Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Not this past week, but the week prior to that, I took a very small group of our worship team down to Nashville for a worship conference. If you know who the Gettys are, it's their conference they put on. It's an incredibly encouraging time. And you do a lot of singing. It's literally called the Sing Conference. And you do so much singing that you are worried that you're not going to have a voice to lead worship that upcoming Sunday.
And throughout the whole time, there's these incredible songs that they lead you in, singing praise to our God in. And most of them I knew very well.
And then even the ones that I didn't know so well, I was able.
[00:00:38] Speaker B: To pick up fairly quickly. But there were a few songs that.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: I had never heard. And those melodies were really, really weird to me.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: And they were new, new songs to me.
[00:00:56] Speaker A: Come to find out, they're really, really, really old songs. And that's why I couldn't. I just couldn't latch onto the melody. And, like, I'm not a professional musician, but I'm not bad. And usually I can figure a song out very quickly. But these. I looked over at Micah, piano player, he, at one time, I said, dude.
[00:01:12] Speaker B: I cannot catch this.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: And he's like, I'm singing it just fine. Like, well, good for you, buddy.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: But these really old songs were new.
[00:01:23] Speaker A: And in today's passage, we see a.
[00:01:25] Speaker B: New song being sung of the lion.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: And the lamb that's actually really, really old. And I hope that that old, old.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: Old song, whether it's new to you or not, will be the song that you sing your entire life, both here on earth and in the life of.
[00:01:44] Speaker A: And so we're diving into revelation just very, very quickly to give you just some brief context.
This is a revelation from Jesus, from God, unveiling Jesus's triumphant victory over evil, suffering and death. And he's calling his church to a steadfast hope and commitment to him, no matter what. Okay? And so the churches are under Roman occupation. I mean, there's a lot of suffering that's going on, persecution that's going on in churches, and they're going, okay, if Jesus is risen and ruling, why are we suffering so badly? Why are we dealing with this kind of suffering? And Jesus answers that question and he speaks and John writes and gives John this incredible vision of the things to come.
And over the course of the entire book, basically, he's saying, this suffering coming.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: To an end, and this conqueror of.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: Sin and death will finally conquer it.
[00:02:47] Speaker B: So be patient, be hopeful, and Be faithful.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: And God calls them to do what.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: He'S always called his people to do, worship.
[00:02:57] Speaker A: And so in chapter five, we get a glimpse of heaven's worship, and it teaches us about our worship. And so the first thing we want to see is that heaven's worship is Jesus centered. Look with me in verse one.
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 so in the Bible, the right hand signifies power and authority, strength. And this is the right hand of, quote, him who is seated on the throne. This is God the Father, and it's expressing his full authority over all of creation.
And then we get to this scroll and it's. What does this mean, this scroll? It's got writing on the front and back, and it's sealed with seven seals.
So seven is the number of completeness, total of it being whole. And so there's nothing to be added to this scroll. It's completely full. Okay?
[00:03:53] Speaker B: So this scroll is God's final and.
[00:03:56] Speaker A: Completed plan for salvation and judgment of the world. It's the rest of the story of his glory. Okay, I did not mean to rhyme that.
[00:04:05] Speaker B: I swear to you. That's funny.
[00:04:07] Speaker A: And so the Father sitting on his eternal throne with his final plans for the world in his right hand. Verse 2. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? This is a powerful angel. And he comes booming with this question, who's able to bring about God's final plan?
Who's worthy to do this work?
[00:04:31] Speaker B: And the answer comes back, no one.
[00:04:35] Speaker A: Verse 3.
No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: Open the scroll or to look into it.
And so silence screams through heaven.
There's no one worthy, no wise king.
[00:04:53] Speaker A: No religious guru, pious priest or cultural influencer is strong enough, wise enough, powerful.
[00:05:01] Speaker B: Enough, worthy enough to open this scroll.
And John's response is devastation.
Verse 4.
[00:05:11] Speaker A: This is John speaking, the apostle John. And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to even look into it. And so this is ugly face crying, okay, heavy snot falling out, sobs. Right? He has lost it. Continually wailing and screaming. But why is John so grieved that the scroll can't be opened?
