If you would open your Bibles
with me to Psalm 146. I can tell you that I had a very
good trip last week to the conference in Pennsylvania. I came home
very, very encouraged, but it's good to be home. No place I'd
rather be. Psalm 146. Praise ye the Lord. Praise the
Lord, O my soul. While I live, will I praise the
Lord. I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes,
nor in the Son of Man, in whom there is no help. His breath
goeth forth. He returneth to his earth. In
that very day, his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
which made heaven and earth, the sea and all that therein
is, which keepeth truth forever, which executes judgment for the
oppressed, which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth
the prisoners. The Lord openeth the eyes of
the blind. The Lord raiseth them that are bowed down. The Lord
loveth the righteous. The Lord preserveth the strangers.
He relieveth the fatherless and widow, but the way of the wicked
he turneth upside down. The Lord shall reign forever,
even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord. Let's stand together and do just
that as Sean leads us in singing our call to worship. Dear Lord, into Thy faithful
hands My welfare I commit, And to Thy righteousness alone For
safety I retreat. Sorrows and agonies and death
Thou didst endure for me, when all the sins of God's elect were
made to meet on thee. Thou worthy in thyself of health
and everlasting shame, I cannot dread the frail divine excepted
in On thy merit, gracious Lord,
enable me to lead. Ever in thee may I be found,
my hiding place from sin. OK, if you would now turn in
your hymnal to song number 196, Blessed Be the Fountain. 196. Blessed be the fountain of life,
to a world of Blessed be the dear Son of God,
Only by His stripes we are healed. Though I've wandered far from
His fold, Bringing to my heart pain and woe, Wash me in the
blood of the Lord. Whiter than the snow, whiter
than the snow. Wash me in the blood of the Lamb,
and I shall be whiter than snow. Thorn he was the crown that he
wore, and the cross his body wore. Grievous were the sorrows he
bore, But he suffered thus not in vain. May I to that fountain
be led, Made to cleanse my sins here below. Wash me in the blood that he
shed, And I shall be whiter than snow Whiter than the snow Whiter
than the snow Wash me in the blood of the Lamb,
and I shall be whiter than snow. Father, I have wandered from
Thee, often has my heart gone astray. Crimson do my sins seem
to me, Water cannot wash them away. Jesus to that fountain
of thine, Leaning on thy promise I go, Cleanse me by thy water, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Whiter than the snow. Whiter than the snow. Wash me in the blood of the Lamb,
and I shall be whiter than snow. You can turn your Bibles to Revelation
5. Revelation 5, and we're gonna
read the entire chapter. And I saw in the right hand of
him that sat on the throne, a book written within and on the backside,
sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof. And no man in heaven nor on 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. And one of the elders saith unto
me, weep not, behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root
of David hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven
seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo, in the
midst of the throne and of the four beasts, in the midst of
the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven
horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent
forth unto all the earth, And he came and took the book out
of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when
he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and 20 elders
fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps and golden
vials 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 was slain and has 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. And I beheld, and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts and
the elders, and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000,
and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is
the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and
strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature
which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and
such as are in the sea and all they And all that are in them
heard I saying, blessing and honor and glory and power be
unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the lamb forever
and ever. And the four beasts said amen,
and the four and 20 elders fell down and worshiped him that liveth
forever and ever. May the Lord bless his word.
