Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us Scripture Reading Revelation 5 Text vv.9-10 This series of messages follows much of Darrell Johnsons Discipleship on the Edge

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us Do you sometimes get gifts that you are not sure what they can do for you? I once got a computer program in the mail from a cousin in Holland. I wasnt sure what it did. I did not explore what it could do for me. I never installed it on my computer.

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us Did I value this gift? Would I praise this gift or the giver? Not really. This could be the same with Christmas.

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us This morning we look at the hymn of praise to the Lamb for the gifts that he has given to you and me. To help us value the Gift of Jesus

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us Rev.5:9-10: "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. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us "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. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. Rev.5:9-10 As I see it there are 3 gifts here: 1.We are purchased with Jesus blood. 2.We are made a kingdom and priest to serve our God. 3.We reign on the earth.

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us "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. Rev.5:9 We are purchased with the Lambs blood from every tribe…. As free people we can hardly imagine being a slave. -Human trafficking today - horrors of being a slave to others wishes

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us 1. Purchased and Set Free - sometimes we can feel that we are slaves to bad habits, to sin. - we under-realize what we have been given - we under-utilize the gift the slain lamb has given

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us Romans 6:17-18: But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us We are no longer slaves to the devil and sin! We have been bought with the blood of the Lamb!

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 1 1Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death? A.That I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us This Christmas, join in the praise to Jesus, the slain Lamb on the throne by realizing that you have been bought out of slavery to sin and by utilizing that freedom to serve God.

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us 2. Kingdom of Priests "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. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, v Kingdom of Priests - Not just individuals - but a new community - not all the same - but from different tribes, languages - kingdom/community of those obeying the King of kings

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, v Kingdom of Priests - not just in the future - but a kingdom today - not a self-serving kingdom - but a community of people seeking to serve God and be involved in his mission in the world today.

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, v Kingdom of Priests - Priests – function between God and people - represent God to the people - represent the people to God

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, v Kingdom of Priests - How are we representing God to our neighbours? - How are we praying for our neighbours? - bowls of incense – prayers of the saints. Selfish or intercessory?

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us Michael Frost, author and church planter in Australia, calls the church, the trailer for the blockbuster that is to come. Street Pastors to clean up their streets

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us This Christmas, realize that because of Jesus being the slain Lamb on the Throne that we as a church have a purpose outside of ourselves.

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us 3. Reign with Christ "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. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us and they will reign on the earth. v Reign on Earth Often only seen as a future aspect of the gift. But even as Christ is already on the throne, we are to reign today.

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us Ephesians 2:4-6: But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressionsit is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, …

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us and they will reign on the earth. v Reign on Earth How do we reign? How did Jesus reign? Did he reign like a lion? Did Jesus reign like a slain lamb?

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us and they will reign on the earth. v Reign on Earth As we saw last week, Revelation 5 glasses show us that self- sacrifice is the way of Christ. Jesus reigns not as a fierce lion but a slain lamb.

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us and they will reign on the earth. v Reign on Earth Darrell Johnson: Not as the ferocious lion who hurts people to assert his rule, but who takes into himself the hurts of others, thereby making his rule happen. Discipleship, p. 160

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us and they will reign on the earth. v Reign on Earth Darrell Johnson: And we reign with him in the same way. Not as lions. But as lambs. The cross is not only the ground of our salvation. It is also the pattern of our salvation, the way of salvation. The cross is the throne from which he reigns. And he calls us to join him on his throne. He calls us to take up the cross daily. It is the way he makes the kingdom of heaven come on earth. Discipleship, p. 160

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us and they will reign on the earth. v Reign on Earth The way of self-sacrifice can seem foolish and weak. But it is the way of the slain lamb who has 7 eyes and 7 horns - All wise 7 all powerful

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us Remember the gift I received – the computer program. Under-realized Under-utilized Under-valued May none of your gifts this Christmas fall into this category.

Revelation of Jesus– Things are Not as They Seem – In Praise of the Lamb and His Gifts to Us This Christmas, with the benefit of Revelation 5 glasses, fully realize, fully use and fully be thankful for what Jesus has done for us: Setting us free from sin giving us a purpose and Allowing us to reign with Him through self-sacrifice.