Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a scroll, with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming an allowed voice, who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll, but no one. In heaven, or on earth, or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, do not weep. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, is triumpt. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. Then I saw a lamb looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne encircled by the four living creatures in the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures in the 24 elders fell down before the lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain. And with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people in nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth. Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands and 10,000 times 10,000. They encircled the throne and the living creatures in the elders in a loud voice they sang. Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them singing to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb. Be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever. The four living creatures said, Amen! And the elders fell down and worshiped. Our Father, we discover in your Word that it is the ministry of the Spirit of God to glorify Jesus Christ. And that is our ambition this morning to see our Savior in this scene of incredible majesty that He would be glorified by us. And so we ask you this morning in the name of Jesus with confidence for the empowerment of your Spirit because we recognize that the Bible is not a magic book. It doesn't work by itself. There needs to be that mystical, wonderful operation of the Spirit and the Word that we would hear something in such a way that our lives would be transformed by it. And Father, we ask that you would grant us the effects of your Spirit to this very end. We ask this for the sake of Jesus. Amen! Noah was a drinker. Abraham was a liar. Sarah was a manipulator. Lot was a compromiser. Jacob was a deceiver. Job was arrogant. Moses was hot tempered. Joshua was undecerning. Gideon was idolatrous. Samson was lustful. Eli was passive. Saul was insecure. David was violent. Solomon was hedonistic. Elijah was given to self-centeredness. Jonah was given to racism. Isaiah was given to evil speaking. Jeremiah was given to complaining. Mary was the stereotypical stage mother. Seeking to force her son into the limelight before his time. Matthew was the unethical IRS agent. Exploiting his own people for financial profit. Simon was the calculating zealot waiting to put a knife into the back of the nearest Roman. Martha was the compulsive homemaker, utterly driven by a busyness that left her with no time for devotion. Thomas was the proverbial doubter, refusing to yield himself to any positive expression of faith. Philip was the tight-fisted accountant, paralyzed by his inability to exercise any vision beyond his own ledger sheets. James and John were the neighborhood bullies. The sons of thunder, as it were, notorious for being both unduly explosive and ambitious. And then, of course, there was Peter, consistently inconsistent, emotionally erratic, plagued with the profound vulnerability to the tyranny of public approval. Finally, we arrive at the Apostle Paul. Christianity's big gun, an intolerant type A leader when considering the failings of John Mark. A quick tempered name collar when standing before the high priest. A man in dread of speaking the gospel when facing Jewish opposition in corn. Quite to the contrary of what we often hear and the books our children read, there is no hall of fame in the Bible. No catalog of superheroes of the faith, only ordinary human beings distinguished by their very obvious failings. Now, to be sure my friends, we love the various characters of biblical history because God has used them and we have consequently benefited from their instrumentality. One needs only pause for a moment to consider our indebtedists, the men like David, and Moses, and Paul, and Peter, and Luke. If, however, you are looking for a hero to honor unconditionally, you will always be disappointed with the men and women of the Bible because in the end, not one of them has ever been worthy of the task to which God has called them and for which he has inevitably used them. How does Paul himself say it? God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lolly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are. Now, of course, dear friends, we know this to be true of ourselves. We have no problem at this point. We must also appreciate, however, the fact that it is simultaneously true of people like Abraham and Moses and John the Baptist. Not one of these has ever been worthy, that is morally competent, fit with such inner ethical worthiness so as to merit the right to serve the living God. The Bible, my friends, does not resort to hegeography. It paints people as they really are warts and all. And why is that the case? So it might steadily and unmistakably point our attention then to the one perfect hero, the only worthy one. As we've seen here in the Revelation, the one worthy to assume a task of incalculable importance. Remember from last Lord's day the cosmic challenge? Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll? Where is there a human being so qualified as to be the executor of the eternal purposes of God concerning ultimate judgment and final vindication? Or as it were in keeping with the symbolism of this vision, who is worthy to slit the seals of the scroll thereby converting its contents in a reality? The cosmic challenge was issued. The forthcoming response as we discovered revealed a universal inadequacy. But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll. No one was found who was worthy. And John begins to weep because he understands the implications of this universal inadequacy, the potential abortion of God's plan for judgment and salvation. But then suddenly a declaration is made. Stop weeping, John. There is a worthy one, a qualified king, one unlike all of the others, the one prophesied throughout all of the Old Testament, the lion from the tribe of Judah, the root of David. And so John taking his cue from the great angel looks up. He looks up to see a king, a lion. But what does he see? He sees that the destiny of the human race has been taken up in the nail pierced hands of a slaughtered lamb. He has triumphed, the angel tells John. That's why he's able to slit the seals and open the scroll over whom or over what did he triumph? John's not told, not yet. For the time being it's enough for John to know the fact of his triumph and more importantly the particular manner in which his triumph was accomplished. How did this lion triumph? Oh in a most unexpected way. But then again this ought not to surprise us, you remember Palm Sunday? When Jesus announced his Messiah ship, he rode into Jerusalem, not on a war steed, furnished with all of the appropriate accoutraments of warfare, but on a donkey, a symbol of meekness and peace and gentleness. But that's not how one expects a ferocious lion to conquer. One expects a lion to hurt, to devour, to overpower. This vicious conflict, however, was not waged in one by ferocity, but by humility. In fact even though he now lives, John still sees the marks of his sacrificial death on his body. It says we said last Lord's day beloved, it is the paradox of the gospel. It is the mystery, it's the surprise, it's the apparent contradiction. The lion conquers by becoming a lamb. Saint Augustine said it like this, proud man would have died, had not a lowly god found him. Isn't this the very thing that's proclaimed to us by the table every time we eat from it? It's the sacred panemime, reminding us of the lowly god, he had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him. Nothing in his appearance that we should desire him, he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering, like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter and is a sheep before her shears is silent, so he did not open his mouth. It's not how one expects a ferocious lion to conquer a couple of weeks ago, I read a very interesting story about something that occurred at the Seattle Special Olympics. Nine physically and mentally disabled competitors lined up to run, a hundred yard dash. When the guns sounded, they all took off. But at the very beginning one boy stumbled, fell to the ground, began to cry. The other eight children taking note of this, stopped in their tracks, turned around and returned to comfort him. A girl with Down syndrome gave him a kiss. Then when they were all ready, they interlinked their arms and ran the remainder of the race together, crossing the finish line at the same time. The crowd gave them a standing ovation for ten minutes. It's not how our world expects victory to take place. And yet in that act of great self-giving each of those children achieved a far greater triumph. And that, my friends, you see, is the paradox here. He is most certainly a lion to be sure, a lion who according to the rest of the revelation will display his ferocity, who will return on a white war steed, wearing a rogue dipped in blood with a sword emerging from his mouth indicating that he will overpower, he will devour, he will hurt. The authority to execute that judgment, however, was what he earned as a lamb in the triumph of his sacrificial death. Now, my friends, this is the Savior, Christianity proclaims. Whatever you envision him to be, it must always be subject to what he is declared to be in heaven, where they know best who he is. He is not a teddy bear. He is not a therapist. He is not one of many versions of a Savior by which all people will ultimately find their way to eternal life. He is the only worthy one, the exclusively worthy one, who now alone bears in his hand the final destiny of the human race, which is why by the way you need him as your Savior. That is why by the way you must have him for your Savior. This lion lamb Jesus Christ ultimately determines the eternity of every human being, including yours. The scroll of human destiny is now in his hands and is the consequence of this great transaction. What do we now see? No sooner is the scroll taken up by Jesus Christ than a spontaneous explosion of worship occurs. It is one of the greatest scenes of universal adoration anywhere recorded. Three features of this scene are exceedingly obvious. Number one, it is immediate. What do I mean by that? Well notice the angels do not wait until the slitting of the seals to begin their worship. Rather their worship erupts. At the instant the scroll is taken out of the hand of God. So confident are they of the worthiness of this one who now possesses the scroll. Secondly, this worship is holistic. In other words, as we've mentioned in prior weeks, there is nothing held back in this worship. It is profoundly rational that is filled with rich content. It is obviously emotional characterized by great passion and it is undeniably physical. We see demonstrable displays of self-denying humility. This worship is a comprehensive expression of adoration. And thirdly, this worship is expansive. What do I mean by that? From verse 8 now, through the end of the chapter, this worship progressively intensifies in three concentric circles that correspondingly expand the