Thee do we trust, nor find thee
to fail. Thy mercies, how tender, how
firm to the end, Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend. Before we look at chapter 16,
go with me to chapter 1 of The Revelation. Notice I emphasize The Revelation. That is the name of this book. Revelations. The Revelation. Because that is the first two
words in this book. It says, THE REVELATION OF JESUS
CHRIST. Though there are many things
revealed through this book, it is really THE revelation. It is one. Notice with me now. THE revelation. What does revelation
mean? Well, you get the word reveal. It's something that's revealed.
Now, what does that mean? It means it's a secret. It's
a mystery. It's something you don't know
until it's revealed. Right? They're playing. Well,
look at it. It says, The Revelation of Jesus
Christ. This book is all about the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's the revelation of God concerning
His Son. Though there are many things
said, it's all really of one. Paul speaks of one. This book
is the 66th book in the Bible. It's the last chapter. 66th chapter
of God's book. Now he didn't start and then
continue and write 65 books on one subject and then change the
subject in conclusion. The summary. The substance. What's the word? Prologue? The last, the summary of it all. He didn't change epilogue. Thank you. He didn't change the subject.
It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's all about him. It's
all concerning God's son. Now, look what it says there.
It's the revelation which God gave unto him. All things are
delivered unto me of my Father, Christ said. We've already seen
that, haven't we, in Exodus 24. To do what? To show, read on,
unto His servants, His servants, whom He chose, to show unto them the revelation. It's just that.
It's a revelation. It must be revealed. And it's
the revelation of Jesus Christ. The whole book is about Jesus
Christ. Now, in order to understand this book, now you can go to
chapter 14. In order to understand the revelation,
As with all of God's Word, it must be revealed unto you by
God's Spirit. That's what Paul said, that God
hath revealed these things unto us by his Spirit. The natural
man receiveth not the things of God, neither their foolishness
to it, neither can he. No. But they're spiritually discerned,
or that is, the Holy Spirit must reveal them. But he said, Bless God, God hath
revealed these things unto us by his Spirit. And the revelation
is in order to understand it, it must be revealed and also
to understand the revelation. You've got to see, you've got
to understand that it's it's. It's typical. It's symbolic. The Lord spoke in parables. Didn't it? The Lord spoke in
parables nearly every time he spoke, he spoke in parables.
And the disciples one time said to him, why are you doing this? They did, didn't they Stan? Why
are you speaking in parables? He said, because it's given unto
you. And he took them aside and said,
and he told them what the parable meant. He said, it's not given
to them. He said, I've hid these things
from the wise and prudent, the natural man. I'm not telling
them what this means. And they're trying to understand
it. And they come up with all sorts
of conclusions, but they don't know that I'm giving it to you.
I'm telling you. Are you with me? And you've heard me often say
that Nobody has a clue about this book, the Revelation, who
doesn't know what Genesis 1, 2, and 3 is talking about, if
they don't know what the introduction to God's book is talking about.
They don't have a clue about the last chapter. But it's largely symbolic, pictures,
types, parabolic. Is that a word? Parable? Even my lack of education, almost,
in English grammar. Paul said this. Paul said he
heard things, when he went to heaven, he heard things unlawful,
that is, impossible to utter. He heard things that were impossible
for mortal man to understand. Can't put it into words. And
John, now, is going to describe things. The natural man can't just read
this and say, well, that's, this is what, like chapter 12 about
the queen of heaven, you know. Catholicism is taking that and
just running with it, talking about marriage. It's not talking
about marriage. It's talking about the church. Well, all right. So we need to
understand that in the reading of the revelation. The revelation is the revelation
of Jesus Christ. Look at the first words of chapter
14. And I looked. Here's one of God's chosen, one
of God's called, whom God chose and God revealed to him, Christ
revealed to John. And John looked, and what did
he see? What's the first thing he saw,
and what did he see throughout this book? Nearly every time
he looked up, lo, a lamb. stood on Mount Zion. From the Garden of Eden, when
God Almighty slew the first lamb, to the very end of Scripture,
to the Revelation, the last chapter, God over and over and over and
over and over writes about, speaks about, declares unto human beings
about a lamb. When the first man and woman
sinned, God slew a lamb. And then from there on, it says,
Go learn what that means, the lamb. And in the end, John says,
Look, I looked, and I saw a lamb. In the end. Standing on Mount
Sinai. Why? Why a lamb? Why? Do you know? Most of you do. Thank God for that. But look
at Exodus 12. Exodus 12. Everyone who has a
Bible, look at it. Wouldn't dare presume that everyone
knows about this Lamb. Exodus 12. The God of the Bible. The God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, I'm speaking of. The God of Israel. That is, Jehovah
demands that everyone who come to him have a lamp. Anybody who approaches him, God
said, must have a lamp. Look at chapter 12 of Exodus,
verse 3. It says, Speak ye unto all the
congregation of Israel. Tell everybody the same thing,
saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them
every man a lamb. If anybody's going to worship
me, know me, come to me, they've got to have a lamb. There's one way, God said, there's
one way to come to me. One truth of how God made me
worship. One way, one life, that is the
only one way you're going to live. The Lamb dies. Bring Him in, every one of them.
