" I 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. 2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. 4 Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it; 5 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."
Some time ago, I remember hearing a story about four chemistry majors at a university, who decided to take a road trip right before their senior finals. Due to their extended partying, they were
late in getting back to campus, and as you might have imagined, they missed their main chemistry final
exam for the semester.
However, they decided to tell their professor
that they had had a flat tire on the way back to campus and wanted to
take a makeup. The professor smiled and graciously agreed. When the students came
to take the exam they were placed in four corners of the room. Turning
the test over, to begin, they were confronted with a single question: "Which
tire?" Needless to say, they had just went into crisis mode!
Perhaps, you have experienced some crisis in your life, most of us have at some point, whether big or small. A lost wallet or purse, a car repair that cost more than you had in the bank, or a car accident, leaving you without a car. Yet, most of these crises pale in light of acts of violence, economic downturns, or the crisis in our boarder communities. However, even these community crises fade in comparison to the global crises, such as world famine or the crisis in the Middle East.
However, the crisis that is the focus of Revelation 5 is even bigger still. In fact,it is the greatest crisis in all of human history. As pastors, there are times when we look for something clever to say in the sermon, something you've never heard of or never thought of, that will capture your attention and pull you right into the message. Revelation chapter 5, is one of those chapters that speaks for itself.
I do not believe that there is really anything to add to it, in fact, whatever one say to enhance it, tends only to diminish it. As we begin our study, we will see that the scene in heaven has shifted. It is a new element in time and human history occurs as God the Redeemer enters the scene. It is the glorious end of redemptive history. We are headed right into the heart of the book of Revelation. The apex of God’s saving purpose.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You for Your Word, such a glorious glimpse into the future events that will take place. May we be reminded to live in anticipation, always looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior. We thank You for Christ, who gave His life as a ransom, in order to redeem us, to rescue Your people
from every region in the world, from every race, from every class, from every corner
of the earth, to reconcile us to You, a holy God.
Yet, even as we live for that glorious day, rejoicing, our heart breaks for the fate of a lost and dying world that will not receive divine correction or comfort, those who have not given their heart to Christ. Lord, I pray that You will use me to preach, to those hearts You have prepared to receive the truth. Remove the stumbling blocks that have kept them from giving their lives to Christ. I pray that today might be the day, that You would open their eyes see and ears to hear. Open the minds of the lost, that they might confess their sin, repent and surrender to Christ as Lord and Savior, and be washed clean by His blood. Grant Your grace and mercy toward them, that they might come to know You. We pray this for Christ's sake and for Your glory.
In His name we ask and pray.
Amen
Today's Message: Who Is Worthy?
As we come to a new part in our exciting journey to above, to the throne room of God, we come to Revelation chapter five. The fifth chapter of Revelation. Here, the main part of John's vision has begun, vividly and wonderfully, it begins with a profound reminder of God's glory and sovereignty. A vision that began in chapter four, and now continues into chapter five.
I’m convinced that many Christians today are far more concerned about what they are going to eat after the service, then they are about the Second Coming of Christ. That concerns me very, very deeply. Many Christians look at the Second Coming of Christ, as kind of a get out of jail free card. But it's something far greater than that. We've been given a mission to accomplish, bringing the lost to Christ.
How can we who have been redeemed, freed from sin and darkness, rescued from the eternal torment of Hell, idly sit back and await Christ's return and not try to take as many with us as we can? Sharing the gospel is not a burden, it's a privilege. There's been a shift if modern Christianity. Let's be honest, we're not nearly as evangelistic as our New Testament brothers and sisters. I believe that the reason for this is that we don't look at evangelism as a part of obeying the gospel.
Do we even understand the assignment? I want to tell you, that without evangelizing, we're not obeying the gospel. In Matthew 28, Jesus commanded His disciples to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Our assignment then is to bring as many to Christ as we can. Beloved, faith grows by expression. Faith grows by expression. If we don't use it, we'll lose it.
Just as godly sorrow brings us to Christ, I believe that evangelistic sorrow for the lost, should move us to share to the good news. I do not believe that there should be a more powerful motivation than gratitude for the grace that we ourselves have received. We should be able to articulate to others what convinced us to surrender our lives to Christ, without hesitation.
Through the advances of technology, and social media, we have less direct communication with our peers than at any other time in history. Our disengagement from society has significantly impacted our evangelism. And, if anyone dares to disagree with us, we immediately denounce them, vociferating that their the ones that needs to change, because our opinion is the only one that matters. We're the good guys. Culturally, we need to change our hearts, to change our behavior. The proof that the heart is so important, is the fact the that the adversary is so interested in it. Our hearts are a big deal.
We need to be living and breathing the words of Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me."
And renew a steadfast spirit within me."
Rather than relying on ourselves and our own limited understanding, and the government to bring about a change, we've been sold a bill of goods! Our reliance must be on the Lord. Our dependency is not on the corrupt government leaders of this world, church, our dependency is on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We need to trust our Father in Heaven to take care of all the things He said He would, when He sent Christ to atone for our sin. He promised the day would come when He would fix the injustices we face. And, that day is quickly approaching! Are we ready? I'm not talking about being saved, I'm talking about are we living our lives as Christ commanded? They way we will change the world is by changing our hearts.
We've been empowered to act, not conform. And, the way we do that is through our witness and testimony, by demonstrating a transformed life. It's time that we as Christians, stand up for the kingdom of God. There is only One who is rightly and capably the conqueror of the world, Jesus Christ.