Let's seek the Lord in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we come
before you this morning, a thankful and a needy people. Lord, we feel our need. We feel this
sinful flesh causing us to think as we ought not think and act
as we ought not act. But Lord, we're so very thankful
that through our Lord Jesus Christ, we can
come before your throne of mercy, crying, Abba, Father, that we've
been made children of the King in our Lord Jesus Christ. Through
his cross, through his death, his burial, his resurrection,
you've given us new life in Christ. that we may worship thee as we
ought. Lord, we pray that you would
continue to bless this congregation. Pray, Lord, that this morning
that you would leave us not alone, that right now we might see our
Lord Jesus Christ, that we might put aside the cares of the world
and worship him Father, that you would give our pastor a word
from thee to feed your sheep, to show us the fulfillment of
the revelation you gave us, that that lion of the tribe of Judah
became a lamb slain before the foundation of the earth, that
he might open the book and give life to
his people. Lord, we cannot comprehend, but
we praise, praise thee. Again, Father, we ask that you
would leave us not alone. We pray for those who are going
through deep, deep waters, Lord, that you would that you would
restore them to us, that you would accomplish your will quickly,
Lord, that you would ease suffering and pain, and that your will
be done for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, Father,
for our young people, Lord, what a gift you've given. And what
a gift we desire, Lord, that you would reveal yourself to
them in a saving manner. Leave them not alone. Guide them
and hedge them about through this world. Father, have mercy
on their souls. Father, we ask all these things
and pray all these things and ask for your Tender mercies in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that name above every name, for His name,
for His sake, amen. marvelous grace of our loving
lord grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt yonder on calvary's
mount the Lamb was filled. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace
that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, Grace that is greater than all
our sins. Sin and despair, like a sea,
waves cold, threaten the soul with infinite loss. Grace that is greater yet to the refuge, the mighty cross. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace
that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, Dark is the stain that we cannot
hide. What can avail to wash it away? Look, there is flowing a stream. than snow you may be today. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace
that will pardon any Grace, grace, God's grace, grace
that is greater than all our sins. Marvelous, infinite, matchless
grace, freely bestowed Will you this moment His grace
receive? Grace, grace, God's grace, Grace
that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace, If you would, open your Bibles
with me again to Revelation chapter five. As you're opening your
Bibles to the scripture, remind you that's in the bulletin that
next Sunday we're going to have a picnic following the service
at Central Park. And I hope all of y'all can be
here and be there for that. I think it'll be a good time
together. Now I've titled the message this
morning, Who's Worthy to Open the Book. And the book that we're
talking about is found in verse one of Revelation chapter five.
And I saw on the right hand of him that sat on the throne a
book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. Now the book that John is talking
about is a scroll. And if you have a scroll that's
rolled up and sealed, you can see a little bit, can't you?
But most of it's inside. You can't tell what is in there,
what is written in the scroll. You just see a little bit of
it. That's what John saw this book. He could just see the outside,
just a little bit of the scroll is revealed and open so he could
see it. But the rest of it is closed.
It's rolled up and he can't see it. And this book is the book
of God's purpose, God's providence for all of human history. This
scroll specifically contains God's purpose in the redemption
of his people. This book contains every event
in human history. These events that God purposed
to happen before time, it contains every event in human history
and how those events, how the Lord's gonna work all of those
events together to accomplish his purpose, his main purpose,
his one purpose of glorifying his son. through the redemption
of his people. This book contains all the decrees
and the purposes of God. It contains the whole counsel
of God. Known unto God are all of his
works from the beginning of the world. God has known what his
works are gonna be from the beginning of the world. Before he created
anything, he purposed everything that he was gonna do in human
time, and he put it in a book. Now this book is not literal,
there's not literally a scroll. God didn't have to write things
down. I write things down so I don't forget them. God didn't
have, this is not a literal book, but this is, John is showing
us here in a picture God's purpose and how he's gonna unveil it
all to the world. And this book, I'll tell you
where you find it. You find it in God's hand. He says in verse
seven that he, the Lord Jesus Christ, came and took the book.
or the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. This book
is in God's hand. Now this is written for our comfort,
for our assurance, for our instruction. This book is in God's hand. All
the purposes of God are in God's hand. All his providence is in
God's hand. Everything that's happening in
God's creation is in God's hand. It's under his control. This
world looks like a very, very chaotic place to us, doesn't
it? But you know nothing's out of control. Everything is in
God's hand and he's working it all just like he purposed to
do before he created anything. The events of this world seem
utterly crazy to us, don't it? I mean, they just seem crazy.
Like what in this world is gonna happen next? What is the next
thing man's gonna imagine? What is the next thing we're
gonna do? It seems completely out of control. And it seems
like many of these things could work together and be harmful
for us, don't they? But you take comfort. All these
events are in the hand of our God. He's ordering them just
exactly like He purposed for them to happen before time began.
