Evangelical Free Church of Embarass

Our reading today came from Revelation 5. Please leave your Bibles open to that chapter. Let’s pray together.

Our Father, we thank You that we can come to Your Word now. Thank You for the experience that You gave Your servant John, what You allowed him to see and hear in Your presence. Father, I pray that we might learn something from it, and pray God that our focus will become the same as the focus described in this chapter. Father, guide us now. Use this time and Your Word to further prepare us to come to Your table. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

While he was on the island of Patmos as an exile, the Apostle John had visions. We are told in the beginning of Chapter 4 that in his vision John was invited to come up into heaven. I don’t exactly know how that all happened, but he says in his vision he received that invitation and he was brought to the throne room in heaven. Chapters 4 and 5 are John’s effort to describe what he saw and what he heard. Last week we looked at Chapter 4, and we saw that the focus in the throne room was the throne, and specifically the One sitting on the throne, the Lord God Almighty. You could describe in just one word what John saw and heard: “worship.” He sees the attention of all the beings there in the throne room, directed toward the One sitting on the throne, the Lord God Almighty, and they are worshiping Him day and night. In their worship they are declaring His greatness, how He is holy, He is eternal, He is self-existing, He is the Almighty One. They are presenting to Him praise, honor, thanks, glory; they are falling down before Him, showing total humility before this One on the throne, the Lord God Almighty, and they are surrendering their crowns to Him, crowns that He had given to them. But realizing that the One on the throne is worthy, they are willing to surrender back to Him that which He had given to them as part of their worship.

Chapter 5 just continues that scene, and we find the worship continuing. If we were to take one word to describe Chapter 5, what John sees and hears, it would be “worship” again. What John witnesses in heaven is that everyone is “kissing toward” the One sitting on the throne. “Kissing toward” is the literal meaning of the Greek word “proskuneo”, from which we get “worship.” It’s that picture of kissing the hand of someone in authority, someone that is worthy of your submission, worthy of your honor. A way of expressing it is to kiss their hand. It comes right out of that culture, and we get the word “worship.” So, in Chapter 4 all in heaven are “kissing toward” the One sitting on the throne, the Lord God Almighty.

In Chapter 5, the attention focuses on another character, and yet, as we go into the chapter we are going to find that everyone in heaven is “kissing toward” this character. They are worshiping Him, and all the attention is directed toward Him. So, let’s look at Chapter 5, and see what we can learn. In the first part of the chapter, John says that he saw a scroll in the hand of the Lord God Almighty sitting on the throne. We probably would call it a book, but in those days it was a scroll. We will learn in Chapter 6 that on this scroll was written His plan and message for the future that He is going to reveal to John, which he in turn reveals to us, the revelation.

But there is a question that is being asked in this scene, and the question is, “Who is worthy to open and read this scroll and present the message?” They can’t find anybody who is worthy enough to open the scroll and to give this message of God’s plan.

Who is worthy? That is the question. Then someone steps forward. In verse 5, He is called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He is also called the heir to David’s throne, the One who has conquered. And He steps forward as the One, the only One, who is worthy to open the scroll and read its message. And so John says he looks, and he sees this person. But when he looks at this person who has stepped forward, he doesn’t see a lion. He doesn’t see an heir to a throne, a king. What does he see? From verse 6: “I looked and I saw a Lamb.” Now, this person is called “Lion of Judah.” He’s called heir to the throne, One who conquered, but when John looks at Him, visually what he sees is a Lamb that has been killed --- or your version might say “slain.” In other words, as John looks at this person, there is visual evidence that this person has experienced a death, a slaying. In fact, when you read the phrase, “Lamb that was killed” or, “Lamb that was slain”, you really don’t get the impact of this, because the word that is translated “killed” or “slain” is the word for “slaughter.” It’s the word that was used to describe what happened to the lambs when they were slain to be offered as sacrifices, or to any other animal that was offered for sacrifice. And if you’re familiar at all with temple worship and that type of thing from the Old Testament, you know that it was a bloody mess.

