Remember The Goal! - [Revelation 5]

Introduce to you our special guest from Germany. Theo Friesen is a pastor there, and he also is working at the

European Bible Training Center. I happen to be an adjunct faculty member there, and so you probably know him from Christian Andresen.

We support Christian Andresen as a missionary. And so Theo works for, with, under, and over a

Christian, right? Depending on what side of the hall you're on for the church, our EBTC.

And so when I read 2 Timothy 2, I think of Theo. You then be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses.

Entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. So that's what pastors should do.

They pass the baton on to the next generation of faithful preachers. And sometimes

I say to myself, is there any hope for America? Is there any hope for the country? Is there any hope for Germany, even more secular than the

United States? And then I see God's hand in people and on their lives.

And so I think of Theo, 31 years old. There's hope for the world, 31 years old.

And so that's exciting for me to be able to introduce Theo. He flies home tonight. By the way, thank you

Bethlehem Bible Church for your love the last week. He's taught at Awana. He taught at the high school group.

He's taught at the home group. He's taught at any place else? Taught me at home.

So that works out well. And so I'm just thankful that he's here and that's why I wanted to have him come and preach.

And you'll notice that it'll be exposition. It'll be Christ -centered and that's exactly the way we like it.

So Theo, thank you for ministering to us and on behalf of Bethlehem Bible Church, welcome. Thank you very much.

I was enjoying, rejoicing in the hospitality I was experiencing this week.

And I am glad to be with us. As Pastor Mike said,

I'm working with Christian since many years and I'm married to Lily.

We have three boys. They are eight, six and two and they love to ride their bikes.

I know you know someone too who does love bicycles. Well, we ride our bikes in our little village and usually

I'm in front of them and they should follow me. They should follow me.

They know where we are going because I told them before, usually they are looking forward to whatever place we're going to.

And of course they should follow me. Now you can probably imagine a five, six year old following yet getting distracted by all kinds of things that surrounds him.

Getting distracted by some flower next to him, some car driving by or some dog on a property.

He's getting distracted by all the things that are surrounding him. And I have to remind him oftentimes, follow me, stay close.

And it's the same with us as Christians. We know the goal, but we have to be reminded of that goal.

We want to follow Christ, but we have to be reminded to stay close, to stay on track, to not be distracted in a world that changes fast.

A world that changes values, politics, circumstances around us.

Even world views are changing and we can get distracted just as a little boy walking, walking, following or riding their bikes.

Oftentimes we are tempted to change and adapt the world instead of our savior.

We oftentimes lose sight of Christ and look to the right, to the left. We would not realize it oftentimes.

We still go to church. We still read our Bibles. We still pray.

We still maybe give a testimony here and there where we have a fraternity, but we lose sight of the end goal where everything is going to.

So this is what we want to remember this morning. We want to remember the goal.

Where are we going? And this will encourage us in all the questions that from time to time are coming in our mind.

We think this is painful to follow Christ. Is it really worth it?

Am I on the right track? This takes so much time and energy.

So just as we have to remind our kids following us, we have to remind them of the goal we are going to, where we soon will arrive in the same way we have to be reminded of where we are going to.

And the book in the Bible that reminds us the most of the future is the book of Revelation.

You all know that I want you to open your Bibles to Revelation chapter one.

We want to look into the very first verses of Revelation one.

We think of the book of Revelation usually as being having content for some generations to come, for the far, far away future, but not really for our lives, right?

Well, let's look into the very first verse of Revelations one. Jesus Christ himself speaks through the apostle

John, verse one, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which

God gave him to show to his servants, the things that must soon take place.

Things that must soon take place, not in some distant future.

The very first verse shows us that this, what we will read in this book will, as it is stated in verse three, for the time is near.

Because it's urgent and the time is near, these things will happen soon, we have to be reminded of our goal.

Probably you know the first chapters of the book of Revelation. The first three chapters are the different letters addressed to the churches in Asia Minor, the seven churches there.

