I’m really glad to be with you again tonight. Thank you so much for the privilege of being here. I thank the missions committee and staff, pastor, and others who gave permission for me to be here. It’s a great privilege and an honor to be among you.
We are going to be reading from Revelation chapter 5. Ooo-hoo, the book of Revelation! Chapter 5. We kind of do it light on Sunday night, right? Okay, good! This is a wonderful passage, a wonderful passage that can help us understand why mission is so important in a time of trouble like we are in today. Revelation chapter 5. We’ll begin with verse 1. Hear now the Word of our God:
“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. 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.’”
May God add His rich blessing to the reading of His Word. Let’s pray together.
Our blessed Lord Jesus, we bow before You, having heard these words that were written by Your apostle so very long ago. We come to You now as people who need Your encouragement, who need to hear from You so that our hearts may be stirred and inspired to serve You and Your great mission. Please take these words that You inspired to be written so that we may serve You more faithfully and more honorably and bring You great glory. And as You do this, we will bless You and we will praise You for it. Amen.
I remember once I was driving from Austin, Texas to Dallas; that’s quite a drive if you haven’t taken it. Dallas is known for being very flat, and it is in most parts anyway, but I remember noticing off in the horizon as the highway was going up a rise, a very long rise, noticing off in the horizon in front of me black smoke billowing up into the sky. It was obviously enormous and obviously something bad was happening way up ahead. But then I came up over the rise thinking this is still very far away, and suddenly realized all the traffic had stopped in the middle of the interstate and I was running into the cars in front of me. So I slammed on my breaks and finally stopped the car and did not crash to my death. Yeah! That was good, huh? But you know Texans are crazy people. Do you know that? So if that had happened in Mississippi, everyone would have sat politely in their air conditioned cars with their windows rolled up the whole time. But that’s not what happened at all! The Texans got out of their cars, started walking up and down talking to each other, had a barbeque out on the highway, and we were all sort of wondering, “What in the world is going on?” Nobody could figure it out because it was still a great distance up there, but you could tell it was bad up there. And eventually the police got things under control and they started directing us off on a little detour and so in single file all these cars were going off to the side to get around the accident in the road up there.
Now I happened to be at a spot as the line edged further and stopped, edged further and stopped, edged further and stopped – well my car stopped right next to the officer that was pushing us along the way. And so I buzzed my window down and I said, “What’s going on?” And he just looked at me and he said, “It’s a mess up there, but don’t worry, we’ve got it! Get moving on!” And so I said, “Yes sir!” because I was eager to get on because I had a big appointment in Dallas and I was going to miss it if we didn’t get moving along.
Well it was “a big mess up there,” he said to me, but he also said, “We’ve got it. Now get moving on.” This passage we just read, in many respects, says those very same things to us. It’s a big mess, but somebody’s got it and we need to get moving on. And when I say it’s a big mess, what do I have in mind? Well, take a look again. You remember the first five verses of this passage talk about the fact that God, on His throne, has a scroll and it’s got seven seals on it. It’s the scroll where God’s plan for the future is; it’s written down. And they’re searching for someone who would be worthy to open it and they could find no one in heaven and on the earth or beneath the earth who was worthy to open the scroll. No one could read it, no one could understand it, no one that was powerful enough to make it happen, because this scroll had the plan of God in it at a time when the church of Jesus Christ needed to know why all the troubles they were experiencing were happening and what God’s plan for all those troubles were.
Sounds like today to me. Can you believe that we have been going through for the last two years this thing called a pandemic? Can you believe it as you look back on it? Some of us have lost loved ones. I’ve lost loved ones. Some of us have suffered terribly from the pandemic. I personally suffered the disease in a terrible way as well. So I’m with you on it; it’s a terrible thing. We’ve gone through this for two years and at last we’re coming to church without a lot of masks on. Ahh, it’s over. No it’s not. It’s just one of many to come. But worse than that, what’s happening to us now? On the heels of this pandemic is a terrible economic crisis that’s impacting all of our lives, isn’t it? If it’s not impacting you, it’s impacting people around you and you know that that’s true and you know that the economic outlook doesn’t look good at all. It looks like we’re in for a long, long period of struggle and trial. And meanwhile, we’re living in a country that has become so violent that we can hardly believe our eyes. Do you realize that the city of Jackson, Mississippi, your beloved city, has the number one per capita murder rate in this country? Do you know that? Unbelievable! And do you also realize you’re not escaping it? It impacts your life and the lives of your children. Now add to all of that the fact that we are, what looks like, at the precipice of World War III! You’ve got some trouble in your life?
