WEBVTT 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:06.000 Imagine you are in the car and you're stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, pouring down rain. 00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:11.439 I know it's going to be a stretch, but do your best to picture being in that situation. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:16.640 Imagine actually there are two people, both stuck in the same bumper-to-bumper traffic, 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:21.440 next to each other, side-by-side in their cars. 00:00:21.539 --> 00:00:25.320 Person A is sitting there in that traffic, and that person is thinking, 00:00:25.500 --> 00:00:27.320 I'm wasting so much time. 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:29.879 I know I should have left earlier. 00:00:30.080 --> 00:00:31.179 Why didn't I leave earlier? 00:00:31.859 --> 00:00:33.299 I'm going to be late now. 00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:37.480 Why are they doing construction at this time of day? 00:00:39.700 --> 00:00:42.500 That person is agonizing over being in this situation. 00:00:42.659 --> 00:00:43.960 Why can't they add more lanes? 00:00:44.100 --> 00:00:45.740 This is why I hate living in this city. 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:52.260 Imagine person B sitting in the exact same traffic, next lane over. 00:00:52.259 --> 00:00:58.219 That person is thinking, you know, this is a really great and unexpected chance for me to decompress. 00:00:59.339 --> 00:01:01.320 Gives me a little more time to gather my thoughts. 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:03.199 Maybe I could spend some time praying. 00:01:04.900 --> 00:01:09.299 Maybe I could start listening to a podcast that I've been looking forward to starting. 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:16.400 Maybe this is a good opportunity for me to call that friend that I've been meaning to call but haven't gotten around to it. 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:17.879 I could call him right now. 00:01:17.879 --> 00:01:18.799 I have some time to talk. 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:27.799 If you compare person A and person B, they're both having the exact same experience at the exact same time, the exact same circumstance. 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:35.060 And yet, I guarantee you, their experience of that is going to be vastly different. 00:01:35.199 --> 00:01:37.699 Person A is probably going to feel drained. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:39.659 They're going to feel depressed. 00:01:40.259 --> 00:01:42.000 They're going to feel frustrated. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:44.599 They're going to have a sense of futility. 00:01:56.680 --> 00:01:58.599 Person B, I got a little too excited there. 00:02:00.140 --> 00:02:03.900 Person B is probably going to have the opposite experience. 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:07.560 Person B is probably going to be sitting there, you know, feeling a little more relaxed. 00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:09.439 A little more energized. 00:02:10.420 --> 00:02:17.020 A little more, you know, maybe even a sense of gratitude at having this unexpected gift of time. 00:02:18.580 --> 00:02:22.300 Now, we all have tendencies in one direction or the other, but here's the point I want to make. 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:29.340 This is just a small example of a very important principle that we're going to be exploring together this morning. 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:31.240 And the principle is essentially this. 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:34.159 Perspective determines perseverance. 00:02:34.159 --> 00:03:04.139 Perspective determines perseverance. 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:09.539 It makes it makes it possible for us to face and endure all kinds of pain and suffering. 00:03:10.180 --> 00:03:18.960 The low-grade pain and suffering of being stuck in traffic all the way up to the worst pain and suffering we can imagine. 00:03:19.079 --> 00:03:24.019 The kinds of experiences we hope and pray we never have to go through in our lives. 00:03:24.020 --> 00:03:30.680 This is the perspective that will enable us to persevere through anything that might come our way. 00:03:30.820 --> 00:03:34.460 And we see this perspective in Revelation chapter 5. 00:03:35.020 --> 00:03:37.540 The apostle John is suffering. 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:39.400 He's suffering persecution. 00:03:39.660 --> 00:03:42.080 He's suffering what he calls tribulation. 00:03:43.160 --> 00:03:46.920 He's in exile on a prison island because of his faith. 