David Platt Messages
David Platt Messages is a podcast that highlights sermons from teacher, author, and pastor David Platt.
David Platt Messages
A Death-Defying Savior
Who is Jesus? People answer that question in various ways, but Scripture gives us the only true answer. Jesus Christ is unlike any other religious leader in history, for he not only knows our greatest problem but he is also able to address it through his life, death, and resurrection. In this message from Revelation 5:1–14, David Platt points us to a Savior who has overcome death in order to give us eternal life freely. He is worthy of our faith, worship, and devotion.
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You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor, author and teacher David Platt. If you have a Bible with you or around you, let me encourage you to open with me to the last book, the book of Revelation. If you don't have a Bible with you, let me encourage you maybe to find someone around you who does. Maybe they would be willing to share. I want you to be able to look along as we study God's Word together. There's a lot of people in our culture today talking about Jesus. Many of you know that the Da Vinci Code is a book that has ideas about Jesus in there. It's sold millions and millions of copies about to be released in a new movie, so there's a lot of people talking about some of the issues that go along with that. When it comes to Jesus, even the news the last couple of weeks, the gospel of Judas has been pretty prevalent and this idea is that it's promoting about Jesus. There's a lot of people talking about Jesus in our culture today, but somewhere along the way in our culture we get the idea that we can redefine who Jesus is and we can make Jesus who we want him to be and kind of throw all the things that we see in the Bible out and make Jesus to be who we want him to be, and I think it's a pretty dangerous place to be when we try to redefine who Jesus is. Let me give you an example. I want you to imagine that after you worship here this morning you leave and the rest of the day you go, you spend time with your family or with others. And imagine somebody who wasn't here at church today come up to you and asked and said how was the service, how was church this morning? You begin to tell them about the music and how great the music was and all the songs, and you begin to tell about the cool drawings and how incredible that was. And then just imagine you get to the point and you're saying there's this guy named David Platt preaching. And at that point imagine that person who has asked you the question looks at you and said you mean, you heard David Platt preach this morning. Okay, won't you follow along with me, it can happen, all right. And you said yeah, and you said, and then they said you mean the David Platt was preaching this morning. You said yeah, and and they said you mean the David Platt was preaching this morning. You said yeah, and they said you mean the David Platt, you're with him on Easter morning. And you said, yeah, that's who I was with. Okay, it can happen, just follow along with me here, okay, and imagine that point.
Speaker 1:They say, wow, I mean you mean the guy, that big, strong guy, dark skin, looks like he works out all the time, kind of a cross between a professional athlete and a movie star. That guy, why are you laughing at that? Huh? Now, at that point you've got two options for how you respond to their question. On one hand, you could say that is definitely not the David Flat that I saw today. I saw this skinny kid, bow-legged, looks like he just got out of high school. That's the guy I saw. Or your second option when they say you mean the big strong guy, looks like he just got out of high school, that's the guy I saw. Or your second option when they say you mean the big strong guy, looks like he works out all the time dark skin, professional athlete, movie star type, you could look at them and say, well, if that's your interpretation of who David Platt is, well, here's the deal. I'm not open to reinterpretation. And if I'm not open to reinterpretation, neither is Jesus Christ. We're wrong if we think we can come on the scene and it's been done for hundreds and hundreds of years and tried to redefine who Jesus is.
Speaker 1:So what I want to do this morning is I want to show you, in a passage of Scripture, a portrait of Jesus, and I want you to see a picture of who he really is not who I say he is, other people say he is. I want you to see who the Bible says Jesus is. And I want you to see this picture because I'm convinced I'm convinced with all of my heart that if we in this room would see a picture and a portrait of Jesus for who he is, we would find Him irresistible and we would realize that he is worthy of more than our church attendance this morning, is worthy of more than our casual devotion, our mediocre commitment to Him. He is worthy of our entire lives. I want you to see that with me in Revelation, chapter 5. You've got a celebration guide with you. Let me encourage you. There's some notes in there that you can pull out as well. That'll help you follow along during our time together today.
Speaker 1:What I want us to do is. I want us to think about one main question what's so unique about Jesus? There's a lot of religious teachers and leaders across the history of humanity. What's so unique about Jesus? And I want to show you in this portrait four pictures or four characteristics of Jesus and who he is. And I believe when we see those characteristics, we'll also see four reasons why Jesus is worthy of our ultimate devotion, worthy of our entire lives. And I want you to dive into it with me.
Speaker 1:Revelation, chapter 5, why, what is so unique about Jesus? Number one I want you to see that Jesus knows the ultimate problem. Jesus knows the ultimate problem and this sets him apart from everybody else. Look with me at Revelation, chapter 5, verse 1. Now, this is a picture that John gives us of a vision he had, but it's really a kind of a step back overview of the book of Revelation and even the Bible as a whole Kind of gives us a broad range here. I want you to look at what happens. He says I saw in the right hand of him, who sat on the throne, which is God, a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals, and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, voice who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll. Now, in order to.
Speaker 1:We got to stop here In order to understand what's going on in this passage. We've got to realize the magnitude of what is represented in the scroll. So I want you to picture with me a scroll from the start of our time together. Now, it wouldn't look a lot like this, because even here in Scripture we see that it had writing on both sides, probably a larger scroll. But just to give you a picture, the scroll that looks like this would be pretty large and it would have a seal on the outside of it and basically, when someone who was worthy or able to enact what was written inside the scroll came and broke that first seal, then basically they would unroll the scroll and they would read what is there, and that would be the method by which that is enacted, when it comes, basically comes to life, comes to reality. So obviously somebody pretty important has got to be the one who's going to break the seal. Now, this says this scroll had seven seals, and so what you've got a picture of is somebody who could break the first seal, then see that enacted and then, once you unroll that, then you'll come to a second seal. You got to be able to break that and the third and the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, all the way to the seventh seal.
Speaker 1:In fact, turn over to the one chapter, revelation, chapter six. This starts to unfold here, in verse one. Look what the Bible says I washed as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals, and it talks about what happened. Look in verse 3. When the Lamb opened the second seal, verse 5. When the Lamb opened the third seal, Verse 7. The Lamb opened the fourth seal, verse 9. The Lamb opened the fifth seal, verse 12. I washed as he opened the sixth seal. You turn over to chapter 8, verse 1,. You see, when he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. So what the question is in verse 5 is who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?
Speaker 1:Now, obviously we don't have time to study the whole book of Revelation this morning and even these chapters that follow, to see what's unfolding in this scroll, but I want to give you a picture, basically to summarize what is written on both sides of the scroll here in Revelation, chapter 5 is God's purposes, final purposes for all of his creation. We know that way back in the beginning of this book, genesis, chapter 3, sin entered the world and it marred God's creation. As a result of sin, which all of us are guilty of I know there's a lot of people in this room, but every single one of us has sin in our lives and because of that, we see the effects of that in the world, in suffering, in pain, the things we experience as a result of our sin, or even when we're trying to do good, we still experience suffering. And so that's the picture we've got from Genesis, chapter 3 all the way to this point. Now we've got God's final purposes how he's going to bring an end to that, bring an end to suffering and pain and evil for his people. Now he's going to pour out his blessing on his people in all of eternity, as well as his judgment, and that's what's contained in this scroll the final purposes of God for all of creation. So this is a pretty huge deal your eternity, my eternity, bound up in what is written on that scroll in the hands of God.
Speaker 1:Now some of you might be thinking well, dave, why didn't God just open the scroll himself? Well, I want you to realize what that would mean us, what that would mean If God, who is completely holy and has no sin in him, were to open a scroll that would unfold the purposes of his character for all of creation. And if all of us stand before him with sin in our lives, having been disobedient to him, then the only option for us in all of eternity is what His judgment and condemnation. That's clear throughout the Bible. As a result of the fact that we all have sin in our lives, we're separated from a holy God. And the ultimate problem in the universe please don't miss this the ultimate question in the universe is how can sinners like us be made right with a holy God? We talk about heaven almost flippantly, but you got to realize, in order to spend eternity in the presence of God, there's a sin problem that has to be dealt with in order for that to happen. So we don't want God to open the scroll without a mediator between him and us that takes care of that problem. So I want you to see that because of our sin it's there in your notes we stand before a holy God.
Speaker 1:Two characteristics I think we see in this passage. Number one we stand before God. Holy God hopeless and number two. We stand before a holy God helpless. You see, what happens is verse 3 says no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. And verse 4 says John wept and he wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Because of our sin. We stand before a holy God hopeless, number one.
Speaker 1:Now I want you to imagine with me this scroll, if it holds the end of suffering, the end of pain, and God fully bringing his blessing on his creation, restoring it back to what he created it to be. Imagine reading this in the first century, these were people who were experiencing some pretty deep persecution because they were Christians. They'd experienced a lot of suffering in their families. Some guy's wives had died and their husbands had been killed, been murdered, had been martyred. They'd seen their children taken away from them and they'd experienced pain. And at this point John sees that that which brings an end to all of this God's blessing and for restoring things the way they should be, an end to the suffering and the pain. And he sees that at the right hand of God, but nobody is able to open it. That's why we see John not just weeping, but he says he wept and he wept it emphasizes it.
Speaker 1:This is huge because the hope of something different is gone in this picture. It's the same thing, same kind of questions we ask today. I'm guessing most, if not all of us in this room at some point have asked is this really all there is in the world? You've experienced pain or suffering. I know that across this room, families have experienced the pain of cancer. Is that all there is? Is that it? Are there diseases, natural disasters? My wife and I, eight months ago, had our house completely flooded, taken away from us Tsunamis, earthquakes, wars. You ever think is this all there is? And there's a hope there that there's going to be a difference one day, that something's going to change and everything's going to be made right? That's the hope we hold on to, but if nobody's able to open the scroll, it takes hope away completely.
Speaker 1:I want you to see the gravity of this situation, and not only hopeless, but I said helpless too, because the Bible says we looked and nobody around us was able to help out. In this situation, there's nobody who's able to go into the presence of God. Just imagine walking in to the presence of God boldly, going out to him, taking the scroll out of his hands and opening the scroll. That's a pretty bold move. Who's got the right, who's got the credentials to actually do that? This is a big question. Well, there's been a lot of people throughout the history of the world that have come on this religious scene religious teachers, religious leaders and who have given teachings, some that thousands, some that millions have followed, to say this is how you find life. But if you look through all those religious history books, you will find that not one of those people says we are able to get rid of the sin problem that separates us from a holy God. There's a lot of teachers who say do this or do that or do this, Follow the Quran, follow the eightfold path, do this in order to achieve peace with those around you, but at no point do you get rid of this sin problem. And I want you to see that from the very beginning of this passage, jesus knows the ultimate problem here how can we stand before a holy God, how could we ever be with a holy God? That is the problem that is more important than any other problem any of us in this room will ever face and it's a pretty bleak scene because he looks and says nobody answered, no, nobody's saying anything.
Speaker 1:Kind of reminds me of a childhood memory you ever been to. You guys have Chuck E Cheese here in Birmingham. You know that place. That place will scar you. Okay, it will scar you. I really believe that Chuck E Cheese and it's a good place. I know it's a good place. Even two weeks ago my wife and I were taking our niece and nephew there. We were there with them for their birthday and that place will give you a headache in five minutes. Easy, but even more than that.
Speaker 1:As a kid kid you remember what happens. You go to that place, you get all these tokens and you go play a bunch of games. You put the token in, you play a game all kinds of different games, ski ball or ski ball lineup. You play ski ball for hours and and you sit there and you do your best. If you're a little kid, I remember my mom or dad. They'd be there. They're trying to help me kind of get the ball, because I couldn't even get it up to where the thing is, giving me any points, but I'd get it up there finally, and when you play the game, what comes out?
Speaker 1:Tickets. There's these tickets that kind of come streaming out there, and so you go around to all the different games trying to get as many tickets as you can. You're having a great time, it's so much fun you, your mom and dad just having a great time. Well, then comes the bad part. You're ready to leave, you've had a great time. You're going toward the exit and you go by this one area. It's called the redemption counter. Okay, you know what I'm talking about. This is the part that scars you All right, because you walk up there.
Speaker 1:As a little kid you got these tickets that you worked hard for, holding them in your hand. You walk up there and you see before you this picture of so many things that you would love to have, and immediately your eyes go up to the very top, and on the top shelf there's some huge stuffed animal that you can just picture in your room and it's worth like 80,000 tickets. But you don't know that. So I look at my mom or dad and be like I want the bear, I want the big stuffed animal. I look down and say, son, you definitely don't have enough tickets. And so my eyes would come down one more level. Maybe one of those lava lamps? You know one of those things, those pointless gifts, but they're really cool looking okay. So you're like, okay, I'll take that cool lamp looking thing, I want that. It's like 40,000 tickets. You know how many hours of ske ball you have to play to get 40,000 tickets. Mom and dad look down. They're just like son, you don't have enough tickets. So I come down a little farther. How about the remote control car? I'll take that, Son, you don't have enough tickets.
Speaker 1:This process goes on until you just get down to that little case right in front of you. And here you are, this little kid, and you see this glow-in-the-dark eraser, little pencil sitting beside him. You hand your tickets to your mom or dad, they give the tickets and it scars you. You spend hours and you walk out the doors of Chuck E Cheese With a glow-in-the-dark eraser and pencil in your hand Because you don't have enough tickets For what's on the top shelf. Now get that picture in your mind when you come here to Revelation, chapter 5, because the stakes are much, much higher and the top shelf is your eternity, my eternity, heaven, forgiveness of sins, joy and ends of suffering and pain. That's on the top shelf. Now imagine, in this scene, with that on the top shelf, imagine the roll call that takes place in Revelation, chapter 5. Abraham standing over there. Abraham, you have enough tickets to go up there and take the scroll. You're the father of the people of God. You started this whole thing off way back in the beginning of this book. Abraham, do you have enough tickets? Abraham just looks down and he says I don't have enough tickets.
Speaker 1:Moses, you led the people of God. You led them through the promised land. You led them through that sea where it split. You led the people of God in such an incredible way. You've got enough tickets? Surely you do. Moses just kind of hangs his head, says I don't have enough tickets. What about all the prophets, these guys who literally gave their lives or killed because they proclaimed the word of God? Isaiah, jeremiah, ezekiel, daniel. Surely one of you guys has enough tickets? You gave your life. And they look down and say we don't have enough tickets.
Speaker 1:John the Baptist, you prepared the way for the coming of Jesus. Jesus spoke so highly of you. Surely you have enough tickets. John the Baptist says I don't have enough. Peter, on this rock I'll build my church. James, john, any of you disciples we don't have enough. Paul, you wrote half the New Testament. You're the greatest missionary to ever live. Surely you've got enough tickets. Paul just hangs his head and says I don't have enough tickets. You're coming into contemporary day. Mother Teresa, you did more good and cared for more people than millions put together. Surely you've got enough tickets. Mother Teresa looks down and says I don't have enough.
Speaker 1:Billy Graham, you preach to more people than anybody else in the history of the world. Surely you've got enough. Billy Graham hangs his head and it goes on and on and on. Got enough? Billy Graham hangs his head and it goes on and on and on. Who's got enough tickets? Who's really going to approach the throne of God? Take the scroll out of his hand, break the seal and open it. Is Muhammad going to do that? He doesn't have enough tickets. The Buddha, is he going to do that? He doesn't have enough tickets. Either your new age psychic, he or she, does not have enough tickets. Oprah, dr Phil not enough tickets. It's silent in heaven. Comes back to you and me. You have enough tickets to open this scroll and every single one of us can just hang our head and say we don't, we don't have enough tickets.
Speaker 1:And that's the picture we see here. It's pretty despairing. It kind of reminds me. You know. Some of you maybe think well, you're talking about different religions not having enough tickets. Well, I'm I'm an atheist, I don't. I don't even believe in in god. Well, I think what we're talking about, this hopeless and helpless, really is summarized in that idea, and that's from self-proclaimed atheists.
Speaker 1:I remember Bertrand Russell. He wrote a book called why I'm Not a Christian. He was a very notable atheist of the 20th century. At the end of his life, on his deathbed, these are the words that he said. He said I have nothing to hang on to but grim, unyielding despair. Because if there is no God and we're just a product of our creation and we're just in this cycle where we'll be here for a little while, then we'll go away and somebody else will move on, it's just this endless cycle. Where's the hope of the end of suffering or pain? Where's the hope in that? It's hopeless and helpless. That's the picture we've got here. Jesus knows the ultimate problem. Number two Jesus pays the ultimate price. I want you to see what happens next. We've got the stage set with this problem.
Speaker 1:Now look at what happens in verse five. One of the elders said to me do not weep. John is just weeping, he's lost it. He says do not weep. See the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. He has triumphed and he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. Now we see a pretty extreme paradox at this point and we can't miss it here. On one hand, we see a conquering lion. That's the picture that the Bible has given us here of a lion of the tribe of Judah. You know, I want to show you something really cool. This is not just a thing that kind of appears here in Revelation, chapter 5. This is something that was talked about thousands of years before that. Hold your place here. Turn with me back to the very first book in the Bible, genesis, chapter 49. Turn with me back there, to Genesis, chapter 49.
Speaker 1:I want you to read how this whole thing got started, way back in the first book of the Bible. What we're about to read is Jacob speaking prophecy, or words about the future, to his sons. One of his sons' name was Judah, which we just saw mentioned back in verse 5. Do not weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah. What does that mean? Look back in Genesis, chapter 49.
Speaker 1:Look with me at verse 8, when Jacob is speaking to Judah. Now, this is hundreds upon hundreds of years, before Revelation 5 even is thought about. Look at this, judah, verse 8, your brothers will praise you, your hand will be on the neck of your enemies, your father's sons will bow down to you. You are a lion's cub, o Judah. You return from the prey my son Like a lion. He crouches and lies down Like a lioness who dares to rouse him. Is this sounding familiar? Look at verse 10. The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his. Don't miss this.
Speaker 1:At the very beginning of this book, it's talking about one who's going to come from the line of Judah, and this one is going to be the one that it all belongs to. What we were talking about here in Revelation chapter 5, it's the one who it belongs, and the obedience of the nations is his, and he's going to come like a lion. That's what Genesis 49 says. Revelation 5 gives us a picture. John looks and he hears this voice, and it says see the line of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. Isaiah, chapter 11, verse 1 and 10, talks about how Jesus would come through the line of David, who was also through the line of Judah, and he would come and be the root, the offspring of David. Revelation, chapter 22, verse 16, the very last book here talks about how Jesus is the root and the offspring of David. So Jesus is the lion here. That's who's being talked about.
Speaker 1:I want to show you something else that's really cool back here in Revelation, chapter 5. I want to give you a little Greek lesson this morning. I know that you didn't come to church on Easter morning expecting some Greek lesson, but I want to give you a picture of some Greek in this passage that actually you already know. There's a Greek word in this passage that all of you I'm confident all of you are familiar with. I want you to look with me in verse 5. It says see the line of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed.
Speaker 1:Some translations say prevailed, other translations say conquered. Now the Greek word, the original language of the New Testament that's written right here, is a word that all of you are familiar with. I'm guessing you are familiar with and I know it'll be a little tough to see from the back but a slogan. It's got a swoosh on it and on the front of these shoes you see the word what? Nike? That's the word here in the New Testament, nikeo, and it literally means prevail or conquer, triumph. That's what this word means. That's why they chose it as the name for this company, because in sports, in sports we want to conquer, we want to win. So they sell this, they put this label out there buy Nike, you'll win. I've worn Nike golf shoes before and I've never conquered in golf. But it doesn't work completely. But I want you to see that's exactly what this word means. It talks about conquering and prevailing. I want you to realize that Nike didn't come up with this word.
Speaker 1:God did, and God used it to refer to his son and he said he's the one who, like a lion, is going to prevail, is going to conquer. You see, in order to get this scroll, you don't just kind of saunter into the presence of God and kind of try to slip it out of his hand. No, you've got to walk in boldly because you have conquered. That's the picture we have to see first, but don't miss what happens next. So John is wiping away the tears from his eyes. He's heard about the lion of the tribe of Judah. Look at what verse six says. So I turned and then saw a lamb looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Now, that's a pretty incredible picture. John's expecting to turn and see a lion. Instead he turns and he sees this lamb that looks like it's been through a meat grinder. It's a horrible picture of a lamb looking as if it had been slain. So I want you to see two facets of this picture of Jesus. He is the conquering lion, but he is also the suffering lamb.
Speaker 1:Now, in questions that people have had about Jesus over the last hundreds and hundreds of years, many times people either go to one side or the other of this picture. There's a lot of people who picture Jesus as a suffering lamb. It's kind of a weak, a good man, but who really couldn't. Didn't have a lot of power, really couldn't get people to follow him. All he did was hang out with his ragtag group. On the other hand, there's a lot of people who say, well, jesus was a great man, he was a great religious teacher with much power, but they deny the fact that he died on a cross.
Speaker 1:One example of that, a simple example in our world today, is Islam. Muslims do not believe that Jesus was crucified on a cross. In fact, they abhor the idea. They think it's a horrible idea that Jesus would die on the cross. I've talked with many of them, whether in India, indonesia, and they will say they've got two main problems with this picture of Jesus that we're talking about here. And number one they've got a problem with the fact that we're saying that Jesus is God in the flesh. They say that's crazy. What makes it even more crazy, they'll say, is, second, that you would say that God in the flesh would actually be crucified to a cross, would be assassinated in such a cruel, inhumane, embarrassing way. God would not do that. I read a Muslim scholar recently who even wrote these words. This Muslim scholar said we honor Jesus more than you Christians do. We refuse to believe that God would permit him to suffer death on a cross, to believe that God would permit him to suffer death on a cross.
Speaker 1:Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to see this morning, in this portrait of Jesus, that in order for him to be the conquering lion on the landscape of human history, he had to play the role of a suffering lamb. They go together. In order to conquer and to be able to walk into the presence of God and take the scroll, he had to pay the price for your sins and for my sins. In order to make a way for us to be united with the Holy God, he had to play the part of the suffering lamb. The cross was not an option for him and it wasn't plan B because things didn't work out better. This was the plan of God in the universe to become a man and walk a road to a cross and die there to pay the price for your sins and for my sins. Take them away.
Speaker 1:Heather and I, my wife and I were in Birmingham here last night. We'd come in and I wanted to take her out on kind of a nice, nice date, take her out to a nice restaurant. So I decided, instead of taking her to McDonald's or something like that last night, and take her to a nice place. So we went over to, uh, brookwood mall, I think is what it's called over in that area, and went to a restaurant called Brio uh, real nice restaurant. So I was like, heather, I'm going to treat you tonight, we're just going to get whatever we want. We're going to have a good time. And so we did. I got a nice big steak and Heather got lobster bisque. We got dessert. We don't usually get dessert, but we got dessert.
Speaker 1:We were sitting there eating, finishing up our dessert, just having enjoyed our time together, and our waiter came up to us and he said, sir, he said I want you to know that there's a man here in the restaurant who has taken care of your bill. He said I can't tell you who he is, he just wants to thank you for what you've been doing over the last six or eight weeks and he wants to take care of your bill. You ever feel like you're being watched. We kind of started looking around the room. It's kind of this weird. We've been watched for a long time now, I don't know. It's a weird feeling, by the way, if you're in here and paid for our dinner last night. Thank you, I want to thank you for what you did for us.
Speaker 1:I'm actually coming into town next Friday. I'll be at Outback. If anybody else really been wanting to take Heather to a Japanese steakhouse, we might go Saturday. Maybe, if you just happen to be there, we might go Saturday. So maybe you know, if you just happen to be there. We had this really nice meal and were able to walk away without having paid a thing for it because our bill had been taken care of.
Speaker 1:I pray that you realize today in a much, much deeper way that on your tab is your sin and the price for that sin is death. The price for that sin is suffering, and the God of the universe comes to you and to me and he says your bill is taken care of, it's been paid. Nobody else in all of history can say that. Who else is going to pay that price? Take that time upon themselves. Nobody else can. That's what's unique about Jesus. He alone pays the ultimate price. Number three Jesus fulfills the ultimate purpose.
Speaker 1:This is where it gets good, when we really begin to think about this, what Jesus has done here. Because it says in verse seven he came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Get the picture. Jesus walks into his presence, grabs the scroll and takes it because he is worthy. It's an incredible picture, particularly when we know the setup of what we've seen.
Speaker 1:Just imagine some have called this the saddest day in heaven, the scene. That's why John is weeping, because he realizes the gravity of it, because he's standing there, he's got tickets in his hand just like everybody else, but nobody's able to pay. And here's the scroll eternity, forgiveness of sins, heaven, joy, eternal life, sitting on the top shelf, and it's completely silent because nobody, nobody's able to pay that price. And it's an eternity without a hope that we're looking at. And it's in the middle of that scene. Things start to rumble a little bit and the silence begins to break.
Speaker 1:And when you and I are standing there at the throne of the universe with these tickets in our hands, having no ability to pay the price for them, it's at that moment that Jesus Christ, the Lion, who is the Lamb, steps up and he says I've got enough tickets. He says I've got them all. He says I've paid the price for you and you don't have to worry about your tickets and how much good you could do or how much you could earn it, because I have it covered. I've paid the price for your sins and I am able, I am worthy, to walk into his presence, take the scroll and for you to experience the joy and the satisfaction and the eternal life that is held there. There is no more reason to celebrate than that right there. That's why we sing today, that's why we're here today and, ladies and gentlemen, that Savior is worthy of more than our religious attendance and he's worthy of more than our casual devotion or our mediocre commitments or being this thing on the side that we know about. He's worthy of our entire lives. Jesus knows the ultimate problem. He probably pays that price. He fulfills the whole purpose here and I want you to see that Jesus deserves the ultimate praise. He deserves the ultimate praise. God, help us, god. Help us in our religious subculture in the United States of America not to be casual with this King, this Savior, this Lord. He is worthy of more than us getting dressed up and coming to a place and singing some songs and going home. He is worthy of everything.
Speaker 1:What happens after this passage just unfolds. Things get really intense. Look at verse 9. It says they sang a new song. They sang a new song and they start to sing. You are worthy to take the scroll to open its seals, because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nations. Don't miss it. On that day, our worship will be new. It will be new because this song hadn't been sung in heaven all the way before this in Scripture. It had never been sung when Jesus takes the scroll because of what he did on the cross and all of this unfolds, it's a song that says you purchased our redemption, our salvation. Our worship will be new and don't miss it. Our worship will be never ending.
Speaker 1:What happens after that? I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands and ten thousand upon ten thousands. The angels were getting in on the action. They encircled the throne, the living creatures and the elders, and the loud voice they're singing. Worthy is the lamb, who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. And did we join in Every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth? That's pretty much all of us under the sea and all that is in them, singing to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praised and honor and glory and power forever and ever. The four creatures bow down and they say amen, which means it's done, it's finished, and they all worship and it didn't stop and it's not going to stop. Ladies and gentlemen, there's coming a day in history when every single one of us will bow around the throne of the lamb who was slain and the lamb who won the ultimate battle, and we will say that he is worthy. The question is, will we do that now or will we do it when it's too late? Because no matter how hard your heart is, no matter how many times you say, well, I'm not going to call this Jesus my Lord, there will be a day, the Bible says, when every single one of us will bow the knee and call him Lord, because he's worthy and that sets him apart from every person in all of history.
Speaker 1:See the portrait. I believe when we see it, we'll see that he's irresistible. I believe when we see it, we'll see that he's irresistible. Why would we talk about a lamb looking as if it had been slain? What a horrible picture. But don't miss it. If you look in verse 6, you can almost miss this. And John says I looked and I saw a lamb looking as if it had been slain. What is the lamb doing? Underline it in your Bible Circle. It Put a big explanation point next to it. The lamb is not hunched over. The lamb is not fallen down, struck down by what it had been through in that suffering. What is the lamb doing? It is standing, the lamb looking as if it had been slain. What an incredible picture is standing at the right hand of God. You know why. How does the lamb stand? Can a lamb who's been slaughtered stand?
Speaker 1:Remember back this way, this way, back in Exodus, chapter 12, the lamb would be brought into a household on the 10th day of the month and they would spend four days with this lamb. They would grow attached to it, just like we would get attached to a pet. They'd grow attached to it. On the fourth day, the 14th day of the month, they would slaughter the lamb. That lamb's blood would be a symbol of the price that we pay for our sins.
Speaker 1:That's the picture that God gives in the very beginning of the Bible. It transgresses here, it comes over here to the end, and don't miss it. The lamb has been slain, he has died on a cross, but the lamb is not laying down there. The lamb is standing because he's not on the cross anymore, ladies and gentlemen. He is risen. I don't know what other religions I wonder sometimes what other religions think on Easter, but all of us are doing what we're doing and they're thinking our guy's in the grave, our guy's still there. This lamb who's been slain is the lamb who is the lion who is conquered, and he is standing at the throne of God and he is worthy of all of our praise. We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of Radical with David Platt. For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radicalnet.