Weep No More | Revelation 5:1-5 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

I know our brother just prayed, but I'd like for us to pray once more before we open the scriptures. Lord, we ask that you would help us. As we unpack your word, we pray that you would guide us verse by verse, truth by truth, and that, Lord, it would transform us. This is our ultimate desire. Renew us, refresh us, rejuvenate us.

Do what only you can do in the human heart. We ask these things in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen and amen. After John faithfully obeyed the Lord Jesus Christ by sending out seven messages to seven specific ancient churches, churches that reflect the variety of conditions that churches can find themselves in today, the Lord transports him from the earth and brings him up to heaven by the spirit. And he has a vision.

And the vision that he experienced more specifically was a glimpse into the very throne room of God. And the one who sat upon that throne had the appearance, the appearance of Jastre and Carnelian. And surrounding the throne was a rainbow that resembled an emerald. Coming from that throne were thunders, rumblings, lightning. And surrounding that throne were 24 other thrones occupied by these elders, who were mesmerized by the one who was sitting on that seat of power and majesty.

Before that throne were seven torches of fire that symbolized the Spirit of God. And on the sides of the throne, you had these four living creatures And they were singing the praises of God. And they were leading these elders to echo their refrain endlessly. And this breathtaking scene, all of it, every detail, reflected perfectly off of this glass crystal like pavement that rested before the throne. And it was last week that you and I understood that this marvelous unveiling was meant to teach us that God's authority, God's sovereignty, God's power is above all.

And not only is it above all, it is gloriously grand. It is faithful. It is accessible. It is righteous, and it is and it will be the center of eternal worship. All very helpful truths to lock in our minds and chain around our hearts, especially as we navigate through the challenges, the many challenges of the church in a rapidly changing world.

But this vision that John experienced did not end at the end of chapter four. It only continues. And the reason why it continues is because the God who sits upon this awesome throne is Triune. You see, the one that we were beholding last week together was no other than the father. And the reason we can say that is because, again, we identified that the Holy Spirit manifested as these torches of fires was located before the throne.

And what we will read now as we open up chapter five is the son of God who will majestically approach the throne of the Father in dramatic suspense. And although we might desire to seize the complete scene of this chapter in one message, We will only consider the first five verses before we partake of the Lord's supper. And so I invite you now, with great excitement and glee, to read with me Revelation chapter five, beginning in verse one down to verse five. And I will tell you from now, the crescendo of this brief message will be verse five where we will encounter these beautiful three words, weep no more. Weep no more.

Shall we begin? Revelation five one. Then I saw in the right hand of him who is seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it.

And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, weep no more. 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. While these four living creatures were breathing out praise and these 24 elders were also showering the father with their own adoration, Something new catches John's eye. It was an item in the right hand of God.

A scroll to be specific. And there are two details about this scroll that the holy spirit inspires John to pen in God's holy book. The first one is that there was content written within and around. It was completely covered with information. And second to that, there were seven seals that perfectly concealed the message of that scroll.

Now, the interpretation of these details is not too difficult to understand. To see that there there is things written within and on the back implies that, God has a lot to say, and that his message is complete, and it's ready to be known. And following that, the the seals that keep this message out of you, reveals that it's it's sealed. It's something that we can't see. It's not for any eye to behold per se.

And as we will discover, there is only one who is authorized to unfold the message and the content of this scroll. And although this scroll may seem mysterious at first, that has not left scholars and students of the Bible, without the desire to discover and to try to make some kind of speculation of what is found in this hidden message. And there is a lot of debate and there's a lot of conversations about it. I am those who believe that there doesn't even need to be any debate. Because all you gotta do is continue to read on in the Bible to know exactly what's in the scroll.

What is it about? So go to chapter six, just to get an idea. To see the nature of the scroll beginning in verse one, and I won't read all these verses, but just to give you an idea and just to convince you of what we're dealing with here. This is after the lamb, who is Christ, takes the scroll from the right hand of the father, and we read in Revelation six one. Now I watched when the lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a with a voice like thunder, come.

And I looked and behold a white horse and its rider had a bow and a crown was given to him and he came out conquering and to conquer. Verse three, when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say come. And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. Now we pause here, and we see that this will continue.

The seals would continue to be unlocked until we finally come to Revelation eight. And notice what we find in Revelation eight verse one. When the lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God and seven trumpets were given to them. There's no question that these seals, the same seals that were covering the scroll that we find in Revelation five, are connected to the enactment of God's judgment being unleashed upon the evil in the world, proceeding and leading up to the establishment of the son of God's kingdom on the earth.