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:52.059 And he's writing to Christians who are also facing suffering and persecution. 00:03:52.379 --> 00:04:02.579 So John and his fellow Christians are desperately in need of a perspective that will help them persevere through whatever comes. 00:04:02.580 --> 00:04:09.300 And John is on this island and he is praying to the Lord. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:14.600 He is ostensibly crying out, asking God to intervene and to help. 00:04:15.320 --> 00:04:17.620 And it's fascinating to see what God does. 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:19.759 We see this in the previous chapter. 00:04:20.420 --> 00:04:22.100 But God meets him in that prayer. 00:04:22.100 --> 00:04:22.900 And what does God do? 00:04:22.960 --> 00:04:24.460 How does God change his perspective? 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:34.560 He invites him to join in to a heavenly worship service in the sanctuary of heaven before the throne of God. 00:04:35.080 --> 00:04:41.360 And what we see in Revelation chapter 5 is that worship transforms John's perspective. 00:04:41.620 --> 00:04:51.560 He sees four images that when taken together transform his entire way of making sense of the pain and suffering in his own life. 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:52.819 That's what we're going to look at this morning. 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:53.620 So let's pray. 00:04:55.959 --> 00:05:02.100 Lord, we just sang this beautiful song together, celebrating the words of this text, Lord. 00:05:02.280 --> 00:05:04.800 Our hearts are being warmed to it. 00:05:04.860 --> 00:05:06.600 Our minds are being opened to it. 00:05:07.180 --> 00:05:09.500 Lord, now what we really need is for you to speak. 00:05:09.840 --> 00:05:13.040 We need your word to be the word that we hear. 00:05:13.139 --> 00:05:13.699 I need it. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:14.620 We all need it, Lord. 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:20.360 So we ask you now through the power of your spirit that we might encounter you through your word. 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:25.120 That you would prepare us, Lord, to come to your table to receive the gift that you offer. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.060 We pray this in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 00:05:28.259 --> 00:05:28.480 Amen. 00:05:30.220 --> 00:05:35.980 So John, beginning in chapter 4, is invited into this heavenly throne room. 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:41.040 And so a door literally opens in the heavens in this vision that John has given. 00:05:41.340 --> 00:05:42.660 He's taken up in the spirit. 00:05:42.660 --> 00:05:47.880 And the first thing that jumps out as we begin to look at the description of what he sees is this. 00:05:48.900 --> 00:05:53.880 Everything in this heavenly sanctuary is centered on the throne of God. 00:05:54.880 --> 00:05:57.080 He realizes this isn't just a sanctuary. 00:05:57.280 --> 00:05:58.300 It's a throne room. 00:05:59.340 --> 00:06:01.780 And everything's oriented toward the throne. 00:06:01.779 --> 00:06:07.299 What we realize almost immediately is that this is not just a throne. 00:06:08.119 --> 00:06:10.759 This is the throne of thrones. 00:06:11.239 --> 00:06:14.919 In other words, this is the essence of all thrones. 00:06:15.179 --> 00:06:21.099 All kingly authority is a mere shadow of this authority. 00:06:22.439 --> 00:06:26.419 All thrones are echoes of this throne. 00:06:26.420 --> 00:06:38.020 Our perspective on pain and suffering has to begin with the reality of God himself and the throne of heaven. 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:46.700 Do we believe that there is a God who created all of this and has authority over it or not? 00:06:48.060 --> 00:06:49.560 That's where it has to begin. 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:55.500 The French mathematician Blaise Pascal understood the enormity of this question. 00:06:55.660 --> 00:07:01.199 In his pensées, he wrote that what we believe about this question determines everything else. 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:07.980 Are we just cosmic accidents floating through a meaningless universe? 00:07:09.180 --> 00:07:13.139 Or were we created by God as beings with a purpose? 00:07:13.139 --> 00:07:23.240 And Pascal says, it is impossible to take one step with sense and judgment unless we regulate our course by our view on this point. 00:07:23.500 --> 00:07:28.759 Everything else we do is going to be determined by our answer to that question. 00:07:28.759 --> 00:07:46.779 If there is no God, then we have to accept, as the atheist Richard Dawkins put it, that life has no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. 00:07:49.300 --> 00:07:56.980 When it comes to dealing with pain and suffering, that is a very hard world to live in, a world of blind, pitiless indifference. 