Rev. Matthew Versemann

St. John Lutheran

Waverly, Iowa

3^rd Sunday of Easter

April 18^th, 2010

“The Great Te Deum To The Risen Lamb!”

God’s Peace is ALWAYS YOURS in Jesus!

Hear the Word of God from Revelation 5,

“Then I saw in the right hand of Him Who sat on the throne, a scroll…..And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals, and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or look inside it. I wept and wept, because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed! He is able to open the scroll.”

Then I 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 came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him Who sat on the throne. And when He had taken it, the four living creatures, and the twenty four elders fells down before the Lamb…..and they sang a new song:

“You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased people for God: from every tribe, language, people, and nation….and You have made them to be kings and priests to serve our God, and they reign on the earth.”

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DEAR FRIENDS IN CHRIST,

There are two MAIN images of our Resurrected and Ascended Savior in the book

of Revelation. We saw one of those images last week in Revelation 1, where Jesus appears as the all-victorious, all-powerful, all-glorious, overwhelming Son Of Man. And when He appears like that, we would be toast if we saw Him in our sins; that is, until God makes us who are sinful and perishable, to be sinless and imperishable on the last day. So, you ask, how did John get to see Jesus in all of His glory as we saw in Revelation 1 last week? Either, God made an exception, and somehow let John live to tell about it, or John only saw a partial glimpse of the resurrected and reigning Christ in all of His glory, or possibly John did die, and was raised to life. Revelation 1 says, “I, John, when I saw Him, fell to ground as though dead.” Some believe John may have actually died. The greek says, “John fell to the ground as though a corpse.” Well, whatever happened, the Risen Jesus, we’re told, “put His right hand on John, and said, ‘Don’t be afraid.’” And He raised John back up through the Gospel. So the first major image we see of the Risen Christ in the book of Revelation is that of the all-glorious, almighty, overwhelming SON OF MAN, and that’s how He’ll appear when He comes again. Revelation 1 says, “Every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him.” When the Risen Christ returns in all of His power and glory, it will be FEARFUL – even for the children of God – at least for a moment; but He’ll do for us what He did for John, “He put His right hand on me and said, ‘Don’t be afraid!’”

This brings us to the second main image we see of our Risen and Ascended Lord in Revelation, and the second image of Jesus is that of “The Lamb of God – looking as if He had been slain.” Indeed, He was slain! John the Baptist said, “Behold! The Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.” How did this Lamb do it?

I Peter 1, “you were redeemed not with gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect.” Why did this Lamb of God? Because God introduced the sacrifice of a substitute so that man could be redeemed. In Rev. 5 we see this 2^nd Image of our Risen and Ascended Lord in the book of Revelation. John says, “I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, but standing in the center of the throne.” Hmm? A slain lamb, ‘standing’? Spells resurrection to me!

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John is given the unique privilege of seeing the Risen and Exalted Christ in all of His Glory and yet living to tell about it. John is allowed to see what no one has ever seen:

‘Heaven’, and to write down what He sees, to bid the church: ‘Hold onto Christ!”

In Rev. 5 John sees into the very throne room of heaven – this is like a million times bigger than getting security clearance into NORAD or the Pentagon. John says, “I saw in the right hand of Him, Who sat on the throne, a scroll.” The One sitting on the throne is God the Father, and He has in His right hand a scroll. We don’t know what’s in the scroll yet, but it’s in God’s right hand, which is important. God’s right hand is always the hand by which He saves His people. Psalm 98, “Sing to the Lord a new song….for His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for us.”

Psalm 17:7, “Show us the wonder of Your great love, O God, You Who save by Your right hand – those who take refuge in You.” The scroll contains, as Paul Harvey would say, “The Rest Of The Story” from Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension, up until His 2^nd coming, when Rev. 19 says, “And (we) will reign with Him forever and ever.” What’s in the scroll is God’s final message to His church on earth. And no matter how bad the evidence appears - even if the data seems to indicate Christ has lost the battle – the message inside the scroll is that Christ has already triumphed – and even His enemies know it – Rev. 12, “The devil is filled with rage because he knows His time is short.” You see there’s a great propaganda war going on! All the devil’s got left to defeat you is lies. He’s all out of ammo.

In Daniel 12, before Jesus died, rose, and ascended victoriously, Daniel was told to “seal up the words of the scroll, until the time of the end.” But now that Jesus has died, risen, and ascended, we are living in the last era of human history, waiting for Christ to return, so Rev. 5 says, “Open the scroll and its seven seals.” This scroll contains the final message of the triumphant Christ to His church on earth; including the making known of this Good News-that everyone is included in Christ’s death and resurrection. You are living in the last era of human history folks. And by that, we are NOT predicting when the risen Christ will return, as Lutherans we don’t do that. Only God knows that day. But with 500 year floods, cat-5 hurricanes and tornadoes, false teachers in the church, Christian persecution rising, you’d be a fool to NOT be holding onto Christ. How close is it? I don’t know, and you don’t either, but when the birth pangs get harder and closer together, the baby’s on the way. Page 3

Rev. 5 continues, “No one was found, who was worthy to open the scroll,” so John says, “I wept and I wept.” Because without God’s Word, and the assurance of Christ’s victory over our enemies, we could easily lose our faith. “But then one of the elders said, ‘Do not weep! For the Lion of the Tribe of Judah has triumphed (past tense – it’s a done deal folks. I don’t care how wicked this world gets.) He is able to open the scroll.” The Bible says of Jesus, “Whoever believes in the Son already has eternal life; but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on Him.” It is both because “Christ died for all”, but also – since God won’t force Christ’s forgiveness on you – what you do with the blood of Christ – believe it or blow it off – that will determine one’s eternal destiny – as a result, only Christ can lay legal claim to opening this scroll. Jesus is the dividing line between salvation and damnation.