Now I'm gonna give you three points about this book of God's
purposes, all of His purposes, particularly God's purpose of
redemption for His people. It was God's purpose from before
the foundation of the world, He's gonna save a people. He
chose those people out of Adam's fallen race. It is His purpose
to save those people And he's going to do it by the doing and
dying of his son who will come into flesh and accomplish their
redemption. That's what this book is. So
first of all, what is it about this book? This book is a sealed
book. It's sealed to the common ordinary
man. It's perfectly sealed. When John
says he saw it sealed with seven seals, it means it's perfectly
sealed. It's impossible for any mere
man to open it. And you know, that causes us
some trouble here. Look at verse two, Revelation
five. 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 on earth,
neither under the earth was able to open the book, neither to
look thereon. They couldn't even look upon
it. This book of God's purpose, particularly now, you know, of
all of God's purposes for all of the history of this world.
His purpose in it all is the glory of his son and the redemption
of his people. And that book is sealed. It's
sealed so that no mere creature can open it and read it. No mere
creature can open this book and carry out God's purpose, to make
God's purposes come to pass. The angel cries, is anybody worthy?
Now if you're worthy to take this book and open it, come do
it. If you're able, you got the strength,
you got the wisdom, if you're able, come open it. But nobody
could, could they? Nobody in heaven. Not those angels,
the glorious, powerful beings that we read about in heaven.
No angel was able to open it. There's saints in heaven right
now, aren't there? But none of them, they're glorified. They're sinless now. None of
them were able to take it and open it. No man on earth was
able to take it and open it. No believer on earth. There are
people on this earth who genuinely, they know God. They know Christ. They believe him. Their faith
is strong. You think about the giants in
the faith that we've known. None of them are able. They're
not worthy to take this book and to open it, to carry out
God's purpose, to take that book and reveal to us all God's purposes. It ought to be obvious to us,
nobody's in hell is able to, are they? Satan, the demons,
people, nobody's there is able to rise up and take this book
from the hand of the father and carry it all out. Nobody's worthy
because John says, We can't even look there on. I mean, you forget
about taking the book from the hand of the father and open it
and carrying it out and revealing God's purpose to people. No man
is worthy to even look upon it. This is God's purpose. This is
God's purpose of redemption. Even if we could take that book
and open it, we open it up, here's all of God's purpose laid out
before us. We couldn't understand it. We
wouldn't have the slightest clue what it is that God's purpose
is. This book is sealed to the common
ordinary man. We cannot understand it. And
we certainly can't open and explain it. But I'll tell you another
reason this book is sealed. It's complete. It's all done
so that it cannot be changed. This book was completed before
human time began. before God created any human
being. Like I said earlier, God purposed every event that would
happen over the course of man's time on earth before God wraps
this thing up, burns this creation up, creates a new heaven and
new earth wherein dwell the righteousness, brings his people to be with
him. God purposed all those things
before he created anything. And I've told you so many times,
the purpose of God, is just as sure as the past act of God.
God's not gonna purpose something, it did not come to pass. God
said, oh, what I purposed, now I'm gonna do it. So this book
was completed before time even began. And after God created
man, you know, there's been no changes to this book. There's
been no additions. There's been no subtractions.
There's been no editing. God is always doing exactly what
he determined before to be done. God's not reacting to man. Man's,
oh, you know, man did this. God said, well, I didn't know
they were gonna do that, but I'm making a little adjustment here to make
sure my final purpose comes to pass. No, God's not reacting
to us. He's not reacting to us. You
know what God's doing? He's carrying out his eternal
purpose for this world. That's so comforting to me. I
can't take the book. I can't open it. I don't understand
what God's doing. But I tell you, I am so happy
it's in His hand and He's carrying out His eternal purpose. It must
be right. It must be good. It must be holy
because it's God's purpose. This book is also sealed because
there's no need to change it. Why would we need to change God's
eternal purpose? What God has purposed for His
people is wonderful, beyond our power
to express it. God's purposed mercy for his
sinful people. God's purposed grace for his
guilty people. Oh, what God's purposed for his
people because his son has earned it for us. To hear that I'm not
accepted because of what I've done or what I haven't done or
who I am, but that I'm accepted in the beloved. Oh, that thrills
me. That thrills me. It's hard for a sinful man to
understand the Holy God, isn't it? I mean, it really is. How
can we understand the Holy God? But even I can understand how
God wouldn't accept me as I am. I mean, I wouldn't accept me
as I am. I can understand. But that he'd accept me in Christ?
