Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter
5. This morning I'd like for us
to consider a blessed vision that was given to the Apostle
John. while he was on the Isle of Patmos. In this vision, we're going to
consider that which will be experienced by every believer. This is going to be experienced
by every believer. The Apostle John starts It says
in verse 1, Revelation 5, 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. Now, powerfully held in the hand
of Almighty God, while he sat in the place of honor, and authority. He sat on the throne and John
saw in this vision that he had a book, a scroll in his hand
and it had no vacancies in this book. It was written within and
without on the back side. There was nothing that could
be added to it Nothing that was to be taken away from it. And
in that book, the mysteries of the kingdom of God was written
before the foundation of the world by Him who is immutable. That means who doesn't change. And it was sealed with seven
seals. It was a secret book. And in that book was contained
the secret decrees, hidden counsels of Almighty God concerning the
redemption and salvation of God's elect. Perfectly, powerfully bound and
hidden. by the omnipotent God, and it
could not be disclosed without God's permission. Who can know
the mind of God? And John said in verse 2, I saw
a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, and he asked this
question, who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals
thereof. We're not told who that strong
angel is, it doesn't matter. It was a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice. The purpose of that angel was
to ask a question, to absolutely set forth the totality of unworthiness
of all creation to do something. Who is worthy to open this book? Who is worthy to set forth that
which Almighty God has eternally determined, decreed, ordained. Who is worthy to express the
mind of God? Who's worthy to do that? Who
deserves the right to break the seal of God's signet and reveal
the contents of this book? Who's worthy to openly declare? The heart. of Almighty God. Who's worthy to do that? And
the scripture says in verse 3, And no man in heaven, nor in
earth, neither under the earth, was able, didn't have the ability,
to open the book, neither to look thereon. There was none
found in heaven, there was none found among the ranks of all
created beings who at that time had been brought
into heaven, none of the angels of God's creation, those angels
that had not fallen in Satan's rebellion, not in the earth, There was none
found worthy among the regenerated saints that were still alive.
There's nobody here regenerated by the grace of God. Who in this
congregation this morning is worthy or able to disclose the
mind of God? Neither under the earth were
able to open the book. Not even those that now are in
hell. under the judgment of God, who
now have experienced that which takes place when a
man or a woman leaves this world without Christ. I've said before, everybody believes
this gospel now, in hell, not unto salvation, but they believe
it. Let the potchers of the earth
strive with the potchers of the earth. That man by nature, let
him rebel against God, let him say this, I don't believe that
mess. I don't believe that. They all
believe it now. No one was found even in hell.
Who's worthy? Who is worthy? And John said
nobody in heaven, nobody on the earth, and nobody under the earth. And I could almost hear the silence.
Who's worthy? And nobody opened their mouth.
And the scripture says in verse 4, And I wept much, because no
man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither
to look thereon. Now this is a vision that's given
to John. He's not in heaven. He's not
in heaven. because there would be no weeping
in heaven. But the thought with that vision that in that moment
there was not found a creature in heaven, earth or in hell worthy
to open the book and loose the seals thereof caused John to
weep bitterly. It broke his heart. You would think John, who had
walked with the Lord, who had touched the Lord, would never
doubt the worthiness of the Lord. But does this not show the frailty
of our flesh? Who here sitting that knows the
Lord can say, I've never forgotten. I've never forgotten His faithfulness. I've never doubted one time since
I believed. I've never had one moment's anxiety
since the Lord revealed Himself to me. John wept bitterly. Nobody was
found. And one of the elders, verse
5, 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. One
of the elders, one of the four and twenty elders, that four
and twenty elders, that is the setting forth of the entirety
of God's elect. All of the elect now seen. John sees all of them in heaven
now. They've all been glorified. And
one of the elders encourages John, don't weep, don't cry,
don't be downtrodden. And then points John, which is
the calling of every gospel preacher, point men to Christ. Don't point
men to look at themselves. Don't point men to look at other
people. Point them to the Lord. And here's what He says, Behold,
behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David,
hath prevailed. He finished the work. He finished the work given Him
by the Father. He hath prevailed. He finished
the work and prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven
seals. You look, John, unto the line of the tribe of Judah, the
powerful, vicarious Savior of the church, His people's salvation. You look unto Him, the root of
David. The root of David as being man
who came through the lineage of David, yes. Oh, but the root
of David being the source of David. David's God. David's King. He as the Word,
the Word made flesh and dwelt among us. He as the Word did
come tracing His lineage through David. But this is David's God. And John says in verse 6, And
I beheld. He said, Behold. And John said,
I did behold. 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 into all the earth. John said, I looked, And in the
very midst of the place of God's presence, there were four beasts. And the description of these
four beasts is given in the chapter just before. I want you to look
at it for a minute. Revelation chapter 4 verse 6 and 7. John
said, and before the throne there was a sea of glass likened to
crystal. and the midst of the throne and round about the throne
were four beasts. They're called living things. That's what it is, living things.