Open your Bibles with me to the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 5. I invite you to follow along with me as I read to you from verses 1 through 5. Revelation 5:1-5. We pick it up right where we left off, in John's vision, the throne of God.
"I 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."
In Scripture, there are over 650 general prophecies, half of which concern Christ. So, out of the roughly 330 or so that concern Christ, 225 of those point to His Second Coming. There are over 1,500 passages of the Scripture that refer to the Second Coming. And, for each time the Bible mentions the first coming of Messiah, it mentions its Second Coming eight times. I believe we can all agree, that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is a major theme of Scripture.
I believe that one of the most awe-inspiring passages on the Second Coming is found here in Revelation chapter 5. It looks at the Second Coming from heaven’s vantage point. As chapter 5 opens, it is the same scene as in chapter 4. Heaven.This
chapter can be broken into three parts which describe a dilemma, a
solution, and a response to the solution. In these first four verses,
we'll be looking at the dilemma.
Verse 1, "I 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."
Notice that the first thing God does is reach out His hand, and on His upended palm is a scroll. In John's vision, God is visibly seen in some kind of human form and in His hand is a scroll of papyrus or parchment, sealed up with seven seals. And John says, "I saw it." As we will see, the phrase "I saw" or "epi" in the Greek, is repeated a number of times throughout this chapter. By the way, this scroll would have been a culturally familiar sight for John and his readers, and it was typically rolled up from both ends into the middle.
However, notice that this scroll had some very curious characteristics. "It was written inside and on the back, and it was sealed up with seven seals." Romans sealed a will seven times, they would roll it up, they would seal the edge of it until it was closed. The idea behind this was that it prevented people from looking at it without the proper authorization. On the inside, was the full contract, which would be written on the inner pages and then sealed with seven seals. Then the content of the contract would be described briefly on the outside.
So, this is a very important document, it is a title deed to the earth. Because the earth and the universe came under captivity in the fall, this document that displays who really owns it. And, it is God has the rightful claim to it. God has had it in His possession all the time. Almighty God, Creator of Heaven and earth, is seated on the throne with the official document that grants Him created universe to be reclaimed from Satan and men who have occupied it.
It is very important to note, the contents of this scroll differ from the typical title deed that pronounce ownership. But it would be literally impossible to write down an infinite possession. Let alone the parameters of an infinite ownership. In this particular case, the details you have here, is how God will take back what is His. In other words, the unrolling of the scroll then describes not the details of the earth and the universe, nor the description of God Himself, but detailed descriptions of His judgments, of His attacks, of His
wrath, of His vengeance, and of His repossession of what is rightfully
His. The Lord is set to take back His rightful possession. To put it another way, this is a scroll of doom.
I believe there are going to be enormous numbers of people during the end times, when the
scroll begins to be unrolled and the judgments begin to roll out at the end of the
age, that are going to panic. They are going to find the answers, they’re going to want to know the truth. This will be a time a great salvation. I believe that countless numbers of people are going to turn to the Scripture for the truth of what is happening in the world.
Let's look at Daniel 12, "Then I, Daniel,
looked and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the
river and the other on that bank of the river. And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, "How long will it be until the end of these wonders?" I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed."
By the way, a time is one, times are two, a half a time is a half., for a period of three and a half years. That's the period we refer to as the Great Tribulation. And, that's going to come after Israel is broken through suffering and persecution and devastation by the Antichrist.
Antichrist makes a treaty with Israel, then the middle of the seven years, there is going to be a tremendous movement against Israel. Daniel called
it the abomination of desolations and in Matthew 24, Jesus says the same thing. That’s when the full contents of that scroll are unleashed.
Now, turn with me to Daniel chapter 10, "I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning,
his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of
polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult." Here is the image of One who is holy, that is what linen symbolizes.
Then, John says in verse 2, "And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?" The idea here is this strong angel is shouting, with impelling force because he wants his voice to penetrate every corner of the universe. Now, the text doesn't tell us who the angel is, however, the name Gabriel means "strength of God." And, he says "Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?" In other words, "To whom does the inheritance belong."
There's more, look at verse 3, "And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it." No one on earth was qualified to accept the challenge. Nor was anyone
under the earth, in Hades, morally and legally qualified to take on the
assignment. No one was found anywhere who could open the scroll or look
into it. A search from Hell to Heaven and all points in between, and no one is found worthy.
Notice the comprehensive nature of this inability. In the Greek, "oudeis edunato," signifies complete impotence. No angel, no human, no creature could open the book. No one has the moral or legal authority. Look at John’s reaction in verse 4, it is really amazing, "Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it."
John wept in response to the unavailability of someone to open the scroll, perhaps he thought that sin would never be judged. Clearly, he is unrestrained in his emotions. John is in utter despair. The construction of the Greek word for "wept" indicates that John kept on weeping. The secrets of the world belong to one who is worthy since no man is
found worthy, no one can open and enact God’s plan to conclude the ages. Thankfully, the passage does not end there!
Come back next time when John encounters the Christ!
In Closing..
For those of us who have been forgiven, evangelism is not an option. We are called to rescue the perishing, by snatching them from the fire; to care for the sick and dying; lift up the fallen and show mercy to others. But we cannot sit back, expecting them to come to us. In order to reach the lost, we need to go where the lost are. Satan isn’t going to go down easy, but he will go down.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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