Worthy Is the Lamb: The Only One Who Can Open the Scroll - Revelation 5

Summary
Pastor Jeremy Haynes preaches from Revelation 5, where John weeps because no one is worthy to open the scroll—until the Lamb who was slain steps forward. This sermon unveils the power, authority, and worship of Jesus, the only one who can fulfill God's redemptive plan.

Transcript
Hear the word of the Lord. We are in Revelation 5 this morning. I'm covering the entire chapter. Look with me to 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." Take your seats and let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for this day, for this morning. Just to be able to be a priest of the kingdom of God, to have access to You, to offer the prayers that Pastor David offered up, Lord, and know that You hear our prayers. And then to turn our hearts to Your Word, to hear from You, and know that You will speak to us, Father. Today we ask You to remind us again about Your Son, and how worthy He is to be praised, to be honored, to be worshiped. Lift up our hearts, lift up our minds unto You, Lord. We're praying in the name of Jesus. Amen. Last week we started our sermon series in the book Revelation. As Pastor David just said a moment ago, we are covering the lamb who was slain in the book Revelation. We meet in this book the Apostle John. John is in a stage, in a season of his life, of great suffering. He's been sent to the island of Patmos, an island right outside of Asia Minor, where he is essentially sent there to die. Nothing is on the island. He's sent there to go to his death. As he sits there, he is experienced a season of great suffering in the church. Thousands of Christians have been dying over the last few decades. Even two decades earlier, you have millions, actually 1 million, 1.1 million Jews are killed when the temple is destroyed in 8070. All this destruction, all this death, he's been seeing it generation after generation. And even now in 8090, he's seen all of the disciples abused, tortured, and murdered. He's seen now in the book Revelation through chapter 3 through 4, he's seen how Jesus has been speaking to him through this Revelation, and he's given a warning to five churches. And the warnings to these five churches are a strong warning because they are in the brink of disaster. To one church, he says, "You're neither hot nor cold. You are lukewarm." Christ God, He will spit you out when that day comes. He even says to another church that you are letting in this prophetess named Jezebel, who's teaching falsehoods in your church. He says to another church, "You think you're alive, but you're dead." So John in his mind is experiencing all of these things that are happening in his world, and also in this Revelation, and it's rather dark. It's rather bleak in some ways. And now we get this message to him. And I think the question that we, not think, but I know the question that we're going to wrestle with today and see today is, and is this, is who is worthy to turn this all around? Who is worthy to complete the plan that God set out from the very beginning? Who is worthy is the question? Look with me to verse one. "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." So you have the right hand of God. The right hand is meant to, the meaning behind that is the strength of the Lord, his strong right arm. He's holding the scroll in his hand. And we see also the seven seals. All throughout the book of Revelation, you're going to see sevens. The sevens are meant to represent the fullness of something. So this is a full authority of God. Each seal has been sealed with the authority of God to complete his authorship for the scroll that is intended for a purpose. The author wrote on the front, in fact, in the first century, they would write a summary on one side of the scroll, and the details on the inside of the scroll. So front and back, the scroll is in his hands. He's holding it for a purpose. In this scroll, the contents are heavy. The contents you will find out will unleash judgment, pestilence, wars, and salvation in the scroll. Look at me in verse two. "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 in it. No one." The angel cries out, not just to be heard in the temple or in the space of worship where John is at, but the angel's voice is heard to the ends of the heavens, all of the heavens. The angel's voice is heard throughout the entire earth. The angel's voice is heard through the depths of the under-earth or beneath-earth, as the passage says. The proclamation of this mighty angel speaks to all who have ears to hear, and no one responds. Moses does not step forward. Abraham does not step forward. David does not step forward. Shirley Ezekiel could step forward. Last time he saw a scroll, he swallowed it. Or maybe John the Baptist could stand forward. Jesus said he was the greatest prophet. Or maybe the bold apostle Paul could step forward. The one he planted churches in started a revival in Gentile culture in the first century. Maybe Peter and his boldness could step forward. But no one could step forward. Not one, no one. On the earth, in the heavens, under the earth, not a man, not an angel, not a woman, not a prophet, no one. Look with me to verse 4. And I began to weep loudly, John says, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. He weeps loudly. And I curious question I was thinking as I was looking at this passage. He doesn't even know what's in the scroll. He's never seen inside the scroll. Why is he so upset? What is it inside of John that makes him so concerned? Well, I just believe, brothers and sisters, that all the saints of God who love God have longed to see God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. They long to see this. They long to see things made right. His weeping is a product of the disorder, a product of the dysfunction, a product of the dead, the broken, the distorted, the seemingly unredeemable things. This is not a cry of joy. This is a cry of horror. No one is able to open the scroll. He's weeping. He's weeping because he's desperate to hear from God. He sees in God's hand the scroll that he's revealed himself in something that needs to be let out. And he knows it. It's in his bones. And he's weeping loudly. Is there no one? Is there no one? Sure enough, the elders speak up. I believe the elders here would represent humans and the church, the elders. And I think it's fitting that in this brother's deep point of mourning and weeping, the church comes to comfort him, right? They come to comfort him and they point him to the source of his comfort. Who is it? It's the Lion of Judah. The book of Genesis says that the Lion of Judah is coming. It's this Messiah figure who's going to come fulfill God's plan. He's the Lion of Judah, it says here. The Lion of the tribe of Judah. And then it's the root of David. Isaiah says that it's the root of Jesse, which is David's father. And this Messiah is going to come from this Lion of Judah, the root of Jesse, the root of David. Now notice the root is before the fruit. The root is before Jesse. The root is before David. So this one who is in the tribe of Judah is before David. But he's also the one who has conquered. He has conquered. Behold, he is here. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He is the root of David. He has conquered so that he can open the scroll and it's seven seals. He is here. This is the moment they've all been waiting for. The Lion finally is going to come to take his kingdom. What a moment. Look to verse six now. You know, John is in the scene. He's been weeping. Now the elders have encouraged him to look for this Lion who's there. And he looks left. He looks right. He looks up. He looks down. We don't see a Lion. What do we see? Between the throne and the elders and among the creatures, we see a Lamb, not a Lion. And the Lamb is not lying down, but he's standing up. And it says as though it had been slain. As though it had been slain. This Lamb. Obviously being slain means that there's blood shed on this Lamb. He is the Lamb who has been slain. Not only has he been slain, but it says that he has seven horns. The seven horns, all the horns would be a picture of the strength of God. In Samuel 1, it says, Samuel, first Samuel chapter two, it says, "The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces. Against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn, exalt the horn of his anointed." So these seven horns are the strength of God, the honor of God, the full power these horns are symbolic of. All powerful, this Lamb. And then it has these seven eyes. The eyes throughout Scripture, Metro-represent understanding. The sight. He sees all things. He's all knowing of all things. In fact, it says, which are the spirits of God? Here. Verse nine, it says, not verse nine, but it says, verse six, it says, these seven horns with these seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God. So this Lamb is all powerful and the spirit of God is with him in these eyes. The spirit of God, these seven spirits, we see in Isaiah 11, these spirits, it says, the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The spirit of understanding. The spirit of wisdom. The spirit of counsel. The spirit of might. The spirit of knowledge. The spirit of the Lord will be on him. This Lamb is here. This Lamb is all powerful. This Lamb is all knowing. This gentle Lamb was the one who lived a perfect life. Who was gentle. He was lowly. He walked among us and walked among the people's sinless, innocent. That same land went to the cross to be scourged, to be disrespected, to be spit on, to be mistreated, and then to be placed on the cross and to be nailed to the cross. This Lamb shed his blood on that cross. Then the Lamb was taken down from the cross and put into a tomb. And in the tomb, he waited for three days. And on the third day, that Lamb resurrected from that grave so that he could come to this moment to unfold the completion of the Father's plan. This Lamb, here he is, gentle, humble, lowly, the Lamb, being slain. You see, the Lamb was worthy before the cross. The Lamb has always been worthy, but the Lamb had a task that he needed to complete. Turn to verse 7 here. This is the... I mean, I wish I could have been there for all of it, but I really wish I could have been there for this. Well, because what they called out to Lamb, "Look, behold, there he is now!" He's acting, and he's taking a step at a time towards the throne, and he goes to the throne, and it says this, verse 7. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. He took the scroll. In his hand, he took the scroll. He had the power. He had the authority. In his hand to take the scroll. The scroll is like the... the Father is the King. And he hands the air to his kingdom, the will and testament in the scroll. And it has all of the edicts and all of the decrees of his Father's will that he's now giving to the Son. You see, the Son is not only the one who was faithful in the whole process of being the Lamb who was slain, but he's also the one that the full weight and responsibility of his Father's kingdom can fall on him. Because he's the one that will take the scroll and has the authority to break the seals. He's the one who has the obedience that will be required to fulfill every stage of the seals being unfolded. He is the one who is faithful enough and patient enough to make sure it's all completed. He's the one, this Lamb. Now I want you to notice if you would just look up with me to Revelation 4, verse 9. So I want you to notice something that's really important as we look at the next verse in our passage. Revelation 9, what we see is right before this passage there's another worship service happening unto the Father. And it says, "And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the floor who is seated on the throne who lives forever and ever the 24 elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and they worship him who lives forever and ever and they cast their crowns before the throne and they say, worthy are you, oh Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created." This is to the Father. Now I want you to notice the shift. Check this out. Verse 8. So he's taking the scroll. 