number of worshipers involved. In verses 8, 9 and 10, the innermost circle of angelic beings responds to the Lamb in worship. Then in verses 11 and 12, the outer circle of angelic beings responds to the Lamb in worship. Finally, in verses 13 and 14, this crescendo of worship becomes cosmic with every living being in every place, declaring the unsurpassed glory of God and the Lamb. An unbroken radius of praise coming from the entirety of the created realm. This, my friends, is how we can understand this scene of worship, intensifying in three distinct stages set in motion by the Lamb who has now taken the scroll out of the hand of God. Firstly and most importantly, let's watch as the inner circle responds in worship. Verse 8, and when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Now we have been introduced to these heavenly creatures before, haven't we? And as we discovered, they comprised the highest order of angelic beings, evidenced in part by the fact that they are nearest to the throne of God. In chapter 4, they worship God. Now in chapter 5, they still only worship God. You say but art, right here it says that they fall before the Lamb. Do they only worship God or do they worship God and the Lamb? And the answer to the question is yes. As we discovered last Lord's day, this Lamb after all stands in the center of the throne. Now my friends, nowhere in the revelation admittedly does John ever explicitly come out and say, Jesus is God. But of course this makes perfect sense. Writing in a vastly polytheistic culture, John doesn't want to risk any commitment to monotheism. Here always real the Lord, our God the Lord is one. At the same time, John gladly affirms the full deity of this Lamb by making him the object of worship that is due only to God and no other. In fact it is interesting to consider how the scene of worship is structured in the first two hymns back in chapter 4, God is worshiped by this heavenly court. In the next two hymns, here in chapter 5, the Lamb is worshiped in this heavenly court. Finally in the last hymn of chapter 5, both God and the Lamb are worshiped together. In fact from this point on in the revelation beloved, it is very common for John to speak of this throne as the throne of God and of the Lamb. It's an underpinning to trinitarianism. There is clearly one God. In fact it is kind of amusing at times to watch how hard John works to protect this. In the very last chapter of the revelation when John sees the new Jerusalem, he says the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city and his servants will serve him. Now we say now, wait a minute John, what do you mean his servants will serve him? You've been talking about God and the Lamb, you've got your grammar wrong. You need to use a plural pronoun, their servants will serve them. But John who is very sensitive to the theological implications of language would rather defy the rules of grammar than jeopardize a monotheistic understanding of God. Nowhere does John ever refer to God in the Lamb as they. The God of Christianity is radically one God. At the same time, however, John clearly distinguishes God from the Lamb and here like God, the Lamb is worshiped. Not as an alternative object of worship alongside God as the one could say, perhaps I like to worship Jesus rather than God. No, but as one who fully shares in the glory, do God, the God who was now revealed not simply as creator, chapter 4, verse 11, but as Redeemer, chapter 5, verse 9. Hear the angelic beings of this inner circle fall down before the Lamb. Moreover notice friends, John writes, each one had a harp. Now, this is an image that has been long distorted in our imaginations. We tend to think of people in heaven sitting off by themselves on pillowy soft clouds wearing long white togas with a harp on their laps quietly plucking strings in a kind of esoteric tune for all eternity. Blink. Blink. Blink. Gee, I can't wait for that. No, no, that's not the idea here. You need to appreciate this, my friends, in the cultural milieu of the Bible, a harp, a kitharan was more like a guitar. In fact, that's where the word guitar comes from. And in the Old Testament, a harp is always associated with joy and with gladness, with celebration. In fact, to illustrate this negatively, when the people of Israel are taken into Babylonian captivity and they cross the river that serves as the demarcation, marking out the land of promise from the land of captivity, the psalmist says, we hung up our harps. Our captors asked us, sing us one of the songs of Zion, but how can we sing to Yahweh in a foreign land, Psalm 137? We hung them up. You see? No joy, no gladness, no happiness, no celebration. That was the imagery you see associated with harps. What would be the equivalent for us? A banjo, perhaps. Think of a banjo. How can you listen to a banjo and remain sad for very long? Now, let me qualify this by saying, I hate country-western music. In fact, I think that's probably a bit dishonest. I totally, completely altogether, thoroughly, comprehensively despise country-western music. But even I, when someone begins to pluck the strings of a banjo, and it gets faster and louder, and a second join in, and a third joins in, and a violin begins to play, and a bass begins to be included, my foot starts to tap. My fingers start to snap. Now, for you, maybe it's a pipe organ that arouses that kind of response. I don't care. The point is, the harps mark this out to be a scene of overwhelming joy, a festivity of spectacularly happy music, precisely because God's purposes for the universe will now certainly come to pass. What's more, notice that these angelic beings are holding golden bowls full of incense. Now, what