you'll lose none. And who are these that are there?
They're the redeemed. They're those that are bought
by the blood. They're those He came to save. They're those in that everlasting
covenant. This is the church of the firstborn. These are the saints of God.
This is the body of Christ. This is the bride of Christ. This is Zion. There's a city. And the scripture says, as was
sung in that song, there is a river. The streams thereof make glad
the city of God. That's Zion. Absolutely that's Zion. And as
I said, this is his bride. And when you look back in verse
4 again, it describes them in a particular way. It says they're
clothed in white raiment. I'm not too big a fan of white
myself. I'm such a dirty creature. Never had a pair of white shoes
in my life. Never had a white suit in my
life. But I sure like this one. White
Raymond. All throughout this book, that's
the description. White Raymond. Look back in Revelations
3, verse 4. Thou hast a few names, even in
Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall
walk with me in white. For they are worthy. Their worthiness
is in Christ. He that overcometh the same shall
be clothed in white rain. Look over in Revelation 6, verse 11. It says, "...and white robes
were given unto every one of them, and it was said unto them
that they should rest for a little reason, and their fellow servants
also, and their brethren that should be killed as they were
should be fulfilled." Living or dead. Absolutely white raiment. Look over in chapter 7. In verse 9, he says, And after
this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood
before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes. And there are a lot more. They're
all dressed in white robes, white raiment. And that simply means that they're
clothed with those garments of salvation. They're all, everyone
the same, clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a lot different from
today's religious views of these saints. It appears by what men say that
some will be over here and they'll be barely dressed in the uniform. And others over here, they'll
be dressed and they'll look like some third world general with
all their awards and their medals No. All their garments are alike. Won't be any big I's or little
U's in the citizenry of heaven because they all have the same
robe. And they are all clothed in this
robe because of Christ, because of the grace of God. When you read over in Ezekiel
and you read about that infant left aborted and dead in a field,
oh vile and filthy. That's a picture of his church.
But he said, when I looked on you, it was a time of love. Time of love. You believe in love at first
sight? I believe in love at first sight. Fifty years ago last year, I
mean the last month, I married my wife. When I first met her, my children say I must have been
smitten. Love at first sight. And so when he describes his
bride here, she first appears dead, bloody, aborted, cast out
in a field. Nobody would have her. But it was a time of love. And he says, I washed her. I
washed her, yea, thoroughly, I washed away thy blood from
thee, and I anointed thee with oil, and I clothed thee with broidered works. and shod
thee with baskins, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and
I covered thee with silk, and I decked thee also with ornaments,
and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck,
and I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and
a beautiful crown upon thine head, and thou wast decked with
gold and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen and silk, and
broidered works, and thou didst seek fine flour, and honey, and
oil, and thou wast exceeding beautiful." The Lord's people are to Him
exceeding beautiful. As a matter of fact, in the Song
of Solomon, the bridegroom says of the bride, You are all fair. There's not
a spot in you. Can the Lord Jesus say that about
us? Clothed in this garment. He says,
and thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty. For it was perfect. God can't accept anything less
than perfect. But he can't give anything less
than perfect either. And it was perfect through my
comeliness. This is a beautiful company here. Nobody's ever said that about
me in my life. But he says they're a beautiful
company. He says it was perfect through
my comeliness. which I had put upon thee, saith
the Lord." They are all like that old hymn
writer said, when I stand before the throne dressed in beauty,
not my own. All our beauty is in the Lord
Jesus. All our righteousness is in Him
and from Him. We are said to be made the righteousness
of God in Christ. In Christ. He imputes His righteousness
to us. The Bible says blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. But brother Tim said he never
charged it to us. He laid it in the very beginnings
on the surety. But he gives to us his righteousness. We are made the righteousness
of God in Christ. What does that mean? It means
before God. Don't get led off on some path
trying to explain what can't be explained. And all that we read in this
book, all we read there in Romans 5, it has to do with how we're
seen by and stand before God. We made the righteousness of
God in Him. White Raymond. White Lyndon. And not only that, it says it
had crowns of gold. Crowns of gold. The scripture
speaks of the crown of life. The scriptures speak of the crown
of glory. Paul said, henceforth there's
laid up for me a crown of righteousness. which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but
unto all them that love his appearing." It's an incorruptible crown. And all those, they cast their
crowns before the throne. What does that mean? It means
they attribute to the one on the throne everything. He's the
giver. He's the savior. He's the redeemer. He's everything. And at the center of all this is the one who sits on the throne. I hear people talking about their
church and they talk about everything
and everyone in their church except for him who is the head
of the church. It must not be his church then. The scripture says that in His
house, in His temple, everyone speaks of His glory. That's right, His glory. We don't
have any. And so in verse 5 it says, And
out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and thunderings, and voices.