00:07:56.980 --> 00:08:03.080 It means that if you suffer, if you struggle, you just were dealt a bad hand. 00:08:03.819 --> 00:08:04.580 And that's that. 00:08:05.740 --> 00:08:10.500 The writer Julian Barnes is an agnostic in his book, Nothing to be Frightened of. 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:19.480 He admits very candidly that without belief in God, the idea of suffering and dying is terrifying to him. 00:08:20.060 --> 00:08:25.280 Because he says there's no justice, there's no meaning, there's no ultimate narrative. 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:27.539 And this is the reality. 00:08:27.699 --> 00:08:34.339 If there is no God, then there is no grand narrative to give meaning or purpose to our suffering. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:37.199 Our suffering is meaningless. 00:08:37.779 --> 00:08:42.659 And meaningless suffering is by far the hardest to endure. 00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:45.379 That's what Viktor Frankl discovered in the concentration camp. 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:52.360 That those who suffered without meaning were by far the worst off. 00:08:52.360 --> 00:09:01.180 The people who survived, who even thrived in the midst of those horrible conditions were the people who were able to find meaning in the suffering that they faced. 00:09:01.460 --> 00:09:02.539 That was the difference. 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:06.480 Meaningless suffering is the worst kind of suffering. 00:09:06.480 --> 00:09:10.680 And it could be that the Apostle John was at a place where he's been suffering long enough. 00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:12.080 He's been on this island, isolated. 00:09:12.340 --> 00:09:16.000 It could be that he was at a point where he was feeling this kind of hopelessness. 00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:18.639 But then he goes to worship. 00:09:19.779 --> 00:09:25.379 And when he goes to worship, he remembers there is a God who sits on the throne. 00:09:25.740 --> 00:09:27.620 And that is the throne of the world. 00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:30.100 There is a God over all of this. 00:09:30.100 --> 00:09:37.019 And all of reality flows out of the objective, external, self-existent reality of God. 00:09:38.060 --> 00:09:41.120 And what that means is that there is a purpose to all of this. 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:43.580 There is meaning behind our existence. 00:09:44.040 --> 00:09:48.200 There is such a thing as right and wrong and a foundation for justice. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:52.500 There is a throne above all earthly thrones. 00:09:52.500 --> 00:09:58.639 In other words, there is accountability over all earthly thrones. 00:09:59.139 --> 00:10:04.679 However, this realization then immediately presents us with another problem. 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:13.460 If there is a God and I'm suffering and a lot of people I know are suffering, why is that the case? 00:10:14.820 --> 00:10:16.279 This is an age-old question. 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:25.419 How can a God who sits on the throne of thrones, who is all-powerful and presumably all-good, 00:10:26.259 --> 00:10:29.059 how can a God like that allow suffering to exist? 00:10:30.919 --> 00:10:33.620 And for that, we need the next image, the scroll. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:35.860 The image of the scroll. 00:10:36.259 --> 00:10:38.079 God, John sees the throne. 00:10:38.199 --> 00:10:40.039 He sees everything oriented toward the throne. 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:46.319 And then he sees that there is a scroll in the right hand of the one who sits on the throne of God. 00:10:47.019 --> 00:10:51.939 Now, in the ancient world, if you're dealing with a legal document, a scroll that was a legal document, 00:10:52.439 --> 00:10:59.559 like a will or a contract, you would normally have several witnesses who would, you know, 00:10:59.599 --> 00:11:03.799 you would roll the scroll up, this official document, and then you would have several witnesses present 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:10.419 who would pour wax along that seal, and then they would have normally like a signet ring 00:11:10.419 --> 00:11:16.559 or some representation of themselves as a witness, and they would put that symbol down into the hot wax. 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:23.779 So you'd have several seals going along the seam of the scroll representing several witnesses, 00:11:24.219 --> 00:11:26.399 and that would keep the scroll closed. 