Revelation chapter 5. We will read the whole chapter. Now hear God's word. 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 strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and to 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 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 the 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 the earth. Then I looked and I heard around the throne and 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 and honor and glory and blessing. And I 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 honor and glory and might forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, amen, and the elders fell down and worshiped. Grass withers, the flower fades, God's word remains forever. Amen. Pray with me this morning as we come to this text. Our Father, we say amen to Your Word, that it stands forever, that it cannot fail, that it is the Word of God, that it is not just the words about God written by men, but that it is the words of those who were moved and carried along by Your Holy Spirit to say exactly what You wanted them to say. And so, Father, would You make these words known to us and understood by us and clear to us this morning? And by Your Spirit, would You wield through these words that living and active power that they possess as Your words to continue to transform our lives, to strengthen our faith, that the way that we live might be a service of worship that in increasing fashion and measure proclaims You to be worthy? And so, Father, have Your way with us this morning, we pray, in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Well, I am excited this Advent and Christmas season to be just exactly right where we are together in the Word of God. Maybe it's a little odd to be in the book of Revelation during Advent season, to be in this particular book on Christmas. But I'm excited because the book of Revelation, and particularly where we are here in chapter 5, these words are all about the worthiness of Jesus Christ. And that's what Christmas is about. That's what Advent is about. It's about celebrating the worthiness of the God who became flesh. Of the baby who was born in the manger, who is the Almighty God. And so this morning I hope that as we start to see and as we start to contemplate the way specifically here in chapter 5 in which Jesus is proclaimed worthy, that we'll come to understand the massive implications of His worthiness for our lives and for the way that we live as His people here in this world. When we came to the end of Chapter 4 last week, John was witnessing this awesome vision, this awesome view of God in heaven, surrounded by angels who were magnificent in appearance, who were constantly engaged in the worship of God. The four living creatures never ceased day and night to say to the Lord God, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty Who was, and who is, and who is to come. They're giving praise and they're giving thanksgiving, it says, to His eternal, sovereign holiness and glory. And whenever they finish that refrain, And just as they're about to pick it back up again, whenever they give glory and honor and thanks to the One who is seated on the throne, then they're followed antiphonally by the refrain of those 24 elders, all seated around the throne, who humbly cast down their crowns, and then sing, worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created. The Eternal Almighty God is holy, and He is sovereign over everything in this universe, in every moment of history, and because He is that, He alone is worthy. Worthy of all praise, worthy of all thanksgiving, worthy to be exalted, worthy to be adored, and worthy to be trusted, and worthy to be served. That's the substance of the worship that is constantly being given to Him, day and night in the throne room of heaven, even now, even today. And so from that heavenly worship, as we saw last time, we learn that in simplest terms, worship can be defined as the proclamation of the absolute worthiness of God. Worship is the proclamation of the absolute worthiness of the eternal Almighty God who is holy and who is sovereign and who is faithful and good. Worship is all about worthiness. And so here's the thing to think about this morning as we come into chapter 5. Here's the thing about worship. Everybody without exception, worships. Everyone, everyone, everyone worships, but not everyone worships the one true God. We were created in His image by Him and for Him. We were made to worship Him. That's the purpose of our existence. It's hardwired in to the very fabric of our created being. We cannot not worship. Human beings, by definition, are worshipping beings. That's what we are. That's what we do. We can't help it. We can't stop it. But, in our sin, all of us have turned from worshipping Him. to worshipping something else. We've rebelled against God. We've suppressed the very truth of God in our unrighteousness because we don't want to answer to Him. Ultimately, we don't want to be accountable to Him. Ultimately, we don't want to put our trust in Him. We feel like we'll be better off if we put our trust in ourselves. And all of that is because in our sin, we have deemed Him unworthy of our worship. Unworthy of the worship that comes out of our hearts and that comes off of our lips, but most importantly, we have deemed Him unworthy of the worship of our lives. And so in effect, what we have done is we have torn God off of His throne. at the very center of our lives. And we have made self to be, in His place, the greatest object of worship in our lives. We have sat ourselves down on the throne that only He is worthy to sit upon. So, we're all worshipers. No one worships nothing. But in our sin, we have become worshippers of self, instead of worshippers of God. And then, see, here's how it works in the idolatry of self. In service to the false god of self are an endless string of idols and little demigods. Money, for instance, material things, worldly