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. They fall down now, not to the Father, not that they're not doing to the Father, but they fall down now directed to the Son, to the Lamb. They fall down and worship to him. Now you notice that they fall down first with, they have these harps, each holding one harp. The harp, if we look throughout scripture, is really connected to not only worship of God's people, but it's also a fulfillment of prophecy. The harp is connected many times to prophetic moments when God is unfolding new things and fulfilling things that he had planned. The harp is this praise. Then you have these golden bowls of incense. Which are, it tells us, which are the prayers of the saints. So all the prayers that all the saints have ever prayed are in these bowls. You think about the prayers you've had for healing, the prayers you've had for a sick child, the prayers you have for a friend who has cancer, the prayers you have for just your financial situation, the prayers you've had for maybe things turning around in your life, the prayers you offered for anything that you ever could have imagined are in these bowls. The ugly prayers and the beautiful prayers. The prayers of the small child with a pure heart to the prayers of the most eloquent orator. All of them are in here. And one thing the Lamb does, He's the sanctifier. He doesn't take the prayers and keep them for Himself, but He gives them to the Father. So these incense are being offered to Him because soon enough they will be a burnt offering to the Lord. An aroma pleasing to God. Christ the Lamb sanctifies our prayers. Like a mother who sends out her children to get flowers for the Father, the children go out and they grab weeds and little bugs and little flowers. They bring all the flowers back to Mom and say, "Here it is for Dad." But then the mother goes through the flowers and she picks out all the weeds. She takes out the bugs and then she adds beautiful flowers into the bouquet. And then she wraps it in a bow, puts it in a vase, and then hands it to the Father. The beautifying, the glorifying that the Father, that the Son does with the prayers of the saints that He's been waiting to receive. He's the advocate. And they sang it says a new song. Not that there was a bad old song, but this is a new song they have never sung before. And this new song, different than Revelation 4 says this, "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 priest to our God, and they shall reign on earth." Amazing. Amazing. What kind of prayers are you praying? I just want to go back for a second. What kind of prayers are you praying? Are you trusting the sanctifying work of Christ in your prayers? That when this day comes, that you've offered from a bold heart all the prayers that you might be tempted to hold back? Because the day is coming where this worship moment will be accompanied with your prayers. Worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe, every language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priest to our God, and they shall reign on earth forever. What a scene to have been there. Awesome. The Son now, his job is to, with this scroll, to reorder his Father's world. Look at me to verse 11, "Then I looked and I heard around the throne the living creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels, numbering 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." I want to stop there. You think, you see the power, the wealth, the wisdom and the might, those are the resources that the Son received for the task that He has at hand. Because you can have wealth, power, might, and you can have those things without the next line. But for Jesus, He uses the resources, and then He receives, and He's bestowed with what comes next. He not only receives power, wealth, wisdom and might, but then He's bestowed with honor. He's bestowed with glory. He's bestowed with blessing. He's the Lamb who has the resources for the work that He has to do, but He's bestowed the eternal heavenly blessings on His head, on His life, because of what He is going to do, what He has done, and who He's always been. He's worthy. These resources are bestowed on the Lamb. And then verse 13, "And I heard every creature in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and 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 for ever and ever, amen.' For the living creatures said, 'Amen.' And the elders fell down and worshiped Him." The scene is a scene of the one who is worthy. You see, He was worthy to stop the weeping of John by being the one who would unlock and break the seals. He was worthy to be the one who could complete His Father's will in the world. He is worthy to be the one who could hear our prayers and sanctify them for this day. He is worthy to be the one who receives power, honor, glory, and blessing. And then He gives all those things because He is worthy, but then He gives them to us. And somehow now through His worthiness, we have become worthy. And so we stand with Him in this throne room receiving what He received. As He receives the deed to run and unfold this kingdom blessing and all the things that are going to come out of the scroll, we are a part of this story. He was slain so that He could ransom a people to Himself because He was worthy to do that. He makes His people a priesthood to have access to the Father through their prayers. He makes them a kingdom so they could stand at the end of this story celebrating with this King. He's worthy to bring the dark, I'm sorry, to bring the light into this dark world. He's worthy to restore Eden's glory to this planet. We might at times have the thoughts that would lead us to weep, and there is good reason to weep in the world today. But on a passage like this today, this is a reason to worship and to celebrate because He is worthy, you know, in the hearts and the mouths of our little children, and I'm singing this song that I think is so fitting for this amazing message, this amazing message from Revelation 4, and this song goes like this, it's called, "This is my Father's World." This is my Father's World. Oh, let me never forget that though the wrong seem off so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my Father's World. The battle is not done. Jesus who died shall be satisfied, and earth and heaven shall be one. Let's pray. God, we thank You for this day. Thank You for this amazing passage that we just don't want to mess up, Lord. You've unfolded it so clearly to us, Lord. I pray that we would receive it and that we would rest into the fact that now because of this worthy lamb, we are now able to come to Your table as Your kingdom of priests. Father, it is You and You alone that is worthy when no one can stand forward. No one can save besides You. We thank You, Lord. Praise the name of Jesus. Amen.