Our text says, “Do not weep, for the lion of the tribe of Judah is able to open the scroll.” And yet, when the scroll is opened folks it is chocked full of horrors that will hit planet earth, and terrible things that will touch our lives. How can it say, “Do not weep!”? Because of what this lion and lamb have done! How is it that we can keep from weeping when the earth is going to hell in a hand-basket? Here’s why we don’t have to weep. Rev. 1, “He has freed us from our sins by His blood.” Here’s why we don’t have to weep. Rev. 1, “Behold, I was dead, but I am alive forevermore.” Here’s why we don’t have to weep. Rev. 1 “Behold! The lion of the tribe of Judah has triumphed.” Here’s why we don’t have to weep, no matter what is contained in that scroll to hit planet earth, Rev. 5, “And with Your blood you purchased people for God.” In other words, “what’s done is done”, and no matter how bad things get in our lives, or on planet earth, nothing can nullify the forgiving cross, and empty tomb of Christ, our Savior! That even when we don’t completely know what the future holds, we know who holds the future (the scroll) in His nail-scarred, now risen hands.

When Jesus opens the scroll, Revelation 6-20 paints in broad strokes picture after picture of all hell breaking out on planet earth in these last days before Christ comes again – because all sin and fall short of the glory of God, but also because MOST will blow off Jesus in the last days. And that’s why things will get so bad during the last days. But if you look closely, it actually proclaims a message of triumph. Page 4

Rev. 2, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.”

Rev. 12, “They overcame the devil by the blood of the lamb.” Rev. 14, “Blessed are the dead, who died in the Lord, from now on.” Rev. 5, “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah has triumphed, and with your blood you purchased people for God, you have made them to be kings and priests (that’s who you are folks) – to serve our God – and they reign on the earth.” Some versions of our Bibles say, “And they will reign on the earth.” That’s not correct folks! In the greek it says, “with your blood you purchased people for God, and you have made them to be kings and priests to serve our God, and they REIGN (present tense) on the earth.” If you trust in dead and risen Jesus as your Savior, you already REIGN with Him in His kingdom which has no end. You are already a part of His all-forgiving, all-conquering, never-ending kingdom; no matter how bad this world gets. That’s not to say bad things won’t touch our lives, but it cannot nullify Christ’s cross and empty tomb, nor our place in His kingdom. We’ve got some Good News to share with the world here at St. John folks. The message of the scroll is open. The cat’s out of the bag. And that message is that the Savior is out of His grave alive. I pray that that HUGE is big enough to interfere with your sports schedules, with your tee times, with you pocket-books, and with your letting others in on the empty tomb that you’ve been let in on.

In Acts 1 we see the Ascension of Christ, back into the clouds, from Earth’s perspective. But what you are looking at today, in Revelation 5, is the Ascension and Coronation of the Victorious Christ now that He’s come back into the glories of heaven, that He laid aside, to shed His blood, so that you could be His kid again.

As the Ascended and Victorious Christ enters the very throne room of God, there to appear before God, with the blood that the Father promised, that if His Son would shed it, He would forgive the whole world. So when Jesus enters that throne room with His forgiving blood, all of heaven explodes in celebration – the Great Te Deum, Handel’s Messiah, The Hallelujah Chorus, The Feast of Victory, all rolled up into one. And if the angels in heaven get this excited over our salvation, perhaps it’s time for us to reassess our excited over our own salvation, and to get excited over the salvation of others in Christ, just like the angels do.

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Shortly before Revelation 5 all of heaven was mourning, as God the Father poured out undiluted wrath on Jesus. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” And God the Father, could not show His Son an ounce of mercy, otherwise the price wouldn’t be fully paid, and we would still have to be damned. But then His Son said,

“It is finished.” And God honored His Son’s obedient death BOTH by forgiving us, “He has freed us from our sins by His blood,” Rev. 1; and He has honored His Son by raising Him from the seating, seating Him in the Highest place in heaven, giving Him the name that is above every name; causing all of heaven to break forth in a thunderous explosion of worshiped, the moment Jesus stepped across the threshold of heaven.

Rev. 5, “Then I heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb! Who was slain! To receive power, and wealth, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and praise.”

Folks, this is a picture of coming attractions for your life. This is a worship celebration for our Savior, that will make any concert you’ve ever been to look like Hee-Haw. This is a glimpse of how your life will finish out in Christ. And what our Risen Savior is telling us in today’s text, is that when you see and experience the hellish horrors that are going to hit planet earth in these last days, don’t you forget what you saw here this day, through the eyes of John. No matter what you face on earth – that is not your end, unless you allow it to be. This is your end: “Christ has triumphed. And with His blood He has purchased people for God…and has made them to be kings and priests to serve our God, and they reign with Him on earth NOW, and forever in heaven.” Amen.

And now may the peace of God, which passes all human understanding, keep our hearts and minds in the one true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.