Chapter 5 Verse 8

• As John watches this heavenly scene…the Lamb slain in the midst of the throne, in the midst of the four living creatures and in the midst of the 24 elders…comes and takes the scroll out of the power of the Him who sat on the throne…
• And remember this is the scroll with the writing on both sides…the title deed to you and to me and to all of the earth with our debt of sin detailed on the coarse side of it…
• And here it is in the right hand of the One who sits upon the throne…the throne speaking of authority or kingship or judgment and therefore here He is…God the Father prepared to judge in righteousness the sin debt of you and of me…
• And yet One is willing and One is worthy…One is able to pay that debt…to take that scroll out of the hand of the Holy and perfect Father who must judge according to righteousness.  And so by this act, fulfilled on earth by the sinless life, the cross of Calvary and the resurrection on the third day…the Lamb slain…God’s grace meeting in perfect eternal harmony with God’s holiness…and John sees it all…
• And then look at the immediate response.  High ranking angels and all of redeemed man join together in worship of the Lamb! 
• Look, this is heaven jack.  The only One to be worshipped is who?  You got it, God!  And so who is this Lamb?  This Lamb slain, the One that is worthy and able to pay your debt of sin and my debt of sin?  Of course!  Its Jesus and notice Jesus is WORSHIPPED in heaven! 
• No Jesus is not the brother of Lucifer.  If that was the case then the Lamb would get tossed out of heaven right now!  No Jesus is not Michael the Archangel!  He is worshiped by angels!  Worship belongs to God alone…in heaven and on earth!
• And notice they each have a harp which means practically to us that worship in heaven is accompanied by music.  And this is where we get this idea of angels you know having harps and such.  The paintings and cartoons are over glorified of course…harps are only mentioned three times throughout the heavenly scene of revelation so rest assured your job in heaven will not be to carry a harp around all day and make sure your halo is on straight…
• However it is interesting that this word for harp, “kithara” is only used four times in the Bible and three of the four times it’s in the heavenly scene of Revelation.  So we have to ask the question, what’s the fourth, right…and why?  Well the only other place it’s mentioned reveals to us a bit about its meaning…its significance in heaven…
• In 1 Cor 14:7, Paul writes and he uses this word “kithara.”  He says, “even things without life, whether flute or kithara or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is played?”  And so this song that is played in worship by the heavenly host, on harps as it were, is a specific song…a particular sound…a song that is full of distinct sounds, in other words its known…but what could it be?
• I believe it is an anthem of sorts.  You see the harps of John’s day, they had 10 strings…and 10 speaks of the perfect law of liberty, the commandments of the One who sits upon the throne…and here those commandments…paid in full by the Son, by Jesus!  And so a chorus breaks out, an anthem…of God’s holiness and grace reigning through the love and the power and the victory of Jesus! 
• So cool!  This is the first time harps are even mentioned by John, why?  Because this moment, right here, this is when they are required…as the Lamb slain is found worthy to take the title deed!  Isn’t that awesome!?
• But wait there’s more!  Aw, but you’re not even out of the first verse…I know it!
• John sees something else.  Something important.  They each also have golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 
• An angel appeared to Zacharias in Luke Chapter 1, saying “Your prayer is heard.  Your wife, Elizabeth, is going to conceive.”  What do you mean?  Zacharias must have thought.  I haven’t prayed that prayer in decades!  You see he was old…Luke tells us he was well advanced in years as was his wife and they had never had children because she was barren.  And so no doubt he had prayed that prayer and prayed that prayer and prayed that prayer when they were much younger…but here he is…now very old…
• And Zacharias argues with the angel if you recall saying “hey, I’m old now, you missed that one man…” but not the case.  You see the angel said, “your prayers are heard…presently!”
• What does that mean?  That means that even the prayers we forget are still in God’s “inbox” as it were…He is active…He is not idle and I am convinced that every good a perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights as a direct result of prayer we have prayed…or someone else has prayed for us…and it could have been years ago!!!
• Notice, our prayers are stored in golden bowls…that do not corrupt…they do not fade…I wonder…how full are yours?  And not only that…what’s the odor?  Incense gives off a specific and powerful smell does it not?  And the Bible talks about the offerings to the Lord being a sweet smelling aroma…I wonder what the aroma of your incense before the throne and before the Lamb is…is it sweet or is it sour?  Maybe a little of both…no worries, God loves Chinese food!  HA but for real, God loves to hear from you…
• The Bible says to cast your cares upon Him for He cares for you…and so whether sweet or sour…man, talk to God…He not only listens…but He remembers…and what’s more, He answers!
• And now the heavenly worshipful scene…

