The Throne, the Lamb, and Unshakable Divine Plan

And the one who sits at the center of that throne room, he is not distant from us. He is the lamb who was slain. The one who holds history in his hands once stretched out his hands for you. Which means this is that we don't have to understand everything in order to trust him. We just need to see who's on the throne and who holds the scroll. John wept because there was no one worthy to open the scroll until he saw the lamb as though slain. And today, we don't just hear about a lamb, we remember him. We remember his body that was broken. We remember his blood that was poured out. That same sacrifice that made him worthy in heaven is the sacrifice that saves us here. [01:12:24] (50 seconds)  #LambWhoSaves

Why? Because they see the one on the throne. They see the lamb who was slain. And when you see him rightly, worship is not forced. It's actually the only thing that makes sense in the moment. So God's not egotistical for demanding worship. He is lovingly and inviting us to enjoy the enjoy him as the one who is the only one who will never ever disappoint us. So at the beginning, I mentioned how life can feel like there's no one in that control room. Like everything's chaotic and no one's in charge. But here, Revelation four and five shows us what we can't see with our own eyes, that there is a throne and it's occupied. That there is a plan, it's written down. There is a savior who is worthy. [01:11:36] (48 seconds)  #WorshipTheWorthy

But more than that, also than that, is that when do rainbows appear? They they come after the storm is done. Right? So so what what what is John being told here? He looks and sees the throne room of God. He sees God there. He sees his majesty. He's trying to describe all this. He sees a rainbow over it and he's like, I see God's mercy and the storm is done? Does this mean that the storm is over? Well, we know that it wasn't totally over, but it was as good as done because of God's sovereign rule. [00:39:58] (29 seconds)  #MercyAfterStorm

And it's hard. And many people turn away. Many people stop. As a pastor, can I just just take a second here and plead with you and before my own soul? May we and may you, may we never turn back. We looked at this in Hebrews series. We're seeing it here. It's very common for people to begin a walk with Christ and then to turn back. Please don't. He is worthy of your worship. He is worthy of following. He is worthy of your trust. He is worthy of your complete obedience. And let me tell you this, you will never find true peace without Christ. You may find some satisfaction for a short time. It won't last. And it's gonna be difficult to follow Christ. [01:01:53] (61 seconds)  #DontTurnBackToChrist

So imagine if a doctor discovers that the only cure he discovers the only cure for a deadly disease and then he says this to you, you need to take this. Trust me, it's gonna save your life. Is that egotistical of the doctor to say that? No. It's loving. In the same way, God says to me, he says, come to me, treasure me, worship me. Why? Because he knows that he is the only one that can truly satisfy our souls. God doesn't need our worship, we need to worship. So it's not egotistical of God when he's saying, listen, this is what you need because this is how you are designed. [01:09:28] (41 seconds)  #WorshipIsLife

I wonder if you ever feel that way about God's plan for your life. You know it's there, but you just can't see it. I can't tell you how many times I've I've I've just asked God, what do you want? What do you want? What should we do? What is the path forward here? How can we? I I've had so many conversations with God like that. And I haven't been always been able to get the clear answer right away. But I'm gonna jump ahead just a little bit here, but when I say this, he's never disappointed me. [00:53:39] (49 seconds)  #TrustHisUnseenPlan

I don't know if you've ever watched a movie where everything seems kinda chaotic or completely out of control. I mean, there's, like, disasters happening and systems are failing, people are panicking. And then the scene cuts to, like, a room that has a lot of monitors and things, it's a control room. And then you realize someone is actually overseeing it. Someone's overseeing the chaos of what you thought was going on. Now most of the time in real life, it does not feel like there is said control room. Right? It doesn't feel that way. It feels like things are spinning. [00:31:08] (48 seconds)  #ThereIsAnOverseer

So, no matter how chaotic the world fear feels, God is on the throne and his plan is in the hands of the lamb. And here at the table here, we're reminded why we can trust him. Because he is the one who holds history in his hands. [01:13:14] (16 seconds)  #HistoryInHisHands