Podcasts about become the lion

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Norse Code is back to discuss the abomination in New Orleans. How bad was the defense and is there anything positive to glean from a truly injury-prone performance? Also a preview of the final game of the season with Lions beat writer for Pride of Detroit Jeremy Reisman.   We will be doing another Zoom call watch-along during the Lions game on January 3rd, 2021 at 12:00 PM Central US time. This is exclusive to our Patreon subscribers.   You can become a sustaining member of the show and access exclusive content at    Arif - @Arifhasannfl James - @bigmono Jeremy Reisman - @DetroitOnLion   Please send any questions or feedback to  or tweet to @norsecodeDN.   If you like our show please donate to .   We have merch! You can visit our shop at:   Also a special thank you to DrawPlayDave for our new logo and merchandise design! You can follow him @drawplaydave and visit his main comic page here:

Today’s interview for the Millionaire Secrets Podcast is with recent college graduate and serial entrepreneur; Trevor Oldham. Trevor isn’t your average college graduate. At only 23 years old, Trevor has managed to pay off his $90,000 student loan in only 1 year. So how did he do it? Instead of finishing his degree and getting a regular 9-5 job, Trevor pursued a string of successful entrepreneurial endeavors. When he was young, he used to go door-to-door selling lemonade. He also mowed lawns and bought and sold baseball cards - anything he could do to make money on his own. In college, he started a dropshipping company from his dorm room. Soon after, he started Become The Lion, a top-ranking motivational blog where he accumulated 600,000 followers in less than a year. At the same time, he launched a podcast interviewing extremely successful entrepreneurs. With this wealth of experience under his belt, he launched his current venture: Podcasting You, a company that helps identify and schedule guests for podcasters. Trevor has helped both guests and podcasters increase their leads, attract new customers, and grow their brands. Speaking from my experience, I can tell you podcasting is a tough gig that requires a lot of help and expertise. But the pay-off is huge. It’s how I’ve managed to grow my personal brand and achieve the success I have today. So I can 100% vouch for the value and wisdom Trevor brings to this episode of Millionaire Secrets. He’s got some incredible insights into the power of podcasting and how it can help you launch and grow your entrepreneurial pursuits. Listen to the Podcast below to enjoy the full interview with Trevor Oldham: Check Out More of Trevor’s Content Here

Realizing no one was coming to his lemonade stand so he went to the direct to consumer marketing marketing approach. Going door-to-door selling his lemonade at just 12 years old. This 23-year-old entrepreneur has been figuring out ways to make a fast buck his whole life. Through his journey, he shares some of his failures and how they have helped him today. Trevor Oldham, at only 23 years old has already launched two incredibly successful companies.He shares how it doesn't even matter how late you start or if you already have a full-time job. You can get started on a platform like UPWORK and start getting contracts and get paying clients as soon as possible. These were some amazing strategies and advice that he gives in this fast and fun educational podcast episode for anyone looking to become an entrepreneur or go to the next level in their business this is the episode for you!My guest is, Trevor Oldham, a 23-year-old entrepreneur and founder of Podcasting You, a done for you podcast booking agency that enables six and seven figure individuals to speak to their ideal audience. Prior to Podcasting You, Trevor started Become The Lion, a motivational based company that grew to over 600,000 followers within the first year. Trevor is on a mission to show young entrepreneurs that age is a not a factor when it comes to success!Thank you for taking time to listen to my podcast I hope you got a bunch out of it please remember to share this with a friend and leave me a review. Thanks for your support of the Andrew Walsh podcast have a great day! #theandrewwalshpodcast #podcast #entrepreneur #makingmoney #sidehustle 

“Become the Lion” on this episode of Kick’n Life! On this episode of Kick’n Life, ‘Master’ Rich Grogan is here to help us bring out the best in ourselves and gives a big shout out to the guys at ‘Become the Lion‘. (#becomethelion) Rich tells us about conditioning your mindset in order to always bring... The post Become the Lion! appeared first on KickinLife with Master Rich Grogan.

Trevor Oldham is a 20-year-old entrepreneur who’s had eleutheromania ever since he can remember. Trevor is the co-founder at Become The Lion. He’s been a contributor for Addicted2Success, Influencive, and The Daily Positive. Trevor’s on a mission to influence millennials to take charge of their lives and achieve more freedom. Useful links: Trevor Oldham (Facebook) … Continued

Our motivation fuels our ability to accomplish our biggest goals. So how do we fuel that motivation as much as possible? That’s what Trevor Oldham and I discuss in today’s episode. Trevor started as an entrepreneur before he was 10 years old. He’s now an ambitious young entrepreneur and host of the Become The Lion podcast show. He inspires others to pursue their dreams.   Learn: —How to motivate yourself to work harder and smarter so you accomplish your goals quicker —How to break your limiting beliefs —How to get motivated again when you have cold streaks —The morning routine of a lifetime —Some secrets to success   Quotes from this episode:   “It’s really weird that people just get a job, accept it, and don’t think about it”   “You can only connect the dots looking backwards”   “You need to lay the foundation brick by brick.”     Key Links from the Show:   Become The Lion   Episode 39: Using Webinars To Generate A Massive Profit With Jon Schumacher     3 Recommended Books:   Outwitting The Devil by Napoleon Hill Steve Jobs Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson Win or Learn by John Kavanagh

Today’s guest, Trevor Oldham, is a 20-year-old college student and co-founder of Become The Lion, one of the top ranked motivational blogs. Trevor has entrepreneurship in his blood, and he’s been running businesses since he was a kid. When Trevor was 17, he had success importing phone cases from China and selling them. It was a profitable business, but he decided that he needed to do something with more purpose and impact. At the age of 18, Trevor co-founded Become the Lion so that he could inspire millennials to become the best versions of themselves. One thing that Trevor learned early on is that, in order to become your best self, you have to ask for help – on top of that, he learned that many people are actually happy to offer help. He reached out to other entrepreneurs already running successful businesses, and he was able to learn a lot from them. Taking a chance and reaching out to Jon Gordon, author of The Seed, gave Trevor a helpful nudge towards finding his purpose. No matter where you are in your journey, and no matter what you are on a journey towards, there will always be someone one step ahead in the path who has something to teach you. Sending an email, or even just reading a book, can help you find success faster. “It’s nice having a revenue stream coming in, but it’s also nice being able to make an impact on people.” -- Resources: Connect with Trevor: Facebook | Instagram Learn about Become the Lion: Website | Facebook | Twitter Listen to the Trevor’s Become the Lion podcast “Five Extraordinary Things I Learned From Starting A Business At 18” by Trevor Oldham The Seed by Jon Gordon Interested in learning more about how I can help you through coaching?  Find out more at www.johnharrisoncounseling.com/individual-coaching/ Production & Development for True Calling Project by Podcast Masters

I. Introduction The Psalmist says, “O magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt His name together.” The word “magnify” means “to appear to make greater”. We may well wonder how we can possibly make an infinitely majestic God greater or glorify Him in any sense of adding to His glory — of course we cannot do that. In the 17th century, when Galileo viewed Saturn and its rings through his telescope, he did not make Saturn any bigger or do anything do anything to add to what it already was. However, it appeared far greater to him. He was able to partake of the breathtaking beauty and then study the details because of the instrument he used to view it. In the same way, we can think of the Word of God like a telescope: through exegesis, through study of nouns and verbs and paragraphs, God’s Word allows us to view the glory of Christ. We see through a glass darkly, not clearly and perfectly like we will someday, but better than without it. My goal today is to magnify and exalt the name of Christ together with you, to make Him appear greater to all of us. I believe I can safely say that there is not one person here today who has a proper estimation of Jesus, even among those who have been believers with a healthy Christian walk for dozens of years, even decades. We all underestimate Jesus. It is my privilege to help all of us estimate him in His true worth a little bit more with each sermon I preach, to enable you to see His greatness and majesty. There are few chapters equal to Revelation 5 to do that for us. As we began last week, we will continue following the Apostle John from the rocky island of Patmos off the coastline of modern day Turkey in the Aegean Sea. He was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and he heard a voice behind him commanding him to come up to where the voice was speaking from. He had no natural ability to obey, but as he was lifted up, he saw a doorway standing open in Heaven. Revelation 4:1-2 speaks of this Spirit flight: “After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in Heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.’ At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in Heaven with someone sitting on it.” We will continue following John by the ministry of the Spirit, by the ministry of the Word of God, through the inner eye of faith up into that Heavenly court. We will see the throne of God, and Almighty God Himself seated on His throne. We will also see the resurrected, glorified Christ in His victory over sin and death right there in the throne room of God. Last week we began by unfolding a scene of the surpassing greatness of Almighty God, the creator of Heaven and Earth, seated on His throne. Surrounding that throne were twenty-four other thrones with elders seated on them. There were four living creatures surrounding the throne as well, continually — day and night — worshipping Almighty God. As we saw last week, the focus in Revelation 4 is on worship of God, the Creator: “Worthy are you, the creator of all things, because you created all things and by Your will, they were created and have their being.” In Revelation 5, the focus is on worship of Christ the Redeemer. When we step back with these two emphases in mind, we see that Revelation 4-5 should be seen together as one vision. They provide a helpful theological division of God the Creator and Christ the Redeemer, which enhances our understanding of the worth and value of God in that division. As we look at Revelation 5, four things will focus our attention: first, the scroll in the right hand of God; second, the proclamation of the mighty angel about that scroll; third, the lamb receiving the scroll; and fourth, the honor and glory given by all creation to the lamb because of the scroll. II. The Scroll: God’s Plan for Redemption and Judgment for the Earth The Scroll Described Verse 1 says, “Then I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides, sealed with seven seals.” The Greek word for scroll is biblos, from which we get Bible or bibliography — in modern terms, we would translate it as “book”, but most likely, it was a rolled-up scroll. This scroll was in the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne, the ruler of the universe who is God Almighty, God the Father, God the Creator of the ends of the earth. John saw Him seated on a throne proclaiming His sovereign right to rule over all the universe. He is absolutely sovereign over Heaven and Earth, and He is sovereign over the events of Heaven and Earth as well. Not only did He originally create all things, but by His will and by His word, they are continually upheld in their creation. Creator God makes a continual decision and commitment to keep them existing. There is no independent existence from this Creator God, even now. This scroll must have been a precious and valuable thing indeed, because it was in the right hand of the one seated on the throne, and because it was the focus of so much attention. In some way, it was revealed to John — there is no other way he could know since the scroll was rolled up — that there was writing on both sides, a fact which he shared with his readers. Perhaps, as we know in a dream that a thing is true, he knew without question; or perhaps in some way he could see the writing on both sides even with the seals. Regardless of how he was able to know, the writing on both sides signified that the document was a complete account. As a full account, completely covered with writing, there would have been no space to add to it; nor, since it was most certainly the writing of God, would anyone have the right to take away from it. John noted that that the scroll was sealed with seven seals. The seal was an indication of kingly authority, or the authority of a ruler. It implied ownership and forbade, by implication of its presence, anyone who did not have the right to break the seals to open and read it. There were seven seals, indicating a complete and perfect sealing of the scroll. Its contents were a complete mystery prior to being revealed to John. No one could pry up a corner of it to look inside — you could imagine some servant often did so back in the day trying to peek at a letter that he had no right to read, to satisfy his curiosity with just a few words before smoothing it so the master wouldn’t be able to tell what he had done. With this scroll, with the complete and perfect seal, there was no way to look ahead to know its contents until the one with the right to open it revealed it. Further, based on Revelation 6-8, which describes the unfolding account of the seven seals being opened, the scroll was probably, in some sense, progressively sealed. Each seal was broken in turn, revealing one event at a time, so perhaps this scroll was rolled up and sealed, rolled up a little more and sealed, until it contained seven seals. The Scroll Interpreted As is common throughout the book of Revelation with its many symbols and signs, John did not reveal the significance of the scroll, or exactly what it represented. One commentator who, in my opinion is trustworthy, says it is the title deed for the earth, conveying ownership. Others view it as being the unfolding redemptive plan of God, which naturally results in Christ coming to own or rule over the earth. Regardless of its exact identification, this scroll contains the sovereign, predestined plan of God written out in His hand before the creation of the world; the writing on both sides is set — nothing can change it, the ink is dry. The plan is determined, but what was written on the scroll was mysterious to us before God revealed it and John shared the revelation. As the seals were broken, the plan unfolded and became clearer and clearer. Thus it is with God sovereign plan — we cannot predict it. It is written before the foundation of the world. Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.” As the seals were broken, the plan of God was revealed successively to us. III. The Angel’s Proclamation: Who is Worthy? The Nature of the Proclamation After John saw the scroll, he heard the angel’s proclamation in verse 2: “And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?’” The proclamation was a task assigned to a mighty angel, noteworthy for his immense power — he ”proclaim[ed] in a loud voice. The message could be heard all across creation, it seems — a public announcement, meant for everyone to hear. The proclamation was a question, rhetorical and challenging in nature, seeking to identify the One “who is worthy…” The legend of King Arthur centered around Excalibur, a powerful, magical sword stuck in an anvil, embedded in a boulder. On that sword was inscribed this caption: “Who so pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is right-wise born king of all England.” It was the means of qualifying who had the right to rule over England, as well as identifying who the one person was. The task could be accomplished only by the true and future king of England. Many tried to pull the sword out to no avail. One day a young squire helping his knight Sir Kay prepare for a jousting tournament realized he had forgotten Sir Kay’s sword. He went in search of a sword and found one sticking in a stone which he had never seen before. Without any effort, he pulled it out of the stone and took it to Sir Kay. Sir Kay took him back to the stone, put it back in, and tried unsuccessfully to pull it back out. The squire, who was Arthur, the future King of all England, was able to remove the sword as before, with no effort at all. That legend gives us a good picture of the spiritual reality of the meaning of the proclamation: whoever could take the scroll from the right hand of Him who sits on the throne will achieve something far greater than we can possibly imagine. He will be the rightful King, not only of one land, and not only for a few decades until he should die. He will be the rightful King of the entire universe for all eternity. He will be the King over all kings, the Lord over all lords. The Purposes of the Proclamation The angel accomplished several purposes with his proclamation. First, it displayed the impossibility of just anyone taking the scroll and opening its seals — it was a great and daunting task. Taking the scroll from the right hand of Him who sits on the throne implied the right to rule over Heaven and Earth. Opening the scroll seal by seal implied the right to govern the development of God’s plan for the redemption of His elect and the judgement of sinners on Earth. It was a weighty plan. The rights and privileges of taking this scroll and opening it were greatly dramatized by the pomp and circumstance of the setting and the mighty angel’s loud proclamation. Second, the purpose of the proclamation was to display the disqualification of all creation from this task. After the angel made his loud, bold proclamation, silence and stillness ensued, and, it seemed, failure. Verse 3: “But no one in Heaven or on earth or under the Earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.” This includes every human being that has ever lived. All of the mightiest emperors are disqualified: Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Caesar