Chapter 5 Verses 9 – 10

• Notice the song proceeds, “You are worthy for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”
• And so clearly heaven is not only comprised of 144,000 JW’s. And so clearly heaven is not comprised only of Arabs.  And so clearly heaven is not comprised of only Jews.  All of these false doctrines clearly refuted by the song of heaven itself…however it is comprised of only those that are covered in the blood of the Lamb…did you see that?  Jesus said “no one comes to the Father…”
• And notice, it’s the songs of these 24 elders…they claim to be redeemed to God by the blood of the Lamb…who is the only group on earth worthy to sing those lyrics?  You got it!  It’s the church!  And what’s more look at verse 10!
• “You have made us kings and priests to our God…”  Where have we seen that before?  You got it!  Back in Revelation Chapter 1 verse 6 as John is speaking about who?  Himself!  As well as you and me and anyone as he writes in verse 3 that would read, hear and keep the Word of God!
• Again, the church!  This is so cool!  This is straight up worship service in heaven man!  This is the church!  No question.  And notice the end of this verse…”we shall reign on the earth!”  Man that is your portion believer!  A king, a queen, a priest, a priestess!  Man, is that in the very midst of your dealings today?  It ought to be!  The fact that your current situation is not you!  This you will one day sing this song and on that day will it be familiar?  It can be, it should be!  Because in understanding this your present perspective will be purified!
• I’m not going to have the busted credit score forever…I’m not going to struggle with this neighbor forever…and you know what, I’m here to tell you you’re not going to for much longer at all…because soon is the day when all that we read now will be fulfilled…and then what does it matter if he called you this name or that?  What does it matter if she mistreated you?  It won’t.  So why do you now return evil for evil and make yourself not matter…your day regrettable?
• You see an eternal perspective will free you from circumstantial pain…situational sadness…because this is your song believer…this is your portion Christian…to reign throughout eternity on the new earth as a king and priest unto God…WHY?  Because of Jesus!  And so where should you active attention be?  Not on how much you hate your job or how busted your car is or how broken congress is…man it should be on JESUS!
• And then the cares of this world, the things you do need to handle and be diligent about, responsible for, good stewards of…man those things will fall right in line as the Bible says “He will make your pathway straight, and He will direct your path!”  You’ll make the right decisions, your moves will be blessed, if you would get your priorities straight!!
• It’s like the design of a car in ways.  If you get into the car and press the gas man you ain’t going anywhere!  Why?  Because you got the order all wrong.  Get in the car, put on your belt, put the key in the ignition, put it in gear and THEN press the gas…you’ll do great!  I see so many pedal to the metal in their lives without the car even on wondering why they’re stuck…man you got the order all wrong!!

Chapter 5 Verse 11

• Just to give you a magnitude maybe of what John saw…10,000 x 10,000 x 1,000 x 1,000 equals about 1.1 to the 14^th power!  Did John count those that he saw…most likely no…so what does this mean…there’s a bunch!  J
• Nerd alert!  If you convert that to decimal binary it is 49152 and 4+9+1+5+2 = 21 (three 7’s or 7*3 or 7-7-7).  What’s also cool is that 4*9*1*5*2 = 360 and 360 is 24*15.  Here we have 24 elders and then what’s the 15?  Well is 5+5+5.  5 shows up all over the Bible!  5 Books of Moses or the Torah, 5 pillars in the temple, 5 stones taken up by David to face the giant, 5 times Paul received 39 lashes…the 5 penetrating wounds inflicted upon Jesus at His crucifixion…so what does the number 5 represent…perfect law and perfect grace!  And here there is three of them (5+5+5=15)!  Told you it was a nerd alert!
• Know what else is cool?  Joshua 24:15…”choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”  That’s where you find that verse.  And Genesis 24:15 is the account of Rebekah coming out to Isaac’s servant at the well…so what?  His servant was sent to get him a wife you see…a bride…and that entire story is a picture, a type of the Holy Spirit going throughout the world and history of humanity testifying of the truth and fetching a bride for Jesus…and here is the bride in heaven you see!  Right here in Revelation Chapter 5. 
• And what are they doing?  Rapping!  Verse 12…

Chapter 5 Verse 12

• I love this.  When does true worship take place?  Is it when the worship leader is on his or her game?  Is it when the right songs for your right mood are selected by the worship team?  Is it when every line is perfect and every strum is just right?  Is it when the slide background just perfectly fits the melody?  No!
• Real deal heavenly throne type worship man happens when you see the Lamb slain!  The most impactful worship, the sweetest time of singing praises to the Lord have nothing at all to do with the songs, the music, the worship team or the person next to you!  Those that are truly worshipping the Lord see and understand that Jesus really died for them!
• You see the Lamb slain, the price paid, the love poured out…you can’t help but worship!

Chapter 5 Verse 13

• This is cool because with this song every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth and in the sea acknowledge Jesus is God the Almighty!  What Matt, where’d you get that from?
• Well its Isaiah 42:8.  God declares, “I am the LORD.  This is My name!  I will not share My glory, not share My praise!”  Yet here we see God praised, and God receive glory…but John says the song had another line…”…and to the Lamb.” 
• Did God change?  Nope.  So what does that mean?  Indeed God the Father, God the Son…One!  Glory is not being shared.  Praise is not being shared.  It is being offered to the One True God who exists in three distinct Persons!

Chapter 5 Verse 14

• And so as the Lamb slain is found worthy to take control of the scroll, reclaim rightful title to the earth and all that is in it…John’s weeping is turned into praise…and the heavenly scene is bursting with worship!