[00:05:35] Speaker B: Because if the scroll is not opened, God's promises aren't true.
[00:05:40] Speaker A: His plans and purposes fail.
But then a powerful voice interrupts John's crying session.
Verse 5. And one of the elders said, to me, weep no more. And so there's this elder, and I'm not gonna get into the full explanation. Here's what I'm gonna say. It's the front man of heaven's worship in this scene, okay? And he comes to him, he says, stop crying.
[00:06:05] Speaker B: Why?
The verse continues.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: 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 so someone can fulfill God's plan and purpose for his people.
And who is it? What's the lion of the tribe of Judah? This throws back all the way to Genesis 49. If you were here for our Genesis series, you might pick this up. Jacob gives God's blessing to Judah. And the way that that's explained is that Judah is a lion who will rule forever, receiving praise and obedience from all people.
And then in the text, there's this.
This goes back to Isaiah 11 that describes a time of perfect peace.
And in verse 10, it says, the root of Jesse, who's King David's dad.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: So the root of David will come.
[00:06:58] Speaker A: A Messiah, a savior king who will rule in reign, bringing a time of.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: Glorious rest and peace.
[00:07:09] Speaker A: And this lion conquered God's enemies. He's won the battle. Victory is his, and he is worthy to open.
He can bring about God's final plan for judgment and salvation. So who is this lion?
[00:07:25] Speaker B: He's the Lamb.
[00:07:27] Speaker A: Verse 6. And between the throne and the four living creatures, and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain. These four living creatures were angelic beings.
There's a worship service going on. That's what you need to know right now of all these angelic beings and others who are worshiping God.
[00:07:50] Speaker B: And there's this horrifying sight that emerges.
It's a lamb, as though it's been slain.
[00:07:56] Speaker A: A lamb with its throat cut.
[00:07:59] Speaker B: That's standing.
[00:08:01] Speaker A: It's an odd sight. It's just weird. It doesn't make sense.
[00:08:05] Speaker B: But as we'll see, it's actually glorious.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: So this is a throwback to Old Covenant worship. A lamb was used to atone or satisfy God's wrath against sin. And explicitly, it's a. It's a throwback to Exodus during the Passover, where God freed his people from their captivity to the Egyptians. And there was this moment when the final plague came. Plague number 10 came, and it was that the firstborn son of every household would die. An angel of death would come through, and the firstborn would die, unless the blood of a perfect spotless lamb was.
[00:08:42] Speaker B: Pasted onto the door frame.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: And if the angel saw the blood.
[00:08:49] Speaker B: It would move on. The blood saved God's people from judgment and freed them from their enslavement.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: So this is so clearly this lion is a lamb. It's Jesus in chapter one, verse one of Revelation. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ.
He's the one who was crucified and resurrected.
And so John's saying, I saw him.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: It's proof.
[00:09:18] Speaker A: It's proof to those churches that their faith isn't in vain. And so what we're seeing here is that John is seeing Jesus. The slain one ain't dead.
He's alive and well and full of power, might, wisdom and strength and God's spirit.
Verse 6 continues. This lamb is with seven horns and with seven eyes, wild, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
[00:09:46] Speaker B: What?
[00:09:47] Speaker A: Well, remember, seven is total, final, complete whole. And horns are symbolic of authority and power. And eyes show wisdom and insight. So this lamb has full authority and full wisdom. And the seven spirits of God, they're not satisfied. Seven separate spirits. It's the whole spirit of God. It's the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And so the spirit is the lamb's spirit sent out into all the earth.
[00:10:16] Speaker B: Applying his reign everywhere.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: Verse 7.
And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who.
[00:10:27] Speaker B: Was seated on this on the throne.
[00:10:30] Speaker A: So this is an incredible moment.
God the Father sitting on his throne with a scroll in his right hand. And the Lamb comes up and takes it.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: Then the Almighty God hands the scroll over to Jesus.
He's handing off authority to bring about his plan, to judge the nations and save, rescue his people.
And here's what happened.