pleasures and desires, feelings, experiences, people, relationships, the approval and the attention of men and other people, all kinds of stuff. In 1 John 2, John boils all of these demigods and idols down and he sums them all up as the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life. Anything and everything that is under the sun, that is of the creation, and that we tend to worship instead of worshiping the Creator. All those things, whatever they are, are demigods that we employ in the idolatrous worship of the ultimate false god, which is me. Which is self. Even as Christians, Even as new creations who aren't yet perfect, who still have sin remaining in us, the remnants, the old habits of this idolatry of self persist in us. We keep doing this habitually. Even though He has redeemed us and bought us by the price of His own blood, we still in all kinds of ways and all the time, we still refuse to bow to Him. In all kinds of ways. And we insist on bowing to self. We insist on doing things our way. We employ all of the demigods in order to make sure that we have the things that we want, and the way that we want, and the time that we want. Instead of submitting and surrendering to whatever He wants, like Jesus did. And all of that, every time that we do it, in every way that we do it, all of it means, not just that there are times when we don't trust Him, that's true, But the bottom line, every time, every moment of our sinfulness is that we don't consider the eternal Almighty God, who is holy, and who is sovereign, and who is good, we don't consider Him worthy of our confidence, and our trust, and our praise, and our thanksgiving, and of the worship of our lives. That's what's going on every time we fail to follow Him and obey Him. We declare Him unworthy. And we declare ourselves, and our wisdom, and our strength, and our way, we declare it more worthy. That's what's going on when you sin. We think that our lives will be fuller every time we sin. More meaningful every time. More complete. If we're sitting on the throne instead of Him. If we're calling the shots instead of Him. If we're at the center. instead of Him. But of course, we know in our heads, and we need to know in our lives, that nothing could be further from the truth. We desperately need to repent of those habits every single time that they tempt us, and recognize and confess that we're not worthy in any sense whatsoever. We're not worthy. We need to recognize and confess that there is no true life apart from true worship. And not just on Sunday. Every day. There is no comfort, there is no hope, or peace, or joy, or life, unless the eternal, almighty, holy, sovereign God, who is righteous, and who is faithful, and merciful, and good, is right at the center where He belongs, on the throne, and is the object of our worship, and the only one who our lives proclaim to be worthy, every minute of every day. Now, Revelation chapter 4 showed us in powerful visionary glory, that the sovereign God, who is holy, holy, holy, is the one who sits upon his throne, and as he sits upon his throne, he reigns from heaven over all the universe and over all of history, and he is worthy of all praise and thanksgiving and honor and worship. And so now, chapter 5, picking up without any interruption, these aren't two separate visions, It's the same vision. And so picking up chapter 5, now right where chapter 4 left off, this chapter proclaims to us in no uncertain terms that we are not worthy to sit upon the throne. We are not worthy to be the sovereign ones. We are not worthy to hold the reins and to say, this is where my life needs to go. We are not worthy to try to accomplish or to realize any of God's sovereign purposes in our lives and for our lives or for this world by ourselves. We are proclaimed unworthy in these verses. And Jesus Christ is proclaimed ultimately worthy in these verses. And He's not just worthy to be praised with thanksgiving and honor and worship. from our mouths. He's worthy of the throne. He's worthy as the Sovereign One. He's worthy as the Great Overcomer. He's the One who is able to carry out every aspect of the eternal plan and purpose of God for all of history, let alone my little life. He's the one who is able to bring judgment on all wickedness in this world. He's the one that is even able to sovereignly utilize all of the wickedness in the world, even the evil forces of heaven, as we're going to start to see when we get into chapter 6, after Christmas. He can even utilize the evil intentions of the evil spiritual forces. of Satan and his demons to accomplish his purposes, and that's exactly what he's doing. He doesn't author their evil. He doesn't cause it. But in His sovereignty, He uses it against them and for us and for His glory. He's the God who's able to do that. He's the God who's able to fully redeem all of His people. He's the God who is worthy to be the one to take the reigns of the entire universe, let alone, again, So in verse 1 of Revelation chapter 5, John looks and he sees in the right hand of the one who is seated on the throne of heaven, in the right hand of the indescribably glorious, holy, eternal, almighty, sovereign God that we learned about in chapter 4, John sees in his right hand a scroll. A scroll. The word in Greek is biblios. we get our word Bible from that word. And the word Biblios refers to a kind of plant, actually. It refers to the papyrus plant that originally in ancient Egypt was used to produce writing material. We use paper today. We make it out of wood pulp from fancy machines that cut it up and press it down and make these sheets of paper. But in the ancient world, they didn't have the technology to do that yet. And so one of the things that they did most often to produce something that you could write on with a quill was to harvest these papyrus plants that grew along the banks of the Nile River. They'd cut them down and then they'd ship them up to the Lebanese city of Byblos. It was just the