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The Revelation And Resurrection Of Jesus Christ - [Revelation 4-5]
Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.
In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.
Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.
Ever wondered what heaven will be like? Will heaven be boring? Will we miss earth while we�re in heaven? Will we become angels? Will we be tempted in heaven? Will we have emotions in heaven? Will we be able to learn in heaven?
Will we be able to forget things in heaven? I wonder what glorified bodies will look like in heaven. Will heaven be more like a country or a city? Will people in heaven be praying for people on earth?
Will only 144 ,000 people be in heaven? Will there be degrees of glory in heaven? Will heaven even be eternal? Will our friendships be richer in heaven than they were on earth? Will we have to work in heaven?
Will there be pets in heaven? Will people in heaven know about people in torment? I submit to you that those questions can be answered. Well, most of them should be answered. Some should be ignored. But there is the question of questions regarding heaven.
What is at the center of heaven? Better ask, who is at the center of heaven? And maybe you're going to ask me the question, what does this have to do with Resurrection Sunday? And I would submit to you today, we're going to see from Revelation chapter 4 and 5, that the center of heaven is the resurrected Jesus.
And then every time you think of heaven, you should be thinking the resurrected Jesus. From now on, when you see Revelation 4 and 5, it will remind you that the center of heaven is the Lord Jesus. You know, there was debates years ago, did the sun revolve around the earth, right?
Geocentric. Was Copernicus right when he said, no, no, the earth revolves around the sun. But I think after seeing the passage in Revelation 4 and 5 today, you'll say that the center of the universe, at least theologically, is the Lord Jesus, the resurrected Savior.
Every time you think of heaven, I want you to think about the resurrected Lord Jesus. And so we're going to look at Revelation chapter 4 and 5 today. And I think you're going to be encouraged. I think when you get a little peek into heaven, you're going to say, while the world is crazy, it's upside down, full of all kinds of trials, I suffer, there's tribulation, there are issues, there are health issues, what's going on with the government?
What's going on with the media? What's going on with politics? Is there any hope? You'll say, there's a resurrected Savior in heaven, and I can take comfort. I can have confidence. People look at the book of Revelation so often just to see maybe what's going to go on in the future.
And I think they forget one of the main reasons it was written. It was written to suffering Christians so that they might have hope. So they might say, there's a resurrected Savior in the center of heaven, and He is on a throne, and He does what He pleases, as He pleases, always as He pleases, and He is sovereign.
He decrees, He purposes, He has a will, and that will cannot be overturned. Without the resurrected Savior, of course, there's doom and gloom. And maybe you should be cynical about government and schools and education and religion.
Maybe you should be a pessimist. But the book of Revelation, when you look at it, it opens up the transcendent glory of God, which then responds, you should respond with praise. Not once, not twice, but five times in Revelation 4 and 5, there's response to the glorious majesty of God on the throne with praise, with singing, with a declaration of how great the Lord is.
The center of the universe is the resurrected Savior, the Lord Jesus. We're gonna look at this passage today, and it will eviscerate ideas about Jesus that He's, oh, a big brother. God's a buddy in the sky.
He's kind of like my friend. He's a big brother. God is my co-pilot. I hope I don't see one of those bumper stickers today, but I'll be kind if I do. Even to the point where people say, where's Jesus now?
Some of you might say, He's in my heart. Really? Now, you might love God with your heart, and the Spirit of God might dwell in you, but Jesus is in heaven, and He's sovereign, and He is doing whatever He pleases, and that is giving great comfort to the Christians.
And of course, He's going to judge all those that will not bow the knee to the greatness of His person. Revelation was written so that you might have assurance and confidence knowing that God is in control.
So before we go to chapter 4 and 5, let's just go to chapter 1 for a little introduction. John, of course, is writing about Jesus, and when you hear the word revelation, even if you look at your Bible there, it might say the revelation to John.
Revelation means an uncovering or an unveiling. It's telling us something that we didn't know before. It was secret until God told us. And it's about one person. It's the person, the Lord Jesus. So before you want to snoop into the future and see what goes on with the end times, it is more about who the Lord Jesus is.