[00:11:03] Speaker A: When he that being Jesus, had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayer of the saints. So when Jesus grabs God's plan, heaven responds in absolute, total worship. They hit the deck and they praise Jesus. So what's the point?
[00:11:31] Speaker B: Heaven's worship is Jesus centered.
We even see this reflected in Jesus own words in Matthew 6, starting in verse 9 with the Lord's Prayer, quote.
[00:11:41] Speaker A: Unquote, where Jesus says, our Father in.
[00:11:44] Speaker B: Heaven, hallowed be your name.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: Your kingdom come, your will be done.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: On earth as it is in heaven. And so if worship, if heaven's worship is all about Jesus, well, let's bring heaven down, right? That means our worship's got to be all about Jesus.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: So why is heaven's worship Jesus centered? Well, because he's worthy of it. Why is he worthy of heaven's worship? Because he's worthy to fulfill God's plan for humanity. And he is actively fulfilling it now in this should and would produce great hope in God's people.
Because remember the context that this letter is being written in. Remember the context that Jesus gave this vision to, who he gave it to. These are suffering believers. They're being persecuted, they're being mocked, they're being arrested, they're losing jobs. There's all kinds of things going on. They're struggling with idolatry. They're struggling with all kinds of horrible, sinful practices. Rome is this beast that looks to swallow any and all opponents to his rule.
And this church is saying Jesus is king. That's a real problem for an authoritarian government.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: And so the church is going. It seems like the world is spinning out of control.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: If Jesus is king, where's his rule?
Y' all feel like that right now?
Been a tough week.
It's been a tough.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: Been a tough week. It's been a tough six months in.
[00:13:22] Speaker A: Our culture, in our nation.
In some sense, it feels like the.
[00:13:26] Speaker B: Very fabric of our culture is fraying, coming apart.
[00:13:34] Speaker A: Just to give a few examples, three.
[00:13:37] Speaker B: Months ago, Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were killed, murdered in their home by a political crazy person.
[00:13:52] Speaker A: Two weeks ago, there was a just absolutely demonic attack on a Catholic school where 20 people were injured and two children, 8 and 10 years old.
[00:14:07] Speaker B: Were murdered.
[00:14:10] Speaker A: And I know you all saw this.
[00:14:12] Speaker B: Four days ago, Charlie Kirk, a man.
[00:14:17] Speaker A: That I have come to find was.
[00:14:18] Speaker B: Very bold in his gospel witness.
[00:14:22] Speaker A: He was also bold in his political.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: Activism, was assassinated for his political speech in broad daylight in front of thousands of college students.
And on the same day, there was another school shooting 30 minutes later where two kids were injured and the perpetrator killed himself.
And then let's zoom out for a minute.
Russia, Ukraine, the Middle east.
[00:14:50] Speaker A: There's wars going on all the time, conflicts going on all the time. Hatred seems to rule the day right now. And it feels like the whole world is ripping apart.
[00:15:00] Speaker B: And it seems like evil is winning.
And to be honest with you, it can be overwhelming.
[00:15:07] Speaker A: And even if we zoom. Now, let's zoom back in, even if.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: We go to a personal level, like, I know so many of you, and.
[00:15:16] Speaker A: I know the things you're struggling with. I know the things that you're dealing with.
I had a few phone calls this.
[00:15:23] Speaker B: Week of people calling, saying, like, hey, I have co workers that are actively mocking me for My faith. What do I do?
[00:15:31] Speaker A: That's not just like a God's not.
[00:15:34] Speaker B: Dead Christian movie anymore, like it's happening to you. All other folks hearing rumors of job.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: Instability and they're worried about layoffs. Well, am I going to have an income? Folks, your marriage is strenuous and it's hard and it's not enjoyable. It kind of seems like it's unraveling.
Some of you, your parents and your grandparents are getting older and you're watching them slip away.
[00:16:01] Speaker B: They're getting sick.
They're dying.
I know some of you have recently experienced miscarriages. Some of you are dealing with really painful parenting issues.
I want you to look at me.
Jesus is Lord.
