"Who is Worthy?" (Rev. 5)

Transcript:

To remain standing for the reading of God's Word tonight, please open your copies of the Bible to Revelation, chapter five. We'll be studying this chapter in its entirety. If you're using a Pew Bible, this is on page 1221. 1221.

Hear now the word of the Lord from Revelation, chapter 5. Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne, a scroll written within and on the back sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.

And one of the elders said to me, weep no more. Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. And between the throne and. And the four living creatures. And among the elders I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood. You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God. And they shall reign on the earth.

Then I looked and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels, numerous myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. And he heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them, saying, to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, amen. And the elders fell down and worshiped. This is the word of the Lord.

Please be seated.

All right, let's pray as we prepare our hearts to hear this great text. Heavenly Father, as we read this vision given to your servant, the Apostle John, I pray that what has been given to us in words would transform our hearts and our minds and would transform our faith in unshakable confidence in the worthiness of the Lamb who was slain, who is conquered, who is the lion of the tribe of Judah and the root of David, who is worthy to receive all blessings for all eternity. And Father, as we study this text, I pray that you would fill us with your spirit that we might have hearts to understand and eyes to see and ears to hear all that is contained in the good news of the Gospel. Your son, Jesus Christ. It's in Christ's name that we pray.

Amen.

Well, our catechism for Lord's Day 5 calls attention to our need of a redeemer. And not merely a redeemer, but a worthy redeemer, a worthy mediator who can deliver us from all of our sin and misery. Now I think we have probably all at different times in our lives been in situations where we needed something, where we did not qualify on our own to attain to something. And we needed the mediation of someone else to help meet the gap, to help fill the shortcoming in our lives. When Alice and I were first married, we were like many newly married people, very broke.

I was still in seminary, I had a part time job that did not come close to paying the bills I was living at the time before we were married with three other guys in a three bedroom apartment. I was in the sharing a bedroom room because again I was broke and my wife had not. Well, my fiance then not yet wife had not yet landed a job in the area that she was moving. She was still up here in Chicago at Moody Bible Institute, had not yet moved down to Birmingham and so she didn't have a job. And so when we went to apply for the apartment that we were going to live in together during the first part of our marriage, they looked at my income, they looked at no income on her side and they said you don't qualify, you don't qualify to rent an apartment.

That's what we're going to do. It was humbling. We had to go to our parents and say would you co sign on this? We're going to figure it out, she's going to get a job, she's going to support me all the time that I'm finishing school here. Exactly what she did.

But my parents were willing to co sign. They had the financial status, the financial and credit worthiness to mediate for those of us, my wife and I, who did not have that worthiness. But what about a different kind of a debt, a different kind of qualification process? What about the debt that we owe to God who is worthy to mediate on our behalf in that kind of a situation? My parents, as wonderful as they are, cannot mediate for me.

No one else in this world can mediate for me. I cannot mediate for you. But what this scripture holds out is that we do indeed have a worthy mediator. Our theme tonight is that Jesus Christ is worthy to deliver us from our sin and our misery. So the first thing that we are going to discuss in verses one and two is that we need a worthy mediator.

We need a worthy mediator. Second, no mere creature is worthy. No mere creature is worthy. And then third, the Lord Jesus Christ is a worthy mediator in verses 5 through 14. So point 1.

We need a worthy mediator in verses 1 through 2. Last week we studied Lord's Day 4 in the Heidelberg Catechism and Director of Congregational Care Ord preached that God has an inalienable right to demand righteousness from us and to punish us eternally if we fall short of that standard. God is righteous to demand that and righteous to punish us even when we are incapable in our sin of living up to that standard. This is the bad news. This is what the Bible declares.

This is what the law demands and what the Scriptures declare that we cannot measure up to. Now, this week in Lord's Day 5, the catechism is moving into the good news, the grace that God has extended to us. And the catechism begins with the requirement. And as we read In Heidelberg Catechism 12, God requires that his justice be satisfied. But then the catechism opens a door, a window, a portal where we might find some salvation.

Therefore, the claims of this justice must be paid in full, either by ourselves or by another. So there's hope if we would be saved. We must find a way for the claims of God's justice to be satisfied. So how do we do that? Well, Romans 2, verses 9 through 11 declares that all of us in sin without partiality are condemned under the law of God.