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:30.159 And legal documents, this is kind of a key point here, 00:11:30.459 --> 00:11:34.279 legal documents only took effect when the seal was broken. 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:38.879 And it had to be delivered to the appropriate person. 00:11:38.959 --> 00:11:43.459 There was an authorized person who was authorized to break the seal, to open the scroll, 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:48.319 and when that happened, then the contents of the scroll would be legally inactive. 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:50.059 That's when it became active. 00:11:50.579 --> 00:11:54.199 So, John sees a scroll in God's right hand. 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:57.420 It is sealed with seven seals, seven witnesses. 00:11:58.540 --> 00:12:02.740 And we know from the Old Testament imagery, prophets like Daniel and Ezekiel, 00:12:02.840 --> 00:12:04.300 what this scroll represents. 00:12:05.520 --> 00:12:10.860 This is God's entire plan for the world itself. 00:12:12.180 --> 00:12:17.500 This is God's entire plan to bring justice, and to bring renewal, 00:12:17.500 --> 00:12:24.500 and to bring healing, and to eradicate pain and suffering and death. 00:12:25.259 --> 00:12:29.139 This is God's entire plan to fix all that is broken. 00:12:31.960 --> 00:12:37.000 So John realizes, not only is there a God who sits on the throne, 00:12:37.779 --> 00:12:39.659 giving meaning and purpose to everything, 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:44.460 but that God has a plan to put the world right again. 00:12:44.460 --> 00:12:50.139 And I think this is tremendously important for our perspective on pain and suffering 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:52.660 in our lives and in the world, because the truth is, 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:55.660 when we ask this question of suffering, how can God allow suffering? 00:12:55.940 --> 00:12:56.900 What kind of God would do that? 00:12:57.060 --> 00:12:58.680 The truth is, if you understand Scripture, 00:12:59.620 --> 00:13:02.100 God hates suffering far more than we do. 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:04.540 Far more than we do. 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:07.360 Because it was not a part of his original creation. 00:13:08.060 --> 00:13:09.900 It's the result of the fall. 00:13:09.899 --> 00:13:15.899 When the first humans rebel, and God essentially comes upon them and says, 00:13:16.079 --> 00:13:16.720 what have you done? 00:13:18.579 --> 00:13:22.539 It's because God sees all of the implications of this rebellion. 00:13:24.100 --> 00:13:30.159 So suffering and pain are one of the symptoms of the fact that we live in a world 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:31.799 that is in rebellion against God. 00:13:31.799 --> 00:13:39.659 So no matter how much things like this seem like they don't make sense from our perspective, 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:42.059 John realizes God has a plan for the world. 00:13:42.359 --> 00:13:43.839 He has a plan for our lives. 00:13:45.599 --> 00:13:47.159 No matter how much it seems otherwise. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:51.740 This scroll means that everything in our lives is part of God's plan. 00:13:52.500 --> 00:13:56.639 It means that everything that you're experiencing right now is part of that plan. 00:13:56.639 --> 00:14:03.740 I would go so far as to say that everything that we've experienced is written in that scroll. 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:07.659 You know, it makes a point of saying, you know, most scrolls, 00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:11.159 you would take papyri and you would attach them end to end, 00:14:11.620 --> 00:14:13.639 and then as much as you needed to, 00:14:14.039 --> 00:14:16.179 and you would typically only write on one side of the scroll, 00:14:16.259 --> 00:14:19.100 because there's one side of the scroll where the grain is horizontal, 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:21.159 and the other side, it's vertical, 00:14:22.019 --> 00:14:24.899 because they would double up papyri to make it stronger. 00:14:24.899 --> 00:14:28.199 And so typically, you'd only write on one side of the scroll, 00:14:28.319 --> 00:14:30.279 because it was easier to write on that side of the scroll. 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:32.759 And then when you got done, when it was the length that needed to be, 00:14:32.819 --> 00:14:33.459 you'd roll it up. 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:38.120 But John makes a point of telling us this scroll is written entirely on the back 00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:39.240 and entirely on the front. 00:14:39.899 --> 00:14:42.519 There's no empty space on the scroll, front and back, 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:43.840 entirely covered with writing. 