Doesn't matter if they're Jew or Gentile. It doesn't matter
if they're from the actual state of Israel or if they're from
the state of Iraq. If they're going to worship the
God of the universe, they're going to have to have a lamb. Why is that? What is this all about? And it's
not a whole lamb. dead lamb, a bloodied lamb, a
lamb that has been slain. It's the blood of that lamb. Why? Because God is holy. Even the Muslims, even Islamic
religion says something about the holiness of God. And therefore,
they do all sorts of things to try to appease this holy God. They bring blood upon themselves.
Have you seen them doing this thing? Whipping and thrashing
themselves till blood comes out? That won't appease God. All religions have some kind
of sacrifice to make to God. The ancient civilizations, if
you want to call them that, Mayans and all that, would sacrifice
young virgins. Isn't that interesting? In that interest, they thought
it has to be something pure, spotless, to offer unto this
God. Where'd they get that? Huh? Where'd they come up with that?
It's a perversion of what God said from the very beginning.
All mankind has heard it. They're all without excuse. God
is holy. And Scripture says we've all
sinned and come short of the glory. That is the holiness,
the demands of God. And he said, the soul that sinneth
must surely die. Without shedding of blood, sin
cannot. Without your sin, your sins cannot
be just pardoned, they have to be punished. That's what God said. But God? Rich in mercy. said, if you bring
a lamb, if you just bring a lamb and
kill it in your stead, you don't have to die. God, the scripture
says, taketh no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The Scripture says that God does
not afflict men willingly. What Scripture says? Just bring
a lamb. Just come with a lamb. And we'll
kill that lamb. And the lamb will die in your
stead. And you don't have to die. But don't come to me without
this blood. Without death. Kill a lamb. What kind of lamb? Just not any
old lamb. 5 of Exodus, it says, Your lamb
shall be without blemish, a male of the first year, a yearly,
firstborn, young in his prime, male, spotless, perfect, pure. And everybody in verse 6, it
says that everybody's going to keep it up and watch it and observe
it to make sure it's perfect. Because it shall be perfect,
God said, to be accepted. Bring a lamb. Your lamb shall
be without blemish, without spot, a male in its prime. Bring it
to me and slit its throat and pour out the blood. And when
I see the blood, I'll pass over you in mercy. I'll spare you. I'll take the death of this lamb
in your place. Now, you know, it's not possible that the blood
of a lamb can have anything to do with a human being's soul. Nothing flesh. Nothing in this
life. Nothing we do can atone for our
soul, our spirit. And man, ignorantly, is going
about all sorts of things to try to appease, in the flesh,
to try to appease, nothing in the flesh can appease God. What's he talking about? John said, I looked, and lo, John said, go back to the text.
John said, I saw a lamb. Every man's lamb. Out of every
tribe, kindred, nation come unto him. This is the lamb. Every
man's lamb. A lamb. It's a person. It's the
Lord Jesus Christ. The lamb, John. Oh my, John the baptizer was
preaching one day, and here came a man. John's preaching, repent, the
kingdom of God. Behold the Lamb! He pointed at Jesus of Nazareth,
that man. There he is, the Lamb. There's our Lamb, the Lamb of
God that taketh away the sin of the world. Every tribe, nation,
kindred, tongue under heaven, blood and feet, right there he
is, the Lamb. You understand? You're blessed if you do. You're
so blessed if you do. He stood on Mount Zion. He stood
on Mount Zion. This is where He is. This is
where you'll find Him. In His church. In the midst of His church. Right there. With His people.
