Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Revelation chapter 5 as we continue our study through the Word of God.  Last week in our study we moved from an earthly scene to a heavenly scene as John was caught up into heaven. And we saw how this was a picture of the church being caught up to be with the Lord or the Rapture of the church.  And as John stood there he saw the throne of God and sitting upon that throne was God the Father.  His appearance was like a jasper stone or a crystal clear stone, maybe a diamond.  Also, His appearance was like s sardius stone, which was ruby red.  Encircling the throne of God was an emerald green rainbow that shows us God’s eternal covenant with us.

            Also, seated upon thrones we saw twenty-four elders who represent the church.  These elders wore white robes representing the righteousness of Christ that has been imputed to us by faith. Upon their heads were gold crowns or victor’s crowns, given to us by Christ for our service to Him. And as we saw, we cast those crowns at His feet because He is the one who has enabled us to accomplish the work.

            Also, around this throne were four living creatures, angelic beings, Cherubim, and they worship the Lord and as they do the twenty-four elders worship the Lord and all heaven breaks out in worship of God.  He is the focus in heaven and He should be the focus on this earth!

            Not only is God the Father seen upon the throne, but the Holy Spirit is there also, around the throne.  Only Jesus is missing, but not for long. You see, chapter 4 is a set-up for what is going to take place in Revelation chapter 5, the revelation of Jesus Christ.  That is what this book is all about folks.  And keep in mind that this is still the same scene as chapter 4, but now John sees something else taking place around the throne of God.  So with that said, let’s begin reading in Revelation chapter 5, starting in verse 1 and let’s see what the Lord has for us this evening as we study His Word.

REVELATION 5

VERSE 1

1.  As John continues looking at the Father seated upon the throne he notices in the Father’s right hand this scroll.  First of all the right hand was the place of strength, power, authority.  In Isaiah 41:10 we see this illustrated for us, we are told, “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” 

            Now, what is this scroll that the Father had in His right hand? Roman law required a will to be sealed seven times, and the wills of both Augustus and Vespasian were sealed in this manner.  As true as that is, I don’t believe that is what this scroll was all about, I don’t think it was a will but I do believe it is a deed or contract.  Listen to what Dr. Robert L. Thomas has to say regarding this:

            This kind of contract was known all over the Middle East in ancient times and was used by the Romans from the time of Nero on. The full contract would be written on the inner pages and sealed with seven seals. Then the content of the contract would be described briefly on the outside. All kinds of transactions were consummated this way, including marriage-contracts, rental and lease agreements, release of slaves, contract-bills, and bonds.

            Support also comes from Hebrew practices.  The Hebrew document most closely resembling this scroll was a title-deed that was folded and signed, requiring at least three witnesses. A portion of the text would be written, folded over and sealed, with a different witness signing at each fold. A large number of witnesses meant that more importance was assigned to the document.

      - Dr. Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1-7: An Exegetical Commentary, p. 378

            And, as we are going to see, this scroll, which contains this deed or contract, is vitally important to all of us!  So, let’s read on and see what this is all about.

VERSES 2-3

1.  There is much speculation about who this “strong angel” is, some say it is Gabriel, but we really don’t know, we are not told!  All we know is that this angel is powerful and his cry is for someone to step forward and take this scroll from the Father’s right hand.  But there was “no one” who stepped forward!

2.  What I want you to pay attention to here is what is said and what is not said.  You see, many people throughout history were WILING to step forward and try to rule the world.  We have seen Satan who is still trying, and men like Nebuchadnezzar, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini and others.  In fact, you can go all the way into the future, the NEAR future I believe, and see that the Antichrist is willing to do this!

            But that is not the question here.  The question was “who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?”  You see, none of those men were WORTHY, even though they were WILLING!  And the point being is that no celestial being, no terrestrial being, not even a subterranean being was worthy to step forward and take the scroll out of the Father’s right hand!  All were impotent in this matter. None had the power or the authority to do so.  They were not WORTHY!  Now, is this a big deal? You bet it is and you will see that in the next verse.

VERSE 4

1.  As John continues to observe all this and he sees the inability of anyone being worthy to do this, he begins to weep. Now, please understand, this is not “Boo hoo!” weeping.  The Greek word is KLAIO, (klah’-yo) and it means to weep aloud, to weep convulsively.  It is the same Greek word that is used in Luke 19:41 as Jesus wept over Jerusalem and in Luke 22:62 as Peter wept bitterly after his betrayal of the Lord. 

You see, it is the utter despair, the utter hopelessness of the situation that John sees before him. But why is he so broken over this?  So no one can take that scroll, he is with the Father; he should be rejoicing and not wailing. So why is he acting like a man who has lost everything?  And please understand, as far as I can tell, this is the only time we see tears shed in heaven, so this has to be big!