That he'd accept me with the same love, the same level of
acceptance by which he loves and accepts his son. Isn't that
wonderful? That my righteousness is not
something that I earn, that I have to earn by keeping the law or
that I have to keep it, keep my righteousness by keeping the
law after God saves me, but that my righteousness is a person
who's already seated at the Father's right hand. that Christ is my
righteousness? That's the best news I've ever
heard. You just go on and on and on. This is God's purpose
for his people. There's no need to change it.
That's why it's sealed. But it's still sealed. And John
says, I wet much. I wet much because no man's able
to take the book and to open it. If nobody takes that book
and opens it, I'll never know what God's purpose is. If nobody
takes that book and opens those seven seals, nobody's gonna carry
out God's eternal purpose. If God's purpose is redemption
for his people, all of us are gonna be damned unless somebody
takes that book and opens it. That's why John was weeping.
Who's gonna open this book? Who's gonna carry out God's purpose
of grace? It worries us that this book
is sealed. It's a closed book, doesn't it? Well, here's the
second thing about this book. is an open book when it's in
the hand of our Savior. Look at verse five. And one of
the elders saith unto me, weep not. Behold the line of the tribe
of Judah. The root of David hath prevailed
to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. And
I beheld, and low in the midst of the throne of the four beasts,
in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain,
having seven horns and seven eyes. which are the seven spirits
of God sent forth into all the earth, and he came and took the
book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book,
the four beasts and the four and 20 elders fell down before
the lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full
of odors, which are the prayers of the saints. John says he saw
the Lord Jesus Christ, the lamb as it had been slain, he came,
and he took the book. You notice he didn't ask pretty
please if the father would give it to him. He took the book out
of the hand of the father and the father gave it to him. They
didn't have a wrestling match over this thing. The father gave
it to him because the Lord Jesus Christ, the lamb, he's the only
one who's able to take the book. He's the only one worthy to take
the book from the father and to carry out all of its decrees
and all of its purposes. of grace and mercy and redemption
for his people. Look back for a minute, Hebrews
chapter 10. Christ is the one who opens this
book. Christ is the one who carries
out the eternal purpose of redemption for God's people. Christ did
that, and he did it by himself. He did it alone. Hebrews chapter
10, verse four. For it's not possible. that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when
he cometh into the world, when Christ, the Messiah, the Savior,
the Lamb, when he cometh into the world, he saith sacrifice
and offering, thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared
me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, in all those burnt offerings
of animals and sacrifices for sin that were the burnt bodies
of animals, in all those burnt offerings and sacrifices for
sin, Thou hast had no pleasure. They've not satisfied your law.
But then said I, lo, I come. In the volume of the book it
is written of me, I come to do thy will, O God. Above, when
he said sacrifice and offerings and burnt offerings and offering
for sin, thou wouldst not, neither has pleasure therein, those sacrifices
that are offered by the law. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. and he taketh away the first,
that he may establish the second, by the which will, by the will
that is contained in this scroll, sealed with seven seals, that's
an open scroll in the hand of the Savior, by the which will,
we're sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. See, that's Christ coming and
accomplishing God's eternal purpose of redemption that are written
in this book. He took it. And he came to this
earth as a man and he fulfilled everything that's written in
that book. It's done. Not only does Christ
come and he performed everything, he carried out every purpose
of God in this book, he's the one who opens the book and reveals
it to men. I think it's hard for us to imagine
those Jews that lived in the day when our Lord Jesus was here
on earth and he was during the time of his earthly ministry.
All they ever had was the law and the ceremonies and the types
in the pictures. Unless God gave you genuine faith
in Christ, to like Simeon, see God's salvation in that baby,
to see God's salvation in that person, you can understand why it was
impossible for them to understand that the Old Testament was all
written of Christ. And Christ came and he opened
up the whole Old Testament to our understanding. Christ came
and he showed us the law's not outward, it's spiritual, it's
in the heart. We didn't know that until Christ
came. Christ came and he showed us the salvation, the salvation
of our souls, how a sinner is made righteous. It's not through
an outward work of the law. It's an inward work of grace.
An inward work where God causes a new man to be born. This is
a supernatural work. It's not something done by our
outward actions. When all we had was the Old Testament
law and the ceremonies, we thought, well, salvation comes because
we keep the law well enough and we observe all these ceremonies.