name of the city. And in Byblos they had a whole industry where they'd take these papyrus plants and they'd pound out the stems, the stalks, the pithy, fleshy part of them. They'd pound them out flat and they'd dry them and they would specially prepare them to produce these long, fibrous sheets that were used as a writing surface. and then from the city of Byblos, where they were prepared, they would be shipped all over the Roman Empire and used to create all kinds of different documents. So the word Biblios just comes from that city of Byblos where the papyrus sheets were prepared. Now, sometimes in those days, in the time of John that he was writing, Those papyrus sheets would be written on and then rolled up into scrolls. And sometimes also, they would be folded up and bound into codexes, like our modern day books. Both forms existed in those days. And the word Biblios itself doesn't actually make it definitively clear which form it was that John saw in the right hand of God. We don't know, actually, if it was a bound book or a rolled scroll. Over in chapter 20, John sees God opening a series of books, it says in our English translation, leading us to picture in our mind a bound book. books, he says, in chapter 20 that contain the deeds of every human being, books of judgment, and then a separate book with the names of the redeemed written in it, the Lamb's Book of Life, and the word book there in chapter 20, it's just the exact same word here, same word, biblios, biblion. So, it has more to do, see, with the material that was written on than with the actual form, whether it was rolled up or whether it was opened up like a codex, like a book. We don't really know for sure. In other words, actually, if what John saw was a scroll or a bound book in the right hand of God. What we do know is that whatever it was, it had writing on both sides of the papyrus, which was a little bit unique. because ordinarily it was easier to write on one side than the other, because as you prepared it, the back side would be kind of slick and slippery and hard to write on, but the front side would have the grains of the fibers of the plant, and it made for nice, easy little rows to write on. But there was at least one kind of document in the culture of John's day that was written on on both sides. I'll tell you about that in a minute. But we know that what John saw was written on both sides, and we also know that the document that John saw was sealed with seven seals. Seals, as you picture them in your mind, are the wax seals that people use to seal a document. You take a little bit of wax and you melt it and you drip a little pool of wax over the seam of a scroll or across the face of a book, of a codex. and then you press a signet from a ring or a stamp into it to leave your mark on it. Maybe it's your initials or a picture of you or a symbol that identifies you and gives authenticity to that document as having come from you, having been attested to by you. And then the seal would have to be broken, see, by someone authorized, someone worthy, in order for the document to be opened up and read. So John saw that this document had seven seals sealing it. Again, somewhat unusual but not unheard of in Roman days. Now don't picture the seven seals, if it's a scroll for example, don't picture them all lined up on the outer seam of the scroll such that you'd have to break all of them before you could open the scroll at all and start to read any of its contents. There were, in the ancient world, scrolls and books that were constructed in such a way that the multiple seals would have been offset all throughout the document, so that you could break one seal and open a portion of the document and read something, and then break another one and read more, and so on and so on, so that the document was progressively read, part by part, chapter by chapter, as you broke the various seals. And that's what John is seeing here. And one kind of document in the ancient Roman world that was constructed just like that was a Roman will, like a last will and testament. They were common, especially for people who were wealthy, people who owned a lot of property. Just like we do today, they would write a will to pass their estates on after they died. Roman wills were written on and then witnessed by seven witnesses. And each of the seven witnesses would imprint a seal on the will so that you had a testament in the seals that it had been witnessed by these seven people. Roman wills were written on both sides. Usually the back side of the will contained some kind of a summary of what was going to be unveiled progressively on the inside. Roman wills were often divided up into various sections, separated by the different seals so that the contents were progressively disclosed. Roman wills could only be opened on the occasion of the death of the one who made the will, the testator. And then when the will was opened, there had to be someone worthy, an executor, who would break open the seals, and read the contents of the will aloud, and then, most importantly, put it into effect, execute the will. That's the most important part of a will, right? It doesn't matter what it says, if nobody is going to do anything about it, and you have to have a trustworthy person to be the executor. And the contents of Roman wills, much like ours, involved legally binding promises and inheritance that the executor was obligated and responsible to set into motion. And see, all of that describes very, very nicely the kind of document that John sees in the right hand of God. It's God's will that he's seeing. Now, there's also some important Old Testament backdrop here too. not only do some of the prophecies of the Old Testament allude to the scroll that John sees God holding, which leads me to believe that it is a scroll and not a codex, because they didn't have codexes in the Old Testament, they were clearly scrolls back then, and some of the visions that the prophets of the Old Testament