As Paul writes, there will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil. The Jew first and also the Greek. But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good. The Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.

Very similar language to what we studied this morning in Acts 10, verse 34. God's justice is required from all, from Jew and Gentile, because he is not, as that word, partiality Means he's not a face taker. He doesn't take stock or take account of faces he doesn't look and see. Where are the impressive people? I'm going to do favors for them instead.

Not swayed by personal preferences about something that he finds in us. There has to be another basis on which we might be saved. And as we talked about that this morning, that's the basis of God's gracious, free mercy and election. But how does this work? Well, In Heidelberg Catechism 13, we are reminded that we cannot make that payment that justice demands ourselves.

You know, 12 said, well, either we have to pay the payment ourselves or this has to be made by another. Well, can we do it ourselves? Absolutely not. In fact, our debt increases daily. There is an infinite gap between Almighty God, the one who is holy, One, holy, holy, and us down here, who every day living our lives are filled with sin and guilt and misery.

What then shall we do? Well, again, we need a mediator. And this is the dilemma that confronts John the Apostle John in Revelation chapter five. Now Revelation chapter four, which had just come before this, we haven't studied this, but it is an incredible scene. John is called up into the throne room of heaven where Almighty God is seated on his throne.

And we read much about all the praise and the glory from all of creation that is brought before him, declaring, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. Well now In Revelation chapter 5, we see that in the right hand of him who is seated on the throne, in the right hand of Almighty God, there is a scroll that is filled up with writing written within. And on the back. This is not just the one sided thing, and then maybe another scroll where we can go on to something else. Everything is filled in its entirety.

The symbolism of this is that this is a scroll symbolizing all of God's eternal decrees. And we get a hint of that back in Revelation 4, verse 1, where the initial call was, come up here and I will show you what must take place after that. So it's not only all that has been, but all that will be into the future, especially for the establishment and the consummation of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. So it's God's plan for salvation, it's for all that must take place. And the question that goes out, because this is not only written upon, but it's sealed, sealed with seven seals.

And in verse two we read a mighty angel proclaiming or preaching with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its Seals. Now this seems like it shouldn't be that hard of a question to answer. It shouldn't be that hard to find someone worthy to break the seals and open this scroll. But in the next section, a search will be conducted for exactly that. And in the attempt to find someone worthy, the results are disastrously disappointing.

So let's go to the second section, that no mere creature is worthy. Again, verse three, a search is conducted is in all of creation. Look at the language. And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. So no one in the heaven above, no one on the earth, the dry land, and then that language of under the earth, that's language associated with the seas, the fish in the sea.

There was no creature in all of creation, heaven or earth or the seas. This is a language of creation itself. If you go Back to Genesis 1, this is the way that the Scriptures describe where exactly God did his handiwork in creating the heaven and the earth. He created the heaven, he created the dry land, and he created the seas and filled them. Robert Mount in his commentary has two important observations about the language of where this search takes place.

He says it is not only the language of creation, but this is really important. He says it also echoes the language of the second commandment. In Exodus 20, verse 4, we read, you shall not make a carved image of anything in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

The problem with idolatry is not only that God alone deserves the glory, although that is true. The problem with idolatry is that it is a false hope because there is nothing in creation that is worthy worthy of our worship, worthy to mediate the great problem of our sin and misery that separates us between God and man. And so not only is this echoing the language of creation, but it's also saying, worship nothing in this creation. And again, Psalm 121, I lift my eyes to the hills. Those hills were not just places to get a good view.

Those were the places of the high places. Those were the places where the pagans would go on top of them in order to set up their idols to worship them. I lift my eyes up to the hills. Is my help in those idols. No, you shall not make any carved image of anything in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

The second observation that Robert Mounce makes is that though the search is in heaven, it's important to notice that God himself does not break the seals. God certainly is worthy in terms of his righteousness, but he calls for a mediator. He calls for someone from creation, as he holds this scroll, to come up and take the scroll from his hands and to break those seals in order to look inside the scroll. And yet no mere creature is worthy. And God, who remains outside creation, he is not the mediator.