And so the word really pictures a bloody slaughter like what happened when animals were killed. And John says, “I looked at this person who stepped forward who was worthy to open this scroll and read it, and I saw a Lamb who had been slaughtered.” So, who is this character? Who is this only One that is worthy? Who is it that steps forward to open the scroll? Who is the One who is the Lion of Judah, the heir to the throne of David, the One who conquered the Lamb that was slain?

I think it’s pretty clear to all of us that it’s Jesus. Jesus is the One who steps forward in heaven, as the only One worthy to open the scroll --- the Lion of Judah, the heir to the throne of David. The One who conquers, the Lamb who was slain. John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

In Isaiah 53, as the prophecy told of the coming Messiah, it said He would be led as the Lamb to the slaughter. In 1 Peter Chapter 1, Peter says, “We are not purchased by God through gold and silver, but through the precious blood of the Lamb, Jesus.” This is Jesus that John sees step forward as the only One worthy to open the scroll.

Now, as a little aside, I want you to think about something. What must it have been like for John, even though it was in a vision, after 60 years to lay his eyes on Jesus? John had been one of the twelve disciples who for three years traveled with Jesus and ministered with Him, learned from Him. John was one who was there in person and visibly saw Jesus ascend back into heaven. This is now about 60 years later. The last time he saw Jesus was as Jesus was taken up into heaven, and now in this vision a person steps forward --- the Lamb that was slain. I wonder what it was like for John to see Him again after 60 years.

And then there’s probably silence as Jesus walks to the One on the throne and takes the scroll. What a dramatic moment in heaven. What a dramatic moment for John as he watches Jesus walk to the throne, take the scroll from the hand of the Lord God Almighty, the Father, the only One worthy to do that.

Then what happens? Worship breaks out. The Lamb, the only One worthy, Jesus, takes the scroll and worship breaks out in the throne room of heaven. Worship of the One sitting on the throne, like Chapter 4? No. At this point, they are worshiping the Lamb, Jesus.

Let’s follow the worship that goes on here, in heaven. In verse 8, we are told that it’s the 24 elders that we were introduced to in Chapter 4 who begin the worshiping, and it says they fall down before the Lamb. There’s the humility just like there was before the One on the throne. They fall down before the Lamb, Jesus. We’re told that each of the 24 elders has a harp, so there are instruments. And they have these gold bowls that contain the prayers of God’s people --- that’s kind of a neat thought. And then it says they sing, these 24 elders break out in a new song before the Lamb. And notice the song. The words are here for us. This is what they sang: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and break its seals and open it. Why? For You were slain, slaughtered, and Your blood has ransomed people for God, freed them. People from every tribe, and language, and people, and nation, and You have caused them to become God’s kingdom and his priests, and they will reign on the earth.” That’s the song that these 24 elders are singing in worship as they fall down before the Lamb, Jesus.

In verse 11, John says, “I looked again, and I heard the singing of thousands and millions of angels.” Now, the group worshiping gets bigger. Added to the 24 elders, there are millions of angels that join in. Verse 12 says they sang in a mighty chorus; here’s a big choir of millions of angels, joining the 24 elders, singing to the Lamb.

I can’t imagine what that must have sounded like. I remember being a part of 45,000 pastors in Atlanta at a Promise Keepers conference, and the goosebumps I experienced listening to that many men singing “Holy, Holy, Holy” and other worship songs. It was a wonderful experience --- the sound of 45,000. John says here you have millions of angels, and they’re singing to the Lamb.

What are they singing? We’re told; we’re given the lyrics --- verse 12: “The Lamb is worthy. The Lamb who was slain, slaughtered. He is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.” That’s what they were singing. They worshiped the Lamb.

Worship can be contagious --- it builds. We come to verse 13: Now John says that every other creature from all directions joins the angels and the 24 elders. So, now the group gets bigger. And he says that they also sang. Here’s their song: “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the One sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever.”

I wonder what the melody is like. I wonder what style of music it is. There’s no doubt that they’re singing: as each group joins it clearly says they sang. We’re told it’s a new song, but there’s no clue as to style. Was it fast? Was it slow? Was it in harmony? Was it in unison? Was it a capella or just with harps, or were there other instruments we’re not told about? We don’t know. What was the rhythm of the songs they were singing? Was it in 2/4, or 3/4, or 4/4, or 6/8 time? We don’t know any of those things. All we know are the lyrics.