saw were of this very document. And there's also in the Old Testament Right here in Revelation chapter 5, fulfillment of certain things that were prophesied and then hidden in the Old Testament period that are now revealed. So, for example, in Ezekiel chapter 2, Ezekiel also saw a vision of God in heaven that corresponds remarkably to the vision that John saw. And Ezekiel saw God holding a scroll, this same scroll in his hand, all the way back in the Old Testament. And he says in verse 9 of Ezekiel chapter 2, When I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in the hand, and he spread it before me, and it had writing on the front and on the back, And there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. It gives you an idea of what's in this scroll, doesn't it? It's a scroll that contains words of judgment. The contents of the scroll, according to Ezekiel's vision, have to do with coming judgments. And as we'll see very clearly when we get into chapter 6, when the seals begin to be broken, that's precisely what this scroll deals with, judgment. In Daniel chapter 7, And this is a favorite prophecy of the book of Revelation. We've seen it alluded to already several times. It's quoted and referenced all over the place in the book of Revelation. It's that prophecy of the Ancient of Days, God Almighty seated in all of His glory in Heaven, and one like a Son of Man then is brought up on the clouds to the Ancient of Days and presented before Him, and then invested, given eternal power and dominion in an everlasting Kingdom. Well, the fulfillment of Daniel chapter 7 is Revelation chapter 5, which we're going to see more fully next week. But in that vision in Daniel, Daniel sees and Daniel understands in part, in an incomplete way, that there was coming a time, somewhere down the road from Daniel, when God was going to establish His Kingdom, and that would mean bringing judgment on all of the enemies of His Kingdom, and, secondarily, bringing redemption on all of His chosen people. Daniel didn't know when that was going to happen, he didn't know exactly how that was going to happen, but he saw that it was all written in a book, in a scroll, in the heavenly courtroom of God. It was all spelled out in there. And then over in Daniel chapter 12, in verse 10, God instructs Daniel and says, but you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the scroll until the time of the end. So Daniel's given a glimpse of the plan, but he can't read it yet, and God says, roll it up and seal it until the time of the end. See? In Daniel chapter 2, God called the time of the end, the end of days. God had a plan, see, to deal with all the unrighteousness in the world with divine judgment. To bring this current world order where evil and unrighteousness fill the earth, to bring it all to an end and replace it with His everlasting Kingdom of Peace. And that plan of God includes a purpose to redeem and to save His people and give them the inheritance of that everlasting Kingdom. And He's revealing the basic outline of this plan to Daniel, but it wasn't time yet for the plan to be fully unveiled, or for the details to be fully revealed, or for the plan to be set in motion. It wasn't time in Daniel's day. God sealed it up until the time that He calls the end of days. And now, in Revelation 5, when John was in exile in that prison colony on the island of Patmos, 500 years later, 500 years after Daniel lived, now, after the birth and the life and the death and the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus, the Son of Man, now God pulls out the scroll and says, it's time to open it. It's time to set the plan in motion. The book that Daniel saw and that God had sealed up for half a millennium now is pulled out and God says with John looking on in awe and wonder, God says it's time. The time of the end has come now that my son has been raised. Now the scroll must be opened. So John is witnessing here nothing other than the fulfillment of Daniel's 500-year-old prophetic vision. John is being shown that the end of days isn't just close. It's not just near. It's not just on the horizon. It has, in John's day, already come. The scroll, the book, the Biblion that John sees contains God's ultimate plan of final judgment and full redemption that has already been set into motion by the death and by the resurrection of Jesus that is right here and right now being carried out by the sovereign will of God and the sovereign strength of Jesus Christ. And it explains this plan, what's going on in our world and why. And it's a plan that, while it's still being worked out, will be brought to completion on the day when Jesus returns, on the second Advent. I hope you can see why this is not just so exciting, but also very, very comforting. Very, very encouraging for us as Christians. Our God, who sits in heaven and does all that He pleases. Our God, who created the whole universe, the entire cosmos, out of nothing. Our God, who has decreed the end from the beginning, like Isaiah 46.10 says, He has a plan. And this plan is a plan that He hasn't just had since John's day. It's a plan that He hasn't just had since Daniel's day, 2500 years ago now. Our God has had a plan that was conceived in His infinitely wise and all-knowing mind in eternity past. Before He ever laid the foundations of the world, before He ever said, let there be light and there was light, before He ever fashioned any human being, any man, into His image from the dust of the ground, God had this plan. for the whole world, for the whole cosmic order, for every galaxy that spins, and every star that shines, and every instant of time, and every moment of every life, including yours, including mine, that was ever lived. All of it, according to God's plan. Even the parts of it that feel to us like chaos. even the parts of it that feel to us like, you know what, this is out of control and if I don't do something, it's not going to go well, so I have to take the reins. Even as