Now, returning to our catechism, The Heidelberg Catechism 14 reminds us that no other creature can pay the debt that we owe. It says, God will not punish any other creature for what a human is guilty of. Indeed, as Hebrews 10, verse 4 says, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. God will not punish the bull or the goat so that you might go free. But furthermore, the catechism continues, no mere creature can bear the weight of God's eternal wrath against sin and to deliver others from it.

This is the clear teaching of Psalm 49, verses 7 through 9, which declares, Truly, no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice that he should live on forever and never see the pit. No mere animal, no fish of the sea, no human being who is a mere creature is worthy of what is necessary to break the seal and open the scroll. And so in verse four, John experiences bitter disappointment and anguish that no one was found worthy. We read in verse four, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it again. He's looking.

Lift my eyes. Where does my help come from? Not the hills, not the high places of idolatry. Look all you want in this world, but you will find nothing in this world that is worthy of what you need. Now, we may not be as tempted to look to the high hills.

If you go to the mountains in Colorado or someplace like that, you will not find, shouldn't find, places of sacrifice there to pagan gods. So that isn't really the way that we think about things. But isn't it true that we are still so tempted to seek our ultimate help in this world? We're desperate to find some tip, some trick, some strategy that will transform our health, our work, or our families. We're desperate for some political cause that, if successful, would just finally set everything right.

We're desperate for some relationship that we think that if we could just have that or have that relationship in the right way that it would satisfy our needs to the uttermost. But if we had to Find a mediator in this world. If the search could truly be conducted from top to bottom, we would be left in misery weeping, because we would be left in our sin and our misery because of that sin. We are under the weight of God's eternal wrath against our sin. And here is where our catechism in this scripture text begins to point us in the right direction.

A Worthy Mediator the third section of our text is that the Lord Jesus Christ is a worthy mediator. Heidelberg Catechism 15 says this that we need one who is a true and righteous man. This cannot be God as God. God is not a creature. God is the creator of all created things.

So we need one who is a true and righteous man, yet who is more powerful than all creatures. That is one who is also true God, no mere creature, but one who is true God and true men. We need one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, as Paul writes in 1st Timothy 2, verse 5. And this is where we come to the stunning announcement in verse five when all hope is lost, when there is nowhere else to search in this created world. In verse five we read, and one of the elders said to me, weep no more.

Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. Weep no more, for the Lord himself has provided a worthy mediator. Now this elder who speaks to John emphasizes the royal, conquering Davidic nature of this mediator. He is called the lion of the tribe of Judah. This echoes Old Testament language and prophecies all the way from Genesis 49 that Judah would be a lion, and that the scepter shall not depart from Judah.

Long before David had been born already Judah was identified as the tribe from which God's appointed king would arise. Notice, though, that the elder calls this mediator the root of David. This is important and significant because the scriptures of the Old Testament so often speak of a righteous branch who would arise for David. In Jeremiah 23 and 33 and Zechariah 3. 6.

The idea of a branch growing up from David is the idea of offspring. If you think about a family tree, that sort of a thing. But here and Jesus Christ truly is the righteous branch of the house of David. But here he is described as the root of David. That is, he is the source and the support of David's royal greatness, the one who is capable of extending that greatness even further, as the one who is true God and true man.

And indeed this king has conquered not merely in battles and skirmishes against the Philistines, like David did. But this one has conquered all that stands in the way, in the need for a mediator between God and men. This one has overcome all that, disqualified all others as unworthy. Now, when the elder tells him, what he hears from this elder is this language of the lion. But notice in verse six that when John looks, he sees something different.

Not a lion, but verse 6. And between the throne and the four living creatures, and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain with seven horns, with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the world. So John heard a conquering royal lion. But John sees a lamb standing as slain. Lenski, in his commentary, says it's important to remember that slain lambs don't stand.

When you slay a lamb, it cannot stand any longer because it is dead. So if this lamb who is slain is standing, it is only because this lamb must have risen from the dead, which is true of our Lord Jesus. When it comes to the descriptions of him, remember that 7 is the number of perfection. And so this symbolism is about the perfection of Jesus Christ. He had seven horns.

Horns are in Scripture, everywhere, used to describe strength and power. In 1st Samuel 1, we read about the prayer that God would raise up a horn of salvation for his people. Strength of salvation for his people, indeed, that ultimately brought about David to come to the throne. But here, this one has seven horns, perfect power to reign and rule as the almighty King. He has seven eyes.