And Christ is that Lamb without spot or blemish. The perfect
substitute for His people. Do you need a Lamb? Do you have
a Lamb? All believers do. It says Mount
Zion, that's where he was. They're all together, taken up
with the lamb. John said, I looked and lo, I
a lamb. Now, this is not the first way
John saw him, though. This is not the first way that
John saw this person. Do you remember how he first
saw him? No? Chapter one. Do you remember
that? Well, if you don't, go back there and look at it. This
is how John first saw him. In Revelation 1, it says in verse
12, I turned to see the voice that spake with me. The first
thing by the stand he heard. He didn't see anything until
he heard something. This is how so significant. He didn't see
Christ until he heard his voice, his word. My sheep hear my voice. John said, That which we've heard
and seen, declare unto you. He heard his voice and then he
saw his glory. He heard from his word and then
he saw him as he is. Verse 12, I turn to see the voice. that spake with me, and being
turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and went on and on to describe.
I saw one like the Son of Man, and He saw Him in all His regal,
royal, majestic... He saw the Lord high and lifted
up. Like Isaiah, I saw the Lord high
and lifted up. His train filling the temple.
He saw Him. in His majesty, in His glory,
in His love. That's the first way God's people...
Look at chapter 5, Revelation 5. Look at this. And verse 4,
John wept because no man was found worthy to open and read
the book. You remember there were... God
delivered the book to who? Moses. Moses took the book. Nobody else could but Moses.
And it says in verse 5, One of the elders said unto me, Weep
not, behold, what? The lion. Let me get a hold of this. It's my favorite subject. The
first way every son of Adam, when God Almighty reveals the
Lord Jesus Christ to them, the first way in which he does it. is a lion. What's a lion? A lion is generally acknowledged
by all as the king, isn't it? A lion is perhaps the most powerful
and fearsome of all creatures on God's planet. Yes, he is.
God made him that way on purpose, Dan. Why? To show something. But to tell everybody something,
my son is first and foremost, preeminently, the Lion. You're going to see him when
you first see him. You'll see him as he is, a Lion,
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You like that, Stephen? I know
you're smiling right now. Man! Tell us about your Jesus. He's king. You don't make Him
king. Go out into the jungle. Go out
into the jungle! And face one of those fearsome
beasts and say that. I might let you overpower me
in a moment. You shake, you'll shake in your
boots. Who's able to stand on this land? Then after, after, are you with
me? After you see him as the lion,
then God shows you redemption story, how the lion became a
lamb. Hear with me, Nancy. The Lamb
became a Lamb. But you know, when you behold
Him as a Lamb, you don't see a week. You don't think of a
week. This is symbolic. The Lord Jesus Christ doesn't
look like a creature, a Lamb. We're not going to see an actual
Lamb someday. This is symbolic. We're going to see the Lord Jesus
Christ, our Lamb. God's land. And this is what
every one of God's people, when they think, when you think of
Christ, what do you first think of? When you think of, when somebody
mentions Christ, what comes across your mind? What in the world
would be some picture of a long-haired fella that looks like Wild Bill
Hickok? A total misrepresentation. There's
no physical description of Jesus Christ. He didn't have long hair.
Oh, man. Anyway, that's what they see.
Or they might see a baby in some woman's arms. Or they might see
a fellow hanging on a tree, you know, just helpless and hopeless. Or they might see some little
figurine on some fellow's pole, helpless, or in a woman's arms
down at the foot of the cross, you know, and helpless. She's
going to help him out, her son, poor fellow. What do you see?
When you think of the Lord Jesus Christ, what comes to your mind?
It's not an actual physical picture, but you think of majesty, glory,
honor, king, sovereign, reigning, ruling, God! That's who you think
of. What else do you see? Redeemer,
substitute, blood like lamb! Savior. You don't think of weakness
at any point, do you, Sam? You don't think of weakness at
all. When you think of Jesus Christ, what you see, behold,
what Zion sees is a lamb. It's not a weak, helpless, it's
a lamb. But the substance, you see your
substance, you see the blood before the Lord, you see your
sacrifice before the Lord. That's what you see. Everybody,
all of Mount Zion, That's what they all say. They all don't
have different conceptions. No, sir. They're all taught of
God that they have a Lamb. He's first the Lamb, and then
He's the Lamb. And 144,000, go back to the text,
144,000 I'm getting tired of preaching
too long. I'm telling you. I need a stop spot here. There's so much here. I haven't even got past the first
line. This is too much. Too sufficient. I'm telling you. If we don't get past that, we're
never going to get past that. Really? But 144,000 were there. 144,000. Particular number. Right? Who numbered them? God did. He said no. Why? Because He did. But that's not fair. There's
another one out there. Oh no. I've numbered them. Now, this is symbolic, too. It's a particular number. Scripture says that people are
a people which no man can number. They're like the sands of the
sea. Sands of the sea. Stars in the
sky are numbers. But no man can number them. God does. He can number them.