we look around us at our world and see all of the foolishness and all of the godlessness and the wickedness, and as we experience the painfulness and all of the things that make us say things like, everything is spinning out of control, and unless I intervene, then... Even in those moments and in those ways, God has revealed to us, right here, in His inspired, infallible Living Word, that not only is there purpose in it all in a general sense, in every experience of our lives, that not only is He causing all things to work together for good to those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose, but there's this comprehensive plan, see, for all of creation, for all of history, that every moment of our lives is a little small part of. And not only that, He's revealed to us that His divine, sovereign, comprehensive, eternal plan has a definite end to it. has a definite goal that it's all working towards, a definite conclusion, and that that conclusion, that end, that final chapter, that last phase of the eternal plan for God to build His Kingdom, has already been set into motion. And we are living in these last days, as the book of Hebrews says. It's no longer just on the distant horizon like it was in Daniel's day. It's no longer just a promise. With the advent of Jesus, with the coming of the promised virgin-born child in the manger in Bethlehem, Emmanuel, God with us, is already ushered in the end of days. He's the one, and He's the only one, who's worthy. who's already begun to open the seals and to set into motion this long-sealed plan of God to bring about judgment, to bring about redemption, and to culminate His Kingdom. And your life, see, this is how you need to see your life, especially when your life is hard. Your life is a part of that plan in a way that even the lives of Ezekiel and Daniel were not. They could only hope They could only anticipate the reality that God has now brought about in these last days. That's what Hebrews 1 calls this period of time that we're living in. And God has brought about these last days and is governing them and is orchestrating them and guiding them to the ultimate conclusion that He has planned since before the foundations of the world by the worthiness of His Son who has the reins. You can trust Him. This helps me so much when things seem to be so out of control or miserable in this world. I mean, things are hard. A lot of times, brutally hard, but it's so helpful to know that it's not all just random chaos. It's not all just purposelessness. And that it's not up to me to find some purpose for it and to do something about it. We're going to see from here on out in the book of Revelation that all of it is the present outworking of the plan of God as He builds His Church and as He pours out judgment on this world. Even now, even utilizing evil spiritual forces, not again causing their evil, but in their evil they end up accomplishing the purposes of God to bring two things. Punishment, first of all, on the wicked people of this world. The book of Revelation calls them the earth dwellers. It's like a code word for unrepentant, wicked people who refuse to honor Jesus. The earth dwellers. And God is pouring out judgment. Even using evil, sinister, wicked, spiritual forces of darkness who hate God, but in the plan they end up accomplishing His purpose to pour out punishment on the earth dwellers. As we feel the collateral damage, so to speak, of all of that judgment that's being poured out, God has a purpose not for our punishment, but for our purification. And oftentimes, purification is painful, isn't it? And this explains why your life is painful. Revelation explains it. God is utilizing and working out and orchestrating and accomplishing His plans and purposes for your purification, preparing you for the eternal kingdom. And like gold tested and purified in the fire, a lot of times that hurts. So as Peter says, beloved, Don't be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, and to test means to refine you, to burn away all the dross, all the sin, all the weakness, all the unbelief, and to leave the pure gold of God's glory and Christ's glory in you. Don't be surprised, he says, as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice when you feel it because you know you're being purified. Rejoice insofar as you share in Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed." And he's not just talking about the glory of His second coming, ultimately that, but His glory is being revealed in you as the gold is refined and the dross is burned away. So rejoice. This is the way of the cross, right? For the followers of Jesus to not only follow in the pure ways that Jesus walked in and lived in, right? That's the way of Jesus, to do as He did, to walk as He walked, but He calls it the way of the cross. So the way of the cross is to not just try to walk in a way that's pure and holy like Jesus walked, but to also bear up our crosses. and to suffer like He suffered, because for us the suffering is not punitive, but purifying. And this is what Revelation reveals to us. that even our sufferings in these last days before Jesus returns are a part of God's grand eternal plan already set in motion by the death and resurrection of His Son to purify us at the same time that He's punishing the wicked earth dwellers in order to prepare us for the eternal kingdom and inheritance that's waiting for us in glory at the end of the plan. So see, this is what's in the scroll. All of that. And we'll see it when we get to chapter 6 and all the seals start being broken and it all gets laid out very clearly. The scroll that John sees in God's right hand contains God's will for the cosmos. His last will and testament for the universe. It reveals His promised purpose that He has legally bound Himself to fulfill. To pour out judgment and to redeem His people and to bring to the present world an end. granting the inheritance of everlasting life and peace to everyone who trusts in