And He is going to be the solution to people who are in trials, who are suffering, and even John the Apostle received comfort from this revelation because he was exiled on this lowly island of Patmos.
He knows about the persecution. He knows about people who have died for the faith, including some of his own friends, but Jesus is the King. He is majestic. He has authority. He is a righteous ruler. He is a judge of the universe, and you will see over and over and over in this book, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, showing how sovereign God is.
Chapter one, verse one, with a good introduction. There's no introduction like this in any book of the Bible except this one. The revelation or uncovering of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place.
He made it known by sending His angel to His servant, John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
John, to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, to Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. Even so, amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on an island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. And I was in the spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a voice, a loud voice like a trumpet saying, write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches.
John receives this revelation by the Spirit of God and he begins to write. Chapter one is that great introduction, kind of a preview who Jesus is. Then chapter two and three, as you know, is the letters received by those seven churches from the Lord Jesus Himself.
Seven letters from Ephesus to Laodicea. And now we move to chapter four. If you want an outline this morning, dear congregation, it's simple. Revelation chapter four is point one and that is God is the creator.
Number two is Revelation chapter five, God is the Redeemer. God is the Redeemer. So it's super simple. Last week we covered three verses. Remember in second Peter chapter two verses one, two, and three.
Well, today we're gonna cover all 11 verses of chapter four and all 14 verses of chapter five. That yields how many total verses? 25. So let's see last week for three verses, it was 50 minutes. I want you to see the big picture of Revelation four and five because it's going to yield to you trust and hope and assurance knowing there's a resurrected savior at the center of heaven.
So if you struggle this week or struggle in the future, you have a friend who's struggling, the answer to that struggle lies in the person and work of who Jesus is. And so I love to talk about Jesus. I said to some visitors today, there's some dear people at this church and if you like to hear a bunch of morality, you're not gonna like this church, but if you like to hear about Jesus, you'll love the church.
And that's what the book of Revelation is. It is a word from God to us about the Lord Jesus. The center of heaven is the Lord Jesus. So chapter four, creator, and he's to be trusted and praised for that.
Redeemer, he's to be trusted and praised for who he is. And you're going to see in these two chapters, things that will make you say, wow. Things that make you say, you know, that is awesome. How often do we use the word awesome for something that shouldn't be called awesome?
This drives you to awe though. You see this throne room and you see what's going on in Revelation four and five. And you just think that is amazing. Words can't describe it. Which by the way, is a good reminder that this is apocalyptic literature.
It's end times literature. It's not like an epistle. It's not like a narrative or a story. It's not like a poem. You're going to see the language in there that of course has real meaning behind it, but it will use symbolic or figurative language.
God is a spirit. He doesn't have a right hand, but we know right hand is power and authority. God inhabits the universe. And so when you see the word throne, I personally don't think you should say, oh, there's actually a throne.
I think you should say, what does a throne symbolize? Power, authority, majesty, decree. There's going to be doors. Is there a real door in heaven? Is there a real scroll? But behind those truths, behind those rather, you will see the truths and you will say to yourself, God is a creator and God is a savior.
And for both of those, he's to be trusted and he's to be praised. The center of heaven is the resurrected Jesus. One writer said the pastoral purpose in this book of Revelation is to assure suffering Christians that God and Jesus are sovereign and that the events that the Christians are facing are part of a sovereign plan that will culminate in their redemption and their vindication through the punishment of their persecutors.
So we have the foundation of assurance before we say, I wonder who the Antichrist is? Is the Antichrist alive? All those kinds of things. No, we need a good view of the world through heaven. Don't we?
How do I live my life if I just live by sight and I see the chaos everywhere and what's going on? That's not a good way to live. But to see the world through the lens of a sovereign God who's raised from the dead, that's what we need.
God is a creator. He has a plan. He has the power to affect it. And he also in that plan has included the redeeming work of his son. So chapter four, creator, chapter five, savior. Let's go to chapter four first and just watch this unfold.
It is great. I hope when you go home tonight and read this, you'll understand it better than you did before the service. That's one of the goals of preaching besides lifting up the name of the Lord Jesus as our savior.
Revelation chapter four, verse one. After this, the seven letters, right? Chapter two and three. I looked and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.
