from the dead, alive forevermore, triumphant, right? Just as when the risen Jesus appeared to his disciples, what did he first show them? Wounds. Still, some 60 years later, in heaven itself, his wounds are still visible. Permanent reminders of his sacrificial death for our sins. The atoning price he paid for you and for me.

30:16Notice, keep reading there. Seven horns were told there in verse six. Seven eyes. In other words, Christ, the lamb, the warring lion, who is also a sacrificial lamb. He is omnipotent. That's the horns. He's omniscient. That's the eyes. He's all-powerful. He's all-knowing. And God's almighty sevenfold spirit is behind it all. Executing his plans, delivering the coming judgments on the earth, judging a rebel world, rescuing his own. In doing this, nothing will surprise him. Nothing will catch him off guard. Nothing will thwart his purposes. And so, verse 7 continues. And he, this lion-like lamb, came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Christ, the Redeemer, takes the scroll from God, the Creator.

31:17He who made and owns all things delegates to his son, his mediator, King Jesus, the rule over all things. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance. Psalms. To. The ends of the earth is your possession. Jesus takes the reins of history from his father so he can usher in God's kingdom. Jesus will show once and for all what it meant when he said all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me and why we care about missions, as we'll talk about tonight, and why the great commission matters and whose name we go, not our own.

31:51Paradise will be regained. Eden will be restored. This wounded lamb is the warring lion and the conquering king. Christ will be the executor of the wrath of God upon the world. And already, right now, Christians, though Christ is not reigning on the earth, he is ruling over the earth at the Father's right hand, and he will build his church. And so missions matter. And so we witness to lost friends and loved ones near and far, right? And so we go, and so we labor. And so you already partner in work around the world, and as you have in Africa, and sending your leaders and your teachers and your people, and caring about orphans, because we want to see the gospel advance because Christ rules and Christ reigns. And we want to be a part of the greatest enterprise on earth, the ultimate multinational company and global agenda. And look what happens next. No sooner had Christ taken the scroll than the music starts to play. The next round of worship erupts in heaven. More songs break out and the music resounds. And so from the search for The surprise. We come finally now, verses 8 to 14, and more rapidly, we come to the singing. Look at verse 8. When he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. They're nearest to God's throne. These four guardians of his glory, these 24 leaders of the Redeemed. All of them are overawed at what the Lamb has just done. Taking the reins of history, about to usher in His kingdom, to crush all of God's foes. And notice what they're holding as they bow down. You need to hear this verse. You need to smell this verse.

33:36It tells us, as verse 8 continues, that each one was holding a harp. This was the Old Testament equivalent, and I'm glad I'm in Texas, I can say this, of the banjo, right? We might in Africa call it the penny whistle. Instruments not normally used for a funeral dirge, but for celebration, for joy, for children dancing in the streets. Instruments you can't listen to without stomping your feet. What a harp was for the Jews when cheering King Saul. When they were in exile in Babylon, they said it was so sad they had to hang up there harps on the willows. Heaven's harps mean unending foot stomping, hand clapping, joy around the throne, and bowls full of incense, meaning God hears our prayers. Wafting up to his throne is the most pleasant fragrance, the soothing aroma of the prayers of the saints. Saints across the ages and around the world today, including your prayers that you thought he didn't answer. You wondered if he ever heard you. Every last prayer you have prayed or will pray, all kept, all stored up, all counted in these beautiful golden bowls before a God who says, The prayer of the upright is his delight.

34:52Every time we pray, Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done, your name be hallowed, your church be built, your glory be spread, your fame go to the ends of the earth. So it will be done. Children, why do we pray in Jesus' name? Just because dad and mom do, and it's a magic formula, and your prayer hit the ceiling if you don't stick on the magic little signature. No, we pray to the Father in Jesus' name because of his sacrifice, because it is because of the lion-like lamb that our feeble prayers and our sinful efforts can be washed and cleansed because we have a mediator before the throne of God. Keep reading, verse 9. And they sang a new song.

35:46You can't be in heaven and not sing. You can't be before the living God without joy in your heart and a song on your lips. You can't gaze upon Christ, this mighty lion, this atoning lamb. Without erupting into praise. And notice it's a new song because even in heaven, they now have this new awareness, this thrilling discovery of Jesus' kingly role, the one who's about to execute God's final judgments upon the earth. And then, what is it that qualifies Jesus to execute God's plan to reclaim the earth? What qualifies him? Verse 9 goes on to tell us: Worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals for, or because, or since you were slain, and purchase for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. What qualified Jesus to take the scroll, to execute the plan, to be our lion, like lamb, deliverer, and coming king? What qualified him was not Bethlehem, right? It wasn't Nazareth, it wasn't Galilee, as essential as all those aspects of his life were. It was Calvary and Golgotha that earned him the right to receive this kind of worship and to inherit the earth one day. Throughout all the ages of eternity, foreverlasting days, we will not lose sight of the victory of the Lord Jesus at Calvary. We will never grow weary of singing redemption's song. We'll never tire of gazing at those nail-pierced hands and that wounded sigh. Every new sight will ignite another verse in our song.