In other words, the plain evidence of the text shows us that this scroll symbolizes God's sealed plan for his future and final judgments upon this world, which includes the redemption of his people. That's what we find here. And this interpretation should not surprise us because, again, revelation is saturated with old testament references and illusions. And if you've been reading the Hebrew scriptures faithfully, then you'll remember that there are instances, there are examples, there are moments where we find some similar imagery that prepares us for what we are seeing here. So let me give you an example with the prophet Ezekiel.

In Ezekiel chapter one, the prophet also experiences a vision of the glory of God. And interestingly, he too encounters the four living creatures. And then, when you come to chapter two of Ezekiel, like John following his vision of the glory of God, the prophet is given a scroll. He's also presented a scroll. And listen to the description of this scroll from Ezekiel two nine and ten.

And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it, and he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation, and mourning, and woe. So both Ezekiel and John saw scrolls with writing on both the front and the back, which emphasizes the vast number and the severity of the judgments that they record. But here's the main difference with Ezekiel's experience and John's. The scroll that Ezekiel received was opened.

It was spread before him. Whereas, the the scroll on the right hand of the father was sealed, perfectly sealed. Nothing of its decrees could be seen. Now, that means something. Not anybody could reveal or execute the judgments, the plan of the culmination of human history.

It wasn't available. It wasn't just thrown. It wasn't just given to anybody. No. It was secured.

And had to be somebody who is authorized to unfold them. And until they were broken, this is the most important part, until those seals were broken, God's purposes will remain unknown and unfulfilled. That's the awareness that this heavenly gathering in Revelation five sense, which is why a mighty angel finally proclaims the following in Revelation five two, Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? Who is worthy? And a universal search goes out.

As the words of this angel reverberated to every corner of the the cosmos, the four living creatures remained silent. And the 24 elders sat still in their seats. All the myriad of holy angels looked at each other humbly, including Gabriel and the mighty archangel Michael. That deafening quietness only continued as the sea of old testament prophets and kings and saints were examined. Abraham didn't step forward.

Isaac didn't move an inch. Jacob was still. David? No. No.

No. Not David. Samuel, Isaiah, none of the prophets. They were all sharing in an awareness of their unworthiness. And that silence only continues as the sea of new testament saints and leaders heard the invitation of that angel.

And not a single one of them responded to this challenge. And after an indefinite period of searching, the quest for a worthy candidate came to its conclusion. No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it. Not one. Now go back to Revelation five three and read John's words very carefully.

And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it. Able. Highlight that. Wasn't able to open the scroll. What does that mean?

Well, remember, we read it in Revelation six. How the breaking of each seal set into motion a spectacular event on the earth that would bring the world that much closer to its final cleansing and restoration. Therefore, to break those seals on the scroll implies that you have to have somebody who has the sovereign authority and power in order to do what? Carry out the affairs that it was designed to set into motion. Anybody can break a seal open.

A child can do that. That's not the point. The point is, who is able to execute what the scroll demands? What it's planning to perform? And not a single creature in heaven or the most religious or pious person on earth or any spirit under the earth had the audacity to even entertain the possibility that they were able to break a single one of those seals and perform God's final program for human history.

And what John discovered at this point, no one is able. No one to defeat Satan. No one to judge sinners. No one to restore our fractured universe. No one to redeem the faithful.

No one to swallow up death forever. No one to establish God's kingdom of peace and glory. No one to answer and fulfill prophetic promises that have yet to be accomplished. No one to make everything right once and for all. No one.

And John waited in this vision to see, is there anybody? Is there anyone? No one stepped forward. And as time went on, emotion began to well up from the depths of his being until he could no longer contain it. And what do we read in verse four?

And I began to weep bitterly. Now the weeping here is the same word to describe the weeping Jesus expressed after the triumphal entry and he looked upon Jerusalem. It's the same word to define Peter's brokenness after he had verbally denied his master and Jesus looked at him in the book of Luke. So John's reaction to this is not some controlled disappointment with a few tears streaming down his cheeks. He's wailing.

He's shattered. He's falling apart in heaven of all places. Why such an intense reaction? Why weep John? Two main answers.

The first one is the fate of the world, and the second one is the object of his faith. The fate of the world was at stake if no one could open that scroll. If there was no worthy candidate, then the world as we've always known it, as the as the history books has always written honestly about it, would remain in its cursed condition forever without hope of redemption. No chance of restoration. So the cycles of sin and death would continue.