And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,
which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne there
was a sea of glass likened to crystal. And in the midst of
the throne and round about the throne were four beasts full
of eyes, before and behind. And the first beast was likened
to a lion, and the second beast was likened to a calf, and the
third beast had a face of a man, and the fourth beast was like
a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each
of them six wings about him. and they were full of eyes within
and they rest not day and night saying holy, holy, holy Lord
God Almighty which was and is and is to come." Where have I heard that before? I believe I heard a fellow by
the name of Isaiah. saying in Isaiah 6 that in the
year that King Uzziah died, he said, I saw the Lord. Have you ever seen the Lord? The only way you will ever see
the Lord in this life is to see Him by faith. But when you see
Him, as He is revealed in this Word, you will see Him high and
lifted up. Somebody said, all these errors
that characterize false religion in every age, they are simply
born out of a high view of man and a low view of God. John said, I saw him. Isaiah
said, I saw him. And they all saw him high and
lifted up. He wasn't just saying love, love,
love. They weren't just crying out
love, love, love. God is love. But that don't mean
He loves you. That don't mean He loves me. They were saying holy, holy,
holy. Isn't it amazing that in heaven That which is spoken of most
about God is spoken of least about on this earth. He's holy. He's thrice holy. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. And he said, I saw in the midst
of all that a sea of glass like unto crystal. It's like a mirror. That mirror seems to me to be
the gospel. You say, why? Because the scripture speaks
of our being able to see the glory of God as in a mirror in
the face of Jesus Christ and he gives four descriptive figures
here and you can take it and you can do your own little research
but these four beasts that he describes here in their various
individualities if you look at the four gospels you'll see something
of that central character being the feature of each gospel about
Christ. From his face as a man, to that face that shows him as
Mark shows him a servant, right down to that flying eagle
that John speaks of the deity of Christ. It's all about Christ.
They're all talking about Christ. They're all bowing down and worshiping
Christ. They're all there because of
Him and for no other reason His grace. And they see the glory
of Him who sits on the throne. Have you ever seen the glory
of Christ? If you ever do, you'll never
be the same again. I promise you that. If you just
get a little glimpse of His glory. And His glory is manifest according
to His revelation of Himself to Moses. His glory lies in the
sovereignty of His grace. you ever find out that he's been
gracious to you, you find out that the only reason that he
has been gracious to you is because he would, that'll be glorious. Absolutely glorious. And when all this takes place,
when that happens, look in verse 9. And when those beasts give
glory and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne who
lives forever and ever. Don't you think maybe that they
would have more important things to do? You know, Noah stepped off that
ark. And he had the nucleus of that
whole creation on that vessel. And the first thing that happens,
they step out of that ark. These creatures come out of the
ark and the first thing that happens is Noah starts killing
them. Is that right? Isn't that a waste? Isn't that dangerous? No. That's
the only way God can be worshipped. Sacrifice. And so then in verse 10 it says,
And the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat
on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever.
And they cast their crowns before the throne, saying, You're worthy. If everything be spent, if everything
has to die, If everything's used up, if everything of time and
eternity is expended, you're worthy. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created. We don't first gather in our
places of worship for what we can get out of it. Oh, we get
a lot out of it. That's not our first reason. It's because everything's for
Him. It's all for Him. He's the only
one that's worth it. It was created for Him, as well
as by Him, is for His pleasure. Whatever pleases Him, pleases
His people. It pleased the Lord to make us
His people. I'm sure pleased with that. It
pleased the Lord to put all salvation in Christ. The pleasure of the
Lord. prospered in his... I'm pleased
with that. It pleased the Lord through the
preaching, through the foolishness of preaching the cross to save
them that believe. I'm pleased with that. He's worthy. Then you come to this next verse
in chapter 5 and It says, and I saw in the right hand of him
that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back
side sealed with seven seals. He holds the book. If you notice, it says, and I
saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who's worthy
to open the book and to loose the seals thereof? And no man
in heaven nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to
open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because
no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither
to look thereon. What book is that? That's the
book of God's decrees. That's the book of God's decrees,
especially concerning His grace, the election of His people, the
things that pertain to these very individuals. It's the book
of His salvation, which is to the glory of His grace in Christ. In Psalm 2 it says, and I will
declare the decree. The Lord hath said unto me, thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. The book is about Christ
and that people in him. It's about his purpose and his
work. And there's only one worthy and
able to open that book. No angel? Not one of these? None else is able or worthy? Just about the time when that
sight seemed so sad to John. Verse 5 says, And one of the
elders saith unto me, Weep not. How many times in this book does
God tell his people, Weep not? Fear not. Why? Behold the line of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open this book
and to loose the seven seals thereof. Every bit of God's purpose
from A to Z is fulfilled in and by Christ. Everything. We even have B.C. and A.D. before Christ and Anno Domini,
the year of our Lord. Everything is about Christ. And
so he opens the book and there is none else and it says he hath
prevailed. They know this. They are made
sure that he prevailed. It means he got the job done.