is this? Again, beloved, when we deal with the revelation, I appeal to you, we must appreciate its Old Testament underpinnings. This comes right out of Old Testament culture. In the ancient world, to be quite frank, people did not bathe as frequently as we do today. They certainly didn't cover themselves with right guard. They didn't have these kinds of, you know, men in dry stick and all this stuff. So if you didn't want your home to stink, you'd burn incense. Now, today, if you're really posh, a really sophisticated yuppie, you go to the new age store in Napa and you buy an incense stick and you light it in your living room and everybody thinks you're really cool. But in the ancient world, this wasn't a matter of being posh or yuppie-ish. It was a matter of self-defense. It was a way of creating a pleasing atmosphere. And so, for example, the Psalmist says, with this imagery in mind, may my prayer be set before you like incense. An analogy is being drawn, you see? Let my prayers be a sweet smelling savor. And here, as you can see, the prayers of the people of God are characterized as that very thing, as incense. Why? Because of their content, which is what? Look at the next chapter, verses 9 and 10. We have a hint. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. Christian martyrs, they called out in a loud voice, how long? Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood. It is a cry for judgment and vindication that God would defend the honor of his reputation for justice by judging the persecutors of his people. Suddenly, my friends, you see the mention of these prayers in the scene of worship makes perfect sense. They are mentioned here as a sweet smelling savor to God because they have requested the very thing Jesus Christ has said in motion by the taking up of this scroll. And so, verse 9 reads, they sang a new song throughout the Old Testament, new songs are sung in response to new expressions of redemption. For example, in Exodus chapter 15, after the Jewish people are delivered from the first Exodus, a new song is sung. Then in Isaiah chapter 42, in anticipation of Israel's deliverance from Babylonian captivity, the second Exodus, another new song is sung. Here now, as the great and ultimate Exodus is being declared, the final Exodus anticipated by the other two, a new song is sung. Now listen, beloved to its lyrics. Look at its content. It bubbles over with overtones from the original Exodus. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because, and then he introduces three reasons, three reasons that in this context define the worthiness of the Lamb to open the seals. First, you were slain. That's the event itself. Second, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people in nation. That's the meaning of the event. Third, verse 10, you have made them to be a kingdom and priest to serve our God and they will reign on the earth. That's the consequence of the event. Now together you see these three constitute the worthiness of Jesus to take the scroll from the hand of God and to open its seals. But my friends, what is actually in view here? It is the final Exodus and the ultimate eternal establishment of a covenantal relationship between God and his people. It's what we see at the end of the revelation. God sang, now I will be their God and they will be my people. My friends, what took place on the evening of the first Passover? First, a lamb was slaughtered and its blood placed on the lentil and doorposts of each Jewish home. That was the event. But secondly, what was the meaning of that event? The text is very clear. The purchase of the firstborn for God. You see, as was the case with the Egyptian firstborn, the firstborn in Israel were just as guilty in deserving of death. They were not saved because they were more righteous. They were saved because for them, God had made a provision of atonement. They too were liable to the death blow of the angel, but they were purchased as it were by the blood of an unblemished sacrifice, a slaughtered lamb. To what end? With what final consequence in mind? That thirdly, quoting the very language from Exodus 19, out of all the nations of the world, they would become the personal possession of God, purchased out of Egypt to be made a kingdom and priests. That's Exodus 19. Here, now, if we let the Bible interpret itself, God's promise to Israel is brought to its consummate realization. What was prefigured in the events of the Exodus is now realized in the redemption that has been secured by Jesus Christ. Firstly, the event itself. His blood was shed as a sacrificial lamb. Secondly, the meaning of that event. With his blood, he purchased for God people out of all the nations of the earth. Thirdly, the consequence of that event. That these same people would be a kingdom and priests. This is revelation interpreting Exodus. That is that these very same people will share with the lamb the royal right to rule and the priestly right to draw near to God in intimacy. My friends, we do not replace Israel. We are Israel fulfilled. This is how the book begins to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and has made us to be a kingdom and priests. This is the language of the Bible interpreting the Old Testament. Philippians says, we are the true circumcision. Galatians says, we are the children of Abraham. Peter tells us, we are the holy nation. We are the royal priesthood. We are the chosen people. We are the nation belonging to God. It is the ultimate and final Exodus that was dimly prefigured by Israel in the wilderness. Now, friends, I must confess at this point I am confronted with an enormous struggle and I am not exaggerating. We could easily spend a month of