Augustus, Genghis Khan, Napoleon. The wisest philosophers are not worthy: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Descartes, all the great thinkers of the human race. The greatest scientists and inventors are eliminated: Archimedes, Pythagoras, Da Vinci, Newton, Edison, Einstein, every last one of those great scientists and inventors. When I was a student at MIT, there was a wall forming a ring of honor, etched with the names of those who had contributed to the advancement of science, big letters for the big, famous heroes, smaller letters for the lesser known but still significant ones. Many had the ambition of having their names written on the wall someday. Occasionally, someone would do it with a spray can — clearly no honor in that. The authentic names had been there for a century. All of those people are disqualified from the task of opening the scroll. Even the humble unknowns, unsung heroes of the faith, about whom we as Christians may be more aware but who are mostly anonymous to all but God, are excluded from qualifying: the widow who gave the two copper coins to the synagogue, which was all that she had; all the common, humble, meek, lowly, gentle people are not worthy. Even the godliest of men throughout scriptural and church history do not meet the criteria: Abel, Enoch, Job, Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, John the Baptist, the Apostles, Peter, Paul, the holy martyrs whose blood was shed for the kingdom of Christ, missionaries who left their homes and their families and made immense sacrifice, whose children died from tropical fevers, whose own bodies were broken by their exertion for Christ — all out of love for Christ and love for His kingdom — were all disqualified. The godly Apostle John himself, who is receiving this revelation, knew very well he did not deserve the honor. He would never have walked forward and taken that scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. You and I are most certainly among the list of those who are disqualified, who are not worthy. Not one of us would be so bold as to start to walk forward across that Heavenly floor to the Heavenly throne to take that scroll from the right hand of God. We are disqualified. Why is there no one to be found to take the scroll? Romans 3:23 says plainly, “… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” We are all sinful, and thus disqualified. However, I will take it one step further. Even the holy angels, who are not disqualified because of sin, are not worthy to take the scroll: the seraphim in Isaiah 6, for example, who are holy, have never violated any of God’s laws and have only passionately served him with all of their being, are not worthy. They are created beings and did not shed their blood to atone for sinners. Not one man, woman, child, angel, demon, living creature or being of any kind has the right to step forward and take that scroll from the right hand of Him who sits on the throne. Here the entire human race finds its humility: we are simply not worthy to take the scroll, much less to open it or to look inside. The third reason for the proclamation was to heighten John’s sense, and through him, our sense of grief and perhaps anticipation. Verse 4: “I wept and wept, because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.” This was an appropriate reaction to the apparent fact that no one was able to take the weighty word of God to administer His rule over the Earth. He had a sense that someone needed to do this, and experienced grief over the loss that resulted. Fourth, the proclamation ultimately displayed the greatness of Christ. This was the primary intent of the angel, to put Christ front and center. This futile search in Heaven and earth and under the earth served to heighten the greatness of the one who finally did boldly stride up to the throne to take the scroll from the right hand of Almighty God. The angel’s proclamation and the resulting unworthiness of the entire universe emphasized the infinite worthiness of Christ, as we see in verse 5: “Then one of the Elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. [Behold] the Lion [Isn’t that powerful?] of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” This was the lion who had triumphed and would have some terrifying great appearance and display of dreadful, overwhelming power. IV. A Lamb on the Cross One recurring aspect of John’s vision is that there was often a difference between what he heard and what he saw. It is an interesting interpretive theme — I invite you explore and study these things for yourself. Here, it is instructive and helpful: he hears about a lion, but he sees a lamb looking as if it had been slain. This is powerful: If you had been alive in Jesus’ day, would you have seen a mighty eternal lion ruling over Heaven and Earth and under the earth? Even more, as he was dying on the cross, would you have seen glory? Though there was glory in His life and in His death, you would not have seen it except with eyes of faith. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him; he had nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. We must be instructed about His greatness by the Word. If you had seen him only with the eye, he would have looked like a dead Jewish carpenter on a cross. But we know the truth; we know who he really is. In verse 6, we have this shocking word: “Then I saw a lamb, looking as if it had been slain.” John’s conquering hero, the one who had the right to open the scroll, was a lamb. First and foremost for us, He is a lamb on the cross. The Lamb Predestined We are told later in the Book of Revelation that this lamb was predestined before the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:8 calls him, “…the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” He was chosen by God the Father for this role to be the Lamb from before the foundation of the world. Before God said, “Let there be light,” the Father and the Son made this covenant — the Son would be the Lamb who would die for the sins of the world. God worked out the salvation plan in its entirety, to its last detail, before the world began. He did not “work it out” in a human sense, studying the problem, after it had arisen, from all angles, considering and selecting from among possible solutions. There was only one solution to the problem which God foreknew before He made the world, and the solution likewise had its origin with God. The Lamb Predicted Then, from the beginning of time, through unfolding centuries of redemptive history, God planted prophecies into His spoken Word through His chosen prophets and apostles. He provided predictions about this Lamb who would come and die for the sins of the world. In Genesis 49, Jacob blessed his sons as he was nearing the end of his life. Typically the eldest son would be the one who held the place of highest honor and blessing from the father. However, Jacob reserved the greatest blessing for Judah, the fourth of his sons, honoring him with these prophetic words: “Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” As we look back with knowledge, we see a prophecy of Jesus. All they understood then was that somehow a descendant of Judah would come who would deserve to rule over the nations. Now we know that Jesus is that Lion of the tribe of Judah. He is also called the Root of David. We see in Jeremiah 23:5-6, again centuries before Jesus was born, this prophecy: “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord our Righteousness.’” Jesus is the Branch or the Root of David, and He has also been given this name: The Lord our Righteousness. Prophecy identified him beforehand, but to understand the significance of the Lamb who was slain, we must understand the animal sacrificial system. In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned, their eyes were opened to realize their nakedness, and they tried to cover themselves, inadequately, with fig leaves. Instead, God killed an animal and made garments of skin for them to cover their nakedness. This was a predictive picture of redemption, of imputed righteousness through sacrifice of an innocent animal, but was temporary and meant only to foreshadow the permanent gift of righteousness later given by Christ on the cross. Animal sacrifice was later commanded by God and became firmly established in Jewish history. Noah offered up some of the clean animals after the flood and the fragrant offering went up before God. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob offered up animal sacrifices. Moses established and codified the practice to cover the sins of the Jewish nation. Through the Levitical priesthood, the administration of animal sacrifices at the tabernacle and the temple repeatedly depicted three lessons. First, all sin deserves the death penalty — there is no other way to interpret the fact that an animal died and had its blood poured out. Second, the death penalty can be paid by a substitute — the priest would put his hands on the head of the animal and confess the sins of the people to transfer their guilt. The animal would die and the people would go home alive. Third and most important, the substitute cannot be an animal — the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away human sin. The whole thing was meant to be a symbol, a lived-out prophetic picture of what was to come, not a permanent removal of sin. The Lamb Presented The Lamb was predestined, the Lamb was predicted, and then at the right time, the Lamb was presented. Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, sinless. He grew up away from the public eye until He was ready to be presented to Israel and to the world as the Messiah. This happened at the Jordan River where John the Baptist was carrying on his prophetic ministry, baptizing people for repentance with water. He saw Jesus coming toward him, pointed at Him, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” He was presented to Israel in that manner, but most significantly, God presented Christ to His human enemies and then to Himself for our redemption. Romans 3:23-25 says, “God presented [Jesus] a sacrifice of atonement [propitiation], through faith in His blood.” He presented Him for death at the human level to the Jews and the Romans, but then ultimately He presented Him to Himself to pay for our sins — the Lamb of God. The Lamb Punished Finally, He was the Lamb punished. Three phrases speak of the punishment of the Lamb. Verse 6: “Then I saw a lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne.” Verse 9: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God.” Verse 12: “In a loud voice, they sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’” It is as though Heaven is obsessed with the bloody death of this Lamb. The doctrine is clear here: The essence of Christ’s lamb-like behavior was that he allowed himself to be slain. No one took His life from Him, but He laid it down freely. What a mystery! Almighty God in the flesh, the Creator of the universe, with more power in His hand than the power of all human emperors throughout human history multiplied by more than a billion — inconceivable power — meekly submitted to arrest, an unjust trial, mocking, spitting, beatings, flogging, humiliation down the streets of Jerusalem, the hideously painful death on the cross in full view of the citizens of Israel. How could He be so lamb-like to submit to such treatment, restraining and suspending His power so meekly? How could He behaved so weakly? How could He allow these sinners to mock Him while He suffered for others on the cross? Isaiah 53, written centuries prior, answers these questions. Isaiah 53:5-7 says, “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” The Lamb on the cross was truly a Lion on our behalf, destroying sin, crushing death, tearing apart Satan’s dark kingdom as a lion would rip apart his prey. Jesus was as savage as any lion has ever been. But in from a human perspective, it required the meekness of a lamb. This was the lamb’s punishment, though not for anything He had done. He had committed no sin; there was no deceit in His mouth. No, He did this for things that we had done; He did it for the sins of the world, the wretchedness of all of God’s children who would ever believe in Him to take away their sins. The Lamb’s Purchase We see the lamb’s purchase in Verse 9: “And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” This is the purpose of the Lamb’s sacrifice — to make an infinitely costly purchase, to buy sinners out of slavery to sin, out of Satan’s dark kingdom, out of death and Hell. With His blood, he purchased sinners — people like you and me, bought out of slavery by the payment of a blood price — purchased by the price of His blood. These sinners were purchased to be God’s own possession, from every tribe and language and people and nation, from all over the world. V. A Lion on the Throne… But Still a Lamb The Nature of the Lion Throughout Scripture, lions are portrayed as terrifying foes — 600 pounds of muscle and ferocity, utterly fearless and merciless. They dominate everything that surrounds them. They advance and never retreat. They tear their victims limb from limb. Their roar can be heard five miles away. Isaiah talks about a lion approaching with multiple shepherds gathered around, banging their sticks and yelling. The lion was not deterred at all, not impressed with their noise, just prowling, waiting for the right moment to pounce and devour and win. This is the picture to keep in mind as we see Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, attacking sin and death. The Triumph of the Lion This Lion was triumphant. Verse 5 says, “Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! [Behold], the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.’” He has won a victory and conquered His enemies. His fierce adversary has been defeated, utterly vanquished, and the plunder is His to take. He has earned the right to take the scroll and open its seven seals. This triumph is nothing less than Jesus’ triumph at the cross and at the empty tomb — victory over Satan, demons, death and the grave. In John’s Gospel when Jesus says, “It is finished!” He was giving a victor’s cry — everything needed for our redemption was accomplished at that moment. This was the lion’s roar from the cross. The spoils of victory are evident in verse 7: “He came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.” The Power of the Lion Verse 6 depicts the power of the Lion: “He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” This is clearly symbolic language. The horns represent kingly power and might, power to conquer and rule. The number seven represents perfection and completeness. The seven horns, then, show us Christ’s perfect power, or omnipotence. He had seven eyes. The eye is the lamp of the body; with it, we gain knowledge, the whole body is full of light, truth flows in, and we are able to see what is around us. Seven eyes, then, shows us perfect and complete knowledge, or omniscience. The seven spirits of God, as we have noted before, can more accurately be called the sevenfold Spirit. This presents the ministry of the Holy Spirit, which administers the power of Jesus to individuals. By the Holy Spirit of God, Christ extends His presence and His power everywhere, all over the entire globe. The Holy Spirit brings Jesus to us the way that Jesus brought the Father to us. Thus the Spirit is able to fulfill Jesus’ promise to individual members of the church who are going all over the world to preach the Gospel: “Behold, I will be with you always, even to the ends of the Earth.” He brings perfect presence, or omnipresence. Omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence are divine attributes. The Position of the Lion Note the position of the Lamb in verse 6: “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.” He stood in the center of the throne. Who would ever have the right to do that except Almighty God? Who can share the throne but God Himself? Here we have the mystery of the Trinity: the Father and the Son equally God. Christ shares the highest place with His Heavenly Father, Almighty God. This image is strengthened later in verse 13, where we see the Lamb being worshiped:“To Him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!” The lamb was receiving equal worship with the Father, Almighty God. This is the doctrine of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit, equally worshipped as God. The Lasting Image: Lamb not Lion He is a Lion on the throne, but the image that remains is that of a Lamb. This is a mystery. Perhaps the sermon is mis-titled, “Lamb on The Cross, Lion on the Throne.” As far as I can see, Jesus is never again called Lion in the book of Revelation, but He is called Lamb 29 more times. This is fascinating, given that He behaves like a lion through the whole book, terrifying to His enemies. But the Book of Revelation was written not to Jesus’ enemies but to His children, His servants, those who love Him; it is for their benefit that John maintained this image. Multiple verses speak of the throne of God and of the Lamb; as the deity of Christ established again, it is always as the Lamb. Even when He is terrifying His enemies, like ripping the universe to shreds when the six seal is opened: Revelation 6:15-17: “Then the kings of the Earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?’” If it weren't so awesome and terrifying, the picture would be laughable. The wrath of a lamb? Imagine a lamb doing its best to be angry; it would elicit a humorous and sarcastic response: “Wow, what a fierce and terrifying lamb. I need to run for my life.” Why such a mysterious and odd phrase, “the wrath of the lamb”? Here is a thought: To our enemies, He is nothing but lion, but to us, the elect, His children, He is always tenderhearted, merciful, lowly, and meek in everything He does. Think of CS Lewis’ choice of Aslan as a lion, but he always lamb-like, gentle and tender, in his interactions with the Pevensie children in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In that story, it would have been hard to picture a lamb acting lion-like, but John did see the exact opposite, always the lamb acting as a lion against His enemies. VI. The Lion/Lamb Is Worthy of Universal and Eternal Worship Worship: “You Are Worthy…” Now, this Lion and Lamb was worthy of universal and eternal worship. In verse 9, when He took that scroll from the right hand of God, indescribable worship and praise began to flow: “And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals…’” Universal Worship The central issue of worship is the worthiness of the one whom we worship. In Revelation 4, we see the worthiness of God, the Creator: “You are worthy because you created all things.” Now, in Revelation 5, we see why Jesus is worthy: “You are worthy, Jesus, because you shed Your blood.” The worship poured out and cascaded and grew, starting with the four living creatures. He is the only one in history who was qualified to take the scroll from the right hand of God Almighty. Then the twenty-four elders, holding harps for music and bowls full of incense, began to worship. Then 100 million angels surrounding the