And then in chapter four, a new scene is pictured and John is seeing, is getting introduced to a new scene in chapter four.

Let's read together chapter four, the first two verses. We see

God the Father on his throne. After this,

I looked and behold, a door standing open in heaven.

And the first voice, which I had 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.

The scene John is seeing is heaven. And right in the center, the throne of heaven with God sitting on this throne.

The one who is seated there in verse three is described in his marvelous appearance.

You can read and skip verse three. In verse four, we read about the 24 elders that surround him.

And then in verse five, it says, from this throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder.

And before this throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God.

Lightning, thunder before the throne of God. What a majestic and wonderful scene we are introduced in here in the first verses.

But it even gets better in verse seven, excuse me, verse eight, in verses five to seven, the scene is described further on.

In verse eight, we see the worship of God, the father who sits on that throne.

In verse eight, it says, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty who was and is and is to come.

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 and worship him who lives forever and ever.

They cast their crowns before the throne saying, worthy are you, oh

Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power.

For you created all things and by your will, they existed and were created.

An overwhelming scene of worship. God the father is worshiped by all heaven because he is holy, he is almighty and he is eternal.

And note in verse 11, where we can read a reason why they worship

God. It is because or for you created all things and because of your will, they existed and were created.

Revelations four gives us a great picture of our glorious God, the father, as the creator and sustainer of all things.

Maybe you have asked yourself for what specifically you could worship and praise

God the father for in your prayers, in your life. This is a great example.

He is the one that planned out everything in this creation from blueprint to creation, the father is worshiped for his creating work.

And now I want you to imagine a great architect on earth.

Maybe the greatest architect on earth, he would live, he would design his best building on a huge property from the very beginning to the end.

He would fulfill all the plans. And what would this architect do afterwards? He would write as soon as he can, his last will, so that this will go in good hands, in the hands of his son.

And a similar thing we see now in Revelations five in the next chapter.

In chapter four, God is introduced as the creator of all the earth.

And in chapter five, the question is at hand, who will and can and is worthy to inherit this world?

We are introduced in chapter five to the title, to the deed of all creation.

And this scroll, it reminds us of our condition as man.

We are getting reminded of our lost condition as mankind in chapter five in the first verses.

Let's read verses one to four together. 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 is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?

And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.

And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.

The scroll is the deed of all the earth.

It lays there in the right hand of God, open for anyone who would step up before God and take it.

Anyone who would be worthy of taking it, who would be powerful to redeem it, the occupied world, the lost condition of the world.

So God has his scroll in his hand and it is sealed and no one can open it.

This scroll reveals our lost condition. This scroll has never been read.

It contains the details of how Christ will inherit the world, contains his rightful inheritance.

So whoever would open this scroll would have the right to rule this world.

And this call for a redeemer includes that the condition of the land is in a lost condition.

Otherwise there wouldn't be a call for a redeemer if the land was in good condition.

It is similar to us buying a property of land in East Ukraine today or in North Korea.

You would get maybe the deed, you would have all your documents in place, but you know the land is occupied.

You wouldn't be able to do anything with it. It wouldn't make any sense. So it makes only sense and you only can do it if you have the power to reclaim that property, to free it, and that is the picture we see here with the scroll.

The calling for a redeemer is not answered in verses two to four.

Look into verse three and four. It is stated twice in verse three and four and no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.

And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.

Who is worthy? Who is worthy to take the scroll and to rule this world?

This angel asking and crying out who is worthy, he was looking for someone who is worthy in character, has the divine right and the power to defeat the occupying powers,

Satan and his demons, to wipe out sin and its effect and to reverse the curse.

That was the question at hand. And as this echoes, this cry, there is only silence.

Silence in heaven. Over all time of history, on all the places of the earth, there would be found not one that would be worthy, that would step up before God, take the scroll and rule the world and free it.

Imagine the powerful angels, Michael, Gabriel, uncounted thousands other angels, they all remained silent.

