Worthy is the Lamb

Okay, today's scripture reading comes from Revelation 5 and if you're using a Bible from underneath the chair close to you You can find it on page 1,218 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 went 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 See the lion of the tribe of Judah the root of David has triumphed 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 and circled by the four living creatures and 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 and 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 in you 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 and 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 ten thousands time ten thousand They encircled the throne and the living creatures and 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 And all that is in them singing to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praised and honor and glory and power Forever and ever The four living creatures said Amen and the elders fell down and worshiped the word of the Lord Let's pray Father, thank you so much for Speaking to us this morning already in worship. Thank you for the privilege that it is to come into your presence And we pray now that as we open your word together and think about it that Lord you will grip our hearts with your truth and with your grace and we ask this in Jesus name Amen I'm sure that everyone here has had one of those vacations from hell Maybe you've had one recently You know what I'm talking about right you planned it for months and months you saved up your money You got the kids you got it all planned and maybe you went to Washington DC or New York City or stayed right here in Central Florida and went to the Magic Kingdom Maybe you went to the beach whatever it was But you invested all of your hopes and dreams into that vacation you got the kids together everybody was great And you got to your destination and it was so hot And the water bottles cost five dollars And the kids are screaming at each other You and your spouse begin to scream at each other and at some point during the day you wonder why in the world did we do this? Why are we here? It's awful and at the end of the day you say to your children That's the last vacation we are ever going to go on you spoiled it all You remember what the ride home was like back in the car You remember you just couldn't take it anymore and you look back in the back and you said if you make one more sound I'm going to stop this car and let you off right here

I've had a lot of those vacations from hell And I suspect you have as well everything that was intended to be for fun and fulfillment and joy and bliss and togetherness Ended up being sheer torture And you know what the sad thing about it is is that that's what a lot of people's experience of worship is That which is intended for joy and togetherness and bliss and fulfillment is for many people in many churches in our day Anything but joy and fulfillment and bliss and togetherness I don't know about you, but maybe you grew up in a church that you hated going to as a child And now that's why you struggle with worship today I don't know what the reason might be maybe you've been so turned off by what you've seen on Christian TV That now you're so disillusioned with church that you think it's all a sham or a show Or maybe you just aren't connecting with God at all at this point in your life for whatever reason And so you just sort of tolerate this time that's meant to be the highlight of the week For the child of God. I don't know where you are with worship But that's what we're talking about today And obviously it's been the context for our service this morning revelation chapter 5 That you just heard Eglon read is an antidote To the vacation from hell type of worship experience I would love it if we could spend some time Opening up the book of Revelation and just kind of getting our bearings It's probably my favorite book in the Bible I would love to preach through it someday and I Lord willing will one of these days But suffice to say that this book the book of Revelation the last book in the Bible Was written sometime in the first century AD to a suffering church It was a time when these believers were being persecuted. They were being mistreated They were being ostracized and so as a result these people to whom this book was written were discouraged They were disillusioned. They were sad. They were demoralized. They were scared about what the future might hold and so to encourage these people his believers Jesus Comes to the author who was the Apostle John on the island of Patmos And he gives him a series of amazing visions Now there's all kinds of debate about what the Various visions really mean but the main point is clear of this book Jesus is going to win That's really the theme of the book of Revelation. Jesus is going to win. He's on the throne He is raining right now over the earth He's coming back one day to make all things new and he's ultimately going to win That in a nutshell is the message of the book and Revelation chapters four and five Which are probably my favorite two chapters in the book of Revelation Are about the vision that is now going on as a reality in heaven a vision of worship In these two chapters John the Apostle tells his suffering brothers and sisters I saw a throne in heaven And seated on that throne was one who had the appearance of Jasper and Cornelian And I saw 24 elders he says in circling this throne and four living creatures And I saw a rainbow and a sea of glass Clear as crystal and I heard thunder and I saw lightning and I heard angels singing holy holy holy Is the Lord God Almighty and in the center of the throne John says encircled by the four living creatures and the elders I saw Alam Looking as though it had been slain In other words the Apostle John Got a beatific vision a vision of Christ in Latin a visio day A vision of the glory of Christ and here's what I want to say to you this morning It's just a one point sermon believe it or not Get that vision that vision of the exalted Christ And it'll change the way you worship forever Not just here on Sunday morning but throughout the week Get that beatific vision this exalted vision of who Jesus is this view of who he really really is And it'll change the way you worship it'll change us if we together get this Reality vision of Jesus Christ. So let's go back to the text and let me answer this question Why do I say that why is this true that if you get a vision of the glory of Christ it'll change the way you worship Well in verse one of this chapter John says I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne and that's God the Father A scroll With writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals now We don't have time to talk about the scroll some other time. I'll Tell you what I think the scroll is all about but basically you might say that this scroll That's in the right hand of God Represents the will of God the plan of God his decrees or the plan for the the things that were and are to come That's what that scroll represents and the point here in this chapter is that John is wondering Who is capable of opening that scroll? He says in verse 4 I wept and I wept because nobody was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside In other words John is feeling hopeless. Can you feel his hopelessness? I wept and wept he said he's wondering how God is gonna make sense out of everything that's happening around him He looks around John does he looks around and he sees all kinds of reasons to despair After all he's exiled on the island of Patmos himself His friends are all being mistreated and persecuted He's wondering what happened to those wonderful promises that Jesus gave about the gates of hell Not being able to stand against the kingdom of God in the church of God and and this scroll That might hold the answers to those questions is all sealed up tight sealed with seven seals It's all a mystery the plan of God How God's gonna make sense out of everything? Haven't you felt that way at times? Haven't you asked Where are you God? Things are not working according to what I thought was your plan. Where are you? How are you gonna make sense out of my life? God if you love us so much why are things you know happening the way they're happening and like John you weep and weep Because nobody is showing up who appears to be worthy to open the scroll and to explain things to you But then but then in verse five We read this it says one of the elders says to John do not weep See the lion of the tribe of Judah the root of David has triumphed He is able to open the scroll and it's seven seals And so in verse six up walks a lamb L-A-M-B a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes and that lamb is no other no no other than Jesus Christ The seven horns represent his strength and his power His seven eyes represent his wisdom and his filling by the Holy Spirit and Jesus takes the scroll from the right hand Of the Father and immediately as soon as he does that worship breaks out in heaven Look at verses eight and nine of the chapter and when he that is Jesus the lamb had taken the scroll The four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb and they sang a new song You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals and then in verse 11 John sees bazillions of angels 10,000 times 1000 what is that a hundred million those of you that can you know do math real quick in your head These angels also Circle the throne around Jesus along with the elders Representing the saints of both the old and the New Testament and the four living creatures Representing the created order of the entire universe They're all circling the throne around Jesus and it says in verse 12 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 This is worship It's going on now even as we sit here in heaven if you're a child of God one day You will participate in it yourself, but it's more than that It is the paradigm like I said earlier today that we need here at UPC to keep Seeking week after week Sunday after Sunday to bring honor and glory and praise to Jesus as a church We ought to come back again and again to the book of Revelation and ask ourselves are we worshiping? After all, it's one of our five in reach targets You remember we've shared we've talked about this before one of our five that we are seeking to create as our DNA by God's grace Is to experience authentic genuine gospel-centered Christ-centered worship I made a list of five things that I learned about worship in this chapter Let me give them to you very briefly first is worship is participatory worship is participatory you see that it's not something that you watch It's something that you do In this chapter the worshipers are busy and active. They are not passive I love verse 13 it says that every creature in heaven on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them are singing praises to Jesus now I know that not everybody in this room today is a singer And I know that some of you are new to this whole church thing and you don't know the songs and you don't know how to act and It feels weird, you know holding up your hands like you see some people doing and you think that's just not me I want you to know that's okay. It's it's kind of not me either. I'm doing pretty good to Kind of this type of Presbyterian handholding But look there is no way around it when you see Jesus for who he really is You cannot be a passive spectator