Him, and everyone whose name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and who by His strength remains faithful to the end. It's a will. It's a will that can't be put into effect unless the one who made the will dies, which He did on a Roman cross 2,000 years ago. It's a will that can only be opened and read and enacted and set into motion by a trustworthy executor who can break the seals, who can proclaim the purposes of the will, and then execute the sovereign plan of God for everything, for our world, and for your life, and for my life, and for the entire cosmos, for everything. Who, in all the universe, is worthy to assume that role of executor of God's will for the end of days, and for the universe, and for your life, and for my life? I mean, I take that position all too easily. I say, well, when it comes to me, I'll be the executor. God, I'll decide my inheritance. I'll decide my destiny. I'll decide what I get. And here God says, no, no, no, you're not worthy. Who's worthy? This is exactly the question that the mighty angel in verse 2 asks, isn't it? This is a different angel from the ones that we took a look at last week. This angel distinguished even from them by the word mighty. I mean, they seemed pretty mighty to me. The ones we saw last time, they weren't exactly wimpy. But this angel bears the distinction of being mighty even relative to the others. We don't know this for sure, but I think this is probably the angel named Gabriel that we see throughout scripture. Gabriel means God is my strength, or God's strong one, God's mighty one, literally is what it means, or God's champion. Gabriel is the angel that was sent to Daniel in Daniel 8 and 9 to explain God's visions and their meanings to Daniel. Gabriel is the angel that announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah in John chapter 1 and verse 11. Gabriel is the one that announced the birth of Jesus to Joseph and spoke to Mary in Luke 1. In Luke 1.19, he identifies himself to Zechariah, John the Baptist's father. He says, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. And I have been sent to you to bring good news. I think it's very likely that Gabriel, God's strong champion, who is so central in these all important declarations and proclamations, is the one who speaks here in verse 2 of Revelation chapter 5, proclaiming with a loud voice, and that word has connotations of something being surprisingly loud. Boom! A voice that would have completely startled John as soon as he started speaking. What was that? A voice that was powerful enough to overpower all the other voices. and the strong angel thundered, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? Who is worthy to be the executor of God's will, of His eternal promises and purposes for the end of days? to not only proclaim them, but to carry them out in precise and perfect and exacting detail, to do everything that God has purposed to accomplish in bringing it all to an end, in bringing judgment, in escalating waves that will culminate with the full destruction of all wickedness in this world, and all evil peoples and nations and evil beings, including Satan himself, will be subdued. Who's worthy to do that? to purge the whole created order, who is worthy to set into motion and to guarantee the accomplishment of God's plan to, at the same time, build His Church, and shelter His people from the judgment, but also use it to purify us in His love, and then establish His Kingdom. And it's culminated in perfect form in eternity in the new heavens and the new earth. Who's worthy for that? Who in all the universe can do that? Well, here's the first part of the answer in verse 3. It says, no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it. No one. No one in all of creation is worthy, is able. It should be pretty obvious why. Two primary reasons. First of all, it's because no one in all of creation, no creature, no created being is wise enough, is knowledgeable enough, is, first of all, wise enough or knowledgeable enough to even be able to comprehend the fullness of God's plan, let alone powerful enough or authoritative enough to be able to do anything about it, to carry it out. No one in all of creation, no creature is sovereign, right? To be able to command the forces of heaven and the forces of evil and orchestrate it all to accomplish the purpose. I can't do that. Can you do that? I mean, I act like I can when I start doing things my way in my life. But God's saying, uh-uh. You're not worthy. Stop acting like you're the sovereign one. Because that's what you'd have to be to command the host of heaven, and orchestrate it all, and govern the lives of men, and guarantee that the plan worked out exactly and precisely the way God designed it to in the end. And not only that, secondly then, you would also have to be perfectly pure of character. So that your sin never got in the way of God's plan. So that your fear never said, I'm not willing to do that, and then the plan got derailed. You'd have to be completely selfless, completely devoted to God's glory, completely righteous, utterly and perfectly pure of heart, and committed to do anything, no matter what the cost, to ensure that God's will was perfectly carried out, and my life is pathetic compared to that standard. I go, well, if I'm going to have to suffer this, then I'm not doing that all the time. All the time. If it was up to me, there would be no plan of God. Everything would be chaos, and it would all be derailed. How about you? We would have to be completely and utterly and totally trustworthy, and no one in creation is anywhere near that pure. No one, in other words, no creature bearing the image of God is holy. None of us are sovereign. None of us are holy. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. None are righteous. No, not one. All have turned aside. All we like sheep have gone astray. Even if one of us hadn't, Even if there was one mortal creature, one mortal image-bearer who was sinless and holy, no mere creature could ever hope to be worthy and capable of breaking the seals and opening God's scroll and executing His sovereign will. And when the fullness of that implication settles into John's heart, it's devastating to him. I began to weep loudly, he's bawling, he says in verse four, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And that's when one of the 24 elders said to him, weep no more, for 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. Again, we see God start to turn the lights on and illuminate the meaning of Old Testament prophecy here, right? to bring into full focus the things that were only spoken of in shadows in the Old Testament. Next week we'll look more fully at those two titles there, the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Root of David. But see, both of them were Old Testament foreshadowings of Jesus, of the promised Messiah, the one who would come and fulfill every promise of God, the one who would bring about every purpose of God and conquer every enemy of God and bring the fullness of salvation and everlasting life. to every last one of the chosen people of God. The only one who could ever do all of that, the only man who was ever holy enough and sovereign enough and wise enough and powerful enough to conquer every enemy and vanquish all opposition and triumph over every threat to God's people and carry out every plan of God, the only man worthy is the God-man. The God-man. The one named Emmanuel. God is with us. It's not just any baby. It's not even just a sinless baby. God gave me a sinless baby. I would be the happiest dad on the planet. But He didn't just give Mary and Joseph a sinless baby. He gave them the God-Man. The baby in the manger who is the eternal, unchanging, holy, sovereign God. And He alone is worthy. Now, we all believe that, right? We all understand that, right? We all assent to the reality and the truth in our minds that Jesus and Jesus alone is worthy. We all say Amen to it. Not just worthy of our praise, and not just worthy of our adoration, and not just worthy of our thanksgiving and worship on Sunday, We know and we admit, we assent to, we say amen to the fact that Jesus is worthy of our implicit, unconditional trust and submission every day, not just Sunday, right? He's worthy of it. I mean, if He's worthy to open the scroll, if He's worthy to sovereignly execute God's plan for the end of days, including everything that's going on in this world and my life, then He's worthy of my life. If He's worthy to do all that we've just talked about that He's going to do, and He is doing in opening this scroll, then He's worthy of my complete trust and submission in all of the implications of that worthiness. Even the painful implications. He's worthy of me trusting Him in those times until He comes. He's worthy. We say Amen, we know it, we assent to it, but the question is, do we actually trust it? And the way that you know whether or not you trust something is whether or not you act like you trust it, not whether or not you say you trust it. Say, for example, this is a really dumb example, but say that in your life, ever since you were a kid, every single chair, every last one of them that you ever sat down on broke. you've got a thing and you sit on chairs and they break every time and you end up on your keister on the ground every time with a bruised tailbone. And so now you've grown up not trusting chairs at all. So say you, the person who cannot trust chairs, say I brought a chair to you and I said, look, this is the one chair. that will not break, that will not fail. I promise it. I guarantee it. Look at the design. I show you the blueprints. I show you the materials. You inspect all the welds and all the rivets and everything. And I say, there's no way it can break. There's no way you'll fall. This is the one chair that is worthy of carrying your weight. And you say, I believe you. But then you stand there. You understand what I'm telling you about the chair. You might even send in your mind to the fact that it's different than all the other chairs, that it's built better than all the other chairs, that rationally it's going to hold you up, but you don't really trust, you don't really believe until you sit. You don't trust until you act on it and rest your full weight on it, despite whatever fears and misgivings you might have about it. And every moment you don't sit on the chair, every moment that you continue to stand there on your own strength because you've never sat down in your life and so your legs are exhausted and they're trembling and they're shaking, and your back is killing you because you can't bring yourself to sit down, every moment that you stand there and say, I really do believe that it's a worthy chair, but choose not to sit on it, that's a moment that you're refusing to actually trust. That's a moment that you're actually proclaiming the chair unworthy. I know it's a dumb illustration. None of us would be that stupid as to keep standing there on these trembling legs with our backs screaming in pain and not sit on the perfect chair. But I tell you what, this is what we do to God all the time, isn't it? We do it to Jesus Christ. who is holy enough, who is sovereign enough, who is worthy enough to carry out the fullness of God's eternal plan for judgment and redemption and the perfect end of all things. We say He's worthy. We say Amen. And we hear that He's worthy and we proclaim it. But how often does He the worthy one say, so, since you believe I'm worthy, sit. Rest the full weight. of Your life in me." And we go, yeah, you know what, I'm good standing. We do it all the time. All the time. Every time I sin, in any of my thoughts or words or deeds, every time I say to Him, I know what You will for me to do. I know that it's Your will that I do it this way, but I'm going to do it this way instead. Every time I do that. I'm just telling him I don't trust his way. And I'm just telling him that I don't trust