First of all, to understand why John is weeping we have to know what this scroll is all about and that will help us to clearly understand John’s reaction to what is taking place before him.  I believe this scroll is the title deed to the earth that was given to Adam when God created the heavens and the earth, when He created Adam. And the Lord said to Adam, “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”  Genesis 1:28. 

I don’t know how it is in your Bible, but in my Bible, the goodness that God created only lasted 2 pages. You see, Adam sinned or rebelled against God and thus, he forfeited the right to be king over the earth. And folks, this sin not only affected Adam and all of his descendents, you and me, but also the ground, the animals are under this curse of sin.  Paul put it this way in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”  What we see around us today is the result of Adam’s sin, we are still suffering the consequences from it!

Now, as we have seen, the book of Revelation is going to restore this world back to the way it was in the beginning, like it was in the Garden of Eden.  Paul put it this way in Romans 8:19-23 as he shows us what we, and all of creation are waiting for, “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.”  You see, God is not going to leave us in this condition because He loves us too much!  Thus, one day He will restore what sin has distorted! 

If Adam forfeited the title deed to the earth then who has it? The Usurper, or Satan the one who deceived him!  The Bible calls Satan, “the god of this age”

(II Corinthians 4:4); Jesus called him “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31).  You see, Satan holds claim to the earth by reason of Adams sin!

            And so as John sees what is happening he begins to weep uncontrollably and I like the way that W. A. Criswell explains this. He wrote:

            [John’s tears] represent the tears of all God’s people through all the centuries. Those tears of the Apostle John are the tears of Adam and Eve, driven out of the Garden of Eden, as they bowed over the first grave, as they watered the dust of the ground with their tears over the silent, still form of their son, Abel. Those are the tears of the children of Israel in bondage as they cried unto God in their affliction and slavery.  They are the tears of God’s elect through the centuries as they cried unto heaven. They are the sobs and tears that have been wrung from the heart and soul of God’s people as they looked on their silent dead, as they stand beside their open graves, as they experience in the trials and sufferings of life, heartaches and disappointments indescribable. Such is the curse that sin has laid upon God’s beautiful creation; and this is the damnation of the hand of him who holds it, that usurper, that interloper, that intruder, that alien, that stranger, that dragon, that serpent, that Satan-devil.  “And I wept audibly,” for the failure to find a Redeemer meant that this earth in its curse is consigned forever to death. It meant that death, sin, damnation and hell should reign forever and ever and the sovereignty of God’s earth should remain forever in the hands of Satan.

  - W. A. Criswell, Expository Sermons on Revelation, p. 3:69-70

            This is the reason John is weeping uncontrollably. He sees the earth and its inhabitants doomed, the title deed to the earth in the hands of Satan forever!  You see, according to Jewish law, the law of the forfeiture of property, if you lost your property, like Adam did, it would remain with the new owner for a period of six years. Then, in the seventh year you could redeem it back or purchase it back as long as you could fulfill the requirements that were written on the scroll and sealed.  The problem of course, is that man could not purchase back this earth because he was not worthy to do so!

2.  Now let me ask you this.  How often do we prematurely come to a fatalistic ending of a situation?  Obviously John knew the resurrected Lord but the situation caused him to lose sight of the bigger picture and he came to a faulty conclusion of the situation.  I have to admit, been there, done that!  How about you?  I do pray that I can learn that lesson quickly as John does or is going to do.  Look at the next few verses.

VERSES 5-7

1.  Here we see one of the elders step forward and he tells John to stop weeping, or chill out, relax.  Why did he do that?  Because the tears that John was shedding were inappropriate or out of place for this situation.  You see, don’t look at the situation but look at the lion from the tribe of Judah who is not only worthy to take the scroll, but He is more than able to get the victory!  He can redeem man back and not only man, but all of creation.  You see, what was impossible for man to do, what was impossible for all of creation to do, Jesus was able to prevail and conquer what has disqualified all of us from doing! 

            One quick point here, folks, it is great to have brothers and sisters in the Lord that can help us get re-focused when we lose sight of things.  Don’t negate the fellowship of the brethren. They keep us strong, they keep us sharp and they keep us focused on the Lord!