At once I was in the spirit and behold, a throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne. Already you're saying to yourself, he gets his inside information, the door is open. Now you can see and I want you to write about it.
Remember when Paul went to heaven, he was told not to say things, right? You know, you have these young boys who write books about heaven that is for real and then they tell you what's in there that's not even based on the Bible.
And that's not what the Bible does with Paul. That's not what the Bible does with Daniel. It only happens when John taken up into heaven sees this. The doors open in heaven as it were, he sees in and he hears things, not only sees things.
He's summoned to heaven. There's one seated on a throne. He can't even describe this great God because he's indescribable. I mean, what kind of language can you use to describe the eternal God? He doesn't even really try.
He just talks about throne over and over and over. 45 times in the book of Revelation, throne, throne, throne, throne. You'd think Old Testament, temple, Old Testament, tabernacle, all pointing to the throne one day where over and over and over, throne, sovereign, decree, will, judgment.
Come up here. That sounds like John is hearing exactly what Moses heard. Moses was hearing this from Exodus 24, come up to me on the mountain. And there's a throne in heaven. Early on, and one of the things about pastoring is you just keep repeating things over and over because we need that.
Okay, before you know it, you're thinking, all right, I've got all these trials in life and the world's full of chaos. Here, John is making sure you understand, throne, God's sovereign. He's got power, he's got authority.
Satan is not in control. Your circumstances are not in control. God governs everything perfectly and without his will, nothing happens. The universe is governed properly by this great God that's transcendent.
Verse three, look at the words like or as or appearance kind of symbolically portraying. How do you describe this? And he who sat there had the appearance of Jasper. Hmm, that reminds me of the high priest breastplate.
Carnelian, that reminds me of the high priest breastplate. And around the throne, there was a rainbow, kind of a green tinted rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Like, appearance. This is all describing the splendor and majesty of God.
Strength and beauty are in a sanctuary, Psalm 96. Now, when you think of a rainbow, what do you think of? Many of you know this because you're at the church, but if you see a rainbow, what is a rainbow?
A rainbow is a bow and arrow idea, right? If a bow and arrow. And so the rainbow is shaped like this. And so if I were to put an arrow in that bow, what way would it be pointing? God hangs the rainbow up and says, I'm not going to judge you anymore with flood water.
And so he hangs it up. And so instead of having the bow and the arrow pointing down in judgment, it's hung up and we see now the bow and we go, oh, the rainbow, God's not going to judge us. He's faithful.
He won't judge us with water, at least. Rainbow is an idea of covenant faithfulness and promise and deliverance. And if you see a rainbow, sometimes it's a rainbow. Sometimes double rainbows are cool.
Or if you can see the rainbow that starts on the one side and ends at the other, that's perfect 180 degrees. The language used here is the word where we get the English word iris. It's a rainbow all around.
In other words, you just look up there and you think covenant faithfulness, like a halo almost surrounding God. God's good. God's faithful. He keeps his promise. He might be holy. He might be awesome.
He might be almighty, but he's also faithful. He's merciful. He's surrounded by a rainbow and he's surrounded by creatures too. Look, and around the throne were 24 thrones and seated on the thrones were 24 elders, probably 12 Old Testament patriarchs, probably the 12 New Testament apostles put together as the redeemed of God.
And they're all around worshiping, clothed in white garments, of course, provided by the Lord Jesus, his perfect righteous robes of obeying the law perfectly in our place as representative with golden crowns on their head.
What a scene that must be. The unity of the body of Christ, the people of God, the elect, all together worshiping God, the sovereign one being worshiped because he sustains, he preserves, he ordains, he decrees.
Look at verse five and six. So many times the word throne, you'd be thinking about real power and sovereignty. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder. And before the throne, I mean, it sounds like we're in Sinai almost, doesn't it?
Before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne, there was as it were, this is all language. If we're trying to just use human accommodated words to try to describe the eternal one, the one who dwells in inapproachable light.
It's like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne are four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. This is language where you should say authority, power, dominion, strength.
You shouldn't be saying, well, there's an actual right hand, an actual scroll, actual seven torches. I don't think that's what John is after at all. He's after holiness and greatness and supremacy and power.