Just like the stars. He said he telleth all the stars.
He knows them by name. 144,000. I was
going to show you that I don't have time over how it's a tribe
of Israel, 12,000 from every tribe over in chapter 7. 12,000
from every tribe. In other words, all Israel will
be saved. That this high priest, this lamb
was shed, his blood was shed for who? Israel. like the high priest of old who
had the twelve tithes of Israel on his breastplate and on his
shoulder. He went in and offered this up for who? Israel. That's
a picture, a type, a symbol of God's people, his chosen people.
They're not all Israel, which are obvious, but all Israel will
be saved. Explain that. Anyway, in chapter 7 it says
there's a great multitude of all nations. But it says in verse one, they
all had his father's name written in their forehead. The father
of the Lamb. They had his name written in
their forehead. Now did they actually have Jehovah? That's how you're going to know
them some day. They got Jehovah written. Just like you'll know
the Antichrist, because they got six, six, six right there. Boy, that'd be easy, wouldn't
it? Yeah. Shoot him! He's got sixes on him. How ignorant can you get? That's
man. That's manhood. That's how ignorant
you can get. Four dumb fools. The scripture says,
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. This is talking about a mindset. This is talking about a name
written on your mind. Not a tattoo. It's not outward. It's inward. It's in the mind.
What? Jehovah. He said, let this mind
be in you. Which was also in Christ Jesus.
What did Christ say? I must be about my Father's business. What's that? I'm about the glory
of it. Jehovah. I'm here to glorify
Jehovah. That was on His mind all the
time. So it is with all of God's people. What is foremost and uppermost
on their minds? Somebody with me. What is on
the minds of God's people? God's glory. Brother Kelly read back in the
study a few Wednesdays ago, Psalm 70, next to the last verse says,
that such as love thy salvation, say, the Lord be magnified. All who really are in this thing
for God's glory, all who really worship God the Father, all who
really have on their minds, in their hearts, the glory of God
Almighty, they say, the Lord be magnified. All who really
love that salvation is of the Lord, one hundred percent, that
He does it all, all of them, every one of them say, the Lord
be magnified. Who saved you? The Lord did.
Who kept you? The Lord did. Who called you? The Lord did. Why are you here? The Lord brought me! That is on their mind. Indelibly
printed on their minds. Jehovah. Do you remember what
that name meant? We just studied that. That's our God. The God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. That's our God. Jehovah. They
don't know the world doesn't know me by that name. He said,
but you do. He got it in your forehead. You know who I am. I've chosen
you, He said in Isaiah 53. I've chosen you that you might
know me. But I am He, and beside me there's none else. I've chosen
you to know this. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Ah, boy. Why do we need to get
past verse 1? Well, verse 2, it says, And I
heard a voice, I am going to continue this Wednesday night.
There's just not enough time. But it said, I heard a voice
from heaven as the voice of many waters, as the voice of great
thunder. I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps. It says, I heard a voice of many. I heard the voice as of many
waters. A voice, the voice, the voice. Harpers were harping, and it
was the voice of harpers harping. They're harping. In other words,
it's this number which no man can number. Singing. Says, I sung a new song. Oh, my Moses. I sung a new song. Which nobody knew, but those
numbered. But they all sung the same song. There were many, but they all
weren't singing to their own, you know, marching to their own
beat. They were all dressed just alike.
Just alike. They all look just like everyone
look just like. They all sing just like. All sing the same song in the
same key in the exact perfect. Pitch and tempo and rhythm and
all it sounds like one voice though many it also. Herping, they all play it. Gabe,
this is what your goal is, isn't it? For all your students to
play together. Oh, I've been around when Gabe,
you know, all those young kids, and he's trying to, oh, stop,
no, everybody stop! You know how patient he is? I've
seen him. Oh, they've all learned it. They've
all learned it on earth. They've all started harping their
harps here. They've all been tuning their
harps here to C, middle C. They're all learning this song
here, all of them. And when they get there, they're
all going to sing perfectly. They're all going to sing in
tune. They're all going to sing in time. They're all going to
sing the same thing. It's going to sound like one
person singing one song forever. What worthy is the Bam! End of message. Okay. We're going to go ahead and do
that. We're going to go ahead and do
that. We're going to go ahead and do that. We're going to go
ahead and do that. We're going to go ahead and do
that. you you Thank you. Okay. Okay. All right. I don't know. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you very much. All right. you Thank you.