THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION
The Father’s Throne and Jesus’ Exaltation
“TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS”
(Part II)
INTRODUCTION:
Last week in Revelation 4, we saw John being called up to Heaven and being shown the throne of God the Father. What did John see? He saw the beauty and power of the Father, and also judgment tempered with mercy. It should be understood that Father-God is passionate about removing from the earth all that is standing in the way of His eternal plan to redeem back to Himself all that has been lost. Then in Revelation 5 we saw the Father’s plan (in the scroll) to work through Jesus to accomplish His redemptive purposes. In this message we will continue to look into the wonder of who Jesus is, why He is worthy, and how that worthiness qualifies Him alone to carry out the Father’s plan.
IV. JESUS IS WORTHY: WE TRUST IN THE LEADERSHIP OF JESUS (REV. 5)
A. To be worthy is to be both deserving and capable (character and ability) to open the scroll and rule the earth. The four living creatures and twenty-four elders agree with the great love song that Jesus is worthy, and they agree with the Father’s decree to give Jesus leadership of the earth. They actually sing about it in worship to the Lamb!
Revelation 5:8-10
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
"You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth."
B. Jesus is worthy: Three applications
1. Jesus is worth it: In this faith journey that we are on, sometimes it can become very difficult. And at times the tendency is to just want to quit and give up. The demonic will whisper in your ear, “God has let you down; He is no longer worth it. Just back off; it’s simply too hard and is not worth the trouble to keep going after God.” Perhaps we should remember what the Apostle Paul said during our hard times. He certainly was no stranger to difficult times and hardships! Yet, in Philippians 3:8 he said from a Roman dungeon, where he was in captivity for preaching the Gospel, “I count all things loss for the excellence of the Knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish.” And during trying times, it’s good to remember people like Missionary Jim Elliot who was martyred for his faith at the age of only 29. He said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” The Apostle Paul and Missionary Jim Elliot knew the worth of Jesus! And so should we!
2. Jesus is capable: To drive evil off of the earth and establish the Kingdom of God over all.
3. Jesus deserves it: The Father will give leadership of the earth to Jesus just as He gave it to Adam. Jesus has proven Himself by making every choice in both love and righteousness.
II Corinthians 8:9 “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
C. Jesus being slain: He had to become human and live in obedience and dependence on the Spirit.
1. Jesus had to become human forever! Therefore, as a human, He qualified as the sacrifice for humanity.
2. Jesus lived in perfect love, humility, and righteousness. Therefore He qualified as the perfect sacrifice to bear God’s wrath in our place.
3. Jesus lived dependent on the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Ever since the incarnation Jesus has never been less than God, but He has lived as though He was never more than a man. For thirty three years on the earth, He lived in dependence on the Spirit as a man. He waited on the Father in prayer and obedience for Him to release the Spirit every time. His was perfect obedience.
Isaiah 11:2-3, a prophecy about the coming Messiah/Jesus which He fulfilled perfectly: (The sevenfold Spirit of God)
2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears.
D. The humility of Jesus: It is beyond our understanding in His humanity, anointing and intercession
E. The Father gives Jesus an unprecedented measure of favor over seven areas of leadership:
Revelation 5:11-12
“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
1. Power (political): Jesus will receive governmental leadership over the nations.
2. Riches (financial): All the money on earth will be under the leadership of Jesus.
3. Wisdom (intellectual): Jesus will replace every evil government on earth with new leaders and laws, along with restoring every area of life (political, economic, family, educational, agricultural, media, technology, environment, social institutions, etc.).
4. Strength (emotional): Jesus will have the strength to continue to restore the nations and to contend against any and all resistance.
5. Glory (spiritual): All will boast in the Jesus with loving delight and joyful trust. Paul gloried in Jesus. Children glory in their father; young men glory in their strength; and we glory in the name of the Lord!
6. Honor (relational): Jesus will be greatly respected and listened to in all the nations (honor means to publically esteem and show unusual respect for someone). Jesus’ words will be respected and reverenced as the greater Solomon.
7. Blessing (social): All will fully cooperate with His leadership, resulting in the mightiest work force in history. The nations will bless all of His plans and policies. Said another way, the nations will agree and cooperate with the plans of the Lord as He rebuilds and rules the earth in wisdom, love and righteousness!
V. All THE NATIONS WILL SEE JESUS’ BEAUTY IN THE MILLENNIUM ( His 1000 YEAR REIGN ON THE EARTH).
Isaiah 33:17 “Your eyes will see the King in His beauty.”
Isaiah 4:2 “In that day the Branch of the Lord (Jesus as Man) shall be beautiful and glorious.”
VI. AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM JESUS WILL GIVE THE NATIONS TO HIS FATHER.
A. The Father’s promise to Jesus: To make Him preeminent in all things.
Colossians 1:18 He is the Head of the Body . . . that in all things He may have the preeminence.”
B. Jesus earned the right to rule the earth, yet He gives it to the the Father. Jesus delights in humility. Another reason why all of heaven worships Him, and so should we!
I Corinthians 15:24, 28: Verse 24 “Then comes the end (Millennial Kingdom), when He (Jesus) delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He (Jesus) puts an end to all rule (hostile rebellious authorities during the Millennium) . . . Verse 28 Now when all things are made subject to Him (Jesus), then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him (The Father) . . . that God may be all in all.”
CONCLUSION
Next time we will see the beginning of Jesus opening the seals of God’s judgment on an unbelieving world. But today, we ask the question: how should we respond to what we have seen and heard from Revelation 5?
I believe that we should do as the angels in heaven and worship Him. He is truly worthy to be worshipped because of who He is, God; what He has done: became a man forever, lived a perfect life and became the perfect sacrifice for man’s sins; and because of what He will do: redeem all that was lost back to the Father forever!
Rev 5:8-10
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
"You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth."
The Father’s Throne and Jesus’ Exaltation
“TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS”
(Part II)
INTRODUCTION:
Last week in Revelation 4, we saw John being called up to Heaven and being shown the throne of God the Father. What did John see? He saw the beauty and power of the Father, and also judgment tempered with mercy. It should be understood that Father-God is passionate about removing from the earth all that is standing in the way of His eternal plan to redeem back to Himself all that has been lost. Then in Revelation 5 we saw the Father’s plan (in the scroll) to work through Jesus to accomplish His redemptive purposes. In this message we will continue to look into the wonder of who Jesus is, why He is worthy, and how that worthiness qualifies Him alone to carry out the Father’s plan.
IV. JESUS IS WORTHY: WE TRUST IN THE LEADERSHIP OF JESUS (REV. 5)
A. To be worthy is to be both deserving and capable (character and ability) to open the scroll and rule the earth. The four living creatures and twenty-four elders agree with the great love song that Jesus is worthy, and they agree with the Father’s decree to give Jesus leadership of the earth. They actually sing about it in worship to the Lamb!
Revelation 5:8-10
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
"You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth."
B. Jesus is worthy: Three applications
1. Jesus is worth it: In this faith journey that we are on, sometimes it can become very difficult. And at times the tendency is to just want to quit and give up. The demonic will whisper in your ear, “God has let you down; He is no longer worth it. Just back off; it’s simply too hard and is not worth the trouble to keep going after God.” Perhaps we should remember what the Apostle Paul said during our hard times. He certainly was no stranger to difficult times and hardships! Yet, in Philippians 3:8 he said from a Roman dungeon, where he was in captivity for preaching the Gospel, “I count all things loss for the excellence of the Knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish.” And during trying times, it’s good to remember people like Missionary Jim Elliot who was martyred for his faith at the age of only 29. He said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” The Apostle Paul and Missionary Jim Elliot knew the worth of Jesus! And so should we!
2. Jesus is capable: To drive evil off of the earth and establish the Kingdom of God over all.
3. Jesus deserves it: The Father will give leadership of the earth to Jesus just as He gave it to Adam. Jesus has proven Himself by making every choice in both love and righteousness.
II Corinthians 8:9 “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
C. Jesus being slain: He had to become human and live in obedience and dependence on the Spirit.
1. Jesus had to become human forever! Therefore, as a human, He qualified as the sacrifice for humanity.
2. Jesus lived in perfect love, humility, and righteousness. Therefore He qualified as the perfect sacrifice to bear God’s wrath in our place.
3. Jesus lived dependent on the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Ever since the incarnation Jesus has never been less than God, but He has lived as though He was never more than a man. For thirty three years on the earth, He lived in dependence on the Spirit as a man. He waited on the Father in prayer and obedience for Him to release the Spirit every time. His was perfect obedience.
Isaiah 11:2-3, a prophecy about the coming Messiah/Jesus which He fulfilled perfectly: (The sevenfold Spirit of God)
2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears.
D. The humility of Jesus: It is beyond our understanding in His humanity, anointing and intercession
E. The Father gives Jesus an unprecedented measure of favor over seven areas of leadership:
Revelation 5:11-12
“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
1. Power (political): Jesus will receive governmental leadership over the nations.
2. Riches (financial): All the money on earth will be under the leadership of Jesus.
3. Wisdom (intellectual): Jesus will replace every evil government on earth with new leaders and laws, along with restoring every area of life (political, economic, family, educational, agricultural, media, technology, environment, social institutions, etc.).
4. Strength (emotional): Jesus will have the strength to continue to restore the nations and to contend against any and all resistance.
5. Glory (spiritual): All will boast in the Jesus with loving delight and joyful trust. Paul gloried in Jesus. Children glory in their father; young men glory in their strength; and we glory in the name of the Lord!
6. Honor (relational): Jesus will be greatly respected and listened to in all the nations (honor means to publically esteem and show unusual respect for someone). Jesus’ words will be respected and reverenced as the greater Solomon.
7. Blessing (social): All will fully cooperate with His leadership, resulting in the mightiest work force in history. The nations will bless all of His plans and policies. Said another way, the nations will agree and cooperate with the plans of the Lord as He rebuilds and rules the earth in wisdom, love and righteousness!
V. All THE NATIONS WILL SEE JESUS’ BEAUTY IN THE MILLENNIUM ( His 1000 YEAR REIGN ON THE EARTH).
Isaiah 33:17 “Your eyes will see the King in His beauty.”
Isaiah 4:2 “In that day the Branch of the Lord (Jesus as Man) shall be beautiful and glorious.”
VI. AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM JESUS WILL GIVE THE NATIONS TO HIS FATHER.
A. The Father’s promise to Jesus: To make Him preeminent in all things.
Colossians 1:18 He is the Head of the Body . . . that in all things He may have the preeminence.”
B. Jesus earned the right to rule the earth, yet He gives it to the the Father. Jesus delights in humility. Another reason why all of heaven worships Him, and so should we!
I Corinthians 15:24, 28: Verse 24 “Then comes the end (Millennial Kingdom), when He (Jesus) delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He (Jesus) puts an end to all rule (hostile rebellious authorities during the Millennium) . . . Verse 28 Now when all things are made subject to Him (Jesus), then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him (The Father) . . . that God may be all in all.”
CONCLUSION
Next time we will see the beginning of Jesus opening the seals of God’s judgment on an unbelieving world. But today, we ask the question: how should we respond to what we have seen and heard from Revelation 5?
I believe that we should do as the angels in heaven and worship Him. He is truly worthy to be worshipped because of who He is, God; what He has done: became a man forever, lived a perfect life and became the perfect sacrifice for man’s sins; and because of what He will do: redeem all that was lost back to the Father forever!
Rev 5:8-10
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
"You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth."
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