What do you need to tell suffering Christians? Answer, God's on the throne. Just a side note. I know some people when they are in a bind, they'll call their friends first and they want encouragement and prayer and comfort, which is great.
It's good to have Christian friends. But I remember in seminary, we learned a little slogan. It was, don't forget to teach the congregation. Go to the throne before you go to the phone. I kind of like that.
Go to the sovereign of all before you go to your friend. I mean, your friend might console you or empathize or sympathize, but the sovereign of the universe. And actually remember in Hebrews chapter four, because of Jesus, the high priest, we go to this throne of grace, right?
It's the throne of grace when we have need and when we have the desire to have help, the redeemed are worshiping, the redeemed are recognizing this. There are also creatures, verse seven, living creatures like lions, like oxes, like one with the face of a man, fourth living creature like the eagle in flight.
Those around God, I mean, if you want to try to exactly parse what these things are, the bigger point is God is sovereign, but these creatures, strength and courage, wisdom, and the four living creatures, verse eight, each one of them with six wings are full of eyes all around and within and day and night, they never cease to say.
And there's the first out of five praises for who God is and that He's on the throne and that He's exalted. And He doesn't say holy is the Lord God. He doesn't say holy, holy is the Lord God, but three times, just like in Isaiah six, holy, He's transcendent.
Holy, He's transcendent. We always think of holy as pure. It's true, but more than that, He's transcendent. He's transcendent, transcendent, transcendent. He's different, different, different. Is the Lord God almighty?
And He's eternal, who was and who is and is to come. Power, holiness. It's probably gonna be good to remind yourself that this holy God who's got all this power is holy as He unfurls and unleashes judgment on all those who would deny the son in chapters six and following.
Verse nine, and whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before Him who is seated on the throne.
There it is, throne, throne, throne, throne, and worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the Lord saying, worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power.
For what reason? Chapter four, Revelation, because He creates. For you created all things and by your will they existed and were created. Everybody has a life verse these days, it seems. This isn't Charles Darwin's life verse, I can just tell you that right now.
Everything in the world, including you, everything I saw today on top of Mount Wachusett to just look out to go even, you can see Boston, think God created with the word, He creates it all. That's how much power He has.
And so we say to ourselves, I'm in this trial, I'm in this struggle, I'm in this difficulty. Christians are suffering, Christians are getting martyred in Burma today. I need to think rightly, I need to see things rightly.
God's a powerful creator and it's by His will they existed and were created. And the proper response to this is praise and thank you and you're worthy and you're to be celebrated and praised and comforted.
God is powerful, He has sovereign plan and He has a decree. And dear Christian, you ought not to worry ever. The response is not worry, fear, anxiety. The response is trust and comfort and praise. Well, not only do we see God the Father as exalted in heaven on a throne as creator in chapter four, we see the son as redeemer praised in chapter five.
So we move now from chapter four, God the Father exalted on a throne for His creating work. Now we see the redemption found in Christ Jesus in chapter five. It's one thing to create, it's another thing to forgive.
Can God do it? Will He do it? And as you study this passage, you're gonna see all kinds of things going around the throne, almost kind of like commentators would call it concentric circles. And you just look at the throne and then outside, then you got creatures and elders and thousands and thousands and myriads and myriads of angels.
The center of the universe is God. And no matter what kind of turmoil or tumult is going on, what kind of wars and everything else and pandemics, God will take care of His people. Verse one of chapter five.
Chapter four, creator, He's to be praised for that and trusted. Number chapter five, He's a redeemer and to be praised and trusted. And again, you'll understand what's going on here, even if the language is very symbolic, very figurative.
You get the point. Then I saw in the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne, a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who's worthy to open the scroll and break its seals.
No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or if I might add, even 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.
So we move from chapter four, God is a creator to be praised, to chapter five, God is redeemer. And He starts off, if you remember in verse one, Revelation chapter five, there's a scroll written. What's this scroll all about?
Well, you know, you write things in scrolls. And what's in this scroll is basically the plans of the universe, the decree of the universe, what happens in time and space. This is the sovereign will of God, including salvation of sinners.
