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| > Sermon Archive > Sermons by Author > Dr. Wes Bredenhof > Praise God for the victorious Lamb has sent out his Spirit! | Previous Next Print |
| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) Hymn 47:1-3 Hymn 82:4 (after the Law of God) Psalm 139:1,4 Hymn 69 Hymn 47:4-5 Scripture readings: Zechariah 4, Revelation 5 Text: Revelation 5:6 |
Beloved congregation of Christ,
Every Sunday afternoon, we hear the greeting and blessing from Revelation 1:4-5. So every single Sunday we hear about “the seven spirits who are before his throne.” Have you ever thought about what that means? In that greeting and blessing, we recognize Jesus Christ, “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.” We recognize God the Father, “him who is and who was and who is to come.” But what about those seven spirits? Could that be a reference to the Holy Spirit?
As it turns out, the seven spirits are mentioned several times in the book of Revelation. And one of those is in our passage for this Pentecost morning. In Revelation 5:6, the seven spirits are sent out into all the earth. If the seven spirits are a reference to the Holy Spirit, could this be a reference to Pentecost?
Before we dig deeper into this verse, there are a couple of important things to remember about the book of Revelation. First, we need to take into account what type of literature we’re looking at here. The Bible contains many different types of literature or genres. Most of the book of Revelation belongs to the apocalyptic genre. Same with the book of Zechariah. Apocalyptic writings use symbols to teach spiritual truths. Among those symbols are often numbers. These symbols are not meant to be taken literally – instead, using the rest of the Bible, we’re meant to discern what those symbols are referring to. This is obviously going to be important for looking at Revelation 5:6.
The second important thing to remember is the main theme of the book. Sometimes people make it quite complicated, but really the theme of Revelation can be put into two words: Jesus wins. It’s about the victorious Jesus triumphing over all his enemies. The book of Revelation consists of seven parallel sections. Each of those seven sections covers the time from the first to the second coming of Christ. They differ in emphasis, they differ in perspective, but each of those seven sections is ultimately telling the same story of Christ’s victory. Revelation 5:6 is in the first of those seven sections.
So with those important pieces in front of us, I preach to you God’s Word. I’ve summarized the theme of the sermon like this: Praise God for the victorious Lamb has sent out his Spirit!
We’ll consider:
- Who
- How
- Why
In this first section of the book of Revelation, the focus is on the scroll with the seven seals. An angel asked who was worthy to open the scroll and break the seals. The only one who could was the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” also known as “the Root of David.” That’s obviously a reference to the Messiah, to Christ. And notice how he’s able to open the scroll and break the seals because he has conquered. He has been victorious. And now opening the scroll and breaking the seals is going to bring judgment on his enemies.
Now in our passage, the same one who was described as the Lion of the tribe of Judah is now described as the Lamb. It’s the same person. Both are references to Jesus Christ. When Scripture describes him as a Lamb, the spiritual truth being conveyed is that he is the sacrifice which has taken away our sins. As Isaiah 53 puts it, he was “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter.” The notion of a lamb slaughtered comes back here in Revelation 5:6 as well. The Lamb appeared to have been slain or slaughtered.
Yet despite that, there are some remarkable things about this Lamb. One is that he is standing. In Acts 7, when Stephen was martyred, he was gazing up into heaven and saw Jesus. He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. That was significant because it indicated Christ was standing ready to welcome Stephen into heaven. Likewise here, John sees the Lamb standing. Lambs don’t sit, so the only alternative would be lying down, which might suggest the Lamb was dead. But God wanted to make it clear the Lamb wasn’t dead. He’d been slain, but he was raised victorious over sin and death. There was a cross, but there was also an empty tomb. So when you read here about the Lamb standing, that’s symbolic for the empty tomb – it represents Christ’s victory.
Moreover, look at where the Lamb is here. He’s in heaven, in the middle of everything. That points to his exalted place. This is not a Lamb crushed and defeat, but a Lamb lifted up victorious and authoritative.
This Lamb appears with seven horns. In the Bible, horns are symbolic of power. Seven is a number of fullness. In Joshua 6, the Israelites had surrounded the city of Jericho. They were ready to take it. God commanded that on the seventh day, seven priests would go with the people marching around the city seven times, and then the priests would blow seven horns, ram’s horns. Then the wall of the city would fall down. You can see why horns would then be associated with power. The Lamb has a full measure of power. He is omnipotent, almighty. No one can stand in the way of Christ’s purposes.