throne took up His praise. Finally, every created thing in Heaven, on Earth, under the Earth, in the sea — everything that exists — took up the theme and joined in. This is universal worship, well-earned by Jesus Christ. Worship Based on Christ’s Accomplishment He is worthy based on His accomplishments. Verses 9-10 say, “And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. [That is why you are worthy.] You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.’” So Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection victory were the greatest achievement in human history. He deserves to be praised for it. His blood the most infinitely precious substance that ever existed. Its power to cleanse us of our sins is infinite. There is no sin you have ever committed or ever will commit that the blood of Jesus is insufficient to cleanse you from. By it a countless multitude from every tribe and nation was purchased to be God’s own special possession. The power of Christ’s ministry is infinite because it forever changes our future. We deserved eternal torment in Hell, and instead He has made us to be a kingdom and priests for God. We will reign on the New Earth; the New Heaven and the New Earth will be a beautiful realm of perfect nature, the eternal home of righteousness. We will rule like kings and queens under His perfect rule forever. Eternal Worship We see universal and eternal worship in verses 13-14: “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever! [It’s universal and eternal worship.] The four living creatures said, ‘Amen,’ And the elders fell down and worshiped.” In Christ, it will be our privilege to worship Him for all eternity. Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lamb of God, whose blood atoned for our sins, will be eternally worthy of our praise. VII. Application Come to Christ… Know Him as LAMB so you need not fear Him as LION Let us now apply what we have learned from our text today: First, to anyone here who is outside of Christ, perhaps you came for the baby dedication, perhaps you do not claim to be a Christian, or perhaps you are a nominal Christian (you go to church but you do not really have a relationship with God, you have not really been walking out your life giving Him control and praise and glory): This time in history is an era of grace, of amnesty, in which the king is extending to us who have sinned against Him a pardon — free to any who will simply repent of, or turn away from, their sins and believe in Jesus. Today you have heard about the greatness of Christ; you have heard an explanation of substitutionary atonement by His blood. I have proclaimed His resurrection from the dead. You need no additional knowledge to turn away from sin, to turn toward Christ — if you ask Him, He will save you from your sins. Full atonement for all sin is available in the death of Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb of God, whose takes away the sin of the world. His blood is infinitely precious. His manner with repentant sinners is infinitely gentle. Anticipate His Full Glory Being Revealed to You Second, for all who are Christians, I urge you to anticipate. Remember that our perspective is like that of looking through a telescope at Saturn’s rings. Today was exegesis, an explanation of words. How much better will it be to grasp the meaning of these words face to face, when we are no longer looking through a glass darkly — to see the full glory of the resurrected Christ looking like a lamb that has been slain, the innocent sacrifice for our sins. We will see the full display of His lion-like power throughout redemptive history. In our interactions with Him we will see just how lamb-like and tender He is toward us. We will see the two qualities juxtaposed, knowing He could have been a lion to each of us. His lamb-like demeanor will be all the more precious knowing we deserved Hell but receive Heaven instead. We will have a sense of the great depths of our sin — of exactly how much we have been forgiven and what we have been freed from, and how infinitely joyful we are as a result. For this purpose, we will remember our sin, but without any shame or grief or misery. We will bask in His work for us. We will fall down in His presence and be overcome with emotion and feel a burning ardor of love and admiration for Him that will grow and grow over time. We will worship Him forever. Thank Him NOW for His Sacrificial Death and His Powerful Resurrection Thank and praise Him now, today, for His sacrificial death for you. No doubt you have already done this, perhaps even many times already today. Do it again. Thank you Jesus for dying for me. Thank you for giving Your blood for me. Thank you. For you, He is a gentle Lamb. For your great enemy death, His is a terrifying Lion. Jonathan Edwards: Marvel at the Wondrously Diverse Excellencies of Christ In 1738, Jonathan Edwards preached one of the greatest sermons in American history, in my opinion, using this text, Revelation 5, called “The Excellency of Christ.” I urge you to read it; it is free online. He meditated on the Lion and Lamb dichotomy. He preached, “There is an admirable conjunction [or joining together] of very diverse excellencies in Jesus Christ.” In other words, Christ is overwhelmingly worthy of worship because he has perfect attributes, diverse and seemingly contradictory, as part of His essence. In this way, Christ holds our attention and is forever worthy of worship. For example, we see His infinite highness and His infinite condescension. He has gone through the Heavens into the highest of the Heavenly realms. He has the right to sit at the right hand of the Almighty God. The Seraphim cover their faces before Him. He is infinitely elevated above creation. And yet, He shows infinite condescension. He lowers Himself to be with people who are beneath Him. None are so low or inferior but that Christ’s condescension cannot reach lower still. He delights to be with perfect and holy creatures like the Cherubim and Seraphim, who never sin. That in itself is an infinite gap through which He lowers Himself to interact with them. The angels love Him. They are involved at His resurrection. They desire to look into what He is doing. One angel, later in Revelation, tells John, “We are fellow servants with you.” They have a relationship with Jesus. He stoops lower than that. He condescends to be with human beings who are flesh and blood. He lowers Himself below the depths of our imagination to lift up the lowest on earth who call on His name. We see in 1 Corinthians 1:28 that “God chose the lowly things of this world, and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are…” In God’s eyes, in Christ there is neither Barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free — human distinctions do not matter. Those who are rejected by the world or thought little of — children, the poor, outcasts, widows and orphans — will be elevated in His eternal kingdom. He loved to be with children and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them.” Beyond even that, He is willing to associate with rebels and sinners who have violated His laws. Another example of His “diverse excellencies” in the book of Revelation is His infinite justice: we will see in future weeks how committed He is to exact justice, and yet how incredibly merciful He is willing to be. We will spend eternity celebrating this lion who went to the cross for us and who for us always is tender-hearted, gentle, and patient. The more we can meditate on Him now, the richer and fuller our worship will be this side of Heaven. Close with me in prayer. Father we thank you for the study we have had today and the greatness of the person of Christ. Oh Lord, I pray that you would take this text that we have studied today and open it up to us. Help us to see with the eyes of faith. Help the eyes of our hearts to be enlightened to see the greatness of Christ and to esteem Him properly. Help us to be moved, even melted, by how meek and lowly and condescending He has been to us, He who is infinitely above all creation. Help us to realize He will fight for us as a mighty lion against all of our enemies and we need fear nothing, but we can rest in His shadow and know we are protected. Toward us He will always be tenderhearted and gentle and merciful. He is meek and lowly of heart. Help us to remember that we can come to Him and lean on Him and rest. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I. Introduction The Psalmist says, “O magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt His name together.” The word “magnify” means “to appear to make greater”. We may well wonder how we can possibly make an infinitely majestic God greater or glorify Him in...

Andy Davis preaches an expository sermon on Revelation 5:1-13. The main subject of the sermon is how Christ is exalted from His suffering on the cross to the throne in heavenly places.

At 19-years-old, Trevor Oldham has founded two companies- Trevor James Products and Become The Lion. Trevor started Trevor James Products his senior year of high school and has since switched it to an apparel line. Every shirt they sell provides clean water to those in need. A year ago, Trevor started Become The Lion with his co-founder where their goal is to empower you to change your life and live a life that you can call your own. Since launching, they have grown a social media following of over 250,000 on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and launched a thriving podcast that provides you with the best tools, resources and inspiration to get to the top of your industry.

