Praise the Redeemer

In Revelation chapter 5. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat 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 loose its seals.

And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the scroll, neither to look on it. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look on it. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not.

Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of saints. And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the scroll and to open its seven seals, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us unto our God a kingdom of priests, and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing, and every creature that is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever.

And the four living creatures said, Amen, and the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth forever and ever. And our hearts say, Worthy is the Lamb. If you were to listen to a soundtrack of what John heard when he was in heaven in the Spirit, as recorded in Revelation 5, it would go something like this.

First you would hear a loud voice, the voice of an angel saying, Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals? And then there would be silence, for no one in heaven qualifies, and no one in heaven can think of anyone on earth who qualifies. The next sound is the sound of weeping, as the Apostle John weeps because no one is found to open the book. John knew the importance of that book, for that seven-sealed scroll that lay on the right hand of God the Father represented the title deed to creation, and the only one who could take that scroll and break those seals and fulfill those promises was the Creator.

And John wept. Would the promises to creation never be fulfilled? Would the promises to the saints of God go unfulfilled? Would God's people suffering on earth have no Redeemer? And he wept. The next sound would be the voice of one of the elders, and the elders represent the glorified church in heaven.

And he speaks and says, Weep not, for the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, is worthy to take the scroll. And then there is silence in heaven, for there are steps into the midst of the throne, into the midst of those four living creatures around the throne, and the twenty-four elders on their thrones around the throne, and the great host of angels that encircle them. There are steps into the midst, not a lion, but a lamb, a lamb that looked as if it had been butchered.

And he takes the scroll, and he holds it. And then the silence is broken by wave after wave of praise and adoration, beginning with the creatures and the elders who sing a new song, Thou art worthy to take the scroll. And then the angels, thousands, ten thousand times ten thousand, join in the praise, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.

And then all of the universe becomes one great concert hall, and everything in heaven and on earth and under the earth loosens its tongue and praises the Lamb in heaven. And I wonder as we read Revelation chapter 5, if something in your heart says, Worthy is the Lamb. Can you today say a hearty amen to what they sing in heaven? Is there something deep in your heart that says, I belong there, I want to be in that group, I want to sing praises to the Lamb that was slain for me? Worthy is the Lamb.

Is he worthy of our praise? Recently a book has been published attempting to prove that Jesus Christ is not God. Is he worthy of our praise? In Revelation chapter 5, the Apostle John gives to us four compelling reasons that explain why Jesus Christ is worthy of all praise. Reason number one, the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of all praise because of who he is.

Who is he? Verse five, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David. Verse six, a Lamb as though he had been slain. Jesus Christ is worthy of all praise because of who he is.

Who is he? He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. This takes us back to Genesis chapter 49 and verses 8 through 10. Old Jacob is giving his last blessing and prophecy to his sons and he says this in verse 8, Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.

The name Judah means praise. Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow down before thee.

The other eleven tribes bow down before Judah. Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, thou art gone up.

He stooped down. He crouched as a lion and as an old lion. Who shall rouse him up? Why is he talking about lions? Because the lion is the symbol of royalty.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come. That's the great Hebrew word for the peace giver, the peace bringer. And that's Jesus Christ.

Unto him shall the gathering of the people be. From the very beginning, Judah was set apart as the kingly tribe. And from Judah comes the Lord Jesus Christ who is the lion of the tribe of Judah.

This speaks of his dignity, of his royalty. It speaks of his sovereignty and it speaks of his victory. For the lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed.

That word prevailed means conquered. It's the Greek word from which we get our word Nike, which is given to one of our missiles. The conqueror.

Jesus Christ is the lion of the tribe of Judah and he conquers and he brings in peace. He's also the root of David. How strange it seems to go from a lion with its great massive voice and power to a root.

The root of David. Now David was the king. Judah never reigned as a king.

David came from the tribe of Judah and reigned as the king. But the root of David is Jesus. He's called the root and the offspring of David.

As the root of David, he is the eternal God. As the offspring of David, he is the son of man. He is the one who brought David into existence.

And yet David's the one who brought him into the world because it was Mary of the family of David through whom Jesus was born. He's the root of David. This speaks of his humility and yet his honor.

There's no form or comeliness that we should desire him, said the prophet. He's a root out of dry ground. Jesus Christ is worthy of all praise because of who he is.

The lion of the tribe of Judah conquering the root of David, conquering. And then the elder said to John, don't weep. The lion will take care of it.

And John turned and looked at the throne and there was a lamb. Is Jesus Christ worthy of all praise and honor? Yes, because he is the lamb. Twenty nine times in the book of Revelation, you find the lamb.