What makes a song a worship song? It’s the words, the message that’s being presented. We don’t know what the style was --- “heavenly style”, whatever that is. We don’t know what the melody or harmony were. We don’t know any of those things, but we know the message that was being declared to the Lamb. We know the words, and they were praising Him, honoring Him, declaring His greatness. That made them worship songs.

Try something with me. Sing a few bars of “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray….” That’s a pretty little song, with a neat melody, catchy and simple to sing --- if we’d have gone longer some of you would have broken into harmony, because it lends well to that. Is it a worship song? It’s not. How do we know it’s not? The words.

How about this one: “All hail the power of Jesus’ name, let angels prostrate fall. Bring

forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of All….” Now, that’s a nice sounding song, kind of stoic, an anthem type song. Is it a worship song? Yes, it is. How do we know? The words: “All hail the power of Jesus’ name….and crown Him Lord of All.”

What about this? “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.…” That’s a nice one --- it has a hymn sound to it, and it’s even in our hymnals. Is it a worship song? No, it is not. How do we know it isn’t? The words. It’s talking about how much we appreciate our country. It’s not a worship song. We know it by the words.

Here’s one more: “Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that You’re my God. You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me….” It’s kind of catchy, more upbeat. A worship song? Yes: “Here I am to worship…bow down…to say that You’re my God…You’re altogether lovely… worthy… wonderful….” How do we know it’s a worship song? The words.

We don’t know the melody, the harmony, the style ---all those things about what the 24 elders and millions of angels were singing, what all the rest were singing. We don’t know those things, but we know they were worshiping the Lamb. How? Words. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory and honor and power. For You have ransomed many from their sins. Worthy is the Lamb.” It’s a worship song, because of what it said.

That isn’t the end. Notice verse 14. There’s one little group that we were introduced to in Chapter 4 that hasn’t entered in yet, or at least we haven’t been told about them. Verse 14 says that the four living beings that Chapter 4 introduced us to --- whoever and whatever they were --- said “Amen.”

Now, if you have a New American Standard version of the Bible, you win the prize for having the most accurate rendering of the Greek word translated “said”, at least in this verse. That’s because the most accurate rendering of the word that’s here is this: “And the four living beings kept saying ‘Amen.’”

They didn’t say it just once. The text says they kept saying “Amen.” And so we have this scene where all of these beings are falling down before the Lamb, singing to the Lamb, they’re worshiping the Lamb, Jesus Christ, and as they’re doing that these other creatures keep saying Amen, Amen, Amen --- that means “so be it”, “we agree,” “right on.” So, you’ve got singing, you’ve got harps, you’ve got falling down, and you’ve got “Amens”, and that’s the scene in the throne room, as everyone present is “kissing toward”, worshiping the Lamb that was slain, Jesus Christ.

If you ever want to say “Amen” during our worship service, go ahead. They’re saying it in heaven, and I have no problem with it. But here’s the scene: music and instruments. We don’t know the style, we don’t know the beat, we don’t know the melody or the harmony, but we know the message, we know the words. That made it worship --- the four creatures saying “Amen, Amen, Amen”, declaring the greatness of the Lamb. Then it concludes by saying that the 24 elders fell down and worshiped God and the Lamb. We have the One sitting on the throne, the Lord God Almighty, who was the focus of worship in Chapter 4. And we have the Lamb that was slain, Jesus Christ, the Lion of Judah, heir to the throne of David, the conqueror, who is being worshiped.

At the conclusion of the chapter, John says that everybody’s worshiping both --- the One sitting on the throne, the Lord God Almighty. He is worthy of worship, for He created for His own pleasure. But also the Lamb is being worshiped, because He is worthy. He shed His blood for ransom. The Father, worthy of worship, being worshiped in heaven, and the son, Jesus Christ the Lamb, worthy of worship, being worshiped.