We do them just the right days of the year and we do all these
things just right. And Christ came and taught us that salvation
is by grace. Now, don't you reckon that that
was good news? I mean, that ought to be good
news to us. But you think about people particularly, all they'd
ever known was the burden of the law. I mean, what a burden
was placed on them. They had to know. I mean, maybe
somebody's conscience was seared with a hot iron, the Pharisees,
maybe they really did think that they'd kept the law. Apparently
Saul thought he did, because he thought it was all outward.
He felt like he did. But now most of them, when they
lay down at night, they had to know, I don't keep God's law.
I don't obey that. I don't do that. And to hear
that salvation is by grace. It's by grace. through the doing
of a representative, by the dying of a substitute, taking my place
and taking the punishment that I deserve. We never would have
known salvation is by grace until Christ came and opened it up
to us. We would have never known any
of that if Christ didn't come and reveal the book to us. He
had to open it and reveal it. And I'll tell you why Christ
could take the book from the father, because he's worthy.
He's worthy. He's worthy in his person. He's
God. He's God. He's the son of God,
but his name, Isaiah said, is also the eternal father. He is
God. And because of his person, he's
worthy. Because of his person as a man.
He's worthy. This is the only man who ever
lived that was perfectly righteous, that obeyed God's law perfectly.
He's worthy to take the book. But he's also worthy. He's got
the power to take the book and to open it because he earned
it. He earned it as a man. The 420
elders said he's worthy to take the book because he was slain.
He was slain as a sacrifice for the sin of his people. That's
why John, when he saw that throne, he saw the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw a man. He didn't see an
animal with wooly fur and, you know. He saw Christ. He saw a man, the man Christ
Jesus. But he described him as a lamb.
And boy, doesn't that describe our Savior, a lamb. He's meek. He's such a humble man that there
has never been a man to live with more power, more right,
more right to claim glory than the Lord Jesus Christ. And that
makes him the most meek man, the most humble man who's ever
lived. And when it came time to offer
the sacrifice for sin, how did Isaiah say he'd go? As a lamb
to the slaughter. The Lord Jesus Christ is God's
lamb. At one time, you remember the
Apostle John was a disciple of John the Baptist. Maybe here
when he's looking at Christ on the throne, he remembers what
John said. Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin
of the world. You look to Christ the Lamb,
slain as a sacrifice for your sin, and you shall be saved. That was the message of John
the Baptist. The Apostle John heard that, And that's who John
saw on earth. That's who he followed on earth.
The beloved disciple who leaned on the Lord's breast. That's
who he saw on earth and that's who he saw in heaven too. He's
like, just like our brother Job. Job said, there's coming a day
because my redeemer liveth, I'm gonna see him. With these eyes,
I'm gonna see him and he won't be another. He won't be a stranger. When I see him, I'll know him.
John saw him, and John knew him. He didn't see, like I said, a
lamb, a woolly animal. John says he saw a lamb as it
had been slain. He saw Christ as he had been
slain. The word slain there means slaughtered
and maimed. And isn't that what happened
to our Savior at Calvary? He was maimed, his body was maimed. He was slaughtered. He didn't
even look like a human being hanging on that cross. Now, John
didn't see fresh wounds. It's not like Christ is being
sacrificed over and over and over again. He saw fresh wounds
and fresh blood flowing and fresh agony. Christ only sacrificed
once. By one offering forever. He has
sanctified them that believe. Christ just offered once. But
I tell you what John saw. He didn't see fresh wounds, but
he saw the evidence that Christ at one time had been slain. Those scars, I believe it was
Wednesday night I talked about this. He saw the scars in our
Savior's back. Remember how they lacerated him,
they beat him, 39 lashes with that cat of nine tails, ripping
the skin off his flesh. There's scars there. We know
for sure there's scars in his hands. There's scars in his feet
and his side. Remember when he appeared to
his disciples and he told them, you don't think it's me? Reach
forth your finger, put it in the hole in my hand. Reach forth
your hand and put it in my side. Those scars are still there on
his brow when they thrust that crown of thorns down on his head.
All of those scars are the evidence that Christ has been slain for
his people and his sacrifice was accepted. You know why those
scars are still there? He was raised from the dead.