This are the decrees of God, the purposes of God, the plans of God for the entire world. And the writer John understands this very well. Do you see it's written within and on the back and sealed with seven seals.
How often do you have a scroll written on both sides? Well, not very often, but the idea here is simple. He's not leaving a big space for contingency plans. He's not leaving a bunch of blank space so he has to write in, you know what?
I didn't know that came up. I didn't know the pandemic of 2020 came up and that kind of threw me for a loop. I better write that into the scroll. God's complete plan, complete purposes for the world. And it's written on the scroll and you would seal important scrolls in Roman days with a seal, seven seals to be exact, a perfect number.
What's going to happen with history? Will God accomplish all his purposes? Will God accomplish the salvation of sinners? Will he be checkmated? Satan's strong, the world system's strong, Nero's strong, America's strong.
What will happen to God? So this attention of John is drawn to this scroll. It's like if I was going to make a movie, everything would be focused on this scroll. Who can open the scroll? Somebody has to open the scroll or you're going to hell.
Somebody has to open the scroll or I guess Satan wins. Who can open the scroll? I mean, Samson's strong, right? Maybe Jephthah, maybe Moses, Adam, Charles Spurgeon. Maybe he could open the scroll. John Owen, could you open the scroll?
Who's got the right credentials to open the scroll of the universe? Who can just saunter into the Father's presence as it were and say, I'll open up your scroll, I can deal with it. No one tainted by sin, no one without perfect righteousness, perfect wisdom.
And it's like John looks around, he didn't see anybody like that. The fall has tainted everyone, well, with one exception. And so he begins to weep. You see it in verse four? Weep loudly because there's nobody worthy, because nobody else is holy, holy, holy.
Who walks over to the holy, thrice holy one and says, well, I'll take the scroll, give me that. The world's destiny is in the hands of God, figuratively speaking. And who's going to execute the plan? Who's going to come up with God's redemptive plan?
It's execution of it. God is in control. God's not waiting for humans to act. If you ever think to yourself, God looks down the corridors of time, sees all the things that'll happen and then does something.
A, that means God has learned something. And B, you don't really understand the sovereignty of God. You don't understand the scroll. You don't understand the decree of God singular, the purpose of God singular, Ephesians one, to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.
Everyone's unworthy. Who can open such a document? It's sealed, proper credentials needed. Oh, maybe an angel could open it. That would be helpful. No, they can't do it because they're not God-men. They're not humans.
Universal inability cannot open the scroll. And there's weeping, weeping, weeping. Well, maybe we don't need somebody to open the scroll. What if we just are smart enough? We're religious enough. We're scientific enough.
We're best when it comes to politics. We'll figure this out. Who will carry out these plans? Maybe a world ruler could do it. Hitler or Genghis Khan or Napoleon. Verse four, weeping loudly, no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
That is to carry it out. God is going to be checkmated. And one man said, but Christ is best seen by weeping eyes. There's no hope apart from Jesus, no salvation, no forgiveness. Thy kingdom won't come.
Verse five, one of the elders said to me, weep no more. Behold, oh, there is one worthy. You think of the Old Testament, the best way to understand the book of Revelation is to know your Old Testament.
Behold, Genesis 49 language, the lion of the tribe of Judah. Jeremiah language, the root of David, an offspring of David has conquered. Yes, he's conquered. He's conquered sin and death and hell. And as pastor Steve read today in Matthew chapter 27, save others so you can't save yourself.
Get down from the cross and we'll believe and they're mocking and everything else. Jesus obviously didn't do that because he wasn't saving himself. The father sent him to save his children. He's conquered so that he can open the scroll and it's seven seals.
Without Jesus, no good news. With Jesus, good news. And the elder said, look, take a look. It's as if he said, quit crying, John. You can't see through those tears. There's one right here. The lion of Judah, the king, the high priest, the prophet.
Isaiah nine, for unto us, a child is born unto us, a son is given and the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. At Calvary, Jesus conquers sin and death and the forces of hell. And he has prevailed. Did we are in our own strength confide? Our striving would be losing.
We're not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing. Doth ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he. Lord, sabaoth his name from age to age the same and he must win the battle. That's the God of Revelation chapter five.