Sundays on this hymn all by itself. Of the five hymns, it is the longest. Structurally it occupies the center place. Arguably then it is the most important. Let me just draw your attention briefly to three features related to this sacrifice of Jesus Christ. First notice simply, it is a bloody sacrifice. Not that there was anything mystical about the blood of Jesus, often the way people particularly are more recent forebears have talked about the blood of Jesus. You would think that there were some kind of superhuman qualities in the properties of his blood. It is ridiculous. He is a man. When the New Testament speaks about the blood of Jesus Christ, it is a metonym for his life violently and sacrificially ended, saved by his blood. That is, his life violently snatched away. We are told you were slain, very vivid image in the original text, slaughtered is the idea and with your blood. Here was the instrument by which we were purchased by your blood with your blood. He was slaughtered. It was a violent death. It was a life outpoured. It was a bloody sacrifice. Secondly, it is an effectual sacrifice, an effective sacrifice. That is to say, by the means of this sacrifice, something very specific transpired. Something was actually accomplished. No hypothetical discussion going around about what may have potentially been the result of the death of Jesus Christ. No, no. Here only in the assertion that something really happened in this bloody sacrifice. And what was that? Namely, that a group of people was purchased for God. Human beings from every tribe language people nation, tribe language people nation. Now friends, you look those words up in a Greek lexicon. You know you discover those words are synonyms. They mean the same thing. So why doesn't the song simply say, with your blood you purchase men for God from every nation? Why from every tribe language people nation? In fact, seven times in the revelation John uses this very same fourfold phrase. tribe language people nation. Four nouns in a place of one. Why? It's redundant. It's unnecessary. Well, but my friends, it's a literary device. In apocalyptic literature, four is often used both in the Bible and outside of the Bible as a number to refer to all the nations of the earth. Let me see if I can illustrate this. Imagine the process of gathering up your laundry. You go into your bathroom and you gather up all of the washcloths and the towels and you take them over the washing machine. And then in a second trip, you gather up all of your dirty clothes and you take them over the washing machine. Point is obvious. More people. The more trips. But there's another way of doing it. You can spread out a bed sheet. Pile all of the clothes and all of the linens on top of it and then grab all four corners, pull them together in the center and make a sack out of that sheet in order to contain everything in apocalyptic literature. The use of force often imagined picking up all the nations of the earth by its corners so that nothing is missed. Here, beloved, in the greater Exodus, it was not just ethnic Israel that was purchased by the blood of this sacrificial lamb. All the nations without exception are in view. And yet, at the same time, beloved, precision would demand that we recognize the specificity that is mentioned here. Please don't let me lose you at this point. Don't shut down here now. What was purchased? Look at it carefully. What was purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ is not every tribe and language and people and nation. Not all nations, but people from all nations. In other words, not all without exception, rather all without distinction. It is a universal sacrifice in the sense that there was not one nation exempted from this purchase. It is a particular sacrifice in the sense that what is in view is not all nations collectively. But all nations representatively. This is the passage that sent William Kerry to China, right here. I know there are people ordained to eternal life there because there are people out of every tribe language and nation in his sacrifice, beloved. The text is clear. Jesus got what he paid for. And here about who he purchased potentially, rather human beings purchased in effect for God out of every tribe language, people and nation. It is an effect you will sacrifice. Thirdly, it is a purposeful sacrifice. There was intention to it. There was intention because you were slain and with your blood, you purchased men watched this prepositional phrase. For God. You purchased men for God. Oh, but you know, beloved, the way most American evangelicals talk about salvation today, one would think that the primary reason why we're saved is for ourselves. My salvation, we say, my eternal life, my savior, my Jesus, to the contrary, the blood of Jesus Christ purchased us for God, for him to serve his purpose. And what is that purpose? We've already expressed it verse 10. You have made them to be a kingdom and praise to serve our God and they will reign on the earth. This is why he's worthy. A bloody sacrifice. An effect you will sacrifice. A purposeful sacrifice. It's what defines his worthiness. It is the content of the worship from the highest order of angelic beings, the inner circle. Now quickly notice the outer circle responds in worship. We've seen the inner circle now briefly the outer circle responds in worship verse 11. Then that is upon the singing of this hymn verses 9 and 10. Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands and 10,000 times 10,000. They encircled the throne in the living creatures in the elders. Here, beloved, is this vast radius of angelic worshipers surrounding the lamb and the inner circle of worshipers for living creatures in the 24 elders? Now my point, friends, rather I should say the point, is not to get us to do the math. Let's see. 10,000 times 10,000. Well, that makes 100,000,000. That makes 1,000,000. Okay, we have 101,000,000 angels here. I wonder where John found the time to count them all. 999,000, 1,000,000. Finally, 101,000,000 angels. No, don't be silly, beloved. John doesn't want you to do the multiplication. He wants you to be overwhelmed by this common apocalyptic number that conveys the idea of countless thousands, perhaps millions. Notice the content of their song, verse 12, in a loud voice they sang. Worthy, there it is again. Worthy is the lamb who was slain. That's the issue you see. It's always the issue. In all of created history, beloved, the single most significant event is the cross of Jesus Christ. It is the apex of all of the ages to which everything else aims or from which everything else is subsequently determined. It is the interpretive event in all of human history. Everything else in the Bible, everything else in human history is interpreted by the event of the cross. And to this slain lamb, this slaughtered lamb, the outer circle of angels, a scribe, power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, praise. Now, friends, we need to be careful how we look at expressions of worship like this. Let me ask you quite honestly openly, huh? Look at this list. What is the difference? Can you discern the difference really between power, for example, and strength? Can you distinguish the difference, friends, between honor and glory? Can you? Can you draw black and white definitions that distinguish the two of those? They're synonyms. The point is not to read into each one of those words, an entire heritage of meaning that distinguishes it from all the others. All of these seven excellencies here are governed by one article, the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, praise, which means that the entire phrase is understood to be understood as one single expression of the Lamb's kingly wordiness. And what's more, I would remind you, by no accident, this recital contains seven excellencies, an indication that his wordiness merits the fullness of praise and adoration. And don't forget, my friends, that this song from the outer circle of angels is an antifinal response to the prior song. In other words, by virtue of what he has accomplished in redemption, as made clear in the lyrics of verses 9 and 10, he has now declared to be the object worthy of the fullness of worship. In other words, the outer circle of angels is saying, given what he has done, as expressed in the prior song, he deserves a perfection of praise, all that there is to give. And that is something of what we now see. And what one has called an unparalleled fortissimo of adoration and praise, the cosmic crescendo now intensifies in a climax that encompasses the entire created universe. It began with the inner circle. It extended to the outer circle. Now, finally, the entire cosmos responds in worship. Then I heard every creature in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all that is in them singing. Now, there is a sense, friends, in which this part takes of something that has often been referred to as Hebrew nature poetry. You've seen this. Maybe you've not known how to define it, but you've seen it. In the Old Testament, we frequently read that nature joins in worship. So, for example, we read that the hills dance. The mountains sing. The trees clap their hands. In the genre of Hebrew poetry, it's a way of saying this event is of such significance. Nature itself is joining in praise. We're not to think literally at this point. It's ridiculous. This, however, is even one step better. Here, it is the assertion that the entire universe of intelligent, animate creation is joining in praise to God and the Lamb, the entire creation, and thus, we have come full circle. The hymn that appears at the end of verse 4, God is praised for being the creator of all things. All things have their existence because of him, all things without exception. Thus, he deserves the praise of every created being, but such is not the case that the present is it. And rebellion has disrupted this praise that the creator is worthy to receive. Now, the creation defies. Consequently, it deteriorates. It dies. Mods die. Elephants die. Trees die. Stars die. We die. Everything dies. And so God has not praised as he deserves. What is it that reverses the effects of the curse, the slaughter of the Lamb? And what is the consequence of this slaughter? The table asks us this morning. Defiled slaves, people like us, are transformed into a kingdom of priests, who though now to a lesser degree, will one day lead the remainder of the entire universe, including all reprobate people and angels. In exalting the worthiness of the God who created and the Lamb who redeemed, to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever. The four living creatures set a man and the elders fell down and worshiped. Beloved, there is no hall of fame in the Bible. No catalog of super saints. There is only one who is worthy. The lowly God who was a Lamb died of violent death and sacrificed. As proud sinners, we need a humble God. And here he is. Here he is. May I ask you this morning, as one who has been created by this God, where do you stand in proximity to this Lamb?
You realize that one day every created being will be brought back into a proper relationship with its creator, either through willing obedience or forced subjection. And the event that will determine all of it is the cross, the slaughter of the Lamb, the sacrifice of the only worthy one. You bow your heads with me, please.