You can't be a passive spectator in worship you join in Because by definition worship is in the first place participatory secondly it is panoramic It is panoramic in other words There's a breadth a universality a diversity To worship and we saw that this morning did we not We've seen that with our African brothers and sisters getting up here and showing us just how panoramic worship is and ought to be it says in verse 9 that the worshipping church is made up of people from Every tribe every language every people and every nation May we be privileged here at UPC to experience more and more and more of the diversity of the church To see more and more colors in this room To see more and more ages in this room That we together worship the panorama of God's glory. Thirdly worship is physical Physical because what I see in this chapter is that people are falling down before the throne of God Earlier David asked us to do something a little bit different and a little bit uncomfortable didn't he He said if you feel let to walk up here and kneel or sit at your chair or What it's your time he said And that's a little different for UPC. We're not accustomed to that I kind of like it Because worship is physical look at this chapter People are singing at the top of their voices in this chapter. They're playing harps It doesn't say they're dancing But they probably are Psalm 150 says praise the Lord with tambourine and dancing now. I'm not going to be dancing in this place I'll leave that up to my wife She's the dancer. I'll play the tambourine But you get the point right? It is that that that there ought to be a freedom To experience God physically fourth worship is prayerful It's prayerful like I was speaking with the children the letter P stands for prayer Verse 8 says that these 24 elders are holding golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints prayers a vital part of worship No, nothing more needs to be said fifth and finally worship is pleasurable worship is Pleasurable the people in this chapter are having a blast I can't I don't know how else to say it To for lack of a better word they are having fun their worship is spontaneous. It's not forced Their minds are engaged their emotions are engaged now what that's a little scary for Presbyterians But their emotions are engaged their bodies are engaged It's like a you two concert and a bcs championship game and a macy's Thanksgiving day parade and Christmas in New England all rolled up together And then some I'm telling you a vision of Christ will change how you worship It'll change how we worship worship will go from duty to delight It won't be just three songs and a sermon anymore when you have a vision of Christ It won't be a weekly test to see if the preachers any good and the songs are the kind of songs that you like to sing and the service doesn't go beyond 75 minutes This building will no longer be just a worship center Instead worship will become the center of our lives and of your life your family your week We'll be at worship center It'll be a meeting with the living God you your friends your fellow believers all around the world and the saints in glory Joining hand giving thanks and praise to the one who is the lion of Judah and the lamb of God slain for sinners It's all God's children singing glory glory hallelujah. He reigns He reigns friends this experience of glory is what your heart needs It's what you crave whether you admit it or not It's what you crave this vision of Christ that John had here in chapter 5 It's what you and I were made for And it's what you long for every single day and the tragedy is that many of you are looking to things like work and marriage and success and beauty and possessions and sports To satisfy that longing that only Jesus can satisfy. I'm gonna have to wrap up pretty soon. I'm I want to say this just one more thing How do you get there? How do you get from where you are now To this revelation five kind of experience of worship Because many of us may be very far away from it this may be very far into your Experience right now. How is it possible for us mere mortals who are often self-absorbed right often failing Often caught up in our own little world World's often very cold in heart. How is it possible for us To come here Sunday after Sunday and have an exalted vision of Christ That comes anywhere close to what we read here in Revelation 5 Like we always say here at UPC it all begins with believing the gospel Everything begins there Everything begins in your life with believing the gospel and if we're going to have a vision of the exalted Christ individually and corporately We need to go back to the gospel and I think the secret to that is in verses 9 and 10 Let's finish with a focus on verses 9 and 10 it says that they sang a new song You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals Because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe language people in nation You've made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth Earlier I talked about vacations from hell Well My family and I did not have a vacation from hell this month. We had a great vacation It was probably the very best vacation we've had ever maybe in a long time if not ever Um and one reason that was great is that we had our whole family their kids and grandkids And my wife Susie and I were able to just