I kind of like to get a closer look of this king of kings, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. Let's get a little closer look. Oh, now I see he's a warrior. He's a knight in shining armor.
He's a military man. He's an infantry man. He's like a warlord. He's like a general patent. Is he not? Verse six, it's not like that at all. If you want to get a closer look at this lion, if you want to get a closer look at the root of David, in between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain.
Seven horns, seven eyes, which are the spirits are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Can you imagine? You get a closer look and you think the lion of the tribe of Judah, yes, this conquering king, but how can it be a conquering king?
Answer, because he was the sacrificial lamb. He was the substitute. When you think of the word lamb, you ought to immediately think, if you're thinking like a Jewish person, lamb. What was going on in the Old Testament with lamb?
Passover, we children, you can just imagine the dad and the mom getting around with the children. We deserve to die. The wages of sin is death, but God has provided a covering. He's provided a sacrifice.
He's provided a substitute. And so this year old lamb that we've had to bring into our home and you've probably named and loved and took care of and everything, sin is costly. Sacrifices are costly. It's perfect, it's spotless, it's blameless.
And we're gonna bring this lamb in and I'm gonna slit its throat and put some blood over the door. And when the death angel comes and sees that blood, it will know that the blood has already been shed and it doesn't have to be our blood, it'll be the lamb's blood and God has provided the sacrifice.
Just like in Genesis chapter 22 with Isaac, the Lord will what? Provide. It's a lamb. In the middle of all this is a lamb, submissive lamb to the slaughter, to a sacrificial death. One writer said, in one brilliant stroke, John portrays the central theme of the New Testament, victory through sacrifice, victory through sacrifice.
He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, like a sheep that was silent before its shears, so he, Isaiah 53, opened not his mouth. I mean, it's almost like you see this great scene in heaven and you wanna kind of, you know, make sure you can see properly and you're kind of getting the sleep out of your eyes and you're thinking you're seeing a lion, but it's a lamb.
It's a crucified Messiah. But here's the best part. This is my Resurrection Sunday message. When you think of heaven, I want you to think of the resurrected Jesus because while he's a lamb, he's a lamb what?
Standing. Wow, he's a lamb standing. You're thinking sacrifice, been slain, but now he's standing? S. Lewis Johnson, he just said it so well. He said, did you notice that this lamb stood? You know, if a lamb has been slaughtered, you don't find him standing.
You find him lying on the ground dead, but here is a lamb, Johnson said, who's been slaughtered and he is standing. It's obvious that the picture is designed to represent the one who has suffered sacrifice, but has been resurrected.
No wonder Revelation chapter one, Jesus said, I died and behold, I am alive. Violently slaughtered, alive. Killed yet alive. And you could probably say the only man-made things in heaven would be the scars in our Lord Jesus's resurrected body.
Supreme self-sacrifice. Metaphor slain for Jesus's atoning death as the lamb. When he had said this, he showed them both his hands in his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the resurrected Lord.
Then he said to Thomas, reach here with your finger and see my hands and reach here with your hand and put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. Thomas answered and said to him, what?
My Lord and my God. Because you have seen me, Jesus said, have you believed? Dear congregation, listen to this. Blessed are those who did not see and yet believe. From eternity past, it was the father's will to send the son to die on behalf of sinners.
It wasn't an afterthought. Indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us. First Corinthians chapter five. Jesus, the lamb standing as if slain. Well, verse seven goes on, does it not? And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.
He's worthy because he did exactly what the father said he should do. Because he never sinned on earth, because he was our perfect representative, perfect substitute, was raised from the dead. He's worthy.
No weeping with Jesus now. And when he had taken the scroll, he is worthy for living creatures. 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each holding a harp. Use harps in the Old Testament to praise, to sing, to rejoice.
Yes, the world is chaotic, but you need a good heavenly view of the resurrected Messiah. And what did they do? They sang a new song and here they break out again with praise. Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and by your blood, by your sacrificial death as a lamb, you ransomed, you rescued, you reconciled, you paid the price for you ransom people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation and you have made them a kingdom and priest to our God and they shall reign on earth.