There were four beasts, full of eyes, before and behind, and
the first beast was like a lion, the second beast like a calf,
third beast, had a face as a man, the fourth beast was like a flying
eagle. Now, in the midst of the throne,
John said, I saw these four living things, these four beasts. And they're in the midst, they're
round and circling the throne. And these four beasts, are said
to be full of eyes, before and behind, setting forth the omniscience,
the all-knowing, all-seeingness of the One they represent. These four beasts are the ones
that are spoken of in very similar terms, like the seraphim. In Isaiah chapter 6, they each
had six wings and they cry, Holy, Holy, Holy, before the Lord of
glory. And in the verses that follow,
the Spirit of God gives us a description of these four beasts. What are
they? What are they? What are they?
John said, I see four beasts. He said, Revelation 4 verse 7,
he said, well the first beast was like a lion. Now immediately
we cannot read that and not think of the of the description of
the one we are looking at right now that John was pointing to. He said, I want you to look at
the line that has prevailed, the line of the tribe of Judah. These four beasts, one of them
was like a line, setting forth the all-seeingness, all the omniscience
before and behind of Christ. the lion of the tribe of Judah,
the mighty God, the able Savior, strong Redeemer, the avenger
of his enemies. But John said that second beast
over in Revelation chapter 4, second was like a calf. And that
word calf right here denotes a young tender calf, young bullock. Same word. set forth as the fatted
calf that was to be killed when the prodigal son came back. He left, took his dad's inheritance
that was coming to him, comes to himself, comes back. I'm going
back to my daddy's house. I'm going back to my dad. My dad loved me, never did anything
to hurt me. And it was me. I left. I was
a rebel. I'm going back and I'm going
to tell him I'm not worthy. Me, call your son. Fell on that boy. Kissed him. That was his boy.
That was his boy. I got all my kids, grandkids.
Which one of you kids think I would turn my back on you? Which one
of you? I would. He won't. I will. You give me
the right circumstances, Jimmy, I will. But not him. Not him. He said, I'll never leave you.
I'll never forsake you. like a calf. Here we're reminded
of the glorious office and the work of Him who is the sacrifice. The substitute of God's elect,
God Almighty chose the people we've spoken of so many times.
Christ bore their guilt, made that sin His own. He was made sin and laid down
His life. John said there was a third beast
The third piece of verse 7, Revelation 4, had face as a man. Here we consider the marvel of
God's condescension, John 1.14, and the word was made flesh. He was a man, true man in every
sense of the word except he knew no sin. holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners. He came to die for them, but
he wasn't one of them. Here's God Almighty, Lord Jesus
Christ, the man, Christ Jesus, God, man, He who betrothed His
wife, the elect, the church, the bride, unto Himself, that
he might redeem her from the curse of the law being made a
curse for him, for her, I'm sorry. And then fourthly, the fourth
beast was like a flying eagle. Turn to Exodus 19, Exodus 19.
Exodus 19, verse four. The fourth beast was like an
eagle. Here we behold the sustaining, the sustenance, let me say it
like that, sustenance of the Lord as the good shepherd, the
watch carrier. He has to bear his children up. Exodus 19 verse 4. Ye have seen
what I did to the Egyptians and how I bear you on eagles' wings,
brought you unto myself. He said, I kept you. I protected
you. your mind. I delivered you from
God's judgment, of bearing that judgment in your place. So back in Revelation, chapter
4, chapter 5, we looked at both of them. These beings, what are
these beings? These live things. These four
beasts. One, the scripture declares,
is like a lion of the tribe of Judah. The second one like a
calf. The lamb. God will provide himself
a lamb. The man. God made flesh. And the eagle, the protector
and sustainer. What are these beings? What are
they? These beings are heavenly types. Pictures of the glorious person. of the Lord Jesus Christ in His
covenant engagement to redeem our fallen nature. Now, you know,
we perceive earthly types. You know, when you talk about
Noah was put in the ark. And you know that the ark is
a picture of Christ. You know that. I mean, we're
in Him as Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives and
those animals. You know, they were in the ark.