I suggested last week that if anyone’s got it right, it seems that it would be those who are in heaven. If worship is going the way it should go anywhere, you’d think that it would be in heaven. So, there must be something we can learn about declaring the greatness of God and the Lamb, of presenting honor and praise and thanks and glory to the Father, but also to Jesus, the Son, of falling down in humility in worship before the Lord God Almighty, but also before Jesus. Worthy is the Lamb.

There’s a story of a man who was walking through an art gallery. He came upon a large painting on the wall, and it was of Jesus on the cross. The title at the bottom of the portrait was “Calvary’s Love.” He stood there admiring the painting and the title. As he was doing that, a security guard tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Lower. You’ll appreciate it more if you’re lower.” So the man stooped down and looked up. The guard was right. There were some details he saw in the portrait by stooping down that he hadn’t seen. Then he heard the guard say, “Get lower.” So, he got down on one knee and looked up, and sure enough, there were more details he hadn’t seen in the painting. It actually looked more beautiful from this perspective. Then the guard said, “Lower still, sir. The painter intended you to get lower still.” So the man went down on both knees and looked up at the painting. And he couldn’t believe it, but from on his knees, it looked like Jesus was looking right down at him. He hadn’t seen that when he was standing.

Sometimes our experience of worship is really impacted by our perspective, and how we’re looking at the One we’re worshiping, whether it’s the Father or the Son. Sometimes (and maybe those in heaven have learned this) you get the best perspective when on your knees --- literally, or at least in your hearts --- if you’re willing to humble yourself and look up to the One on the throne or to the Lamb, and worship. It’s very difficult to really worship if we’re looking down at the One on the throne or the Lamb, or even if we’re looking straight on. We need to come in humility and look up at the One on the throne who created us for His pleasure, the Lord God Almighty, holy, eternal, self-existing. With that perspective as we look at the Lamb that was slain, who was slaughtered, and shed His blood in order to ransom us from our sins and free us, we can really worship.

So, the Lamb is worthy, and today as we come before the Lord’s Table, we are thinking about the Lamb. Many of the songs we’re singing today are about the Lamb, focusing on the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who shed His blood for our sins to provide salvation. And when we share the elements of the Lord’s Table, it will be an act of worship for us this morning, because as we share these elements, many of us will be offering thanks, and the presenting of thanks is worship. Many of us may, in private prayers as the elements are being passed and as we are sharing it together, actually express words and thoughts to Jesus of honor and blessing and praise. It’s worship; it’s a coming before the table. It’s an act of worship, as we kiss toward the Lamb, we honor Him because He is slain for us.

Notice the quote at the bottom of your sheet: “Worship in this life isn’t just a dress rehearsal for the worshiping we will experience in heaven. This is the real thing.”

It’s easy to look at Revelation 4 and 5 and say, “Yeah, that’s heaven and some day we will get to experience that kind of worship. But while we’re here, we’re just kind of practicing, learning how, preparing ourselves for when we are in heaven when we can be part of something like this.” Worship now is not meant to be a dress rehearsal for then. This is the real thing. Jesus is here. The Lamb that was slain is here among us, and when we worship Him today, it’s the real thing. We’re not rehearsing for heaven. This is going on in heaven right now, I believe, and it will for eternity, and we’ll be a part of it in some form or fashion.

So, if I’m not a follower of Christ, what do I do? Consider a relationship with Him. He was slain for you. He bore your sins on the cross, so that you could experience forgiveness in your relationship with Him, your God.

Let this day around the Lord’s Table be the day that you repent of your sins and receive Jesus Christ, the Lamb who died for you, into your life. If I know Jesus, what do I do? Worship Him. He’s worthy. He was slain for you. You’ve experienced the forgiveness He has provided at Calvary. You have Jesus in your life --- now, here, today. He is worthy of your worship. Don’t wait until you get there. He’s here. This is the real thing. Worship.

We’re going to pray, and then we’ll come to the table.

Our Father, we thank You, that You as a holy God, worthy of worship, loved us so much that you sent Jesus Christ, the Lamb, that He might take upon Himself our sins. He died for us and shed His blood that we might be forgiven, saved from eternal judgment. Father, You are worthy of worship for that love that sent Jesus. Jesus, You are worthy of our worship for coming, for going to the cross for us, and for paying for our sins. We worship You this morning as we come to Your Table.

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