Well the early church, receiving this book of Revelation, was facing many of the same kinds of trials and troubles – epidemics, sickness and disease, persecution from the government, facing the enormously powerful Roman Empire against which they had no human power, facing economic hardships, facing trials in their personal lives and in the culture around them, violence at every turn. The church of Jesus Christ was just not having a good time in a lot of the ways we are not having a good time. It’s terrible. It’s hardship and trouble. And in all of this time and in all of this trouble, what do we want to know? We want to know, “What in the world is going on? What is God doing?” And so we start looking for people to tell us what God’s doing, what God’s plan on the scroll is. You know, they’re called newscasters. You know, they’re called politicians who tell us the answers, who tell us what the purpose is behind all of this and where we’re going, how we’re going to make it through, and all those wonderful things.
Well they searched in heaven above, on the earth, beneath the earth, and they found no one. And in verse 4 it says that John the apostle said that, “I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. No one was found.” Have you given up on the news yet? You should. Have you given up on the politicians yet? You should. Because as much as they try, they do not know what in the world is going on. And is your reaction the reaction that many have? John, the apostle, began to weep because no one could tell him what God’s plan was for all of this.
I do get to preach in lots of churches around the country and I remember one time, for a different series and a different purpose I was just speaking to the church and afterwards a woman came up to me and she said, “I’m choking to death.” And I said, “What?” “I’m choking to death.” I said, “What do you mean?” She said, “I feel like all the troubles and all the trials are like two big hands around my neck and they keep squeezing tighter and tighter and tighter and tighter. I cannot be free of it because everywhere I turn there’s no hope, there’s no light, there’s no destiny, and I do not know what my Jesus is doing in all of this.” There’s no one to open the scroll. There’s no one to break the seals. There’s no one to read it and to make God’s good, victorious plan happen.
Now the result of that is that you and I have a very natural tendency not to find a lot of enthusiasm for something like world missions. If we could make sense out of what’s going on, if we could see the end of it, well then maybe we could hold on and go ahead and push through with enthusiasm for the mission. But if you’re being honest with yourself and honest with those around you, it’s terribly difficult in a time where we have no one to break the seals, no one to open the scroll, no one to tell us what’s going on to engage in the mission the way Jesus wants us to. Remember what that officer said to me when I stopped in front of him, rolled down my window? He said, “It’s a mess up there.” It’s a mess here.
But he didn’t stop there, did he? He said a second thing. And I promise you he really did say these things. “It’s a mess up there,” but the next thing he said was – do you remember? Can you tell me? “We’ve got this.” Now that was reassuring to tell you the truth. It was very reassuring to know that someone with some authority and some capacity could look me in the face and say, “Don’t worry. We’ve got this.” And that’s exactly what happens next in this passage. Take a look with me at verse 5. As John is beginning to weep, and weep loudly because there is no one found who is worthy to open the scroll, verse 5 we read these words – “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.’”
Now John, being Jewish, and many in the early church being Jewish, when they heard those words, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David,” they knew that these were references to the Old Testament; references to the fact that God, in Old Testament days, had promised King David something. And what God had promised David was this – not simply that he would be king and that he would have descendants of his who would be king, but that even though the people of Israel would go through horrendous trouble and trials for more than 500 years, that one day the root of David would rise up, and this root of David would be a righteous King in the line of David and God promised that that utterly righteous King would rule over the entire world and that He would bring justice and peace and righteousness to the entire world. They knew this.