00:14:44.439 --> 00:14:46.019 I think that's a literary device. 00:14:46.179 --> 00:14:47.919 It's a way of saying all of history, 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:49.779 everything that has ever happened ever will happen, 00:14:49.819 --> 00:14:50.840 it's all recorded here. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:52.639 The entire plan is laid out. 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:55.039 All of our lives are written into this scroll. 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:58.120 So this is tremendously hopeful. 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:00.899 God does not waste our suffering. 00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:03.860 He hates it, but he doesn't waste it. 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:07.220 It will all get folded into God's plan. 00:15:07.340 --> 00:15:08.500 One day it will make sense. 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:09.679 That's what the scroll means. 00:15:10.319 --> 00:15:13.159 However, there's another problem that arises. 00:15:14.620 --> 00:15:16.399 The scroll, as I said, is sealed. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:21.779 A mighty angel asks, who's worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:23.840 Everyone looks around. 00:15:24.059 --> 00:15:24.840 John looks around. 00:15:25.340 --> 00:15:32.139 They realize there's no one in heaven or earth or under the earth who is worthy to open the scroll. 00:15:33.419 --> 00:15:37.299 And John begins to weep loudly with hopeless despair. 00:15:37.299 --> 00:15:41.959 And I think if we reflect for a couple of moments on his weeping, 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:46.759 we realize most of us can probably identify with John's tears. 00:15:49.019 --> 00:15:52.079 This is the sorrow of chaos and the unknown. 00:15:52.080 --> 00:16:01.680 This is the grief over war and poverty and oppression. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:10.879 It's the grief we feel over our powerlessness when we see horrible things happening in the lives of other people 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:12.560 and we can't do anything to stop it. 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:15.700 Powerlessness we feel in our own lives. 00:16:15.700 --> 00:16:26.500 These are the tears that we shed over divorce and miscarriages and abuse and terminal illness. 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:34.379 This is the fear that ultimately evil will win or has won. 00:16:35.300 --> 00:16:37.280 This is the fear that nothing matters. 00:16:38.259 --> 00:16:41.700 This is the fear that all of this, all hope is just an illusion. 00:16:41.700 --> 00:16:46.200 I think John's tears represent all of that. 00:16:48.140 --> 00:16:51.400 All right, so he's weeping because he realizes there is a God. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:54.360 That God has a plan to deal with pain and suffering, 00:16:54.580 --> 00:17:00.500 but this plan hinges on there being someone who is able to do what needs to be done. 00:17:01.640 --> 00:17:05.980 And apart from that someone, God's plan cannot be enacted. 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.120 It might as well not exist. 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:14.099 As the third image comes into view, we begin to see why. 00:17:15.339 --> 00:17:17.359 We begin to see why there is no one worthy. 00:17:18.579 --> 00:17:22.639 Something bizarre happens, and that's saying a lot for the book of Revelation. 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:27.139 One of the elders, verse 5, said to me, 00:17:27.140 --> 00:17:28.720 Weep no more. 00:17:29.460 --> 00:17:35.000 Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, 00:17:35.180 --> 00:17:39.100 so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. 00:17:40.180 --> 00:17:43.840 But then when John turns to look, he doesn't see a lion. 00:17:44.840 --> 00:17:46.360 This is the strange part. 00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:47.300 He doesn't see. 00:17:47.860 --> 00:17:49.100 Behold the lion of Judah. 00:17:49.280 --> 00:17:51.860 John turns to see what he's talking about. 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:53.060 He doesn't see a lion. 00:17:53.059 --> 00:17:57.799 I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:04.500 In ancient literature, these are diametrically opposed images. 00:18:05.700 --> 00:18:11.200 Lions are symbols of strength and royalty and conquest and power and dominion. 00:18:12.299 --> 00:18:19.440 Lambs, by contrast, are symbols of weakness and helplessness and sacrifice. 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:24.799 So there's this question that immediately rises, who is this being? 