He was raised from the dead. That's proof that the father
accepted his sacrifice to put away all the sin of all of his
people. The evidence, if Christ died
for you, the evidence that your sin is put away is in Calvary
at this very second. The scars in his body. Some of
you remember Desi Maynard saying for us, One of the songs that
she sang was, I'll be looking for scars up in heaven. That's
the one who has sacrificed for me. Of all the people, the number
no man can number, they're gonna be there. I expect to see many
of you there. It'll be good to see each other,
won't it? But you know who we're looking for? The one with those
scars. By his sacrifice, who put away
our sin, and by God's grace, one day we're gonna see him face
to face the same way that John saw him here. The lamb, as it
had been slain, it represents the eternal saving power of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Like I said earlier, Christ is
not slain again. He's not slain over and over
and over again. And you think, well, what about
all the sins of his people that lived after? I could see his
sacrifice putting away the sin of all of his people before he
died. What about after he died? He's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. By his sacrifice, he saved all
of his people of all time. It's his eternal power to save. There's a line in my favorite
hymn that says, dear dying lamb, by precious blood shall never
lose its power. To all the ransomed church of
God, be saved to sin no more. He shed his blood 2,000 years
ago, but don't you ever forget this. There's still power in
that blood to save every sinner for whom he died. And John also saw the lamb in
the midst of the throne. This is a lamb that had been
slain, bearing the scars of his body. But where is he? He's on the throne. He's on the
throne. As he sits there, on that throne
at his father's right hand. He's on the throne, he's ruling
and reigning over everything in God's creation. The father
told him, you sit here on my right hand till I make your enemies
your footstool. He's ruling everything and he's
on the throne. He's not running around heaven,
looking over the banister of heaven, wondering is anybody
gonna accept him, wondering are his people gonna fall away from
him, wondering what they're gonna do. No, he's seated. He's seated because the work
is finished. He's not in a rush. He's not worrying. He's seated
on the throne. He doesn't even have to use words
with his father to make intercession for the sins of his people. Those
scars in his body are all the evidence that the father needs
to see the sin of my people has already been paid for. So there's
no wrath left in me for them. All that's left in me for them
is love and pity and care and grace and mercy. That's all that's
left of me for my people. My son satisfied my justice for
them. The father always forgives his
people for Christ's sake. Human beings being what we are,
we've probably all found ourselves at one point or another Wanting God to forgive us because
we've been doing pretty good, because I've been following you
a long time, because I've been faithful. God forbid we'd ever
pray that way. Our prayer is always this, Father,
forgive me for Christ's sake. Accept me for Christ's sake. Have mercy on me. Deliver me
for Christ's sake. That's what makes him worthy.
See, all of that is all because of the sacrifice of Christ in
it. That's what makes him worthy, to take the book and to open
it. He's worthy because he's got the power. He's got the power
to open the seven seals, and he's got the power to carry everything
out. You know, that's what John said
when he said he saw a lamb with seven horns. John's not seeing
some monstrous, weird-looking creature. Horns are symbolic
of power. Power, seven, the number of perfection. John's saying that Christ has
all power, all the power of his sacrifice. There's power in his
blood to cleanse the most vile sinner. He has the power to obey
God's law perfectly, to make everybody that he represented
perfectly righteous, to make them the righteousness of God
in him. He has the power to save to the uttermost. The old preachers
I remember used to say to save to the gutter most. He has the
power to save the most low down, guilty, vile sinner that you
can think of. And I hope the most guilty, most
vile, most low down sinner that we can think of is us. That's
me. I hope you think it's you. That's
who God saves. He has the power. This will comfort
you. to save the weakest of believers. Oh, we all think my faith is
so weak. I'm so weak. He has the power
to save and to keep even the weakest of believers. He has
the power to glorify all of his people. Not one of them will
be missing. Father, hear my and the children
which you've given me. We're all here. He's going to
glorify them all because of his power. And John says he's worthy
to take the book and open it because he's all seeing. He has
seven eyes. Now again, John didn't see a
creature with seven eyes. That's symbolic, that Christ
sees all. He sees into the hearts and the
thoughts and the intents of men. He sees everything. Now to the
unbeliever, that's a frightening proposition to think God looks
on my heart. but to the believer, that's so
comforting. We can say with Peter, Lord,
you know all things. You see all things. My friends
might not see any evidence that I love you. My actions, they're
pretty pitiful. But Lord, you know all things.