Now we, most of us being Gentiles, we don’t think David, tribe of David, tribe of Judah, root of David – what in the world is all that about? Well this is what our whole Christian faith is about, is that we know the name of that great King in the house of David. We know the King, the son of David, who was so righteous that He was given authority and dominion over the entire world. You know His name – Jesus of Nazareth. That is why we trust Him. That is why we put all our hope in Him. It’s because He was so righteous, so good, that the Father rewarded Him with the inheritance of the house of David, and He conquered. Because He conquered, He is able to open the scroll, to know what the great plan is, and to use His power as the King of the universe to make that plan happen. What a glorious and wonderful thing it is that we serve Jesus of Nazareth, risen from the dead. Jesus conquered sin, Jesus conquered death, Jesus conquered every enemy of God when He rose from the dead and ascended to His throne in heaven. And He reigns there now until all of His enemies are put under His feet. And when He returns in glory, His kingdom will be worldwide without any opposition whatsoever. What a glorious Jesus we have.
I am utterly convinced of this – that many times what we have done to the Christian faith is we have reduced its claims down to something that’s more easily believed than what this passage just told us. Now this is what I mean by that. If somebody asks you, “Why should I become a Christian?” then it’s very natural, very normal for people today, even in our churches, for them to say things like these – “Well, if you will give your life to Jesus then He will save you from your sins. Won’t that be a good thing?” And of course it is a good thing. But I decided about six years ago that I was going to stop going around telling people that. That’s too easy to believe. How about that? I didn’t want to make it so easy. I mean I’d think to myself, “Well what psychologist couldn’t give you that?” Relief from the guilt of your sins and a better family life and a life with a purpose. I mean find a good therapist; you can get that. But what is it about Jesus that makes Him so different is this – it is that Jesus is going to change the whole world.
It used to be in our Christmas celebrations with my family, with my daughter and grandchildren, that we would go through these little rituals. And when they were teeny tiny the ritual was basically, “Now kids, we are going to give gifts to each other because we love each other so much.” And so I would make them, one by one, give their gift to each other and look them in the eye and say this, “I love you so much. That’s why I’m giving you this gift.” Well that worked out okay so long as they were little. But that wasn’t working so well in a couple of years so I decided I was going to change the story here a little bit. I said, “This is why we are giving gifts to each other. We are giving gifts to each other at Christmas because we are celebrating the birth of the Man who is going to fix everything.” Fix everything. Yes, your personal problems. Yes, the guilt that you have. But more than that, pandemics and politics and war and inflation and stagnation and starvation. It’s going to all be fixed one day and we know the name of the Man who is going to do it – Jesus of Nazareth. And it’s time for us to start telling the world that that is what we believe. That is our message. That is our hope. That is our dream. Jesus of Nazareth is going to take care of everything. I love that.
I remember a time when I was in Indonesia. We have an Indonesian here with us today. And I was in Bali, Indonesia and I was preaching, of course; what else am I going to be doing? I was preaching and afterwards I was invited to go to a non-Christian’s home. Well this non-Christian was an American. He was a Jewish American who had converted to Buddhism and had gone to Bali. And do get the picture here – a Buddhist who is an American Jew in Bali and I’m in his home. I become deathly ill in his home, I mean very, very sick, suddenly; I think it was an act of God because he found me on the floor and he came up to me and he started shaking me like this and he said, “Brother, you’re not going to make it!” And I opened my eyes because I had passed out, I opened my eyes, I heard him, and just sort of came out of my mouth without even thinking about it, I said, “That’s okay, Charlie. I’m ready for this.” Well that was the end of it. A couple of hours later they finally got me to a hospital and I’m still alive.
But then two weeks later I’m in Montgomery, Alabama and suddenly I get a phone call. “Guess who? This is Charlie.” And he says, “Something has really been bothering me.” I said, “What is that?” He said, “You said it’s okay, I’m ready for this. Ready to die.” And he said, “I’m not. How can you possibly believe that? How can you possibly be ready to die? You’re about my age. How can you be this way?” I said, “Well Charlie, let me tell you something. I know the Man who is going to fix every single problem this world has ever faced. He’s going to make everything new. He’s going to turn the whole world into the kingdom of God. He is the King of the Jews and He is going to do that.” I said, “Charlie, do you want to be a part of that?” Silence. “Yes, I want to be a part of that.”