The sorrows of sickness and disease would never end. The harassment and the deception of the devil and his demons will only intensify. No end in sight. True and lasting justice would never be executed. All the while wickedness would prevail and grow and claim more victims.

Because that new heaven and that new earth that was promised in which righteousness would dwell forever would never materialize. No hope. This world will remain and it will only decay more and more. But what about the object of John's faith? Do you remember where this is actually all taking place?

Yeah. Sure. John is in heaven by a vision, but he is suffering on an island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. This man, for most of his life, put his faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And like you, his belief in Christ was more than just him being the savior for sinners.

We believe he's the soon returning king who complete humanity's rescue at the end of the age. So where is he? Where is he? Is he not the one who can open the scroll? Where can he be found?

And tears began to flow. Because one reason why John is crying here is because the object of his faith, his trust was being shaken. His confidence in Christ was being tested. Everything that he believed up to this point, the high price that he prayed with his life, would it be vindicated? The trust of millions of people, would it come to pass?

So you see here, it's the fate of the world and it's the object of John's faith that's causing him to react in this way. And although those are the two primary reasons for John's weeping, there's also a broader application for us. If you just zoom out, step back, and look at this from a general perspective, I see John's tears saying something to you and I. That they testify of this man's desire to know God's will and to see it come to pass. That scroll had the purposes and the plans of God.

They were concealed. They were out of view. Yes. And primarily, who's gonna open it? Who's gonna who's gonna fulfill the final chapter of God's redemption?

But also, what's in the scroll? And he weeps. Do you hunger to know God's will? Where's your heart in discovering more of what God has made known in his book? And to see it manifest in your life, the promises, the testimonies, the revelation.

As I was meditating on this point, even this morning, these verses came to mind from Psalm one nineteen verse 19. I am a sojourner on the earth. Hide not your commandments from me. And then in verse 20, my soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. Don't you love that?

I'm a sojourner on the earth. So don't conceal your commandments, your truth, your insight, your treasures from me. What is he saying there? I'm just passing through this life. I only have a little window of time to discover the depths of who you are and to see things manifest in and through my life.

So hide them not from me. Do you pray like that? Here's another thing that I learned from this psalmist. The more this world is home to you, the less you're gonna hunger for God's word. I'm a sojourner on this earth.

This is not my place. This is not permanent. This is not where I'm gonna dwell forever. I'm not building any lasting kingdom here. I'm just traveling through, so give me what's eternal.

Give me what's gonna last. Give me what I was really created for. So one potential reason why you find yourself not longing for deeper and wonderful treasures in the scriptures, perhaps perhaps you got a little bit too comfortable here. And you don't realize eternity and heaven and the things of the spirit. But the psalmist says, I'm just passing by.

So give me what my soul ultimately craves. Hide not your commandments from me. Do you long for the same? I love how the psalmist says at all times. His devotion to the truth is not sporadic.

It doesn't just get inspired at Maranatha Conference once a year for a couple of days. It's a conviction that sits the foundation of his heart. It's true. It's who he is. So it's either that that is really something you can say amen to even though it's not perfect and I can say it's not perfect for me either.

The flesh tends to erupt and challenge that desire, but do you find yourself more indifferent to the scrolls that God has given us here? Let me put it this way. Are you content to remain in ignorance? Or do you even find your heart being moved because there are moments where you can't pursue deeper understanding and you so want to? John's reaction to being denied to some degree, what that scroll was holding is a wonderful example for you and I and how we should relate to what God has given us into our hand.

There's no seal on this book. You can have it in digital screens. You can have it in hearing. You can have it in leather goat skin. You can have it in so many ways.

But your heart Lord, I wanna know more of you. I wanna know all your promises, all your warnings, all the things that you have made plain and the things that are not so obvious, oh God hide not your commandments from me. And John's weeping now was interrupted in the main verse of our message. Let's come back to it to Revelation five five. One of the elders spoke up and he offered some of the most incredibly comforting words in all of the book of Revelation.

Weep no more. John, you don't have to cry like this anymore. Don't you don't you know that there is one who is worthy to open the scroll and to look into it? Did you forget? And I wanna make the case today before we partake that the solution to John's sorrow is the same for ours.

Being reminded of the fact that our savior has conquered. He's the living conqueror. Isn't that what he says? Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered. Which means two thousand years ago, Jesus lived a perfect life of obedience and he died a vicarious death.

And because he did so perfectly, whatever he started, he will finish. Neither Satan's sin nor death will have the final word. Jesus conquered, which means he will vindicate the persecuted church. And it means that He will glorify believing loved ones that you and I have lost to accidents and illness. It means that He will prove Himself faithful to every unbelieving blasphemous generation that has ever lived.