sermon transcript Introduction Ordinarily on Easter Sunday, I like to somewhat put the people who are listening to me on a time machine and go back to that first resurrection day. I like to go to narratives that describe what it was like on that day, what it would have been like to go with the women as they went to dress the dead body of Jesus, worried about who's gonna move the stone, and to see the look on their faces when the stone's already removed and the angel gave the message: “He is risen. Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He's not here.” And just to be there and experience it, that would have been something. Or to be with Peter and John as they heard the news and they ran toward the empty tomb, and they saw the physical evidence of the resurrection, the grave clothes laying there, perhaps in a cocoon, in the shape of the body of Jesus, the head covering folded up neatly off to the side, the stone, the massive stone removed from the entrance by a supernatural force, the whole scene just proclaiming he is risen from the dead. Oh just to be there and see the physical artifacts, that would have been something. Or to be with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, wouldn't that have been something? Best of all, those personal encounters with the risen Lord. To be able to have a conversation with Jesus, they didn't even know it was him. And their hearts are burning as they hear the word of God from Jesus's own lips. And it's only when they sit down at table with Jesus and he breaks the bread, that their eyes are opened, and they realize that it's Christ, and instantly he's taken away from them. Just to sit with those two disciples, let's make it three disciples or five, and just be able to see the risen Lord, I would love to be able to do that And so that's how I like to preach usually on Easter Sunday, because I believe with all my heart, it really happened in space and time. There was a time, there was a body, there was an empty tomb, there were eyewitnesses. It all happened. He has risen. It actually occurred. And it's so important for us to realize that that is the truth, and that our faith is established on the unshakable fact of the empty tomb of the resurrection of Christ. So I like to do that on Easter Sunday. But this morning, I feel led to take you on a different journey, perhaps one of the most incredible journeys that any prophet has ever taken. The Apostle John in exile on the Island of Patmos, having a vision on the Lord's day of the resurrected Christ in his glory, in a way they didn't see him while he ministered on earth, and to hear his voice like the sound of rushing waters, great power. And then in Revelation 4, he sees a door standing open in heaven, and a command that it's absolutely impossible for us unaided by supernatural power to obey, but John got the command, “Come up here and I will show you what must take place after this,” and at once, John says, “I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.” That's the center of my life. That's the center of my theology, a heavenly throne and someone sitting on it. That is the Ancient of Days. That is the Almighty Heavenly Father. He's sitting on the throne. He is the God of creation in Revelation 4, and there are 24 elders surrounding that throne, and they are continually giving praise and glory and honor to the God who created all things. Revelation 4, the picture of God the Creator, the king sitting on the throne. I wanna take you, not back in time therefore, but somewhat outside of time, and also mystically and prophetically ahead in time to the future. Outside of time and ahead of time, to see not what Jesus looked like the morning he was raised, but what he will look like when we see him in heaven, when he will be glorified before our very eyes, and we get to worship him for eternity. Because even then there was still work to be done, even that first resurrection morning, there's still a journey to be traveled. There's Mary holding on to his feet, and Jesus has to say, “Let go of me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. There's still some work to be done here.” But how about when there's no more work to be done? How about when Jesus is in his glory, when he's on the throne, and we get to be with him, with a countless multitude from every tribe and language and people and nation around the throne, giving glory and praise to Christ? How about then? Oh, how my heart yearns for that day. And I look forward to it. And this resurrection morning, the first one, that was just the most important step in a long journey that will be fulfilled for all of us by the power of the Spirit. So let's go outside of time, let's go ahead of time, and let's see in Revelation Chapter 5, a picture of the resurrected and glorified Christ in prophetic perspective, a picture of Jesus on his throne. Four things focused our attention in this chapter. There is a scroll in the hand of Almighty God. Secondly, there is a proclamation by the angel about the scroll. Thirdly, there is a lamb receiving the scroll, and fourthly, there is honor and glory given by all creation to the lamb who receives the scroll. That's the four-part outline of this chapter, Revelation chapter 5. The Scroll: God’s Plan for Redemption and Judgment for the Earth The Scroll Described Let's begin with the scroll. It says in verse one, “Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.” That is the scroll described. The Greek word is “biblos,” could be just a book, but it's probably a scroll, rolled up. And it's in the right hand of someone who's sitting on a throne. The one sitting on the throne is none other than God Almighty, the God who created heaven and earth. And so he sits on his throne in heavenly glory, and in his right hand there is this scroll. And the scroll must be a very precious thing indeed, for it's in the right hand of God, and it is the focal point of all heaven at that moment. All of heaven is focused on that scroll. It must be a very precious thing indeed to be in the right hand of God. The Scroll Interpreted And it says that there's writing on both sides. We don't know how John could know this, but he knew it, just like you know something in a dream, you just know. And there's writing on both sides of the scroll. This implies that it's a complete and total record of full accounts, nothing more can be added, and because it is the writing of God, nothing can be removed. It is a perfect writing, perfectly complete. No room to add to it, and nothing can be taken away from it. This must be, therefore, the redemptive plan of Almighty God, culminating in the ownership of heaven and earth, the title deed of the universe with the plan to get there, it is the redemptive plan of Almighty God. And it says that it's sealed with seven seals. Seal implies ownership and authority. It forbids anyone to break open the scroll and look inside if they don't have that right. There's a sense of punishment to any that break open the seal if they're not worthy to do it. Now, the seven seals, the number seven in the Book of Revelation is a mystical number, signifying deity, signifying the actions of God. It's a complete sealing of the scroll, and what's inside is a complete mystery. And so it's completely sealed. No one can pry up a corner and look inside, get a little glimpse. It's impossible. It's completely sealed. And based on what happens in Revelation 6 through 8, when the seven seals are opened, the scroll, in my opinion, is probably progressively sealed, rolled up a little and sealed, rolled up a little more and sealed again, rolled up a little more until it is sealed seven times. And so as you break open one of the seals, a little more is revealed. And so it unfolds. Now, this scroll, as I've said, is the eternal plan for the redemption of heaven and earth. It is, as some commentators have called it, the title deed of the earth. And as the seals are broken, this plan is unfolded before us in the Book of Revelation. And thus it is with God's sovereign plan written in his hand before the foundation of the world, it remains in the mind of God a secret until he chooses to reveal it. And so it says in Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.” And so here is a secret thing in the right hand of God. The Angel’s Proclamation: Who is Worthy? The Nature of the Proclamation Secondly, we notice the angel's proclamation concerning the scroll. Look at verse two, “And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?’” Look at the nature of the proclamation. The task is entrusted not just to any angel, but to a mighty angel. Now, to us mortals, to us weak people, any angel is a mighty angel, but this must be a truly mighty being, to be entrusted with this job of proclaiming. He is a mighty and a powerful angel, perhaps more powerful than other angels. The proclamation is made with a loud voice so that it can be heard across all of creation. And the proclamation is a question, and the question rings out over all of time in history, “Who is worthy? Who is worthy?” In one version of the legend of King Arthur, there's a story of Excalibur, the sword, and it's stuck in an anvil, which is in a boulder, in a stone, a sword in a stone, and there's inscribed on it, “Who so pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is right-wise born king of all England.” You know the story, how Sir Kay is going to a jousting tournament, he has a little squire named Arthur, and Arthur is forgetful, he'll do better when he's a king later, but he forgot his knight's sword. That's pretty big. You're going to lose any jousting when you don't have your sword. Because when you're both de-horsed and you're standing there with nothing in your hands, you lose. So he's in trouble, he needs a sword, Arthur realizes he's in big trouble. He happened to notice, strangely, a sword sticking out of a stone. Goes out, pulls it out without any trouble and brings it into Sir Kay who recognizes it immediately. That's the sword that was in the stone. He said, “Where'd you get this?” He said, “It was just outside. It was in a stone somewhere. I don't know why it was there, but there it was.” Sir Kay is amazed. They go out, they put it back in, and Sir Kay is not able to pull the sword from the stone, neither is anyone else. Arthur does it easily and repeatedly. And thus it is identified that he is right-wise born king of all England. Now, that's a myth. It's a legend. It almost certainly never happened. This is no myth, friends. This is no legend. Whoever has the right to take this scroll from the right hand of Almighty God is right-wise born king of all