We undersell what our King Jesus is going to do. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He is the root of the house of David. He is worthy to open the scroll, to read it, to make God’s secret plan happen in the world. He has the power and we must believe that and proclaim it loudly, and if we do, we will get behind the mission because the whole world needs to know who is going to fix everything that’s wrong with this creation.
Well it was a joyous event that someone was found worthy in heaven to open the scroll, to read it, to make it happen. And there was a reaction to all of this because you remember what that police officer said to me? He said, “It’s a mess up there, but we’ve got it.” We’ve got it. We know the one who’s got it all – this big, messy world that we’re a part of. But do you remember the last thing the officer said to me? “Now get going.” And I was eager to go because I needed to get to Dallas. “Whew, thank you very much! Off we go!” “Get going. It’s a mess, we’ve got it, now get going,” and that’s exactly what happens in this passage.
I want you to take a look with me at chapter 5 and we’ll begin in verse 9. After one who was worthy to open the scroll and was able to do so was found, there was great celebration in heaven and the host of heaven and the myriads of people there began to sing. Verse 9, “And they sang a new song.” When you see that expression, “a new song,” in the Bible it means a song of victory, a song of renewal, of victory in battle and in war. So every time you see in the psalms or other places in the Bible where it says, “Sing a new song to the Lord,” it’s a song of great victory, of destiny, of hope. “We will win! We have conquered! We are going to make something happen; you cannot believe how grand it is.” And they begin to sing a new song in heaven, and listen to what the new song is. “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed a people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” This is what our mission is about.
In the first century, for that to have been said, it must have caused so much crisis of faith it would be hard for us to imagine. Because remember, Christianity was a tiny little religion at this stage. But look at us today in the year 2022. This is the day when Christianity is more prevalent in the world and growing faster in the world, in more places in the world than has ever been true in the whole history of the human race. Today, more people are coming to Jesus, ransomed by His blood, than has ever happened in history. We do not have to have a lot of faith to know that Jesus in fact has conquered and that Jesus has redeemed for God a people from every tribe and every nation and every language and every people throughout the entire world. We can see it with our own eyes and we should stand and rejoice in the victory of God’s kingdom in Christ because of this.
And what will be the result of that? Listen to what it says in verse 10. What a magnificent statement. “And you have made them” – all these people from all these nations – “a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” I know right now you don’t feel like you are reigning on the earth, but the truth is that Jesus has made it possible for you to be a part of the human race that will one day inherit the entire world and that it will be yours forever. This is our victory in Jesus, this is our destiny in Jesus – that we will rule with Him over the new creation. And this is the message we proclaim, this is the message that motivates us, and this is why we can get going even when the world around us is one gigantic mess. We know the world is in trouble and we may just be at the beginning of some of the worst trouble that this world has ever imagined. It can happen. It can happen. But somebody’s got it and His name is Jesus. And what does He call us to do? “Get moving with My kingdom and bring the Gospel message to the ends of the earth because I have a kingdom and priests to God and they are from every tribe and every language and they will reign over the earth with Him.” Amen!
So when the church asks you to think about giving money at a time of inflation and possible recession, when the stock market is doing this kind of thing, this is the kingdom vision. This is the kingdom hope. Get moving on it. When they ask you to start praying like you’ve never prayed before for the missionaries of this church, it’s time to form those prayer groups and to begin to do it, to fast and pray for your brothers and sisters around the world today. Get moving on the kingdom. Get moving on the mission. And when they ask you, the leaders of your church, when they ask you to consider how you can actually serve in this world-wide kingdom mission, it’s time to get going. That’s the kind of Jesus we have. That’s the kind of hope we have.
Let’s pray together.
Our King Jesus, we bless You and we honor You. We put all our hope in You. We know that You are the One who is going to make a new creation and that You are going to make us a part of it. Let us sing that victory song as we spread Your mission around the world, for Your glory and Your name’s sake. Amen.