37:23Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy are you to take the book, open its scrolls. There was once a man who came up to the famous A.W. Tozer at the door of his church in downtown Chicago, and he said, Hello, Pastor Tozer, I am Jesus Christ. You get that in downtown. Tozer said, grabbed his hands, looked at them, and said, No, you're not. Where's the scars? Where's the scars? My Savior has scars, and he's at the Father's right hand.

37:55And so it is. The song is that you were slain and you purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Notice Jesus didn't just make salvation possible, he purchased it at the cross. A multi-ethnic, international people, every sinner who will ever believe, maybe some of you today that still yet need to repent of sin, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Redeemer, the only Savior. And this song is sung to him who received a bride from his Father, those who are given to him from eternity past, the sheep not yet of his fold, those for whom he died, from all cultures, all peoples, even longhorns.

38:37Black and white, Zulu and Afrikaner, right? English and French, Jew and Arab. Here you are in America, just when you thought the civil rights movement was pretty well in the past, some 60 years ago. It's back with a vengeance. And we live in South Africa where it never left. And this is a hope that we can hardly fathom. And the world has. All its solutions and all its latest strategies, and all the perfect racial anti-racism statements, and they're never nuanced enough because you have to nuance the nuance, and then someone else has to nuance the nuance of the nuance, and it'll never be good enough because only in Christ will there be unity, and only in the church can the world really find the harmony and the love that they're longing for, and ultimately in heaven, where we anticipate and where we ought to be an outpost of.

39:26Not a hint of racism in heaven, not a hint of supremacy or racial pride or ethnocentricity. Heaven will be as diverse and broad and international as the heart of God is. The only true rainbow nation at last. Not a whiff of inferiority or superiority, not a trace of discrimination or prejudice, only pure, unified, cross-cultural praise from every nation. I wonder what the accent will be. If we are praying for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, then our churches now should reflect how it will be then, as best we can in our communities. The global heart, the multi-ethnic plan and gospel that we preach in the heart of our God.

40:16What a comfort for John. He's stranded on an island. He's watching this fledgling first-century little church struggle to survive. They're small in numbers. They're barely growing. But one day he says, We're going to be a part of an innumerable Worship service like you can only imagine. We're a part of something much, much bigger than us. Keep reading verse 10. You have made them to be kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. Christ's death purchased royal subjects, that's a kingdom, and priestly worshipers to our God. And they will reign upon the earth. If you want to know what that means, read the end of the story. Revelation 20, right? For a thousand years with Jesus, wearing the banner of our lion lamb, waving his flag, sharing his victory, fighting his battles. Verse 11. Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the living creatures and the elders. The number of them was myriads and myriads and thousands of thousands. Billions upon millions. In the Greek, it means gazillions, if you like. Elect angels and elect saints in this extraordinary worship service, this uncountable company, this vast sea of worshipers with upturned faces, bathed in light, lost in wonder and love and praise of the Lord Jesus, reverberating across the corridors of heaven. I don't know about you, I can't get through Handel's Messiah without, you know, at some point being affected emotionally. And by the way, that's not how Messiah ends. Handel ends the full Messiah, if you go look it up, with worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb.

41:57That's how Messiah ends, as we see here. In the text, greater than the most glorious choir you've ever heard, the most stunning concert, Paul with the best acoustics, the mightiest choir that's ever assembled. This will make Brooklyn Tabernacle and all of them combined look like a little nursery chorus compared to this heavenly assembly. Keep reading, verse 12: saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

42:33Brothers and sisters, have you thought about this? The cry of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah in the Old Testament was, Where is the Lamb? The cry of John the Baptist in the New Testament was, Behold the Lamb. But the song forever of the Redeemed in heaven and of all the universe will be, not where is the Lamb, not behold the Lamb, but there is the Lamb. Worthy, worthy is the Lamb. It's a theme throughout the book of Revelation: victory that comes through blood sacrifice for Christ and for Christians, who overcome persecution through martyrdom, who defeat our foes by dying and being killed by them. A cross that precedes a crown, glory that is preceded by suffering.

43:20And so they sing of the power and the riches and the wisdom and the might that are inherent and intrinsic to God. And then it seems, and our response to that is that he deserves all. Honor and glory and blessing there. As Steve Lawson puts it, the more we behold his intrinsic glory, the more we give him ascribed glory. And heaven's too small to contain this jubilation. So watch as these next, as these cascading waves of praise flow out from the throne to those who are nearest, to the rest of the angelic hosts, and now, verse 13, to the entire universe. And maybe this is a foreshadowing of Revelation 19. And when Jesus finally returns, we don't know, but we live in this hope, and we know this day is coming. Verse 13, and every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things in them makes you think of the Psalms, doesn't it? Let the heavens be glad, let the earth rejoice, let the seas exalt, let the trees sing out, right? Why?