We're in Christ. The rock that was smitten. That's
a type. That's a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ smitten from which the rivers of living water flow. It's a type. The brazen serpent.
That brass snake. Christ made sin. Lift it up. Look, that's a type. We understand
those things. They're earthly types. These
are heavenly types. These live things, they set forth
the Lord, set forth Him in His covenant engagement to redeem
His people according to that covenant of grace. So back in
Revelation chapter 5, verse 6, And I beheld, low in the midst
of the throne of the four beasts, in the midst of the elders, there
stood a Lamb, as it had been slain, having seven horns, seven
eyes, and seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. There's the Lamb. John said,
I'm looking and there's the throne of God. And these live things,
you know, had one eagle-lined man. And he said, there stood
a Lamb there. There was a lamb as it had been
slain, that lamb of God's provision, God Himself who laid down His
life for the sheep. And John said, I saw Him and
He had the marks, He had the marks on Him as if, as being
slain, not as if He had been slain. He had marks as it had
been slain. And He had seven horns. He was
all-powerful. In seven eyes, He was omniscient. There's seven spirits of God
without measure. And Scripture says in verse 7,
and He came and He took the book out of the right hand of Him
that sat on the throne. He took it. And that word, take,
right there. It's a word that means without
violence. to wrestle Him for it. He took
it out of the very hand that holds the saints of God that
the Lord said, My people are in My hand, I give them eternal
life. No man is able to pluck them out of My hand or My Father's
hand. That hand of omnipotence and
power. He had in His hand a book. And
this Lamb came and He took it. He took it. Setting forth the
worthiness. the worthiness to receive the
book out of him. And the scripture says in verse
8, when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four twenty
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. By that mighty act, all give honor and praise to
Him who is worthy. I can understand the four and
twenty elders falling down, but what about those four beasts?
Well, remember this, they're heavenly types, they're not the
Lamb. They're types that magnify the
Lamb. And all the types, earthly or
heavenly, magnify the Lamb. They bow before the Lamb. As
I said, that ark, that picture, That ark bows before the Lamb.
Picture of Christ, but it's not Christ. That rock that Moses
struck, that picture of Christ, that's not Christ. That rock
honors Him. That brazen serpent honored Him. These four twenty elders and
the four beasts, they fall down before the Lamb. And every one
of those elders, they have golden vials in their hands, full of
odors, which are the prayers of the saints. These prayers. that are regarded. I've told
you so many times, how frail. I'm just so ashamed. I try to meet, try to call on
the Lord. I think about that scripture
that says, enter into your closet and pray unto your Father which
is in secret, and the Father which seeth and heareth in secret
shall reward you openly. And I think Oh how, how, I don't
know anything about prayer. I don't know anything about prayer.
I've told you before, my prayers are just, I just find they're
just repetitive. I pray, it seems like I pray
the same thing over and over and over. Asking the same thing,
trying, trying, Lord help me, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I
can't even keep my mind straight here. But all these prayers,
I've read this to you before, is precious. So hold your place.
Turn over to Revelation 8. Let me tell you what's done with
the prayers of the saints. How they're so precious. And
they're all kept. They're all kept. They've got
vows. These oaths, which are, the Scripture
says, the prayers of the saints. Look at Revelation 8, verses
3 and 4. And another angel came and stood
at the altar, having a golden censer. Now this is the angel
himself, the messenger of the covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And there was given unto him much incense that he should offer
it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was
before the throne. And the smoke of the incense
which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before
God out of the angel's hand. Here's what the scriptures has
to say about the prayers of the saints. The Spirit of God who
helpeth us, Because David, we don't know what to pray. Nobody
here knows what to pray. You don't know what to ask for.
I think, what have I not asked for that I should have asked
for? What did I ask for and I ask amiss? I don't know what to ask
for. I'll just go ahead and admit
my ignorance. But what happens is the Spirit
of God, who helpeth us, helpeth us with groanings that can't
be uttered, My prayer would be, Lord, take
this feeble effort to try to ask you something or to thank
you for something. I don't even know how to thank
you. I've never thanked the Lord as
I should have. I've never done that. Lord, would you take what
I'm trying to say as I'm kind of stumbling through it, would
you take what I'm trying to say and would you in the merit, the
essence, the incense of your essence and glory. Would you
take what I tried to say or what I should have said, and would
you ask that for me? Would you ask before the Father's
throne on my behalf, would you say to Him what I should have
said, what I wish I said? And in the merit of this glorious
messenger of Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ, and God accepts
it. That's what He wanted to say.