That is not a trite thing.
That's not a tired or anemic thing to say.
Now, that doesn't gloss over your suffering. That doesn't gloss over evil.
[00:16:39] Speaker A: That doesn't mean that we don't work to right wrongs.
It doesn't mean we don't care.
[00:16:47] Speaker B: But here's what it means is that he and only he holds the scroll.
Remember, the scroll is God's plan for the future.
[00:17:01] Speaker A: It's his plan for salvation and judgment, and he's holding it. Jesus is Lord. He's in control and he's good.
He will make all things right.
And so, brothers and sisters, you can have hope. Your hope is not dead. He, a living hope, is alive and he's doing fine.
And he, and only he can truly.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Make all things right.
[00:17:27] Speaker A: He's the Lord over rulers and governments and ideas and powers and peoples. And he's the only one who can truly bring about real, lasting change.
He's the same lion and lamb that held the scroll in this vision 2,000 years ago. He hasn't put that scroll down.
You understand?
He hasn't gone.
[00:17:51] Speaker B: Well, that's a bummer.
[00:17:53] Speaker A: I guess we'll try again later.
[00:17:55] Speaker B: He's still holding the scroll.
[00:17:57] Speaker A: He's still unfolding God's plan in the world and in your life. And he has not stepped down from his throne.
No, he's fulfilling the plan of God right here and right now. And so if you're here this morning and you are just wrecked with anxiety and worry about stuff that's going on in your life, stuff that's going on in our culture, stuff that's going on in the world. Jesus is saying, hey, remember me?
I'm still on the throne.
I'm still holding the scroll, and I'm not going to put it down. And I'm not going to put you down.
[00:18:35] Speaker B: And by some absolute miracle, as he's unfolding God's plan for the world, you and I, for those of us who trust Christ, get to be a part.
[00:18:44] Speaker A: Of that plan that blow your mind.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: So brother and sister, who's wrecked with anxiety, who's worried about the future, whose.
[00:18:56] Speaker A: Eyes just cannot get off of social media and news stories, who's just sick and frustrated and angry, good angry with the world's sin and suffering.
And you're thinking, how can things get better?
When is this actually going to be fixed?
[00:19:13] Speaker B: Jesus still holds the future and he's working things out to his great and glorious ends. So what do we do?
Sit by and do nothing? Just okay, he got it. Let go and let God?
No, we do what heaven does.
We worship.
And now I don't know if you.
[00:19:39] Speaker A: Might be sitting there going, well, that sounds cute.
[00:19:42] Speaker B: Like what a nice little Kumbaya, wishful.
[00:19:44] Speaker A: Thinking, pie in the sky thing to.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: Say, but let's think about this for a minute.
What is worship?
It is the whole life response to God's renown.
If God is who he says he is in His Word, then everything that we do is worship when done for Him.
[00:20:11] Speaker A: It's our whole life response to God's renounce. Okay, okay, Lord, what do you want? What do you say? I'll do it.
And so in Revelation 5, here's what God does. The Father puts the Son at the center of the story, the center of worship. And Heaven worships Him. And he is the one of greatest renown. And so because he has the highest renown, our whole life is about Him. He is worthy of it. He's worthy of our devotion and our affection and our obedience and our submission to Him. Our life is His. And so we bow down to Him.
We give our allegiance to him in every situation, in every moment, and in every way.
[00:20:56] Speaker B: What he says goes.
[00:21:00] Speaker A: Because all the problems in the world.
[00:21:04] Speaker B: Are due to a problem of disordered worship.
Disordered worship, that is worship that is self centered and not Christ centered.
[00:21:19] Speaker A: Every single problem is someone putting an idol before the one who deserves worship. It's someone bowing down to something that is not God.
Narcissistic self love leads to a dismissive hate for others, an addiction, an idolatry of power.
Then we trample over people to get what we want.
Who cares about them?
An idolization of stuff. Folks lie, cheat and steal and hoard things so that they can have it.
The idol of security.
I don't want to go and invite, plead with other people to worship Jesus because I'm afraid of what they might think or do.