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:28.059 Who is this being? 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:31.400 Are we seeing a ferocious, conquering lion? 00:18:32.320 --> 00:18:35.080 Or is this being a feeble lamb? 00:18:36.740 --> 00:18:38.980 And of course, the answer is both. 00:18:40.019 --> 00:18:42.140 The lion is the lamb. 00:18:43.740 --> 00:18:45.460 So we say, well, what's going on here? 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:48.320 Well, let's go back to the scroll for just a moment. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:54.019 The scroll means that God has a plan to put the world right again. 00:18:54.819 --> 00:18:57.179 God has a plan to restore all that has been broken. 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:03.500 But in order to do that, in order to accomplish that, God has to judge the world. 00:19:05.419 --> 00:19:09.159 The only way to put the world right again is to bring perfect justice, 00:19:09.679 --> 00:19:13.139 which means all wrongs have to be punished. 00:19:13.140 --> 00:19:18.759 All sin has to be paid for, including our own. 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:20.340 And here's where it gets complicated. 00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:21.240 Here's the problem. 00:19:22.360 --> 00:19:27.980 If God doesn't bring perfect justice, then he's not ultimately fixing the world. 00:19:28.080 --> 00:19:33.140 He can't ultimately bring hope to the world if he doesn't bring perfect justice. 00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:34.580 There will still be evil. 00:19:34.700 --> 00:19:36.080 There will still be suffering. 00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:37.560 There will still be injustice. 00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:42.759 So if God doesn't bring perfect justice, there's no hope for the world. 00:19:42.759 --> 00:19:51.900 But if God does bring perfect justice, then what hope is there for people like me, for people like you? 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:56.420 And that's the paradox that we find ourselves in. 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:01.299 How can God bring hope both to the world and to the people in the world? 00:20:01.299 --> 00:20:02.299 Right? 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:07.279 This helps us understand why there's no one worthy to break the seals, 00:20:07.339 --> 00:20:09.480 because you would need someone unimaginable. 00:20:10.379 --> 00:20:14.180 You would need someone who is able to bring perfect judgment, 00:20:14.859 --> 00:20:17.619 who's able to eradicate all evil and suffering. 00:20:18.940 --> 00:20:25.339 But that same being would also have to be able to extend mercy to people who deserve judgment. 00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:32.699 And how do you bring perfect justice and at the same time extend mercy to people who deserve that justice? 00:20:32.779 --> 00:20:35.339 Because it's not as simple as just overlooking things. 00:20:35.419 --> 00:20:36.220 That's not justice. 00:20:36.439 --> 00:20:37.419 That's favoritism. 00:20:39.139 --> 00:20:40.720 That's divine favoritism. 00:20:41.720 --> 00:20:46.079 So how do you punish all sin but save those people who have committed that sin? 00:20:47.639 --> 00:20:51.059 And this is a paradox all through the Old Testament. 00:20:51.059 --> 00:20:55.359 It's never really resolved in a satisfying way, because sometimes in the Old Testament, 00:20:55.500 --> 00:20:56.720 God seems like a God of judgment. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:59.599 Other times, he seems like a God of inexhaustible mercy. 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:01.059 And how do you resolve that? 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:06.019 And really, you get up through the prophets there at the end, and it's really not resolved. 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:13.799 The answer is, you need someone who can be both a lion and a lamb at the same time. 00:21:14.539 --> 00:21:18.679 And there's only one being in existence who is able to do both of those things, 00:21:18.679 --> 00:21:20.099 and that is Jesus Christ. 00:21:20.099 --> 00:21:24.919 And this is how God is able to bring perfect justice to the world, 00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:28.039 and yet show unlimited mercy to the world. 00:21:28.539 --> 00:21:32.159 The only way that happens is if the lion is the lamb. 00:21:33.559 --> 00:21:37.639 Jesus is the judge, and yet he took on judgment. 00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:42.619 Jesus is the conqueror, and yet he allowed himself to be conquered. 00:21:42.779 --> 00:21:47.240 Jesus is the king, but his coronation was in fact his crucifixion. 