You know I love you. You see, you see the heart that
you put in me and the completion of God's purpose is in the hands
of Christ because he's worthy. He's worthy because of who he
is. He's worthy because of his sacrifice. He's worthy because
of his power. He's worthy because he sees all
things. He won't miss anything. It's all in the hands of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now what that means is it all
depends on him. None of salvation is the responsibility
of any of his people. We're not responsible for any
of it. It's all in Christ's hands. That's what makes salvation sure
and certain. Wouldn't you hate to hear a message
that makes salvation, week after week after week, dependent on
you to either earn it or to keep it? That'd be such a depressing
message, because we can't do it. But what good news it is
to hear that salvation is in the hand of our Savior, it all
depends on him. If he's faithful to do what he
promised to do, all of God's elect are gonna be saved, even
me in my weakness. And the only thing left for us
to do is fall down at his feet and worship him, like the four
beasts and the four and 20 elders. Fall down and worship him and
beg him for mercy. Lord, would you do for me what
I cannot do for myself? This is the good news of the
gospel. The book has been opened. It's been carried out in the
hands of our savior. Our message is not about what
Christ can do. The good news of the gospel is
what Christ has already done. He's already saved his people.
He's already redeemed his people. He's already made his people
righteous. Scripture tells us he's even
already glorified his people. We're seated together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. The gospel does not tell us what
we have to do. The gospel tells us it's done.
You know, our Savior wasn't whistling Dixie on Calvary when he cried,
it's finished. When he said, it's finished,
brother, it's all finished. It's all finished. The great
transaction is done. Isn't that good reason to quit
our weeping and start rejoicing? It's all done in the hand of
our Savior. So the book's an open or a closed
book, sealed book to any mere mortal, but it's an open book
in the hand of our Savior. And thirdly, God's people rejoice
because the book has been opened, because Christ has opened the
book. Verse nine, back in our text, Revelation 5, and they
sung a new song, saying, thou art worthy to take the book and
to open the seals thereof, For thou was slain. That's why Christ
is worthy, because he was slain. And you've redeemed us to God
by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.
And it's made us under our God kings and priests. And we shall
reign on the earth. You know what everybody in heaven
is rejoicing about? Because Christ has opened the
book. Because he's completed everything that God purposed
in his book. That's why they're all there. They're rejoicing
in a person in the Lord Jesus Christ, all of us would be damned,
except that Christ would come and open the book and carry out
all of God's eternal purpose. And like I said earlier, we would
never known God's purpose of mercy and grace, except Christ
opened it for us and showed us that God's purpose was the redemption
of his people. And nobody knows it better than
those gathered around the throne in heaven. And you know one day
we'll be there too? By God's grace, we'll be there
too. And we're gonna know. I mean,
we believe it now, but then we're gonna know that God's purpose
was to save guilty, vile, hell-deserving sinners by the sacrifice of his
son. We never would have imagined
such a thing. We never would have imagined
it. It's too gracious, it's too glorious that God would do something
so wonderful for low lives like we are. But now, we believe it
now, but then we're gonna know it. We're gonna know it. We're
gonna be rejoicing that Christ has opened the book, that he's
the one who fulfilled all of God's purpose and that he, brought
us to glory. Brought you and me, people like
us, he brought them to glory. He did that for a people who
never did one thing except sin against him. And he redeemed
them by his blood. He preserved them, he protected
them, and he brought them all to glory. And all of us are gonna
be singing this one song, singing the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then verse 11, let me wrap
this up. And I beheld and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and
the elders and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000
and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is
the lamb. That's the whole theme of heaven,
worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing And every
creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the
earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them,
heard I saying, blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be
unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and under the Lamb forever
and ever. And the four beasts said amen,
and the four and 20 elders fell down and worshiped him that liveth
forever and ever. Now here's how those in heaven
fall down and worship Christ our Savior. It's by praising
Him for who He is. When they ascribe these things
to Christ, it's not us giving those things to Him. It's us
worshiping Him and praising Him because He already has them.
Our Savior has all power. He has the power to save. He
has the power to give life. He has the power to give faith.