All the righteous dead of all the ages, including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel, Peter, even the apostle

Paul and all the others of church history, they said nothing.

No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the book and to look into it.

A search over the entire universe from hell to heaven, all points on this earth and no one would be there.

And so John is weeping. He is weeping loudly because he knows what that means.

He knows that there is no one that would free and redeem the earth.

He is weeping loudly. This is the condition mankind is in.

It is a condition that should drive us to weep loudly. We need a redeemer and there was none.

So we see mankind in a lost condition, in a weak condition, in a powerless and damaged condition represented by this scroll that was sealed and no one was there that could open it.

But in verses five to seven, the next verses, we see the glory of Christ's victory.

We are in a lost condition of mankind, but there is a glorious, victorious

Christ. Let's read verses five to seven. In verse four, he said,

I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.

Verse five, and one of the elders said to me, weep no more.

Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.

What a glorious victory we are introduced in here.

We first see that Christ has huge majesty.

He is pictured to be a lion. In verse five, who has conquered?

Who is worthy? Verse five says, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.

The lion is worthy. He has won the battle. He has conquered the enemy.

He has redeemed the land and he is powerful and sovereign.

That is a picture of the lion. He is unrivaled, there is no one else.

But how? How did the lion conquer? Look with me into verse six.

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

After picturing Christ as being the lion, he is now as meek as a lamb being slain.

He comes as a lion. He knows he has a right to go to the throne of God.

And now the lamb is in the center of heaven itself.

He is the lion and the lamb. And it shows why he is worthy.

It will be stated several times in the next verses. This is the first time we see the reasoning why

Christ is worthy. And we've just sung it in a song.

The reason is because this lion that was slain as a meek lamb on your place and your behalf, redeeming us, comes to mind

Isaiah 53, where we read, he was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

This is why Christ is worthy. Colossians 2 verse 14 says, he has forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them.

This is what makes Christ worthy. The cross, his death on the cross on your behalf.

And that's why we sung, what precious blood of Jesus. He canceled our record of debts.

He died not because of his sins, since he was without sin, but on our behalf.

That is the reason he is worthy, and that is the reason he will step up before God and take this scroll, this inheritance, and rule this world one time.

But Christ, yes, he died, but he rose again.

Look into verse six. It says, I saw a lamb standing.

The lamb is not dead anymore. It is standing. It is not slain anymore.

He rose again. He lives and he is standing there right in the center of heaven, receiving worship, as you will see in a minute.

His sovereign power is shown through him having seven horns.

A horn is a symbol of power. Having full power with seven horns.

Having seven eyes, which are the spirits, sent out to all the earth.

What is Christ doing? He is saving people from all the earth.

Whom sent he to do that? His spirit. That is what

John describes how this lamb looks like.

What a glorious savior. He redeemed us. He is sovereign and he is fully

God. There are two reasons why he is fully God. The first one we see in verse seven.

And he went, Christ the lamb, and he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.

Christ stepped up and he took the scroll out of the right hand.

Now, who can take from God? Only God can.

This scene shows that Christ's victory is absolutely certain.

There is no doubt. He comes and he takes, knowing that he is the only one.

Remember the last boxing fight that you were watching? The two boxers, they come to the end of the rounds and sometimes it's that none of them knows who won.

Both are still standing and then everyone is looking to the judges and they kind of have to decide who won the battle.

But there are other cases where in a fight, one would go to the ground.

He would be knocked out and the other one would raise his hand. He would knew that the victory is his.

Now that's the picture Christ's victory is like.

He knocked out his enemy. There is no doubt of his victory.

And with that certainty, the lamb steps up before the throne of God and takes the scroll out of the father's hand.

Because Christ, God, man, knows that he alone is worthy and he alone is able to inherit and to rule and to free this world.

There are no doubts left. This shows that he is indeed

God. And the second reason that he is

God, we see in the next paragraph where he is worshiped together with God the father.

Now we saw the first verses, the lost condition of mankind, of us being powerless and unable to answer the call of a redeemer.