But not only does he have seven horns, he also has seven eyes. Now again, we’re not supposed to imagine that Christ literally has seven eyes. This is again symbolic language. We have the language of fullness or completeness again -- seven. And eyes represent knowledge or awareness. So Christ has a full or complete knowledge of what’s going on. This image represents his omniscience, the fact that Christ knows everything.
That picture is borrowed from the Old Testament, from what we read in Zechariah 4. Zechariah is shown the seven “eyes of the LORD, which range throughout the whole earth.” God’s knowledge extends over the whole planet. There’s nothing that happens that escapes his notice. Now that same language is applied to Christ. Just as only God is all-powerful, so also only God is all-knowing. And since Christ is all-powerful and all-knowing, he is God. He is the victorious, almighty, Sovereign God of heaven and earth, exalted and majestic in heaven.
That brings us to the seven spirits described here. This language is only used in the book of Revelation. So there’s no indication anywhere else in the Bible that we should be thinking literally about multiple spirits of God. Instead, just as the seven horns and the seven eyes are understood symbolically to refer to the fullness or completeness of power and knowledge, so also here with the seven spirits. Just as there is one power of God and one knowledge of God, so also there’s one Spirit of God. Just as there is a full and complete power and knowledge of God, so also the Holy Spirit is full and complete. In fact, I think the number seven here may be directly connected to what we read in the Bible about Pentecost.
In Acts 2, when Peter interprets the event of Pentecost, he quotes from the prophecy of Joel. Joel’s prophecy said in Joel 2, “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…” So Pentecost was the pouring out of God’s Spirit. The language of “pouring out” speaks of fullness. It speaks of abundance. Describing him as the “seven spirits of God” in the book of Revelation would be a symbolic way of referring to his having been poured out on the church.
So we’re looking at a description here of the Holy Spirit having been sent out into all the earth. Who sent him? We could think of this as a joint project of the Triune God, but here the focus is particularly on the Holy Spirit’s relationship to the Lamb. As the seven eyes of the Lamb, the Holy Spirit has been sent out by the Lamb into all the earth. This is a fulfillment of what Jesus said in John 16:7, “But if I go, I will send him to you.” ‘Him’ there is referring to the Holy Spirit. That’s what happened with Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was sent by Christ and he was poured out on the church.
But let’s think a little bit more about how the victorious Lamb has sent out his Spirit into all the earth. We might be tempted to think of what we read here in an ambiguous and undefined way. What I mean is that we might be tempted to think of the Lamb sending out his Spirit and his Spirit just wandering around over all the earth. Something like what we read about him in Genesis 1:2, that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
But that’s not going to work. What John sees is something related to the Lamb in his exalted state, after his resurrection and ascension into heaven. But back in the Old Testament already we read of the presence of the Holy Spirit all over the earth. We sang from Psalm 139 and it speaks of this. Psalm 139:7 says, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” The Holy Spirit is present everywhere, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
What’s different in Revelation 5:6 then? Again, it has to do with Pentecost and the Holy Spirit being sent forth by the victorious Christ at that moment. He comes in a new, a richer, and fuller way.
Now the individual believer is said to be a temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in each Christian, providing her or him with gifts, and equipping him or her for worship, service, and witness. And according to Revelation 5:6, that happens in “all the earth.” All over this planet, in countries far and wide, you’ll find your brothers and sisters filled with the Holy Spirit. There are temples of the Holy Spirit over all the earth.
But the Bible has another way of speaking about the temple of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 3 and other passages, the church is said to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in every Bible-believing church, every gospel-preaching church, every faithful congregation. He’s there among them. He’s been poured out on the church of Christ. He equips us and empowers us also corporately for the work he’s called us to.
So Christ has sent out his Spirit by bringing him to dwell with us individually as believers and corporately as church. In this way, the victorious Lamb continues to be present with his people to encourage them, to comfort them, and to motivate them. Christ is in heaven at this moment, but he hasn’t neglected us or abandoned us. Praise God that he has blessed us richly by pouring out his Spirit.
Now let’s look at why he’s done this.
The way the situation is presented to us here in Revelation 5, the Holy Spirit is the means by which Christ is aware of everything happening on earth with his people. The Holy Spirit has been sent out to be the eyes of Christ among us, so to speak.
There’s more to it than this. Christ’s knowledge goes hand in hand with his power and his plan. He has a wise plan for his kingdom to spread on the earth. Christ has a comprehensive plan to see the gospel go out into all the earth, into every corner. The Holy Spirit has a key role in this. He’s not only Christ’s eyes, but also his arms. Through the work of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives here on this planet, Christ is at work.