I don't want to say the truth because of fear of what someone might.
[00:22:10] Speaker B: Do to me and my family.
[00:22:13] Speaker A: But all sin and human caused suffering is due to disordered worship because sin.
[00:22:20] Speaker B: Runs rampant where Jesus isn't revered.
[00:22:26] Speaker A: So what do we do in the heat of suffering, when things are out of control, when sin's running rampant? We worship Jesus.
He is fulfilling God's plans in the world.
[00:22:36] Speaker B: So trust him, worship him.
[00:22:40] Speaker A: We need reordered rightly ordered worship. Not just culturally, in our own hearts we need it.
So how do we embrace rightly ordered worship?
Well, we praise the worthy one Jesus and embrace his worthiness to be worshiped.
[00:23:00] Speaker B: So what does that mean? We?
[00:23:01] Speaker A: Well we see that heaven's worship exalts Jesus's worthiness to fulfill God's plan in the world.
And why is he worthy?
Well, heaven goes into a little praise break and the choir steps up to answer this question bursting into song.
So what we see is that the way that we rightly order our worship is that we put Jesus at the center and we exalt him. And the way that we do that.
[00:23:26] Speaker B: Is is through his gospel.
[00:23:28] Speaker A: So Jesus is most exalted when we exalt in his gospel verse 9. And this heavenly choir, all of heaven sang a new song. Now there's numerous new songs all throughout scripture and they normally signify when God has done some incredible act of salvation, deliverance or kingship.
And this is the last new song. Jesus is salvation to eternal life, deliverance from sin and the king over everything. And the lyrics to this song start continue in verse nine. Worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals.
So why is he worthy to fulfill God's plan? Is it his miracles? Is it his teachings that confounded the religious scholars of the day? The fact that he healed people, his rebuke of death, calling Lazarus to come out of the tomb.
[00:24:20] Speaker B: What does the text say he's worthy of?
Because he was slain for you were slain. What? He's worthy because he died?
[00:24:30] Speaker A: That doesn't seem to make any sense.
[00:24:33] Speaker B: It's true. Because his death rewrote human history.
[00:24:37] Speaker A: The verse continues, by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. Ransomed means purchased, bought back. From where? From slavery to sin, the kingdom of darkness and destructive self worship. And he purchased a people for God.
[00:24:59] Speaker B: Means that he owns them because he bought them.
[00:25:02] Speaker A: And it's a people that belong to.
[00:25:04] Speaker B: God now makes us his children.
And these people are from every tribe and language and people and nation. Jesus is not the Savior of folks just in Richmond, Kentucky.
He's the Savior of all peoples.
[00:25:20] Speaker A: Not just regionally, globally worshiped. He's the God of all nations. It's not just one nation under God. It's all nations under God.
It doesn't matter where they come from, their skin color, accent, cuisine, heritage or family ties. They are united together in a way that nothing else can. By blood. But it's not their blood. It's the Lamb's blood that was so spilled for them. And they are made into verse 10. A kingdom and priests to God who shall reign on the earth. That means that they, this redeemed people of God, this bought back people of God, will reign with Jesus.
This kingdom supersedes earthly borders, cultures, customs, laws. It's a new nation defined by God's rule and and reign.
And as priests, they have direct access to God, ministering directly to him, reflecting his character in the world. And they reign in the earth, sharing in Jesus's reign and authority, governing in a peace filled kingdom forever and ever. That is what is happening and what will happen.
And you and I, sinful as we.
[00:26:32] Speaker B: Are, can be a part of that.
And it's possible because of the blood of Jesus.
[00:26:40] Speaker A: Because apart from him, you and I are evil. And if you don't think that, go.
[00:26:45] Speaker B: Ask your parents how you were when you were a kid.
No shade to the children in the room.
But we're haters of God and lovers of self. That's how the Bible describes people who are apart from Christ.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: We're guilty of treason, stealing glory from the only one who's worthy of it and giving it to ourselves. And the wages of that tren is death.
You know what should happen when we approach God like you know what should happen if we were to try to do this, to come here. And Jesus isn't isn't Savior. He isn't the one who died for us. Dead, immediately.