It means that Christ will finally create a world free from the effects. Every effect of the fall for us to live in perfectly in his glorious presence forever. Weep no more. However, the elder's words carry deeper meaning. He reminds John of two titles relating to Jesus Christ.

The first one is that he is the lion of the tribe of Judah and the second that he is the root of David. Now from just an aerial perspective, that says something about the humanity of Jesus and the divinity of Jesus. The lion of the tribe of Judah. This truth affirms the humanity of our Messiah. That he descended from a real tribe within the people of Israel.

He's from the tribe of Judah. Truly man. But he is also the root of David. And the root of David implies something about his preexistence. That in the same way, a root is the source of life to a plant.

Jesus Christ existed before David and he was the very source of his lineage. He's the root, which is amazing. You don't have to turn there, but this is a direct line in prophecy, a reference to the prophecy found in Isaiah 11. 11 verse 10, where we're told the root of Jesse. The root of Jesse, all the nations, all the Gentiles will inquire of him.

And Paul quotes, Isaiah eleven ten in Romans to say this is Christ. This is Christ in bringing in the Gentiles to him. The root of Jesse. But in Isaiah eleven one, we're told that he's the branch of Jesse. Well, how can you be the root and the branch?

Again, even within that chapter you have something about the preexistence of Christ. He's the root but he's also the branch. He's a descendant. He's coming from this family, this lineage. And if that wasn't glorious enough, here's the the heart of what this elder is saying to John.

What's the essence of his message when he says, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals? It's plain. Whatever God promised from the beginning, he will fulfill. He will fulfill. Because again, you see that these are titles of the Messiah that was predicted in the Hebrew scriptures.

And the root of David comes from Isaiah 11, but there's one that's even earlier than that. The lion of the tribe of Judah comes from the book of Genesis. And that's where we're gonna turn to in our final passage together. Go to Genesis 49. And this is when Jacob gives a prophetic benediction to each of his sons, the immediate tribes of Israel.

And when he comes to Judah, I want you to see what he says because this is what the elder is doing. He's reaching back to this prophecy and he's saying, John, Jesus is a fulfillment of what was prophesied in Genesis 49. Look at verse eight with me. Judah, your brother shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies.

Your father's son shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's cub. You have gone up from the prey my son. 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 staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. What a shock. This must have been to the brothers who are hearing their father say this about Judah. Why is this a surprise? Why why is this startling?

Because the family of Israel was very few in number. They're still in Egypt when this was given. They haven't even entered into the promised land and yet, we read here that Judah and his descendants will have preeminence among his brothers in that they will be in a position of rulership over his brothers. So you're talking about a king and a kingdom and here you are still renting a neighborhood in the land of Egypt. It's fascinating.

And we know that this is speaking about a king and a kingdom because of the imagery of a scepter. You've probably seen one. A staff with ornaments that symbolizes sovereignty and power and majesty. So in practical terms, what is this prophecy conveying? It's saying that eventually, kings were going to arise from the line of Judah.

And what you find as you continue in the old testament is that the seed form of this prophecy began to sprout with King David. And it blossomed more and more with the succeeding kings following him, as we've been studying in first and second Kings. David's line through Judah would govern the kingdom of Judah, but this is a detail in the prophecy that many people miss. Look back at verse 10 of Genesis 49. What does he say?

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Now some of you may be looking at me because you're saying, why does your Bible say that? My Bible says something different. Virtually every other word for word translation will render the same verse in the following way, until Shiloh comes. Anybody have that word in their Bibles?

I guess most people here read the ESV then. Until Shiloh comes and to him shall be the obedience of the people. You'll find that in the New King James, you'll find that in the King James, you'll find that in the NASB. So then why does the ESV say, until tribute comes to him? It's because the etymology, the root word for Shiloh is quite complex.

It's quite complex in the Hebrew and one of the variant definitions of this word is, he to him it belongs or that which belongs to him. And that's that's why the scholars behind this translation chose this following phrase to put into this prophecy. But no matter what version you have, one thing is unmistakably clear, this prophecy points to specific individual. It anticipates somebody from the royal line of Judah. A person, Not just a position, not just a government, but one particular individual.

There is one king who will exercise universal reign and he will bring unprecedented authority to the nations. And this king is something and someone Israel and indeed the whole world should be expecting. Look at it again, until tribute comes to him and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Genesis. Then you go to Revelation and this elder in this heavenly vision looks to John and he says, the Lion of the tribe of Judah is here.