If you're getting persecuted and you need comfort, I don't know where else to take you for better encouragement. Then I looked, verse 11, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands and thousands and saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and glory and honor and blessing.
And by the way, when we're there in heaven, guess what we'll all be saying? Worthy is my will. Worthy is my free will. Worthy was I to respond to the gospel when nobody else responded, my best friend didn't, but I had enough sense to receive the gospel and to believe and God, here's a fist bump, we did it together.
Is that what it's gonna say? I can't believe I said fist bump in a sermon on Easter Sunday. And you're saying, I can't believe you even said the word Easter from the pulpit. Resurrection Sunday. I think heaven will prove that salvation is all of God.
I think heaven will prove that God saves as alpha and omega, first and the last. You say, do we respond? Do we have a will to respond? Yes, but that will needs to be changed by regeneration first and then we will join the chorus of worthy is the lamb who was slain.
Who gets all the praise? By the way, for those of you who like think I've got to have free will or else, let me just give you a little hint. The great part about heaven is the resurrected Jesus. And here's another great part.
There's no free will in heaven because you won't be able to freely sin. You'll have a glorified body, how about that? Oh no, but if I don't have free will, that's not right. That's not good. No, that's heaven.
Some of you said, I love the sermon until the last two minutes. The will is bound to the nature and therefore we only as unbelievers make changes and choices according to our nature. Therefore God, the great savior gives us a new nature and then we freely choose God by faith.
But the praise in heaven won't have anything to do with us. God alone working, worthy is the lamb. Verse 13, we're almost done. And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea.
It's just language of inclusion. And all that is in them saying, to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb. By the way, God will not give his glory to another. Yet we have God, the father and God, the son right here.
And we've also learned about God, the Holy Spirit, the triune God. Be blessing and honor and glory and might. Just lining up the words, what else could we say? Forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, stop the praise, it's over the top.
And the four living creatures said, amen. That's right, you're doing the right thing. And the elders fell down and worshiped. What would it take for you to be in the presence of a person on earth and fall on your face and worship them?
Who would have to come to you and say, you know what? You know, you think I'm great and therefore worship me. Larry Bird, would you worship Larry Bird if he walked in? Well, Larry Bird's not walking through this.
The president of the United States. That wasn't meant to be a joke. Talking about the office. When I was younger, I thought, all right, I'm gonna crash this party at college. And I'm just gonna go there and act like I know what I'm doing and I'll be able to stay because they'll think I belong if I act like I know what I'm gonna do.
I've sometimes thought, when I get to heaven, will I know what to do? Well, I know, okay, it's time to get down on the ground. If there were a ground, what am I gonna do? Will I know the right thing? Well, the good news is we'll all have glorified bodies and we will respond properly.
And that great response will be just like this. Might and glory and honor and wisdom and blessing. Elders falling down and worshiping the Lord Jesus. And so, as I'm preaching through this, in my own mind and heart, I'm thinking, I have troubles, struggles, trials.
Talked to Evan Burns this week and discussed certain trials across the world and other friends and I think about people in Burma and other places and I say to myself, where is God? Answer, He's on a throne and He does His will and He does His saving will.
What is heaven like? Who is the center of heaven? And John, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, tells us that it's the resurrected Savior. Every time you think of Resurrection Sunday and I want you to think of heaven as where the resurrected Jesus is.
Bow with me, please. Thank you, Father, for today. Thank you for your word. I pray for these dear people that they would have an exalted view of the Lord Jesus, worshipful, reverent, holy, and we are so thankful that you saved us.
Not by deeds which we have done in righteousness. We would acknowledge we contributed nothing to our salvation except for sin. And yet you saved us because you love to save sinners. And therefore, Father, for those that are here today and are not trusting in the Lord Jesus by faith alone, they're trusting in their own works, are trusting in Jesus plus their own works, would you please make them born again, like Peter said, cause them to be born again so they would respond with saving faith.
You did that for us and you're a great God who saves sinners and so I had asked that you do it for them as well. We praise you for the resurrected Savior and we draw great comfort from that in Jesus' name.
No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life transforming power of God's word through verse by verse exposition of the sacred text.
Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at six. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.