[00:27:23] Speaker B: Banishment. Get out. Death. Our blood should be spilled. Because when sinners, which we all are.
[00:27:31] Speaker A: Approach a righteous God, it's like a.
[00:27:33] Speaker B: Shadow getting close to light. It just evaporates, it disappears.
And yet, thank God, nobody in here is dead.
We get to stay.
We get to be here.
[00:27:49] Speaker A: We get to worship the Lord. And we can come expectantly that we are going to be accepted. We can run to our Father with great joy, knowing his smile will meet us because and only because the spilled.
[00:28:02] Speaker B: Blood of the Lamb, the Gospel, the eternal Son of God, creator and owner.
[00:28:12] Speaker A: Of everything infinitely above his creation.
The One who's beyond space and time, entered into space and time and clothed himself in flesh.
Flesh that was susceptible to sickness and injury and filth and exhaustion and hunger and heartache and mockery, abuse, rejection, betrayal and even death.
[00:28:42] Speaker B: Nailed to a cross, the author of life gave himself over to death for our sake.
God's wrath against your sin was exhausted on Jesus.
[00:29:00] Speaker A: The sinless one became sin for us. The judge became the judge. And he was slain and by his blood ransomed a people. For God, bought them for himself. His life is the ransom, the payment for your life. And if you trust in Christ, if you trust in this slain lamb and this lion, your sin is completely and totally forgiven. And you have the Father's love. And if you trust Jesus, you've been bought and it's not, there's no return policy.
And you've been brought into God's family.
[00:29:39] Speaker B: Do you wonder at this?
[00:29:41] Speaker A: Does it ever make you just stop.
[00:29:44] Speaker B: In a joyful shudder?
Your sin, my sin, black as a moonless midnight, killed God, killed the Son of God.
It's so vile he had to intervene with his own life and does so willingly.
[00:30:01] Speaker A: Hebrews 12 tells us that Jesus, for the joy set before him, endured the cross. Look, Jesus loves you. He spilled his blood to prove it. He's worthy of your full throated, big hearted praise. And the cross is the proof of his love. And no matter what you are experiencing or we are going through together, the cross is most chaotic day in history.
[00:30:27] Speaker B: And it brought about the greatest good.
[00:30:29] Speaker A: It brought about everlasting peace.
It's the peak, it's the climax of Jesus worth and work. His miracles. His teachings and displays of power are evidence of his divinity, his goodness, his perfection of his righteousness.
[00:30:47] Speaker B: But the cross is the exclamation point on his life and work.
[00:30:53] Speaker A: Because at the cross he disarmed the enemies of God. Who could accuse you if you have the Father's love? Who could accuse you if your sins are forgiven?
[00:31:02] Speaker B: No one.
[00:31:04] Speaker A: At the cross. Sin lost its teeth at the cross, death died. At the cross, guilt and shame evaporate. At the cross, you and I die so we can live again in Christ. And the cross is why he came and it's why he's worthy of worship.
[00:31:22] Speaker B: And it's why you and I can be accepted.
Is there a greater, more glorious privilege than to be allowed to worship the risen Christ, the king of all kings, rulers of all rulers, the very radiance.
[00:31:37] Speaker A: Of the glory of God?
[00:31:38] Speaker B: And here's the thing is you're not just allowed, you're welcomed.
God loves you.
Rebels turned heirs, enemies turned friends, orphans turned children privileged to praise the immortal, eternal God.
And this is why our worship is Christ centered, because of the gospel.
And so it is the gospel that gives Christ the most glory.
[00:32:14] Speaker A: So that's why we focus on the gospel. That's why we fixate our hearts and mind on the gospel. Christ is exalted in his gospel because it's the only thing that only he is uniquely qualified to do.
[00:32:26] Speaker B: Take away the sins of his people.
Jesus is most exalted when we exalt in the gospel. Okay, fancy words.
[00:32:35] Speaker A: Exalted means to be lifted high to the highest point. Right? Exalt means to rejoice exceedingly.
[00:32:43] Speaker B: I like this one.