We read about Pentecost in the book of Acts. And there’s more we can read about the Holy Spirit in that book. And yet there’s something important at the beginning of Acts which puts all the Spirit’s activity in its proper perspective. At the beginning of Acts, the author of the book says that he wrote a previous volume. We know it as the book of Luke. Luke wrote his gospel which was about what Jesus “began to do and teach.” The book of Acts then is about what Jesus continued to do and teach. He continued to work through his Holy Spirit, poured out on the church. That’s why he said right before he ascended into heaven, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you [Pentecost], and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
So Christ has sent out his Spirit into all the earth for the purpose of his mission. The victorious Christ wants to extend his reign by having his Spirit equip Christians. He has his Spirit equip the church for spreading the gospel everywhere. The Holy Spirit has been sent to us for this purpose too.
Now when we hear this, perhaps we right away think of mission. We think of the missionaries we support in various places [if you’re reading this sermon in worship, you can mention them by name and place]. And all of that is part of the reason the victorious Lamb has sent his Spirit, for sure.
Yet I want you to notice something in Revelation 5. It begins with our text. It says the Spirit is sent out “into all the earth” for Christ’s purposes. That includes right here. Next notice what it says in verse 9. Christ is praised for having “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” There’s a huge ethnic diversity in the elect. That ethnic diversity includes the kind of people we encounter every day. Loved ones, the Spirit has been sent out for the sake of our city, for our state, for our nation. He has been sent out by Christ for the sake of the lost that we work with, the lost we live next to, the lost we go to school with. The Holy Spirit has been sent out for those family members you have who don’t know the Lord in a saving way or those friends.
He’s sent to every Christian, to equip every Christian, for this calling of witnessing to Christ. You may look at this responsibility and find it intimidating. So do I. Christ is a sympathetic High Priest and he knows how weak we are. Jesus knows how prone we are to be afraid of others. He knows how we struggle to speak about our faith because we’re afraid of being laughed at or because someone might get angry at us. So he gives us his Spirit. Jesus pours out his Spirit on us to strengthen us for what he calls us to do. If you believe in Christ, he dwells with you to help you with this. You just have to pray and ask for his help. Ask him to make you loving and bold. Ask him to give you the words you need to speak about Christ with someone. Ask him to open doors for you to have a chance to speak. This is why the Holy Spirit has been sent out by the victorious Lamb of God, Jesus our Saviour.
The greatest reason of all why the Holy Spirit has been sent out into all the earth is worship. And that’s where Revelation 5 ends. Literally the last word is “worshipped.” What we find right before that is this great scene of every creature in the universe praising the Father and the Son. There’s this great worship service at the end. That’s the culmination of everything. Oftentimes the Holy Spirit has been compared to a spotlight. He doesn’t shine the attention on himself, but on Christ. That’s what he was sent out to do. To draw everyone’s attention to the Lamb who was slain, the Lamb who is worthy to receive the highest worship. That doesn’t mean we can’t praise the Holy Spirit himself. As God, he is worthy and deserving of our worship too. But it wasn’t the Holy Spirit who was slain for our sins, but the Lamb of God. Hence the Spirit leads us to the cross, points us to the Saviour, and says, “Here is your salvation. Rest and trust in him.”
Loved ones, today we can praise God that Christ poured out his Spirit. Without him, we would never have heard a gospel witness and believed it. Without him, no one else is going to hear a gospel witness and believe it either. He is essential to Christ’s purposes. Let’s continue to pray that he will strengthen and equip us to participate in Christ’s ongoing gospel mission in this dark world. AMEN.
PRAYER
O Holy Spirit,
We’re grateful for who you are and what you’ve done and what you continue to do. We praise you for having strengthened and equipped believers in ages past. You’re the reason why previous generations heard a gospel witness and believed it. You’re the reason why we’ve heard a gospel witness and believed it and we praise you for that. O Holy Spirit, please continue to dwell among us. Please continue to help us share the good news of our Saviour. Please fill us with his love. Please grant us his grace and compassion. Please give us a rich measure of boldness for sharing the gospel. O Spirit, please also open doors for us to speak about the hope we have. We depend on your strength and we look to your power. Please go with us as we seek to honour our Lord and see more people drawn to him in true faith.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Dr. Wes Bredenhof, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
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