What God said in Genesis is now being realized in Revelation. You know what's so amazing to me? That title for Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah is exclusively found in the book of Revelation. I'm thinking why not use it more? It's powerful.

The lion of the tribe of Judah. Why did the Holy Spirit keep it until the last book of divine revelation? Because it is a title appropriate for the second coming of Christ. That's why. And that's partly the reason why the Pharisees and the Jews could not accept that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the Messiah.

Where is the lion like savior and king? Come on. We gave you three years and we're still oppressed. Tear them apart. Deliver us once and for all.

Own this place. Jacob said that a lion would come. A king would come. Here you are just traveling with some of these unlearned men. Yeah.

You're doing miracles here and there, but come on. Let's see it come to pass. And even up to the final moments of his life, they were tempting him to prove himself. You know, some people think that the Pharisees had good intentions and they were just confused because they were just going with what the scriptures had to say and it seemed like Jesus was a little bit too ambiguous. No.

The Pharisees were intentionally ignorant because the same Hebrew Bible that says there is one coming like a lion also portrays him as a lamb. He is a lion, but he first must come as a lamb, and he must lay down his life as a sacrifice. And that is why interestingly, in the same vision of Revelation five, the elder tells John, the lion of the tribe of Judah is here. And when he looks for him, you find in the following verses that he finds instead of what? A lamb.

I'm getting ahead of myself here, so I'm gonna reel back here. What do we take from this? John, there needs to be no need to weep. For what reason? One main reason, God is faithful to his promises.

Everything that he has said, you can trust completely. I love this. I love connecting the bible because you have something God said from Genesis and now in Revelation he's saying, here it is. Here's the realization of it. And yes, we're dealing with not weeping in terms of God fulfilling his promises in the end of the age, but let's let's apply it today.

Let's apply it now. Listen, you and I would have fewer tears and greater relief if we just really believed God. If we really just took him at his word. If we had an ache and a long longing to know all that he has to say, all that he has revealed, We would strengthen our souls. We would have more smiles and less frowns.

I'm reminded when Jesus hid himself on the road to Emmaus when those two disciples were dejected walking back after an eventful weekend in Jerusalem. And when this stranger supposedly asked them, what are you guys talking about? The scripture tells us in Luke 24 that they were sad. And they began to explain the events relating to Jesus Christ of Nazareth who was crucified and they had hoped that he would be the deliverer for Israel. What is Jesus Christ prescribed to these heavy hearted disciples?

Let me read to you one verse. Luke twenty four twenty five. And he said to them, oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. The remedy to your pain and the clouds that hide the blessing and the happiness that your soul can experience is your darkness pertaining to the word of God. It's your blindness.

It's your unwillingness to take in not just some, but all that the prophets have spoken. I suggest to you today that you can know greater joy if you have a greater investment in the truth. And not just familiarizing yourself with it, but asking God for the faith to clutch onto and to believe it with all that is within you. I love how this elder in Revelation turns to John and reminds him of scriptural truths to stop his tears. Is there any difference for us?

That's emphasized over and over with these two disciples. Here's how I'm gonna provide a balm for your souls. Consider all that the prophets have spoken. So here's what we're leaving with today. Here's how we're gonna prepare to remember what Christ has done.

This is what Revelation five one to five has left us with. Number one, in terms of application, may we be like this man who longed to know the will of God, who longed to see it accomplished, but may we also prescribe this to our own souls. That the revelation of Christ being a living conqueror and the things that were said about him he fulfilled, and the things that he said about anything. We must trust wholeheartedly if we are going to be able to sail the seas of a church that is frequently battered in a world that is growing in evil, only then will we know more song, less tears, more joy, less sorrow. May we come and remember what he has done for us together with hearts filled with faith.

Lord, we ask as we praise you that you would be blessed by what you see and hear, and we choose to remember today that you are the fulfillment of ancient predictions, that your son Jesus Christ is the true savior of the world. And Lord, if there are tears for any reason today, may we sense the truth soothing our hearts so that our eyes can come to life again as we behold the one who is worthy to open the scroll and to look into it. We thank you that with all the updates of the horrors that are being committed in our city, around the world, the tragedies, the disasters, the floods, the earthquakes, the wars. Our world will change one day. You will redeem everything and you will be worshiped for it forever.

But we choose to worship you now as we reflect on how you have redeemed us and how one day you will rescue us forever and ever. We pray these things with great faith. In Jesus' name, amen.