creation. And the question is, who is worthy to do it? Who has the right to take it from the right hand of God? That's the question. The Purposes of the Proclamation Now, there are many purposes for the mighty angel's proclamation. First of all, to display the greatness of the task of taking the scroll, breaking open its seals and opening it, it is a great task, and not everyone is worthy to do this task. The taking of the scroll from the right hand of him who sits on the throne implies the right to rule heaven and earth. The opening of the scroll seal by seal implies the right to govern the development of God's redemptive plan. Under whose hand can this plan develop? The one who can break open the seals and open it. The rights and privileges of taking the scroll and opening it are greatly dramatized by the pomp and circumstance of this cry by the angel: “Who is worthy?” Secondly, the proclamation also displays very vividly the disqualification of all the rest of creation, of all of creation, disqualified. Look at verse three, “But no one in heaven or on earth, or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.” Friends, this involves every single human being that has ever lived. All the mightiest emperors, from Alexander the Great through Caesar and Genghis Khan, Napoleon, right on through, none of them are worthy to take the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. All the wisest philosophers, whether Socrates or Plato or Aristotle, or Descartes, right on through, none of them are wise enough, none of them are worthy to take the scroll. All of the greatest scientists and inventors, whether Archimedes or Pythagoras or Einstein, Edison, none of them are worthy to take the scroll and look inside. Even the humble unknowns, the humble servants, the ones that no one knows their name, the ones that have lived a life of love and service to their fellow men, all of them are disqualified. Not one of them is worthy. Whether famous or non-famous, none of them are worthy. Even among the godliest believers of the Bible, whether Abel or Enoch or Job, or Abraham, Isaac or Jacob, whether King David or Solomon, right on through the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, none of the Apostles of the Lamb, none of the great figures of church history, it didn't matter. Even the martyrs who shed their blood to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ, those that died in the coliseum in Rome, mauled by lions, or the reformers, they're all of them disqualified, every last one. Even John himself who gave us this book, the apocalypse, the Book of Revelation, he would not dare cross that space and go forward to the throne of God and take from his right hand the scroll. He wouldn't dare do it. Let me get really personal. You are disqualified. I am disqualified. We're not worthy, not one of us. And why is it? For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We're all sinners, every last one of us. We have, all of us, this in common, and we are disqualified from taking the scroll. But we can go beyond that. All of the angels, holy as they are, who have never sinned, who have only obeyed God, even the mighty angel who's doing the proclaiming, the angels are all disqualified, all of them, because this must go to the Son of Man, who is the Son of God, and none of them are the Son of Man. They're all disqualified. So the angel's proclamation heightens the sense of anticipation and also of grief. Look at verse four, “I wept and wept,” said John, “Because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.” John is reacting, “Is there no one? Is there no one who can take the scroll?” And he weeps and weeps. And the proclamation therefore displays the greatness of Jesus Christ, does it not? Then there's a dramatic pause, and everyone that has ever lived is disqualified, and all of the holy angels and the 24 elders and the living creatures, all of them disqualified. And then up steps Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and he has the right to do it. Does this not display the greatness of Jesus Christ? Isn't that the purpose of the proclamation? Look at verse five, “Then one of the elders said to me, do not weep, behold the lion of the tribe of Judah. The root of David has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” He is able, he is able to take the scroll, he's able to break open its seals, he is able to govern history, 20 centuries of it and more, he is able to do it, and he is able to save your soul and mine. He is able to save us. And he is able to hold our attention for all eternity, so that we will be worshipping him forever and ever. As new waves of revelation come and we learn more and more about our great Savior, he is able to take the scroll and open its seals. And so we see this lion who has triumphed, victorious lion. A Lamb on the Cross The Lamb Predestined You think he would have some great appearance, some dreadful and terrifying appearance, but instead, he looks and he sees a lamb looking as if it had been slain. And so we have this vision of the Lion who is the Lamb, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lamb looking as if it had been slain. This is the Lamb who is Jesus Christ. John's conquering hero throughout the Book of Revelation is a Lamb, and he's a Lamb still now. But first and foremost, he was a Lamb on the cross. This was God's plan. It was his purpose that his Son should become an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and this plan was made before the foundation of the world. God didn't make this up as he went along. He didn't have a good idea one day and come up with it. It wasn't like that. It's an astonishing thing about God, is that he has never learned a single thing, and he never will. Meditate on that. Doesn't that trip your breakers? He's never learned a single thing and he never will. Never been a new idea for God, never. And so he is the lamb predestined before the foundation of the world to die on the cross. Revelation 13:8 says, “He was the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” Jesus Christ was chosen before the foundation of the world to die on the cross for the sins of men and women and boys and girls. This plan was worked out before God said, “Let there be light,” this was a predestined, planned. The Lamb Predicted Secondly, he was the Lamb who was predicted. God didn't just work out the plan, he told us about it ahead of time, so that when it happened, we could see that he had told us ahead of time. This is something only God can do. We don't know what's gonna happen next week. We really don't. It's really humorous to me that the workers work so hard to get the air conditioner fixed so that we could be nice and cool this morning. Isn't that wonderful? I just think that's great. Are you cool enough? Maybe we can open some windows for you. What was it, 35 degrees this morning? We don't even know the weather, we don't know what it's gonna be like in a week. God predicted Christ thousands of years before he was born. He predicted it. And said what would happen. He is the Lamb predicted. And so we have this idea of the lion of the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49 gives us the prophecy, it says, “Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion and as a lioness, who dares to rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” This is about 18 centuries before Jesus was born, spoken by Jacob to his son, a prophecy of Jesus. So he's the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He's also predicted to be the root of David, that was in the mouth of Jeremiah the prophet, about six centuries before Jesus was born. Jeremiah 23:5 and 6, “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I'll raise up to David a righteous branch, a king who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. And in his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord our righteousness.’” That's Jesus. He is the Lord and he is our righteousness. That's six centuries before Jesus was born, he is the root of David. God identified him again and again through history, especially through the animal sacrifice. God set up a system of animal sacrifice whereby animals could represent the taking away of sin, and the priest would take his hands and put them on the head of the substitute of the animal, and he would confess onto the substitute the sins of the people. And then the substitute, the animal would die and its blood would be poured out before God on the altar. It was a picture of Jesus Christ. Every single animal sacrifice there has ever been is a prediction of Christ. The Lamb Presented He was the lamb predicted. He was also the lamb presented. At the right time, in the fullness of time, God presented him to the world. Born of a virgin, he presented him. He said at his baptism, “This is my beloved son whom I love. With him, I am well pleased.” He presented him. And for 30 years, he lived in relative obscurity until the time came for him to be presented to Israel as the Savior of the world. And that happened when he was baptized by John the Baptist. John was a prophet sent by God. And one day he saw Jesus coming toward him. And he pointed toward him, and he said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” That's a presentation. Everyone behold, behold Jesus. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His death on the cross is God's atoning sacrifice. The only one there is for your sin and mine. There's none other available. Behold the Lamb. God presented him, it says in Romans 3, as a sacrifice of atonement. The one who takes away God's wrath through faith in his name. The Lamb Punished He is also the Lamb punished. He's the Lamb punished. Four phrases in our text today speak of that. Look at verse six, “Then I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain.” Do you see that? Looking as if he had died, “standing in the center of the throne.” Look at verse nine, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain. And with your blood, you purchased men for God.” Again, in verse 12, “In a loud voice they sang, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom, and strength, and honor and glory and praise.’” That's four mentions just in these 14 verses. It's almost as if heaven just can't get over that Jesus died. That he was slain, that he died on the cross, that his blood was shed. It's really quite astonishing. This is the one before whom they hide their faces. He sits on the throne. He is powerful, he is the eternal son of God. What a mystery, Almighty God in physical human flesh, and yet he meekly and weakly submits to death, even death on a cross and does nothing. Does not lift a finger to save himself, though he has all power in his smallest finger. More than any of the potentates that have ever lived. He is omnipotent, incarnate. He could have stopped the crucifixion, but he didn't. It's really quite amazing. How could he do it? How could he suspend his power so meekly and die so weakly? How could he do it? Why was he punished? Well, he was punished for us. Punished for us. Whenever I read or see depicted in some way the sufferings of Jesus Christ, I have learned to say, “I deserved that.” I did. Because I broke God's law. Because I'm a liar, because I'm a sinner, because I'm not godly, because I've sinned and fall short of the glory of God, I deserved that. And worse, because the Bible speaks of hell, it speaks of a place of eternal torment, and the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. And there is no rest, day or night for any that do not receive the gospel and believe it. And I've come to train myself to say I deserve that, I deserve hell, and Jesus came as my substitute, to die in my place to take that away from me and from a countless multitude of people, from every tribe and language and people and nation, and all they need to do is believe. And so the prophecy is given in Isaiah 53, “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The Lamb punished. I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain. That was Jesus. The Lamb Purchased Well, he is also a lamb who has purchased with his punishment something of great value. Look at verse nine, “And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.’” This is the amazing purpose of the lamb's punishment, of his incarnation, of his coming to earth. Jesus had a purpose and it was to buy us back from slavery to sin, so that we would be God's precious possession. That we would be God's. Herein find your self-esteem. I am God's and he is mine forever and ever. Your soul can say that, he has purchased you for God with his own blood. That's his purchase. And it's not a small number friends, and it's not narrow either, there will be people from all over the world. Herein ends racism and bigotry, and parochialism and focusing on our own little worlds, God is looking at the whole world. And there's gonna be people from all over the world at the throne worshipping Jesus for his purchase. And by his purchase he has made us, it says, “to be a kingdom of priests.” I think that's the best way to understand that we are priests who are kings, and we will reign with him forever and ever. How much did that cost? How expensive was that? Jesus paid it all. That's his purchase. A Lion on the Throne… But Still a Lamb The Nature of the Lion Well, that's how he's a lamb. How is he a Lion? It says, “He's the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” Well, everywhere throughout scripture, lions are portrayed as terrifying foes. It's an amazing thing that Samson is able to rip a young lion to shreds with his bare hands, only the Spirit of God coming upon him can do it. I don't care how big his muscles were, he loses, if the Spirit of God doesn't help him. Because lions are powerful beasts, 700, 800 pounds. Their roar can be heard five miles away. They're pictures of great power, they shrink back from nothing. They are fearless, terrifying, really. Their roar is terrifying. Their claws, their jaws are terrifying. A terrifying enemy is a lion, you don't want one as an enemy. Jesus Christ is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Look at verse five, “Then one of the elders said to me, do not weep, behold the lion.” So we have in John chapter 1, in the mouth of John the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Here we have, “Behold the Lion.” And how can they both be true of one individual? They're opposite kind of creatures. The Triumph of the Lion But this lion, it says, has triumphed. He has won a great victory. You know what he did? He took that lion-like strength and he ripped to shreds sin and death and the grave, and hallelujah for it. He's a Lion on our behalf, really. I've wondered about this because he's never called Lion again, ever. In the book of Revelation, he's never called Lion again. Isn't that interesting? So the sermon's a bit misnamed, sorry. He is the Lamb on the throne and the Lion on the throne, both at the same time. He's still Lamb And I meditated on this. Why is it always lamb, lamb, lamb for the rest of the book? We never see lion again. Well, he's already done his lion work for us. When he roared like a Lion, “It is finished!” That's a victor's cry. And he has torn apart enemies we could not face ourselves. And he is the victor, he has won the victory. The Power of the Lion And we see the power of the lion in symbolic form, difficult to visualize. So just understand it symbolically and prophetically. It says he had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. Seven horns, the horn symbolize strength, kingly power. The number seven, a number of deity, of divinity, of perfection. Perfect power is omnipotence. It says he had seven eyes, the eye is the lamp of the body. With it, we gain information about the world around us. Seven eyes is perfect knowledge, it's omniscience. It says here is “the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Where can I flee from your Spirit? Where can I go from your presence?" This is a picture of perfect presence by his Spirit. It is omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence. He is God. He is God, the Lamb is God. The Position of the Lion And look at the position of the Lamb on the throne. Quite simply, he stands in the middle of the throne, again, a picture of Christ’s deity. Look at verse six, “Then I saw a lamb looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.” Who can share this throne but God himself? Only God can share this throne. The Lasting Image: Lamb not Lion Now, why is it for the rest of the book, we never see “Lion” again? Well, you know why? Because I think this book was written for us, it's written for us to read. It's to show his servants what must soon take place. It's for us, for us Christians. For us he's never a Lion. He doesn't treat us like a lion would treat. He is gentle with us. He's tender-hearted. He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” Those are lamb-like qualities. That's the way he deals with his own. He is always a lamb to us. He's always terrifyingly a lion to his enemies though. And so you get some anomalies in the book of Revelation, some oddities. Even when Jesus is doing mighty, powerful things against his enemies, he's still called the Lamb. And so it says very interestingly in Revelation 6, “Then the kings of the earth and the princes and the generals, and the rich and the mighty, and every slave, and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they called to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.’ For the great day of their wrath has come. And who can stand?” The wrath of the Lamb is a bit odd. We would understand wrath of the Lion. But for us, he's a Lamb. It's the same one. All I'm saying is that Jesus is a delightful Savior, but he's a terrifying enemy. And oh, that we would not be included among those that are fleeing from him when judgment day comes. That we would be ready to face him unashamed, knowing that his blood was shed for us and toward us, he is gentle and welcoming like a Lamb is. The Lion/Lamb Is Worthy of Universal and Eternal Worship Worship: “You Are Worthy…” The passage ends up with universal worship, isn't it beautiful? The Lion and Lamb is worthy of universal and eternal worship. Verse nine, “And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals.’” He is worthy of worship. He's the only one in history qualified to take the scroll. He is the only one that died on the cross for our sins. He's the only one that has been raised from the dead on the third day. He is the death conqueror. He is worthy of our worship. Universal Worship And it's universal worship, notice, first the living creatures, then the 24 elders, then the 100 million angels, then every created thing in heaven and on earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, universal worship. Worship Based on Christ’s Accomplishment And it's also worship based on Christ's accomplishment. Look at verse nine and 10, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because” - there's a reason he's worthy. Because he was slain - “because you were slain and with your blood, you purchased men for God from every tribe and language, and people and nation. And you have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” Eternal Worship And it is finally eternal worship. Look at verses 13 and 14, “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them singing, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever.’ The four living creatures said, ‘Amen,’ and the elders fell down and worshipped.” Application Come to Christ… Know Him as LAMB so you need not fear Him as LION Don't you wanna be there? Don't you wanna see it with your own eyes? When judgment day comes, don't you wanna be forgiven for all of your sins by the blood of this lamb that I've talked about today. How did you get here today? Did a friend bring you? I say, the best friend brought you, it was Jesus that brought you. Maybe he used someone to invite you, but God brought you here today to hear this message. Because some day you're going to see this Lion, this Lamb, that he would be for you Lamb and not Lion, that he would be your Savior, that his blood shed on the cross would be full forgiveness for your sins. Do not pretend to say, “I don't need a savior like this. I'm basically a good person.” There are no basically good people. We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and we need a savior. Oh, come to Christ. Come to this gentle savior. He is inviting you. As I've already said, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” And you'll find more than that, you'll find a door standing open in heaven and a voice will call come up here and I will show you my glory forever and ever, and you will be in the Spirit. And you will see his glory forever and ever. And you will never run out of things to say about Jesus. Come to Christ, worship him today. Trust in him for the forgiveness of your sins, that you might have eternal life. Please close with me in prayer.

Transcript Pending

Andy Davis preaches an expository sermon on Revelation 5:1-14. The main subject of the sermon is how Christ went from His meek and weak state of humiliation to His mighty state of exaltation.