But then we saw the glory of Christ and his victory. This is where everything is going to in this world.

This is what we have to remind ourselves following Christ. Where everything is going to,

Christ will rule this world. He will free us ultimately. And we know that for sure.

But we have to remind ourselves in our walk with Christ, in our day to day following him.

And now after seeing the lost condition and the glory of Christ, we see the scope of Christ's death.

He did a glorious victory, but his victory has a huge scope.

So we have to keep in mind, if we remember where this world is going to, what's the scope of Christ's death is.

Let's read verses eight to 14 together. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

And they sang a new song saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals.

For you were slain. See the reason again. And by your blood, you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God. And they shall reign on the earth.

Then I looked and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them saying, to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever.

And the four living creatures said, amen and the elders fell down and worshiped.

This scene of worship is centered around one truth.

It is repeated all over again. And it is the redemption that the lamb accomplished.

It is his being slain, being slaughtered, his sacrifice that he brought, that shows the great love of God for us mankind.

Being lost, he sent his son to die on our behalf and then to rose him again and give him the whole inheritance to rule this earth.

This is redemption and this is the center of worship. Why is

Christ worthy? Because you were slain, verse nine.

A focused worship on Christ as being our sacrifice. Christ, he ransomed a people from every nation.

It's not just one nation, not just people from Massachusetts, not just people from Germany or from any other people group.

He ransomed a people from every nation, tongue, tribe and language.

That increases his glory. Everything else would be not enough for the glory of Christ.

This was God's main goal since history began. God wanted to redeem people from all over the world.

It is contained in the first promise to Abraham. It is contained and repeated in Psalms.

In Galatians, Paul cites Genesis 12. In Matthew 28,

Christ himself gives the command to his disciples to go into all the world.

And the apostles, they had that same goal. In Romans 15,

Paul is telling about that in all our Romans that he was the apostle for the

Gentiles. This shows how worthy and glorious our savior is.

He is able to save people from every country and part of this world.

And knowing that, knowing where everything will lead up to, knowing that there will be people in heaven, in chapter seven, we can read that, that out of every tongue, tribe and nation, we'll worship him.

We know exactly that Christ will accomplish what he died for.

He will save people from everywhere. So we have confidence in our missionary endeavors.

We know he will do it. We know how everything will end up and where everything is going to, but we have to remind ourselves.

We have to remind ourselves. Chapter four showed how

God the creator has been described. And in chapter five, we see that Christ, he is permitted and worthy alone to receive this deed and to rule this world.

So the answer to all the questions, where are we going? How will this end?

When will this mess stop? Is Christ. Christ, the son of God, Christ, the lion of Judah, Christ, the lamb that was slain, he alone is worthy to be worshiped.

That is the goal of this world. That is where we are going to. That is what we have to keep in mind when we follow

Christ. And I want you now to examine your walk, to examine your following Christ.

Are you still following? Or do you have to be reminded to keep up looking forward, to keep up reminding yourself where you are going, where everything is going?

I want to ask you four questions to examine your walk with Christ.

The first question is, do you have peace with God? Do you have peace with God through Jesus Christ?

He is the lamb that was slain. But if you are not believing and repenting in Christ, then you have to read on chapter six and following in Revelation.

Because chapter six and following shows how Christ will regain the rule of this world.

And it will be with much judgment for all of those who neglected, who rebelled against God during their lifetime.

There will be judgment for all of those who have not peace with God.

And the second question is, do you have peace with Christ? Christ died, his sacrifice is there. Repent and believe in him so that you might worship him as being worthy and not worship him after you have been judged.

You will bow your knee anyway. Do it now, conquer. Let him conquer your life and your enemies.

That is what we read on in chapter six. So the huge question is, do you have peace with God?

Are you worshiping him? This is where it all will end. We should start now.

We should come to Christ. The second question is, as a believer, do you live according to Christ's calling?

Are you being transformed into his image day after day? Christ died on the cross.

He is the lamb slain in our behalf, but he saved us with a goal, with a reason, with a calling.

Paul is summarizing that in Colossians three and is saying in verse one, if then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also appear with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away.

Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

We have to examine our lives. We have to examine us.

Are we still following Christ? Have you been got distracted by all the things around you of following Christ now and being aware of the goal where everything is heading to?

Oftentimes, we ask the wrong questions at first. We start by asking,

Lord, you are worthy of worship. So how much worship is enough?

Is that the scene and message that we got out of Revelation 5 just now?

It is not. All worship is dedicated to Christ.

So stop worshiping him just a little bit, just with some parts of your life, just on some days of your life, just with some energy and some talents.

We have to be renewed and transformed into his image. That is the question, the second question.

Do you live according to Christ's calling, being reformed, transformed into his image?

That is where worship begins. In day -to -day life, it shows whom you worship, but worship is rooted and nurtured in the local church body.

So my third question is, do you have a part in Christ's main instrument in this time, the church?

Christ has only one main instrument to act in our time.

He has just one main instrument to make himself known, and that is the church.

Every Sunday, the church gathers and worships Christ the head. They are foretasting a little bit of how it will be like in heaven.

If you want to worship Christ the head, then you have to be part of his body, the church.

If you want to worship Christ the head, you have to be part of his body, to minister to one another, to bring in the gifts

God, the Holy Spirit gave you, to minister to one another, to build one another up, and to make

Christ known on this earth in these days. So last and fourth question to examine ourselves is, do you have a part in Christ's main endeavor to save people out of every tongue, tribe, and nation?

Is it in your mind that that is the end goal? It's me subjecting to Christ, me being part of a local church body, but us being focused on promoting the kingdom of God to the end of the earth.

If this is in your mind always, there is no part for racism anymore.

You would not think of anyone higher than you, or lower than you, better to say, because Christ died for everyone the same.

And he died to ransom a people, men, from every people group.

You will start telling your kids about missions. You will have in focused the advancement of Christ's kingdom everywhere.

Your prayers will change from give my son, my daughter, my grandson, my grandkid a good career.

It will change to take them and make them a tool in your kingdom world, in this country or another one.

You will start praying as Jesus told his disciples to pray that your kingdom come, your will be done on earth, not in Massachusetts, on earth, and is as it is in heaven.

Christ is worthy alone of being worshiped. Who is worthy in your life?

In Germany, you can tell if a man is worshiping soccer, he will arrange all his appointments around the games of his team.

He will take time to interact with all the players on the team to get to know them.

He will get up early. He will stay up late to watch the play, the game.

You can tell if someone worships his soccer team. He will spend his money on getting pay

TV to see the game in HD, high definition.

He will spend his vacation and money to go to the stadium to follow the team.

You can tell if a man is worshiping his soccer team.

You can tell whom you are worshiping by asking you and examining with the same questions, looking into your calendar, your bank account, your priorities, measuring whom you worship.

And if Christ is really the only one that you consider worthy to be worshiped.

So the question is never if you worship, but whom or what you worship.

We want to worship our savior, Jesus Christ, through our lives, through our churches, until the work is done.

And his name is preached until the ends of the earth because he alone is worthy for he was slain.

Let me pray. Christ Jesus, we want to worship you.

You are our God. You redeemed us. We want to thank you, our father in heaven, that you sent your only begotten son to become man, to live the perfect life that we did not, to die on the cross on our behalf.

We thank you that he is alive again, that you took his ransom, that it is glorious, victorious.

And we thank you that we know where everything is going to, that you, our savior

Christ Jesus, will come back as king, as ruler, as redeemer, and as judge of this earth.

Oh Lord, we pray that we would examine our worship our us following you or getting distracted by things in this world.

Let's keep in mind and help us to keep in mind where your goal is to make your name known in all the earth and help us through your spirit that you've sent us, that lives in us to accomplish this work that we are not able to do on ourselves so that your name may be glorified in eternity, amen.