            Now, let’s go back to the Jewish law for a moment.  If you couldn’t redeem your property back then a relative or next of kin could step forward and do it and this person was known as the GOEL or the kinsman redeemer!  That is the whole story in the book of Ruth and if you want to read that for extra credit!  Now to fulfill this role you had to meet three requirements or conditions.  First of all you had to be a near relative of the one who had lost the inheritance – Jesus meets that requirement as God became flesh and dwelt among us, He became a man.  Secondly he must be willing to redeem us back – Jesus was willing to lay down His life for us even when we were still in rebellion against Him. And the third requirement is that he must be able to pay the price of the redemption – Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sins, He alone could pay the price for us for He was without spot or blemish, He did not have inherited sin or acquired sin in His life.  Thus, it is as Peter tells us in I Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” 

            And so, for some 6,000 years this earth has been in the hands of the Usurper, Satan.  It is now time for our GOEL or our kinsman redeemer to take back that which He has already purchased with His blood!  John’s heart must have been pounding at this point - the lion from the tribe of Judah is worthy to take the scroll and loose the seals!

            But as John turns and looks he doesn’t see a lion from the tribe of Judah, but this little lamb and not just a little lamb, but “a lamb as though it had been slain.”  Think about it, the king of the jungle, a lion with all his majesty and power may be able to defeat a dragon, but this little, broken, wounded lamb, how could He defeat this dragon?  Because this lamb is also the lion from the tribe of Judah, He is Almighty God. Never loose sight of that fact. And don’t forget that the dragon, Satan, was defeated at the cross and shortly Jesus is going to step forward and consummate or complete the victory!

2.  And here is the thing that changed my love for the Lord in a powerful way.  In His glorified body it seems that Jesus still bears the marks of the crucifixion. In other words, when we receive our glorified bodies they will be perfect.  All the disease and sickness of these bodies of flesh will be done away with.  Thus, Jesus is the only person in heaven who is handicapped or disfigured.  Do the Scriptures support this?  They seem to, and not only here in Revelation.

            In John 20:26-28 we are told, “And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’  Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’  And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”  Thus, in His resurrection body, His glorified body, He still bears the marks of the crucifixion. 

            We also see this in John chapter 21 as the boys are out fishing after the death and resurrection of Jesus and they were out all night and caught nothing.  The Lord is on shore and as He sees what is happening, He yells out to them, “Boys, throw your nets on the right side of the boat!”  Why did He say that?  Obviously, they were fishing on the wrong side of the boat!  Sorry!  At this point they don’t know it is the Lord but as soon as they toss their nets over the right side of the boat and pull in a boatload of fish, they knew it was the Lord. As they get to shore we are told in John 21:12, “Jesus said to them, ‘Come and eat breakfast.’ Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, ‘Who are You?’ — knowing that it was the Lord.  Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish.”  Why didn’t’ they recognize the Lord when they came on shore? I believe it is because He still bore the marks of the crucifixion and His body was so badly disfigured they did not recognize Him. And folks, they should have, they were with Him for three years, but now He did not look as He once did! 

            And lastly, when the two men were on the road to Emmaus and Jesus walks with these men who were discouraged, their Lord was just crucified and they did not recognize it was Jesus. In fact, as they are walking Jesus gives them a Bible study showing how Jesus is the Messiah spoken of in the Scriptures.  Then, in Luke 24:30-32 we are told, “Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.  And they said to one another, ‘Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’”  Could it be that as He broke the bread they saw the nail prints in his wrists and they then knew it was the Lord?  I believe so!

            To me, this is a very humbling portion of Scripture knowing that the Lord loves me so much that He not only was willing to die for me but to bear the marks of the crucifixion for eternity!  Every time I will look upon Him I will see His love for me and I hope you do too!

3.  The seven horns speak of power, strength – HIS OMNIPOTENCE.  We also see that He has seven eyes that speak of Him being all-knowing – HIS OMNISCIENCE. And lastly, the seven spirits of God that go out into all the earth – HIS OMNIPRESENCE.  In other words, this lion from the tribe of Judah, this lamb as though it were slain, Jesus is Almighty God!

4.  So as Jesus steps forward and takes the scroll out of the Father’s right hand what do you think is going to take place in heaven?  I will give you a hint – WORSHIP!  Let’s read on and see how this unfolds.

VERSES 8-10

1.  Shortly before this heaven was still, John was weeping, but now as Jesus steps forward and takes the scroll all heaven breaks forth in worship. Folks, isn’t that true in our own lives? When we place Jesus in the center of the picture all our sorrows, all our problems melt away in the presence of His love!  No matter what we are going through in this life, we will be with the Lord for eternity!  That is the perspective we need to have. 

2.  We see here a worship that is filled with song, filled with music and filled also with the prayers of the saints and these prayers are described as incense that is placed in golden bowls.  In Psalm 141:2 we are told, “Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”  What are these prayers?  I believe they are the petitions we have made for the Lord to come – “Thy kingdom come” and that is about to take place!