[00:32:44] Speaker A: It's deliriously joyful.
And so when you delight in Jesus's sin, slaying death, destroying life, giving work on the cross, he's exalted and the pot. And the Father is pleased.
[00:32:58] Speaker B: In fact, Jesus is only exalted when we exalt in his gospel.
[00:33:04] Speaker A: There's a way to try to be.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Christ centered that's separate from the cross, that's separate from his gospel. And you go, how's that even possible? Well, it's not. But how do people try to do that? Well, they muster up some kind of. I gotta be about Jesus today.
[00:33:20] Speaker A: And I've gotta make sure that I praise him right, and I gotta make sure that I pray right, and I gotta make sure I get my act together and all this kind of stuff. And it completely divorces fixing your life on Christ, seeing him as something maybe.
[00:33:33] Speaker B: More like a moral teacher than the one who died to save you.
So we, so we have to be.
[00:33:41] Speaker A: Gospel centered in our worship because trusting.
[00:33:45] Speaker B: In Jesus is the only way to please God.
Look, God's not, not. He's. He's not impressed by your church attendance.
He's not impressed that you vote the right way.
[00:33:55] Speaker A: He's not impressed that you keep up with your Bible reading plan.
[00:33:58] Speaker B: In fact, maybe even you're ahead. That's not true. No one's ahead.
[00:34:03] Speaker A: He's not impressed that you're a loving.
[00:34:05] Speaker B: Husband or a humble wife.
These matter in light of God's grace not to earn it.
And your attempts to please God by your own righteousness make him nauseous.
You need Jesus righteousness, not your own.
And so to be Christ centered is to be gospel centered. Because Jesus is most exalted when we exalt in his gospel.
[00:34:29] Speaker A: So how do we exalt in the gospel? Well, we trust him.
We trust that he's God's Son, that he came and lived an absolutely perfect life and died a sinner's death on our behalf, in our place so that we can be forgiven of our sins. So we do what heaven does. We worship him.
We delight in him.
Going back to the text, when Jesus grabs the scroll, what happens? The host of heaven hits the deck and praises him. They worship Him. And so one of the very practical ways that we exalt in the gospel and exalt Christ through it is we sing his praise by singing the gospel.
That's why every song we sing here is way less about us and what we do for God and way more about him and what he's done.
[00:35:17] Speaker B: Right.
[00:35:19] Speaker A: We carefully curate gospel songs.
[00:35:21] Speaker B: Why?
Because we refuse to let you for a second believe that you are accepted before God based on something good you did or something good you're doing.
It's all Jesus, all the time.
[00:35:35] Speaker A: So we point to Christ and His cross.
We also preach Christ in him, crucified.
[00:35:41] Speaker B: Early on in ministry, I would go.
[00:35:44] Speaker A: To Pastor Jamie and say, hey, what's.
[00:35:45] Speaker B: The sermon about this week? And he would look at me with those intense eyes and go, Jesus. But. Right, but what's it like? Uh huh, sure. What's it really about? He's like, Jesus. I was like, that's annoying. Can you just.
I've been here for 15 years and I can tell you that he was not lying.
Every sermon is about Jesus because all of life is about Jesus. Every word in God's word is about Jesus.
And we want you all to know Christ and the power of his cross and resurrection.
[00:36:21] Speaker A: Another way that we, that we exalt Christ is we worship him, not ourselves.
[00:36:24] Speaker B: Like, well, duh, of course.
[00:36:27] Speaker A: But there's a way to do this.
[00:36:28] Speaker B: And think about worship that's very me centered.
[00:36:31] Speaker A: Well, I didn't get much out of that sermon today.
[00:36:33] Speaker B: You might think that today, I don't know, the worship atmosphere was off.
I didn't really. I liked the songs last week better or like this week's songs were fire.
That responsive reading was really weird. What's up with the four living creatures? I really want to know what those are.
Me too.
It's not like I don't. Sorry.
But what's at the center of this kind of thinking?
Me.
You.
[00:36:59] Speaker A: And when worship's about you, you're always.