Are these people special people? Oh, yes. They were washed in the blood of the lamb. Is this city a special city? Oh, yes.

The lamb is the light of this city. Who is this bride? It's the bride of the lamb. Whenever something is identified in the book of Revelation, often is identified with the lamb.

The foundations of the city are the apostles of the lamb. The lamb is the light of the city. And this is why heaven sings worthy is the lamb.

Now, interestingly enough, the word that John uses for lamb is the word for a little pet lamb. Not just some ordinary lamb, a little pet lamb, Jesus Christ as the lamb. It speaks of his tenderness, his humility, a lion's strength, a lamb weakness.

But this lamb is no ordinary lamb. I beheld and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though it had been slain. And the word means violently slain, butchered.

There are those who don't want to talk about the death of Jesus Christ. There are those who tell us we should listen to his teachings, admire his earthly life. And these things are true.

But his teaching was about the cross and his earthly life led to the cross. And the lamb in heaven is not the teacher. The lamb in heaven is not the healer.

The lamb in heaven is the redeemer. He was slain. And not just slain in some gentle way, violently slain.

My friend, the whole of the Bible story is wrapped up in the lamb. You go back to Genesis chapter 22, where Abraham and Isaac are making their way up Mount Moriah. And the question is raised, where is the lamb? That's the question throughout the entire Old Testament.

The prophets and the seers and the psalmists looked out and said, where is the lamb? Where is the lamb? And one day there appeared a rough man on the shores of the Jordan River. And he said, behold the lamb! Behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. And Jesus came on the scene.

And the whole message of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John is, behold the lamb! Behold the lamb! And then the lamb was slain. And then the lamb was raised from the dead triumphantly. And the lamb ascended back to heaven.

And now the message is, worthy is the lamb! That's the whole of the Bible. Where is the lamb? Behold the lamb! Worthy is the lamb! The description of the lamb here is unique. He has seven horns.

You've never seen a lamb with seven horns. Seven eyes. The seven spirits of God that go forth into all the earth.

Now you notice that description. It is important. Seven is the number of perfection.

Seven horns. Perfect power. He is omnipotent.

Seven eyes. Perfect wisdom. He is omniscient.

Seven spirits going out to the earth. Perfect presence. He is omnipresent.

Do you know what this description is saying? This lamb is God. And He is worthy of our praise because of who He is. The Lion of the tribe of Judah.

The Root of David. The Lamb who is God. But He is worthy of our praise for a second reason.

Not only because of who He is, but because of where He is. Did you notice where He is? He is not in a manger. We are entering into that time of the year when people get very sentimental.

And they talk about the Lord Jesus, the baby in the manger. But He is not in the manger. Nor is He on the dusty roads of Galilee.

The gentle carpenter of Nazareth. Nor is He teaching in the temple. Do you see where He is? He is not on the cross.

Although the marks of the cross are on Him, He is the Lamb that is slain. He is not in the tomb. He didn't die and stay dead.

He arose from the dead. Where is He? He is in heaven in the midst. Twice we are told here.

In the midst of the four living creatures. In the midst of the elders. In the midst of the throne.

He is enthroned in heaven. And He is in the midst. That is the only place for Jesus.

He says, where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst. And when they crucified Him, they crucified Him in the midst. And when Jesus appeared after His resurrection, He appeared in the midst.

And now He is up in heaven, not on the fringes. Not trying to work His way through to the throne. Jesus Christ is exalted in heaven.

The Lamb upon the throne. And He is in the midst. And because He is in the midst, He is God.

We don't worship the four living creatures. We don't worship the 24 elders. We don't worship the thousands of angels.

We worship the Lamb who is in the midst. Enthroned in glory in heaven. How tragic it is when people miss this.

Oh, we worship Him. And we adore Him. And we praise Him.

Because of where He is. And He is where He is because He is who He is. John gives to us a third reason why the Lord Jesus Christ deserves our praise.

And our worship. Not only because of who He is and where He is. But because of what He does.

In verses 8 through 10. When the Lamb takes the scroll. Giving evidence that He is the Redeemer.

He is the one who paid the price to redeem all of creation. Then something happens. The four living creatures and the 24 elders fall down before the Lamb.

And they have hearts. And they have bowls of incense. In the Bible, incense is a picture of prayer.

There was a little golden altar in the tabernacle. For the burning of incense. Not for the shedding of blood.

For the burning of incense. And that incense represented prayer. Going up to God.

The fragrance of prayer. Now the prayers of the saints here does not suggest the saints pray for us. The prayers of the saints suggest that no prayer of God's people is ever lost.