He successfully accomplished their salvation. And that was
not an easy thing because there are two aspects of that salvation. That second part being the accomplishment
of their salvation. The first part being glorifying
God in the process of it. Remaining just as He justifies. He hath prevailed. That's what
we preach. And one of the distinctive, distinguishing
things in determining the true gospel from a false gospel is
this. The success of it. Who does the success of your
gospel depend on? Your free will? Your decision? Your good works? You're abstaining? Is it kind of hanging in limbo
until you do something, you decide upon Christ or something like
that? You got the wrong one. He's already
prevailed. He ought to be honored and glorified
if He speak to your heart what He spoke on that cross. It is
finished. He prevailed. If you had somebody you were
sending out on your behalf to go against an army or a king
or a giant or whatever it is, oh, you'd be so glad to know
they prevailed. And our David stood before every
Goliath. And he prevailed. I like to think
of it like this, he's that David who went out and he by himself,
David you remember took that stone and put it in the sling
and that stone is, it is Christ and he by himself, with himself,
he slew all our Goliaths. He prevailed. We don't have to
wonder about that. He's already done everything.
He's already accomplished the will of God. He's already done
everything necessary to the salvation of His people. And that's why
He's risen. And that's why He's living. And
that's why He's enthroned. And He's highly exalted. I like to hear about that. Highly
exalted. So he says, through the apostle,
neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. Saved from our sins. It's Christ
alone, it's His blood alone, it's His cross work alone, it's
His perfect life alone, it's His righteousness, that's all
our salvation. As a matter of fact, that's what
they're called. This is their name. He's the
Lord, our righteousness. Well, it had just said this is
a name whereby he should be called. But the scripture says when two
are married together, they become one. These twain shall be one. And he's the Lord. our righteousness. And they behold Him and they
worship Him and they adore Him, but not in some kind of generic
general sense. They adore Him and worship Him
and praise Him for all eternity in His redemptive character as
the Lamb. The Lamb of God that takes away
sin. Verse 6, he says, And I beheld
and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in
the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb, as it had been slain. That means as if it's newly slain. The blood was so fresh to John
and that sight God gave him, he said, I saw that lamb as if
he had just been slain. I like to think of it in this
way. It's finished, but it's fresh. Oh, he accomplished it over 2,000
years ago on that cross. But then John says, when a man
sins, He has an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. What is the basis of this advocacy? He said the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanseth us. Just keeps on cleansing us from all our sin. Do you know
anything about that continual cleansing in the conscience?
When you live day by day and you fail and you sin and you
just say, oh, the Spirit of God brings to your heart and to your
mind the remembrance of what Christ has already accomplished
and it accomplishes in that wounded conscience a fresh cleansing. It's always the Lamb. Always the Lamb. In verse 8 you see the response. It says, And when he had taken
the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down
before the Lamb, having every one of them hearts and golden
vows full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints. And
they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast slain and hast
redeemed us to God by Thy blood. out of every kindred and tongue
and people and nation, and has made us unto our God kings and
priests, and we shall reign on the earth." A kingdom of priests
What does a priest do? He offers up sacrifice to God. Except that one high priest has
already offered the sacrifice, so these priests, they offer
the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, the fruit of their lips. What can you do for God? Nothing. You say, well, if He's done everything,
And there's nothing left for me to do in the matter of my
salvation. What do I do? Thank Him for it. Praise Him for it. Hear more
about it. Seek to learn and read more about
it. They praise Him not only for
who He is, they praise Him for what He's done. He redeemed us.
He didn't make us redeemable. He didn't offer redemption. He
redeemed us. He paid the full price. He redeemed
a particular people. He redeemed us, His sheep, His
people, His church, His bride, and He redeemed us to God. How? By His blood. By His blood. And we shall reign. We shall reign. We already are
reigning. If we're seated with Him in the
heavenlies, we're already reigning. That's a glorious picture of
the heaven hereafter. But, the truth is, that's the reality of His people
right now. What have we been doing? What have we done in these three
various meetings? We've been talking about the
land. We've been reading about and trying to preach about the
Lord Jesus Christ. We've been talking about Him
in His redemptive character, in His salvation, which is all
by His shed blood. We've been talking about Him,
exalting Him, telling what God says in His Word that He did
and who He is. Disneyland would be a lot less
than that, wouldn't it? This is what we do all the time. They say, well, is that all you
got? That's all we got. That's a plenty. Like the lady
asked Brother Richardson, we're just remembering Brother Richardson,
aren't we? That's a good memory. The lady asked him one time,
she said, Brother Richardson, she said, is Christ really enough? He said, if he's all you got
he is. And that's what his people have.
They have Christ and only Christ. But if he's all, they have everything. If you don't delight in that
now, if you don't delight in these things now, you probably
wouldn't delight in the heaven hereafter.