            Now, don’t make the mistake that the Roman Catholic Church makes thinking that they are praying to these saints and asking them to intercede for us.  That is contrary to the rest of the Scriptures.  Paul tells us in I Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”  Jesus is our Mediator between God and man, the bridge builder and thus, we go through Him as we are told in John 14:6, “ . . . ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” 

3.  This new song is the song of redemption and please don’t make the mistake that some have done and think that these four living creatures or any other angelic being are singing this song.  You see, angels can’t be redeemed once they have fallen, but man can.  Thus, the twenty-four elders who represent the church sing this song and they also are holding a harp and the golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints!

            This is a song that speaks of the worthiness of God, of Jesus to take the scroll and open the seals of judgment.  He is going to take back that which He purchased with His life, this earth!  And it is the Lord who has “redeemed” us or AGORAZO (ag-or-ad’-zo) in the Greek; He has brought us back to God by the shedding of His blood.  That word “redeemed” means to purchase or buy back, and notice that it is in the past tense. You see, it has taken place in the past, on the cross of Calvary and all we must do is appropriate that free gift of God into our life by faith. It is as Paul said in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the [free] gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

            Now, where did God gather all these people?  He tells us, “Out of every tribe [common ancestor] and tongue [common language] and people [common race] and nation [common government].”  He has gathered people from all over the earth, from every social economic background, race, color, language and-so-on.  It is as Jesus said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  And when the Lord comes back to set up His kingdom on this earth we shall reign with Him in this glorious land where righteousness will fill this earth!

4.  When someone starts something, others are bound to join in and that is what we are going to see here.  As Jesus takes the scroll out of the right hand of the Father we see the church worship the Lord, but before long all of heaven is about to break forth in the worship of God.  Let’s read on and see.

VERSES 11-12

1.  Here we see everyone worshiping the Lord; the church, the angelic beings, and their numbers are too great to count, they are innumerable!  You see, ten thousand was the largest Greek number they had a word for and thus, by multiplication it speaks of one hundred million plus millions more!  It is innumerable, you can’t count them is the point that is being made nor do we need to.  But why?  Because that is not the focus of our worship, the Lord is!  And all of heaven recognizes that fact, that He alone is worthy to take the scroll and loosen the seals!

VERSE 13

1.  Folks, we alone are not waiting for this redemption, but all of creation groans and waits for this time because the curse has affected them. We spoke of this earlier when we read what Paul said in Romans 8:19-23, but I think it bears repeating. He tells us, “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” 

            One day the land will be restored to the way it was in the Garden of Eden as we are told in Isaiah 35:1, “The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them,

And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.”  Not only will the land be restored but so will the animals as Isaiah 11:6-9 tells us, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.”  Also, in Isaiah 65:25 we are told, “‘The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,’ Says the LORD.” 

This is speaking of the Kingdom Age where Jesus rules and reigns from the throne of David in Jerusalem and we long for that day when righteousness will fill this land!  The animals will live in harmony with each other, the land will be fruitful with no more thorns and thistles, it will return to its pre-fall state and what a glorious day that will be!  And here we see all of creation recognizing what is going to happen and they sing out their praises to God!

2.  I want you to notice something else that I believe is very important here.  This worship is not only of the Lamb, but also of the Father.  Why is that important?  Because it is another strong testimony to the deity of Jesus Christ!  Let me share with you a couple of statements regarding this verse and how important it is. 

            Clarke wrote: “Now if Jesus Christ were not properly GOD this would be idolatry, as it would be giving to the creature what belongs to the Creator.”

            Morris wrote: “There cannot be the slightest doubt that the Lamb is to be reckoned with God and as God.”

            And Spurgeon wrote: “Depend upon it, my hearer, you never will go to heaven unless you are prepared to worship Jesus Christ as God.  They are all doing it there: you will have to come to it, and if you entertain the notion that he is a mere man, or that he is anything less than God, I am afraid you will have to begin at the beginning and learn what true religion means. You have a poor foundation to rest upon.  I could not trust my soul with a mere man, or believe in an atonement made by a mere man: I must see God himself putting his hand to so gigantic a work.”

            We must keep the main thing the main thing and the main thing is Jesus.  The scroll of the book is written of Him and now in Revelation we are going to see the unveiling of Jesus in all of His glory! Yes, He is God and He deserves our worship!

VERSE 14

1.  Those Cherubim or four living creatures basically say, “Bring it on!”  They are ready to see these things come to pass and the churches response to “Bring it on!” is that we worship the Lord, what else can we do?  Look at all He has done for us and we don’t deserve it!  That is love and one day we will see Him face-to-face and we will see those wounds He endured for us because He loves us and He desired to see us saved!

2.  Now, you can either worship the Lord now, willingly, or one day you will worship Him by force, because He deserves everyone to worship Him.  Paul put it this way in Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  And folks, if you worship the Lord now it will lead to eternal life.  If you wait to worship Him until you stand before Him, you will be left in eternal darkness, Hell. It is your choice!