[00:37:01] Speaker B: Going to be miserable because the worship is not about you. It's about Jesus.
But when you make worship about Jesus, there's always a reason for joy.
[00:37:10] Speaker A: There's songs you don't like Praise God. It ministers to others.
The sermon doesn't apply to you. Praise God. He's speaking to others.
Scripture reading doesn't connect. Praise God. His word is proclaimed. Thank God we have it.
Prayer took too long. Praise God. He hears us.
[00:37:27] Speaker B: Person who wronged you is sitting in.
[00:37:29] Speaker A: Another section and you can't stop thinking about them.
[00:37:33] Speaker B: Praise God that they're here to hear and hopefully believe the gospel.
[00:37:37] Speaker A: Do you see how this works? Worship is about Christ, not you.
[00:37:40] Speaker B: It's not about me.
[00:37:41] Speaker A: It's about giving him the praise that he's due.
[00:37:43] Speaker B: And here's what happens is that when we focus our worship on Jesus by.
[00:37:49] Speaker A: Exalting in his gospel, delighting in his gospel, being marveled at who he is and what he's done for us, we are transformed.
[00:37:57] Speaker B: We're transformed into his likeness.
[00:38:00] Speaker A: We become more like Him.
[00:38:03] Speaker B: And so gospel fueled worship transforms us. But then going all the way back to him, being on the throne and him unfolding God's plan and us longing to see his kingdom come in this world, it doesn't just change us, it changes the world.
Christ centered, gospel centered worship changes the world. Because as we are transformed through worshiping Jesus, we are compelled to call others to worship him too. And this is how God changes the world.
[00:38:32] Speaker A: Jesus is in the business of making.
[00:38:34] Speaker B: His enemies his friends through his gospel.
[00:38:37] Speaker A: You know what the difference between you and someone who hates God is?
[00:38:40] Speaker B: God's grace.
That's it.
You're no different.
You're no different than the folks who you look at and go man, they hate God.
Accept God's grace in your life and the same God who saved you can save them.
Global all people worship of Christ is the goal.
And so we behold Christ, we look at him, we, we delight in him, we exalt in his gospel. We are transformed and then we go so that others can be worshipers of Christ.
To this is why Jesus and our gospel feared Worship is how we wage war in a culture of death. This is why we love our enemies and bless those who hate us and pray for those who persecute us.
That is worship. And we're calling them to worship King Jesus alongside us.
And so if they say so, but by loving our enemies and we show them the gospel and they go, why are you this way?
I'm your enemy. You're my enemy.
Yeah. And I was God's enemy and now I'm not.
And you can be his too.
[00:39:57] Speaker A: Jesus Church worshiping him in the midst.
[00:40:00] Speaker B: Of chaos is one of the ways he unfolds his plans and purposes in the world.
And so in a world of chaos, be a better worshiper.
Fix your eyes and your heart and your mind on Jesus.
The more you and I worship Christ and plead with others to join us, the more we experience our eternity.
This is what we're going to do for the rest of our lives. And we will never die for those who are in Christ.
[00:40:37] Speaker A: We want to see all people worshiping Jesus. This is how God's kingdom comes and his will is done on earth as it is in heaven. This is how we reign alongside him. And so if heaven's worship is Jesus centered, then ours has to be too, fueled by the gospel. And if Jesus is unfolding God's plans in the world, we don't allow the chaos of the world to unfold us.
We stay strong, keeping our eye and our focus on Christ because he's ruling and reigning. And the way you do that every day is you remind yourself of the gospel you deserve.
[00:41:14] Speaker B: Hell, you get God forever.
And as one of your pastors, my prayer is that you would sing the gospel to your earthly end.
And when you take your final breath, you just keep singing because you already know the song of heaven.
It's not old hat to you, but you already know the melody. It's very familiar song.
And so when you join heaven to sing, worthy are you to take the.
[00:41:45] Speaker A: Scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain and by your blood. You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you've made made us a kingdom.
[00:41:54] Speaker B: And priest to our God. And we shall reign on the earth.
When we sing that new song. It's the song we've been singing all along.