44:18Before the Lord, because he's coming. He's coming to judge the earth. How could we not join in such a glorious song? And especially now, because the promised judge has a name, right? Verse 13 goes on to say, I heard them saying, all across the planet, throughout the universe, John says, I heard them saying, to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. Notice the unmistakable, undeniable deity.

44:49Oh, sorry, this is America. Deity of Christ, the indisputable co-equality of the Father with the Son, equally reduced. Receiving worship and honor, Jesus, God of God, light of lights, very God of very God. Christ will be praised by redeemed and unredeemed tongues, by willing and unwilling hearts one day. Those in heaven and those in hell. Piper puts it well: the universe exists to display the infinite worth of Jesus in the white hot worship of millions of angels and all the creatures and the millions of the ransom from every people group on the earth. In other words, our worship is a subjective echo of God's objective worth.

45:32The immensity of his worth is reflected in the intensity of our worship. We were made for the admiration of the excellence of Jesus, and the greater your admiration, the greater the revelation of Christ's glory. To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. Verse 14 concludes, and the four living creatures kept saying, Amen. So with their words, they say, Yes, Lord, it's true, you are worthy. And then the 24 elders would rather say it with their actions. And so we read: they fell down and they worshiped. They can't stop bowing. They can't go low enough. They can't sing loud enough to describe glory to such a Christ.

46:14And so this scene ought to be replicated in my life, in my marriage, in my home, in my church, and in yours. If Christ is a center of heaven, how dare I have anyone else at the center of my life and my home and of our ministries? As Jonathan Edwards used to pray, Lord, stamp eternity on our eyeballs. May your will be done on earth as it's being done right now, perfectly in heaven. I have to close with these two things. My in-laws are the best in the world and the most patient and kind because they even download my sermons on the internet. So they are really lonely and desperate. But after I preached this in our church a few months ago, they listened. And my mother-in-law, who's now in her 80s, wrote me the following: She said, Tim, what a moving scene. The heavenly choir of multi-ethnic peoples worshiping God. Me and Dad Somerville were moved to tears of awe and worship of the Lamb on the throne, who is the lion, who will one day open the seals of judgment and rule this world.

47:19What a sight to behold, she says. It made our hearts quicken to think that we will be there amid the billions and millions of worshipers singing and praising him from the bottom of our hearts. Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. She says, I told Dad that when that day comes, we're going to know the words. We'll have it memorized. It'll be a familiar refrain. How glorious a day is coming.

47:46And I leave you with this. We sing a D.A. Carson modern hymn from this chapter. And it goes like this: In this rebel world where we fear the light, all our gods must be domesticated. Tame, but the sovereign Lord who sees through the night is not threatened by pretensions built on shame. My kids are going to help me here. I knew this would happen. It's not threatened by pretensions built on shame. Look at my phone here.

48:17How's it going, Evan? You're good with me. He's not threatened by pretensions built on shame. In majestic splendor, God rules throughout our days. He is holy in his deeds and wise in all his ways. Not the patriarchs, not the priestly clans, not the rebels, not the priestly, not the patriarchs, not the priestly clans, not the wise in all their learning glimpsed the cross, not the royal courts, not the zealot bands, thought that God would buy back rebels at such cost. Who has comprehended the wisdom of the Lord? For the grandeur of his plans, our God must be adored. Third verse, mighty Babylon and the Third Reich too, join the dust of empires that have passed away.

49:01Full of strutting pride, mouthing boasts untrue, they lie crushed before a God whose word holds sway. Surely all the nations are dust upon the scales. So with whom will you compare this God whose will prevails? Then the final verse. I gotta get the final verse. Who will take the scroll in its sovereign's hands, break the seal, and bring God's purpose? Is the past and it celebrates Christ. Jesus says, I, behold, I am he that liveth, that liveth evermore. Behold, I'm alive, I'm alive forevermore. Christ, the conqueror. We will sing a new song of praise to him forever. Let's pray.

49:58Indeed, Father, the triumph of the Lamb means that God will have his way. We ask your forgiveness too often. Our hopes are too small because our view of you is too small. And our prayers are too small because our joy is in the wrong things and our peace is in the wrong place. And so we pray that you would give us more as we enter this new year. If there's any resolution we have at the end of the day, it's him. To know him, to make him known, to love the Lord Jesus, to hope in him better, to love him more, to proclaim him better here and to the ends of the earth and across Africa, as well here tonight, where there are so many sheep without a shepherd, and there are so many false Christs being preached, and there is such opportunity to be a part of Christ, building his church, winning more worshipers to himself, rescuing people from idols, and a continent that has been ravaged far more than America could ever imagine by dictators. And proud, rude, rulers of every shape and size. And yet, what a joy to see African Christians, and American Christians, and believers around the world and across the ages, from every tribe and tongue, putting our hope in the Lion Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, and joining in this song that will be our theme and our untiring, unceasing joy for all eternity, singing, Worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb, to whom belongs riches and power and wisdom and light and honor and glory and blessing, the Lamb who was slain. To him who sits on the throne, O God, to you and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and dominion forever and ever.