Eyes symbolize knowledge, what you can see. This one sees perfectly, and particularly because the seven eyes are the seven spirits of God. Not seven different spirits, but the idea of the perfection of spirits, the Holy Spirit of God who is sent out into all the earth to see all and to know all. It's the language that was echoed from the greeting that I read to you from Revelation 1, verse 4, earlier in this service. And then we read what this mediator does in verse seven.

And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and 24 elders symbolizing all of creation, fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. This is the long awaited what the saints have been praying for. How long, O Lord? Until you come.

Come, thou long expected Jesus. These prayers are being fulfilled. And they sang a new song, saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and by your blood. You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. This is moving from smaller to larger.

A tribe is an immediate family group. A language might be spoken across several tribes. A people group shares an ethnicity, but they may be divided in different places and by different languages. A nation is the largest of all. And from every tribe and language and people and nation, this mediator is worthy to have ransomed them by his blood, and he assembles them.

You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. I think it's important that we do see every tribe and language and people and nation represented here as a reflection that God indeed shows no partiality from every language of the world, every nation of the world. But the key point is that the Lamb is worthy of all this. And so then, as the leaders of creation, the four living creatures and 24 elders begin this song, then the rest of all of creation join in, numbering myriads of myriads. That's ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, responding, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

And then every creature in heaven. Notice this is the same place where the search was conducted. Every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them, saying to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. And if this has nothing else to say, and the four living creatures cry out amen, and the elders fall down and worship, how should we apply this?

I want you to think about a problem in your life. A problem in your life that maybe this week has captured your mind and your heart. Maybe a problem that has rolled over and over and over, maybe that has kept you up at night as you have searched in heaven and on earth and under the earth, everywhere for a solution. Maybe it's an opportunity to gain something that you have been obsessed with planning all the details of. Maybe it is a problem that stands in the way of your comfort and your flourishing.

Where have you looked for your help in this world? Have you lifted your eyes to the hills, to this created world to find a solution? Is your heart set on a solution, a mediator that is ultimately not worthy to solve your problems? The scriptures call that an idol. You shall not make any carved image of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the waters under the Earth.

You shall not worship it or bow down to it. You shall not find your hope that. Or maybe you have already concluded that there is no worthy solution in this world. And maybe you're stuck in despair. Maybe you are weeping like John.

Maybe a hurt that you have replayed in your mind over and over and over and can't find an off ramp to relief. Maybe a dilemma that you have searched for a solution and no solution presents itself. Maybe a hope that has been crushed along with your heart. Are you weeping because you have not found a worthy mediator? We tend to get such tunnel vision about our problems, but Revelation 5 helps us to zoom out, to see the cosmic problem and the cosmic solution.

Our true problem is that God requires that his justice be satisfied, but that we ourselves cannot make that payment and no other creature can pay the debt that we owe. Whatever may or may not happen with the problem that you have been obsessing over, understand what is at stake with what you owe to God. You owe God's eternal wrath against your sin. Whatever despair you feel about your day to day problems. Has the burden of God's infinite eternal wrath crushed you?

If so, I have such good news. Weep no more. For behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered. He is the root of David and he can open the scroll and see inside the scroll with its seven seals. Tonight let your heart be filled with joyful relief, with awe filled gratitude at what the eternal Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one mediator between God and men, has done for you.

Let the hope of this gospel drive out the anxieties and the worries of your heart with gratitude and wonder at the fact that the Lamb was indeed slain for you and by his blood he ransomed you. This is good news and it's held out to all those who turn from your sin and look to Jesus Christ in faith. So let this gospel fill you. Let it lift your eyes to praise him who sits on the throne and the Lamb to whom be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. And let it drive every fear, every sorrow, every worry out of your heart as you lean in trust upon Him.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do pray that you would give us confidence, hope, relief. All the problems we prayed about earlier are important and you care for them. But Father, we miss the point if we do not see what Jesus Christ has done for us as the hope that we are so desperately searching.

All of us are appointed a certain number of days to live and that life will be filled with various kinds of sin and misery. And so I pray that if there is any here who has not turned to Jesus Christ in faith, that you would lead him or her to know Jesus Christ tonight by looking to him for their salvation. We pray that he would be our joy and our comfort, our mediator between God and men. It's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.