Extravagantly love our family We drew great satisfaction from that we rented this house We took grandkids out to breakfast and let them order whatever they wanted to order We every morning I lugged this enormously heavy tent to the beach and lugged it back at the end of the day Set it up and everything I ran up and down the beach you know pulling boogie boards and Susie went out in the water and helped kids ride the waves I mean all the time we were focused on our family and just loving on them and giving gifts to them And it brought us great satisfaction

That's what God does for his children He gives you extravagant grace Look at verse nine it says that he purchased you He purchased you he spent everything he had To woo you and to win your heart Jesus Christ went to the cross and gave his life as a ransom To buy you out of your slavery to sin and death the Bible word for that is that he redeemed you It cost him everything he had But he wanted to do it Because he loves you so much he went to that extent to the cross To buy you and he owns you today First ten goes on to say that he put a crown on your head and made you a king or a queen past tense It's done. It's finished God has clothed you in the righteousness of Christ and it says in verse 10 that he's made you a Priest and a kingdom Notice that he made you a kingdom and a priest you didn't make yourself a kingdom and a priest God did it for you Therefore you're not the person you used to be You're no longer defined by your sin You're defined now by the love of God and the cross of Christ and the empty tomb If you've repented of your sins turn from them and trusted in Jesus This verse says that Jesus bought you and he made you into something brand new And he did it all because he loves you With extravagant costly grace and one day it says in verse 10 you will reign on the earth After Jesus comes back and makes everything new you will live forever on the new earth You'll have a glorified body and guess what you won't have to struggle anymore with sin or temptation or doubt or shame or guilt or any such thing And the point that I'm making is that it brings your heavenly Father Infinite pleasure to do those things for you Because he loves you so much So do you see Brothers and sisters that Jesus Christ the Lamb of God is worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise Believe that good news believe that you are purchased by God no matter how you feel No matter where you've been or what you've done or how cold your heart might be toward God if you're Jesus's brother God's child he has purchased you and made you to be a kingdom and a priest believe that good news Because once you get that vision of Jesus Christ and what he's done for you Nothing will ever be the same Let's pray Father, thank you so much that You sent Jesus to be the lion of Judah and the Lamb of God Jesus Christ we praise and thank you this morning that you are this exalted Lord That you left your glory in heaven to come to earth and become one of us And to bear our sins in your own body on the tree That we might be purchased of God that we might become a kingdom and priests That we might be no longer the people we were but new men and women and boys and girls Defined no longer by sin but defined by your love Lord help us we pray To get this beatific vision this video day This amazing exalted view of who you really are That our lives will be changed from the inside out And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen