Sermon April 26, 1998 The Worthy Lamb based on Revelation 5:11-14

He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Amen.

Introduction (Coronations)

To think of royalty is to think of coronations, that religious ceremony when the king or queen is crowned. However, in this century there have been very few coronations for new monarchs except in Great Britain. Today it is the practice in most kingdoms to have just a formal oath-taking inauguration in which the new monarch swears to uphold his country's constitution and laws. Outside of Great Britain there were only 4 coronations in this century in Europe. The last one was King Ferdinand I of Romania and his wife Queen Marie in a non-denominational ceremony in 1922.

Coronation in Great Britain continues to follow strong traditions. The service used has remained essentially the same over a thousand years and the coronation has been located in Westminster Abbey for the last 900 years. The king or queen promises to rule according to law, to exercise justice with mercy and to maintain the Church of England. They are then 'anointed, blessed and consecrated' by the Archbishop, while seated in King Edward's chair, made in 1300, and used by every Sovereign since 1626. After receiving the orb and scepter, the Archbishop places St. Edward's Crown on the king or queen's head. After homage is paid by the Archbishop of Canterbury and senior peers, Holy Communion is celebrated. The current Queen's Coronation took place in 1953.

The coronation of the world's kings cannot compare to the coronation that is reported in Revelation Chapters 4 and 5. Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb who was slain for us and who is worthy, is coronated as the king of kings and lord of lords. This scene was part of John's vision which he wrote down for us in the book of Revelation. John saw the coronation as it was to occur in the future, but he saw it happening in the present, in the vision. In our text we have just a portion of the coronation. In it, two songs are reported which are to be sung at the coronation of the Lamb.

Law

In looking at our text, you can quickly see the immense size and power of the Lamb's coronation. The large groups that are singing show us the importance of this coronation and they show us the worth of the Lamb. This Lamb deserves to be worshipped with more pagentry, more celebration, more singing than any earthly king.

You can well imagine the extravagance which Great Britain would go to for a coronation. You can also think of the celebrations held for other rulers and "so-called" heros, today. Yet what do we give to our true king, our Lord, our God? Do we offer Him our worship willingly? Not always. When conditions are not right, we often will be tempted to stay away. If we can think of something better to do, we may just do it. Others will come and not stay awake. Or their minds are elsewhere.

Can we compare our worship to the thousands upon thousands of angels, the four living creatures, and the 24 elders who sang in a loud voice? Does our worship approach the time when every creature in all creation will sing to the Lamb who sits upon the throne? Do we give the honor to our Lord as He deserves?

In our sinful situation, we seldom tend to worship in the purity God would like us to worship. We offer something so weak and coated with sin, it cannot even be compared with the coronation described in Revelation.

Gospel

These sinful failings of ours are not left to condemn us, however. We are spared from our sins, by that same Lamb we worship, Jesus Christ. The way we are spared from our sins is described in another song sung in Revelation. This song appears just prior to our text, in 5:9-10. This is a new song, sung by the 24 elders and the four creatures. Their song goes like this:

"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, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth."

We were spared of our sins by what the Lamb did for us. The Lamb was slain. He has redeemed us to God by His blood. He redeemed, that is, bought back, all people, by paying the price of being slain, of shedding His blood. 1 Peter 1 says "you were not redeemed with corruptible things,...but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." This redemtion that the Lamb accomplished for us makes Him worthy of praise, honor, and glory. He deserves to have the mass choirs singing of His great worth.

The Choirs

Let us consider the choirs for a moment. The first song in our text is sung by angels, the "living creatures," and the elders. The number of the angels is beyond counting, given as "thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand." This count is not intended to be a precise numbering. Most of the numbers in Revelation fall into the category of being symbolic. The symbolism in the number of angels certainly represents a great number of angels.

The living creatures are also symbolic. These four creatures are introduced in Chapter 4, and described as looking like a lion, a ox, a man, and an eagle. It has been suggested that the four creatures might represent the four Gospels of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Others say this may represent the four elements the Greeks believed the material world was made of, earth, air, fire, and water.

Along with the angels and the four creatures are the 24 elders. An exact count is given of the elders and this number is also intended symbolically. It is suggested that there is one elder for each of the Twelve Tribes of Ancient Israel and then the other 12 are the disciples of Jesus.

The first choir then sings the song in our text, singing loudly:

"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

This Lamb who was slain on the cross for us is worthy, deserving to receive all that was said. Truly our Savior deserves to have all we can offer Him, because we are thankful for what He has done for us. As you read in the Small Catechism today our response to God's blessings, "...for all which it is my duty to thank and praise, to serve and obey Him." Jesus deserves our constant worship because He spared us from our sins by being slain. Then He rose from the dead, and lives and reigns in heaven. This king of kings is truly God and does indeed have all power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor. He deserves our honor, glory and praise. That the Son of God, the Lamb deserves this is pointed out in several places in Scriptures. For example:

John 5:22-23 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, "that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Rev 4:11 You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.

The Second Choir

After John experienced the song of the choir of angels, creatures, and elders, he experienced a second choir. This choir was even more massive. In fact it is the biggest choir possible. This choir consists of "every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them." That covers everything. Every living creature. The whole universe forms this next choir.

We are reminded of the Lord's promise, that the time will come when every knee will bow before Him and every tongue will confess. Even those who pierced Him and nailed Him to the cross, even those who rejected Him in this life. It is coming, the day when all will worship Him. This is what is written in Philippians 2:8-11

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This universal choir sings at the end of the world, the judgment day. They sing their praise to the Lamb with these words:

"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"

Watch The Lamb

This Lamb is the sole focus of their songs. They don't sing about themselves. They don't praise their works or experiences. Their worship is not distracted like ours today. They singularly and precisely worship Christ who is on the throne of Judgment and rule. They worship Him who deserves praise forever and ever. And this Lamb certainly can receive this worship forever and ever, because He lives. Yes, He was dead, slain, but now He lives forever and ever!

"Revelation Chapters 4 and 5 are the greatest chapters in the Bible on the subject of the end of the world." This statement was made by my Seminary professor who taught the course on Revelation. There are other parts of Revelation that deal with the end of the world, but 4 and 5 are the greatest. This is true because these chapters deal with the glory of the coronation of the Lamb as king. This is a blessed occasion for all believers in Christ! Those who have rejected Christ will also be worshipping Him, but they will know that eternal punishment will follow. They will be singing in the choir and worshipping the Lamb because they will not be able to do otherwise. Yet they will weep forever for they failed to worship the Lamb in this life.

This same Seminary professor was also careful to point out that the end of the world is not the central point of our faith. No, the central point of our faith is Christ. He is the focus. He is the one who was slain for our redemption, yet He rose again. In faith, we live this life looking forward to the coronation. We look forward to the coronation because we know the Lamb was slain for us. We know He rose for us. We know the coronation will usher in our eternal, pure, blissful worship of our Lamb, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.