Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Revelation 5:11-14
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  May 5, 2019

I’m going to give you two questions to consider this morning. Number 1: Who or what is your biggest enemy? What is your biggest challenge, your biggest problem in life right now? Is it money? Is it your marriage? Is it an addiction or an illness? Is it someone close to you? Who or what is your biggest enemy? The second question follows the first: What would victory over that enemy look like? Would it be winning the lottery and paying off the debt? Would it be seeing real change and effort from your spouse? Would it be losing the weight? Or kicking the habit? This is week 2 of our Revealed series looking at specific names of Jesus from the book of Revelation. Today the title for Jesus is The Lamb Who Was Slain. And the truth is, that if you understand this name for your Savior, if you really think about who you worship, you will not only know the answers to the two questions I just asked but you will be confident of victory in the name of the Lamb who was slain!

Our text is taken from Revelation 5. So let’s catch up on what’s taken place in the book so far. Last week, Pastor Berg got us off to a great start. He preached from chapter 1 and told us of John’s vision of the Jesus exalted as the eternal king of the world, the First and the Last, standing among seven burning lampstands. These lampstands were symbolic of seven churches in Asia Minor (adapted from Zechariah 4). So in chapters 2 and 3, Jesus goes on to address the specific problems that plague each church. Some were apathetic due to wealth and affluence. Others were morally compromised, still offering pagan sacrifices. But others among the churches were faithful to Jesus and as a result were suffering violent persecution. In John’s time, specifically, Nero’s killing of Christians in Rome was only furthered under the emperor Domitian. So the temptation was to deny Jesus either to avoid persecution or simply to join in the pleasures and spirit of the Roman world. But Jesus calls his people to overcome or conquer by following him. Which brings up the obvious question: How can we trust that following Jesus will end in victory? The answer is what John sees in chapter 5, our text today.

John sees a vision of the Father’s throne in heaven and sees that God has in his hand a scroll. This scroll contains the complete promises of God and all things which are to come. In fact, the contents of this scroll will become the subject of the remaining chapters of Revelation. But nobody, even in heaven itself, is found worthy to open the scroll and John, inherently understanding the importance of this scroll, begins to weep at the realization. But then someone says this, “Stop weeping. Look! The Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed and is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. Yes, there is one who is worthy! He is called “the Lion of Judah, the Root of David,” meaning, he is the mighty Messiah, promised from of old, the great Davidic king. That is what John hears. But when he turns to look at the Lion of Judah, this great king, he sees something else. John tells us, “I saw a Lamb standing in the center…The Lamb seemed to have been slain…”  He doesn’t see large teeth and powerful legs, he doesn’t see a royal mane and sharp claws, he sees a lamb whose wool is stained with its own blood. How can this be the triumphant King? “When the Lamb took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders bowed down before the Lamb…And they sang a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain… Interesting, isn’t it? The basis for the Lamb’s worthiness is the fact that he was slain! And then John hears the whole company of heaven join in the chorus: And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels who were around the throne…Their number was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands upon thousands. (The countless complete host of heaven) 12 With a loud voice they were saying: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’” Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. The basis for his glory is his suffering. The basis for his worthiness is his death. This is the heart of the gospel, isn’t it? We see his blood shed for us and we know he paid for our sins. We see the spotless lamb offered on the altar of the cross and we know he exchanged his perfect life for ours. We know how Jesus was slain and won the victory for us. We worship the Lamb who was Slain! And yet we often fail to apply the logical inferences.

The first of those inferences is that if Jesus is glorified in heaven on the bases of his death, then our biggest problem isn’t the hardships which we face or the challenges in our lives. Do you follow? If Jesus is proclaimed worthy of all glory and honor because he was slain, because of his suffering and unjust crucifixion, then aren’t our own crosses or challenges opportunities to reflect his glory, rather than things to avoid?