him. And I'm just saying to him, you're not really worthy. We're saying to him really deep down, if we're honest, we're just saying to the worthy one, the last time I trusted you, I didn't like where it got me, so now I'm going to do things my way. Be honest. Don't raise your hand, but be honest in your own heart before God who is in you. Have you ever felt that way about God? Look at my life, God. Look what trusting You has got me. I am not sitting in Your chair this time. You ever felt that way? I would rather stand on my own feeble legs, God. Every time that's a declaration that you think you're more worthy than He is. So Christians, children of God, blood bought, redeemed, people who have been loved with an everlasting love by Jesus Christ, all the time and in all kinds of ways, we end up acting like He's not worthy, and as if we're more worthy. But Christians, children of God, people of Christ, this is Advent, this is Christmas, here it is, right? Listen, contrary, think about what we're celebrating here. Contrary to all human wisdom and against every human expectation. God has done something you would never ever even think to do. In a way that no one would have ever seen coming. The worthy one has come in a way that we would have thought was utterly unworthy if it was up to us. The Sovereign One, the Holy One, the Almighty One, the One who is wise enough and strong enough and good enough and faithful enough to conquer and to vanquish and to triumph and to reign forever. He has come as a baby. An infant child. The everlasting God in a manger. You see what I am saying? You see, when I look at the way God did it, you know what that does? That kind of wisdom that God employed? It puts my wisdom utterly to shame. It makes me go, I don't know what I'm doing, because I wouldn't have done that. It puts my strength and my ability utterly to shame. It makes me look at the reins that I'm so quick to grab, into my own hands and it makes me go, yeah, clearly I've got no clue what I'm doing. You need to take those back. If I fill my mind and my heart with the fact that long ages ago God promised to send a lion from the tribe of Judah to devour his enemies, a warrior king, to be the champion of his people, to triumph, and that that lion king was God himself, Immanuel, God with us, and that Immanuel was born in Bethlehem, in a feeding trough for cows, and that he was a Jewish carpenter, and that he conquered and that he triumphed by sacrificing himself on a Roman cross. That makes me feel infinitely more unworthy to be the one to try to call any of the shots in my life. It makes me feel like no more could I try to call the shots in my life because I'm doing it in such a way that's different than God did it. Such a more base, low, pathetic way compared to God's glorious ways. It would be like me trying to go tell Steph Curry how to play basketball, right? Here's what you need to do, Steph. I'm not worthy to do that. Or to take the reins of my life from this God who did it this way. God's wisdom shatters any sense of worthiness in self. God's wisdom makes me fall on my face in wonder and awe and say, surely his thoughts are higher than my thoughts, surely his ways are higher than my ways. Makes me turn from trusting my way and say, you know, the trustworthy way is the way of the God who became flesh. The trustworthy way is the way of the Almighty who became an infant. What a glorious, mysterious, majestic, wonderful way. The trustworthy way is the way of the immortal one who died for me. There is unfathomable divine mystery and majesty in the ways of God, in the incarnation of the worthy one, right? It blows my own wisdom and ability and whatever strength I think I have, it blows it straight out of the water. dwelling on His wisdom, communing with Him, fills me with such wonder that it tunes my soul to trust Him and proclaim Him worthy to rest in Him, to lean on Him, to submit to Him, no matter what. So once again, Christians, brothers and sisters, as we live in this sin-cursed world, as we face trials and temptations of various kinds, as we feel the weight, as we feel the pain of life and a creation that groans with the birth pains and is eager to be set free from corruption, as we suffer and as we struggle and as we're tempted to take up the reins into our own hands, As we're tempted to say, you know what, I think I'll stand instead of leaning on Him, we have got to get our focus off ourselves. We're far too impressed with us and far too unimpressed with Him. We've got to put our focus onto the One who alone is worthy. Listen to these words. Joe and I have been meditating on this book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer called God is in the Manger. Listen to these words as we close. He says, just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong. And that what we take to be evil and dark is really, in His sovereign purposes, good and light because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that's all. God is in the manger. Wealth in poverty. Light in darkness. Sucker in abandonment. No evil can befall us. Whatever men may do to us, they cannot but serve the God who is secretly revealed as love and who rules the world and This is the message of Christmas, it's the message of Advent, it's the message of the book of Revelation. So behold Him, focus fully on His glory and His worthiness and trust Him. Let's pray. Our Father, we ask that You would help us to get this, to not just understand it, to not just assent to it, but to trust it, to not just say that we trust it, but to find the courage and the confidence to lean fully into Jesus Christ, who alone is worthy. And so, by your grace, may our lives proclaim and manifest and demonstrate and show and shout unto the world that Jesus Christ is worthy. We ask for this strength from You in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Let's stand together as we contemplate God's Word to us and let's turn to page 7 and let's sing. Let's stand.