He has the power through the preaching of the gospel to draw
His people to Him. and to keep them. He has that
power. All power is given unto him in heaven and earth. You
know why? That he might give eternal life
to as many as the Father gave him. He's got all power. You
don't have to worry that he's not gonna be able to save you.
He's got all power. He's got all riches. All the riches of
his mercy and his grace. They'll never run out. He's got
all wisdom. He's got all wisdom because Christ
is wisdom. He is the wisdom of God. The
Lord Jesus Christ is wisdom personified. When we see Christ, we see God's
wisdom. This is how God can save a sinner
like me and still be God, still be holy, and still be just. It's
through Christ being my representative. By Christ dying for me is my
sacrifice. That wisdom of God, That's what
makes salvation sure because it's just. God didn't sweep the
sin of his people under the rug. He put it away by making his
son guilty and killing his son in our stead. That's wisdom. And no man-made religion has
ever come up with that wisdom. This is the wisdom of God. And
it's all seen in Christ. Christ has all strength. He has
the strength to uphold all things by the word of his power. You know who's governing this
world right now? Christ. Christ, our Savior, it's
on His shoulder. It's under His control. The lives
of His people, all the things that happen to us that we think
is just gonna destroy us, it's in His hand. He's got the strength
to carry us through and see us through, to uphold all things
by the word of His power so that all of His people will be saved.
Christ has all honor and glory. All honor and glory belongs to
the Son. Now you know how he earned it?
By redeeming his people from their sin. You know how he could
lose it? By letting one of them perish.
He's not gonna do that. He's gonna keep his honor. He's
gonna keep his glory. If Christ died for you, I like
what Brother Henry said about this passage. We got a sorry
past, and I might add, we got a sorry present, don't we? But
we've got a glorious future. We've got a glorious future because
Christ is not gonna lose his glory and his honor. He's gonna
bring his people to glory, and he's got all blessing. He's blessed
forever, evermore, and all nations of the earth are blessed in him. And that's a blessing that can
never be lost. And John said he saw those, those
in heaven, the four and 20 elders, the four beasts, all those that
ransom number gather on the throne, worshiping Him forever and ever. And one day, by God's grace,
we'll join them and we'll worship Him forever and ever, without
end, for eternity. Because eternity won't be long
enough to sing the praises of Him. who's worthy to take that
book and to open it and to carry out all of God's purpose of redemption
for his people. Eternity won't be long enough
to praise him for it, will it? But I believe we could start
right now. It won't be perfect like they
are in glory, but I believe we could start right now. And by
God's grace, maybe we will. I hope that'll be a blessing
to you. Let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank you
for this precious portion of your word, that you would show
us the end of every one of your people, all of God's elect, that
our end is to be able to worship our Savior face to face around
his throne forever. Father, how we thank you. How
we thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ who by his obedience,
by his death on the cursed tree, that he purchased redemption
for all of his people and made him worthy to take the book and
to open it and to make salvation sure and certain for all of his
people. Father, how we thank you. Our
thanks and our praise falls far short. of your glory and what
you're worthy of. But Father, as long as we have
any being, by your grace, as long as we have any being, we're
going to sing praises unto thee. We thank you. We ask you to accept
our praise and our thanksgiving in our Lord Jesus Christ for
his sake. Amen. All right, Sean. OK, if you would, turn in your
hymnals to song number 283 and stand as we sing yesterday, today,
forever. 283. Oh, how sweet the glorious message
simple faith may claim. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. Still he loves to save the sinful,
heal the sick and lame. Cheer the mourner, calm the tempest,
glory to his name. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name! Glory to His name! Glory to His name! All may change, but Jesus never! Glory to His name! He who pardoned erring, leader
never needs! He who came to faithless Thomas,
all thy doubt proclaimed, He who let the loved disciple on
his bosom rest, Bids thee still with love as tender lean upon
his breast, Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name! He who, mid the raging billows,
walked upon the sea, still can hush our wildest tempest as on
Galilee. Wept and prayed in anguish in
Gethsemane. Drinks with us, each cup of trembling
in our agony. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. All may change, but Jesus never. As of old He walked to obey us,
with them to abide. So through all life's way He
walketh ever near our side. Yesterday, today, forever Jesus
is the same. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name. you