It's as though heaven itself is holding a treasury of prayer. What is the prayer the saints have been praying? Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Throughout the Psalms, He prays, Come, come. When will you come to judge? When will you come to save? The last prayer in the Bible. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Here are the prayers of the saints. For the coming of the kingdom. And they fall down and worship Him.

And notice what they sing. This is one of the most remarkable songs anywhere. And they sang a new song saying, Thou art worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals.

It is a worship hymn. Thou art worthy. That's what worship means.

To worship means to ascribe worth to something. And when we worship the Lord, we are ascribing to Him His worth. Now if you do this on earth, it could be looked upon as flattery.

Depending on your motive. But when the saints of God, the church of God together sings His praises. Here we have a worship hymn.

Thou art worthy to take the scroll. But not only is it a worship hymn, it's a gospel hymn. For Thou was slain and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood.

Some years ago, one of our major denominations took their hymn book and revised it. And they revised it by taking out all of the songs that referred to the blood of Jesus Christ. They said we are now in a very modern society.

People don't want a butcher religion. But I want you to know that up in heaven, they're not ashamed to sing about the blood. Up in heaven, when the church and all of creation sings His praises, they sing not just a worship hymn ascribing worth to Him.

They sing a redemption hymn. They sing a gospel hymn. Thou hast redeemed us.

That's the whole theme of the book of Revelation. Redemption. How He redeems creation.

How He redeems His church. How He redeems Israel. How one day He redeems all of the universe.

And there's a new heaven and a new earth. And in heaven, they are singing a gospel hymn. Oh, it's so wonderful to go through the Bible and trace the blood of the Lamb.

It's such a beautiful red thread that runs all the way through the Word of God. When Abraham led Isaac to the top of Mount Moriah, and Isaac said, where is the Lamb? And Abraham said, God will provide Himself a Lamb. And He did.

They turned and looked, and there was a ram caught in the thicket. And that animal died for Isaac. The Lamb dies for the individual in Genesis chapter 22.

And He died for you. Paul is so bold as to say, He loved me and gave Himself for me. When you get to Exodus chapter 12, it's the Lamb for the family.

The Jewish family got together and they killed the Lamb and put the blood on the doorpost. A Lamb for the family. And that's still true.

He died for your family. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And thy house, if they'll believe.

When you get to Isaiah chapter 53, it's not the Lamb for the individual or even the Lamb for the family. It's the Lamb for the nation. The prophet says, for the transgressions of my people was He slain.

Isaiah 53 pictures the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, led as a Lamb to the slaughter, dying. And the emphasis there, He died for the nation. When you get to John chapter 1 verse 29, you discover He didn't die just for the individual or the family or the nation.

Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Theologians have wrestled and struggled for centuries over this matter of how many people can be saved. And the Word of God says He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.

Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Mr. Moody used to pray, oh God, save the elect and then elect some more. How many people can be saved? They asked Jesus that question one day.

Lord, be there many that get into the kingdom? He said, don't you worry about those theological questions. Just make sure you're getting in. The Lamb for the world.

When you get to Revelation chapter 5 verse 13, every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, all of creation is praising Him, the Lamb for the whole universe. And we praise Him because of what He does. Now what does He do? Well, it's a worship hymn, Thou art worthy to take the scroll.

It's a gospel hymn, He redeemed us, purchased us and set us free. Would you notice please, it's a missionary hymn. Thou hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood, not by Your teaching, not by Your example, by Your blood, out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, all in heaven.

It's a missionary hymn that they sing. They're concerned not just about one people or one tongue or one tribe, all of them. As you read through the book of Revelation, you find that God has a world on His heart.

God is concerned about the people of the world. And it's a missionary hymn. And those of us who aren't concerned about the people of the world are going to have a difficult time praising the Lamb when we get to heaven.

When I meet these narrow-minded saints who have blinders on their eyes and all they can see is their own church or their own city or their own denomination, and they forget that right today there are three billion people who desperately need the message of the gospel. Oh, if only they could tune into heaven and hear them singing about every tribe and tongue and people and nation. It's as though the Holy Spirit doesn't want to leave anything out.

Kindred here means a common ancestor. People who have a common ancestor. Tongue means a common language.

People means a common race. Nation means a common government. It's as though no one's left out.

God is concerned that every tongue get the message. God is concerned that every race hear the gospel. It's a missionary hymn that they sing.

Did you notice it's also a church hymn? And has made us unto our God a kingdom of priests. That's beautiful. The church of Jesus Christ is a kingdom of priests.

Unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and has made us a kingdom of priests unto God. We're a kingdom. We're reigning with Him.