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:57.460 And this is the great hope of the world, that Jesus has defeated sin and death through his own death on the cross. 00:21:58.460 --> 00:22:03.640 This is why we are able to hear of this victory in the past tense. 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:04.380 Weep no more. 00:22:04.380 --> 00:22:07.900 For behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered. 00:22:08.200 --> 00:22:10.620 So he can open the scroll. 00:22:12.300 --> 00:22:15.260 We have to realize, by the way, what we are reading here. 00:22:15.740 --> 00:22:16.620 Little Easter egg. 00:22:17.840 --> 00:22:19.440 Here's what we're actually reading. 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:23.420 We read in the book of Acts how after Jesus appears to his disciples, 00:22:23.600 --> 00:22:26.600 commissions them to go and make disciples of all the world, 00:22:26.740 --> 00:22:30.279 fills them, you know, promises that they'll be filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:22:31.420 --> 00:22:32.660 He then does what? 00:22:33.320 --> 00:22:34.420 He ascends. 00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:36.320 He ascends in victory. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:37.080 Where does he go? 00:22:37.580 --> 00:22:39.660 He ascends to the throne room of heaven. 00:22:39.660 --> 00:22:42.500 This is what we refer to as the ascension of Christ. 00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:50.800 In Acts, the book of Acts, we get that, the perspective of the ascension from earth. 00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:59.600 In Revelation 5, we get the perspective of the ascension of Christ from heaven. 00:23:00.600 --> 00:23:05.380 This is the description of the ascension of Christ, the victorious Christ. 00:23:05.380 --> 00:23:09.080 When Jesus ascends in Acts 1, the disciples watch him disappear. 00:23:09.520 --> 00:23:12.440 And then in Revelation 5, John sees him appear. 00:23:13.420 --> 00:23:19.020 He arrives in the throne room, and a great celebration unfolds because what? 00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:20.540 He has conquered. 00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:22.460 He has done it. 00:23:23.420 --> 00:23:27.160 And of course, when this lamb arrives, John's weeping turns into joy. 00:23:27.520 --> 00:23:29.240 All of heaven breaks out in song. 00:23:29.420 --> 00:23:32.360 And then we see the fourth and final image, the great multitude. 00:23:33.220 --> 00:23:34.740 All of heaven sings. 00:23:35.380 --> 00:23:39.180 And it's just worth reading because I couldn't do better than this. 00:23:39.620 --> 00:23:42.360 Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals. 00:23:42.620 --> 00:23:51.100 For you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:52.300 They're referring to the cross. 00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:59.040 And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. 00:23:59.180 --> 00:24:01.580 This is a song of global redemption. 00:24:01.579 --> 00:24:14.919 So these four images transform our perspective on all of the pain and suffering and injustice in this world, in this present moment. 00:24:14.920 --> 00:24:20.160 All right, so think about what we said at the very beginning of this time together. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:32.540 When people face pain and suffering, whether it's physical pain or emotional pain or grief and loss, fear, anxiety, depression, conflict, illness, whatever it may be. 00:24:33.400 --> 00:24:36.500 We cannot always change our circumstances. 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:39.119 In fact, very often we can't change our circumstances. 00:24:40.119 --> 00:24:45.579 But we can always change our perspective on our circumstances. 00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:52.660 If we see pain and suffering as random and meaningless, it's going to make it exponentially harder for us to endure it. 00:24:52.660 --> 00:24:57.100 And so we need a renewed perspective. 00:24:58.180 --> 00:25:02.420 And that leads us, there's only one real application from this text this morning. 00:25:03.320 --> 00:25:15.000 I think this shows us, among other things, why regular gathered Christian worship is so important for Christians, for everyone. 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:20.359 It's why regular weekly worship needs to be among our highest priorities. 00:25:20.359 --> 00:25:25.740 Because I would say, at least in my own life, it is almost impossible to keep this perspective. 00:25:26.359 --> 00:25:33.000 It is almost impossible to keep this perspective unless you're regularly being reminded of it again and again and again. 00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:35.980 Worship is what elevates our perspective. 