We so often mistake the real enemy as the person or problem in front of us, when the spiritual reality is much different. When Jesus told his disciples about his cross, Peter said, “Lord, may it never be!” And Jesus responded by saying, “Get behind me Satan. You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Peter thought that God in his mercy ought to spare Jesus the cross, but that would have really meant God should forsake all of us forever. Peter didn’t want to see his Savior as a slain lamb, but that is what Jesus needed to be! It is in this same way that the Devil tries to lead us into spiritual self-destruction by convincing us that hardship or challenges are the enemy when God, in his wisdom can use them for good! My friends, the enemy is not suffering or hardship or persecution, and for that matter, the enemy is not success or wealth or blessing. Your enemy is Satan, (as Jesus identified him) the Father of lies, who has such influence in our world. The Apostle Paul says, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph 6:12) Your real enemy is the Devil and his sinful influence.

That’s why we need the book of Revelation. Because it portrays a great battle. It shows the Devil as he really is, a raging dragon, a beast which wants to devour God’s people. At first, this may seem a little extreme, but it tells us the truth of what is actually happening. Though all may be pristine and undisturbed on the physical surface of our lives, a spiritual war is being waged every day in our world, in our homes, in our schools, and even in our hearts. But the most important reason we need the book of Revelation is that it shows us clearly that the battle has been won! When the dust settles, Jesus wins. The Lamb who was Slain has triumphed. He is worthy because has defeated the real enemy, he has crushed the serpent’s head. The Devil may still have time left to rage, but ultimately, his time is fixed and his power cannot hold us if we stay close to the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus.

That answers the first question, but the second question remains: “What would victory over this enemy look like?  Let’s apply what we know. If Jesus triumphed over the Devil by becoming the Lamb who was slain, then own victory over the Devil must mirror the victory our Savior won. Victory looks like a Slain Lamb. Yes, you’re thinking correctly, we become slain lambs too! Paul wrote to the Romans, For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” (Ro 8:29) Christians, the ones who worship the Lamb who was Slain, are being conformed to his likeness. We are supposed to look like slain lambs! Actually, Jesus spoke about this when he told his followers to lay down their lives: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mt 16:24)

The wonderful truth of worshiping the Lamb who was Slain is that in Christ any experience, or possession, or relationship is an opportunity to glorify him! It is a chance to recreate his victory through selfless love and patient endurance. It is another occasion to remind the Devil he has already been defeated! What does this look like in action? That person at work who is making your life a nightmare may seem like the problem, but you know better. Your fight is not against flesh and blood. This person is someone whom Christ died for and so you lay down your life for them as well. You refuse to return the scorn they heap on you. You patiently treat them with kindness and pray for them. Regardless of how they respond, the Devil has lost again and you go to work with a glorious purpose each day to die to selfish gain and love others like Jesus. You become a slain lamb. Your marriage is difficult and the Devil wants you to retaliate when your spouse says something that stings. But you know that your husband or wife isn’t the real enemy and you know that victory looks like a slain lamb. So you lay your pride down and speak in love. A fight is avoided and the Devil is defeated once again. Perhaps there is a difficult cross which you bear today. An illness or trauma of some kind, whether physical or emotional. Remember, your cross isn’t the real enemy. The Devil wants you to think it is, but it isn’t. He wants you to think that the challenge in front of you is a waste of your life or evidence that God doesn’t care about you. Don’t listen to him. Jesus’ cross was the salvation for all sinners. What good might God be able to work out of your difficulty? What good purpose must he have? Whatever you are going through presents you with an opportunity to better resemble the Lamb who was slain! Wake up each day knowing that you’re being conformed to the likeness of your Savior and reflect his glory with your patient endurance. The Devil is powerless because you hope and trust in the love of God.

Confirmands, today you will confess and publicly confirm your faith in the Lamb who was slain. This is no small thing. You’ll be asked to stay faithful to your Savior, even at the cost of your own life. As Revelation warns, it is not easy to be a passionate Christian in the world today. In some countries, God’s people face vicious, physical persecution. In our country, we face the perhaps more deadly temptation to compromise and domesticate our faith. Remember that you are in a battle each day and remember who your real enemy is. But most of all, remember that victory looks like a slain lamb because your Jesus has already won the war. He will be with you and his Holy Spirit will conform you to his likeness through Word and Sacrament. As the angels in heaven sing, “He is worthy.” Worthy of your faith and your lives. Amen.