We're priests. We can come to Him in praise and worship and sacrifice. But would you notice it's also a prophetic hymn? And we shall reign on the earth.

Some folks don't like Bible prophecy. Up in heaven they're saying we shall reign on the earth. One day we shall reign with Him.

Oh, what a great hymn this is. We praise and worship Him because of what He does. What does He do? He dies for us.

He redeems us. He makes us into His people. And one day He enables us to reign with Him.

There's a fourth reason why our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of all praise and adoration. Not only because of who He is and where He is and what He does, but because of what He has. What does He have? I tell you these praises in verses 11 to 14 just almost blow your mind.

Here are these angels 10,000 times 10,000 saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. And then every creature echoes it back, blessing and honor and glory and power be unto Him. And then the four living creatures say, Amen! Amen! And the Greek verb means they keep on saying Amen.

How wonderful you can say Amen up in heaven. There are some churches on earth you wouldn't dare say Amen. Whenever I read verse 12, I cannot help but contrast that with what He had when He was on earth.

Just take those seven tremendous statements there. Seven fantastic attributes of our God. Look at it.

Power! Now He had spiritual power when He was here on earth. He had power to heal, power to stop the storm. He had no financial power.

He had no political power. He had no educational power. He had not gone to their school.

He had no military power. But in heaven, power! All authority in heaven and on earth is given unto Me. Power.

Riches. How many riches did He have when He was here on earth? For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. He was the poorest of the poor.

But in heaven, riches. In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and we are made complete in Him. Wisdom.

I suppose when our Lord was here on earth, He was considered the biggest fool in Palestine. Imagine getting a group of unemployed people around Him and preaching a kingdom and preaching salvation and letting them arrest Him and letting them crucify Him. How foolish can you get? The preaching of the cross is to them that are perishing.

Foolishness! But nobody can call Jesus Christ a fool today. Wisdom. In Him dwells all of the wisdom of God.

Strength. Power and riches and wisdom and strength. When He was here He was weak.

He came as a weak little baby. We never read that He raised His hand to hit anyone. He had no armies.

He got tired. He was hungry. He was crucified in weakness.

He experienced the ultimate of weakness, death. Strength. Oh, but in heaven today, strength! Honor.

There was not much honor on earth. Publicans stood by Him. They called Him, His enemies did, a wine-bibber, a glutton, a demoniac.

He does His miracles by the power of the wicked one. Even His own family thought He was crazy. But in heaven, honor.

Honor. Every voice in heaven brings honor to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Glory! There was not much glory on earth.

Only once did His glory ever shine through on earth, and that was on the Mount of Transfiguration, witnessed by only five people. But in heaven, there's glory. When He returned in a glorified body, He returned to a throne of glory.

Blessing. Not much blessing on earth. Cursing.

He saved others Himself He cannot save. Let Him come down from the cross if He be the Christ of God. This deceiver said He would be raised the third day.

Put a watch by the tomb. Not much blessing when He was here on earth. But up in heaven, blessing.

He became a curse for us here on earth, bearing on His body our sins. But oh, in heaven today, He is being ascribed with blessing. Oh, what a tremendous time of praise.

Because of what He has. What does He have? He has power. Do you need power? Can't cope with life or death? He's got power.

Riches. Are you bankrupt spiritually? He can make you rich. The riches of His grace.

The riches of His glory. Wisdom. He can grant it to you.

Strength. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Honor.

Glory. Blessing. He can share all that He has with you that you might honor Him and glorify Him and be a blessing to others.

We worship and praise Him because of what He has and because of what He does and because of where He is and because of who He is. And when you come to the end of this great worship service in heaven, after the song of praise dies down, the four living creatures repeatedly say, Amen! Amen! Amen! Does your heart say Amen? When the Lamb of God is presented to you, does your heart say Amen? My friend, if you're going to share in that song up in heaven, you better start singing it down here. You won't learn it up there.

You've got to learn it down here. Those who are truly born of God, those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, those who have come to the Lamb of God and been saved, can honestly from their hearts say, Worthy is the Lamb! Worthy is the Lamb that was slain! Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for me! Gracious Father, who are we that Jesus should die for us? Thank You that He did die, that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, that any sinner in any tribe or nation can come and believe and be saved. May there be those here today, Father, who will turn from sin and come and trust the Lamb of God who was slain for them.

May they make a new beginning, a marvelous new experience of being born from above. May those of us who are saved go forth to bring glory and honor and blessing and praise to the Lamb that was slain for us. Lord, deliver us from cheap, shoddy lives.

Help us to live as those who belong to the Lamb who was slain for us. To that end, bless our response now in Jesus' name. Amen.