00:25:37.019 --> 00:25:38.420 Worship doesn't deny pain. 00:25:38.500 --> 00:25:41.099 It's actually a place where you could be very honest about your pain. 00:25:41.099 --> 00:25:44.719 But it's a place where your pain, it's not denied. 00:25:44.919 --> 00:25:49.740 It's actually placed in the context of a cosmic redemption story. 00:25:51.019 --> 00:25:55.679 And you're reminded, we're reminded again and again, oh, this isn't all there is. 00:25:56.539 --> 00:25:58.899 This isn't the way my life is always going to be. 00:25:59.959 --> 00:26:04.000 This is a moment, as Paul says, a light momentary affliction. 00:26:05.379 --> 00:26:05.559 Right? 00:26:05.659 --> 00:26:08.539 And Paul suffered quite a bit more than most of us. 00:26:08.539 --> 00:26:13.940 So every Sunday when we gather for worship, we are reminded of these core truths. 00:26:14.220 --> 00:26:19.799 It's no coincidence that all of the themes that we've been talking about this morning, they're all present every time we gather. 00:26:20.680 --> 00:26:25.240 We are reminded at the very beginning, blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:26:25.319 --> 00:26:27.779 Those are the first words spoken in our time together. 00:26:27.899 --> 00:26:31.200 We're reminded that there is a God who sits on the throne of the world. 00:26:31.399 --> 00:26:34.059 And because of that, we know that our lives are not random. 00:26:34.859 --> 00:26:36.920 There's purpose and meaning to all of this. 00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:41.820 We're reminded that God has a plan for the world and for our lives. 00:26:42.660 --> 00:26:44.580 That God doesn't waste our suffering. 00:26:44.700 --> 00:26:46.560 That one day everything's going to make sense. 00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:54.220 We are reminded, as we go to our knees in confession, that we can't make the world right on our own. 00:26:54.900 --> 00:26:56.700 As hard as many of us try. 00:26:56.700 --> 00:27:00.700 Because even though we suffer, we are also part of the problem. 00:27:02.600 --> 00:27:08.960 Only Jesus, the lion who is a lamb, can make the world right through his death and resurrection on the cross. 00:27:09.100 --> 00:27:10.680 We're reminded why we need him. 00:27:11.779 --> 00:27:13.059 And we can't do it on our own. 00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:16.380 And then every time we gather, we are joining in with the multitude. 00:27:16.380 --> 00:27:27.240 You need to understand that as we sing, confess our faith, pray, our voices are commingling with the heavenly chorus. 00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:29.660 Who is even now singing praise to the lamb. 00:27:29.660 --> 00:27:41.320 So when we gather, when we sing, when we pray, when we celebrate, as we have this morning, the worthiness of the lamb. 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:46.300 We stop interpreting our lives through our wounds. 00:27:46.299 --> 00:27:53.379 And we begin to make sense of our lives and interpret our lives through his wounds. 00:27:55.460 --> 00:27:56.099 Let's pray. 00:27:58.440 --> 00:28:01.359 Lord, we thank you for your word and we thank you for the lamb. 00:28:02.299 --> 00:28:04.419 The lion who is a lamb and he is worthy. 00:28:05.419 --> 00:28:14.299 And we pray that in his worthiness, in his victory, in his conquest, in his sacrifice, 00:28:14.299 --> 00:28:21.259 through his suffering, we might be able to make sense of everything that we face. 00:28:22.019 --> 00:28:25.740 Lord, we pray that it would give us the strength to endure it, to persevere through it. 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:32.859 Lord, that we would, as we just said, that we would come more and more not to interpret our lives through our wounds, 00:28:33.259 --> 00:28:34.419 but through his wounds. 00:28:35.480 --> 00:28:44.039 That, Lord, the lamb who was slain, Lord, that that would be the central focus that enables us to endure whatever comes. 00:28:44.039 --> 00:28:45.920 That answers our questions about suffering. 00:28:46.599 --> 00:28:48.039 That gives us hope to endure. 00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:55.579 We pray your particular blessing and presence in ministry to all of those here this morning who may be facing acute suffering. 00:28:55.740 --> 00:28:59.200 Lord, we pray that this would speak to them, that you would speak to them. 00:28:59.379 --> 00:29:00.720 That you would make yourself known to them. 00:29:01.639 --> 00:29:03.019 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:29:03.220 --> 00:29:03.420 Amen. 00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:04.759 Amen. 00:29:04.759 --> 00:29:05.259 Amen. 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:05.259 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:06.259 Amen. 00:29:06.259 --> 00:29:06.259 00:29:06.259 --> 00:29:07.259 Amen. 00:29:07.259 --> 00:29:07.259