That's what He desired to say, didn't know how to say. And the
Lord Jesus Christ offered it up. And the Scripture says back
in Revelation chapter 5 verse 9, 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, they sung
a new song. As I've said before, it's a new
song every time they hear it. I'm not saying anything this
morning you've never heard. I'm not telling you anything new
that you've never heard. But I tell you this, for every
believer in this congregation, it's a new song. It's new every
morning. A new song. given to the heart
of God's people, and it never grows weary. They never get tired
of singing the worthiness of the Lamb. Lord, You were slain. You redeemed us to God by Your
blood. And that new song declares the
thankfulness of the accomplishment of the merit of the Lamb's sacrifice. And how extensive was it? The
Scripture says out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation,
God's got a people and He redeemed them all. How about the ones
that hadn't been born yet? Well, we weren't born when He
died. We weren't even created when
God saw the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world.
The earth wasn't even here. And God saw it then. In verse
10, He said, "...and has made us unto our God kings and priests,
and we shall reign on the earth." He's the author of our standing
before God. And we're actually said, right
here, to be a kingdom of priests. That's what it means. We're a
kingdom of priests that offer up the sacrifice of praise and
thanksgiving. Trying, as I just said, trying
to do it. And the Spirit of God takes it
and the Lord Jesus Christ takes it in the essence of His glory
and He offers it up. He says, Father, this is what
they're saying. This is what they're saying. And I beheld, in verse 11, and
I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the
beast, and the elders, and the number of them was 10,000 times
10,000, and thousands, and thousands. Now we've been looking, there
was 420 elders there, Mark. There's a whole church. 24. 428, all of them represent the entire
elect of God. No vacancies, nobody's missing.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Him that cometh
to me, I'm not going to turn to you. Why? I've always loved
you. I shed my blood for you. I bought
you. I redeemed you. I paid the debt. You're mine. He gave you a new
heart. They're all there. All of those
are there. All the four beasts are there. He said, Now I heard the voice
of many angels round about the host of heaven, those elect angels
who are the ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation, those that have been kept by
the good pleasure and providence of Almighty God, praising the
Lamb, with the four beasts and the four twenty elders. The number
of them, ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands and thousands,
a number that only God knows. Who knows? Saying in verse 12
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. You're worthy. to receive the
praise for the riches, for the praise of the riches of your
grace that has been supplied to meet all the need. My God
shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. Oh, and the wisdom, you who are
the wisdom of God's people, how God could be just and deal with
sin and justify a sinner, say to that sinner, no charge, no
record, no record, no record, no record of offense, no record. Oh, the wisdom of God and strength
to praise Him for His mighty ability to conquer death Hell
in the grave, how? By being made sin and bearing
the penalty of it. And dying, being raised from
the dead, conquering death, hell, and the grave. And glory. And glory. Moses said, show me your glory. And what did he say? Here's my
glory. Here's what I think. That's what
that means. Here's what I think. I will have
mercy on whom I'll have mercy. That's what I think. That's glory
and blessing. Always worthy. In verse 13, in
every creature which is in heaven, every creature on the earth,
and under the earth, such are in the sea, And all that are
in them heard our saying, Blessing, honor, glory, power be unto Him
that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever and
ever. What does that say? Every knee
gonna bow. Every knee gonna bow. Everyone
in glory bow in thanksgiving and praise unto Him. All up on
the earth, they're gonna bow. All of them in hell, just like
that demon that came to the Lord. He came to deliver that demoniac
of the Gadarenes. What did that demon do? That
legion that was in that demoniac, what did it do? That devil fell
down and worshipped and said, I know who you are. I know who
you are. If you come to torment us before
our time, every knee is going to bow. in heaven, earth, and
hell. Men may raise their fist in rebellion
before God now and refuse to believe God's report, but every
knee is going to bow. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders
fell down and worshipped Him that liveth forever and ever. In this life, we truly understand and believe
that we know in part. But we do know this, God's word
stands sure. Here, these four beasts, these
live things, with the entire redeemed church cries this, so
be it. It's what God said. It's the
way it is. So be it. We rest in the faithfulness
of Him who cannot lie. And we know that heaven and earth
is going to pass away, but His Word is going to endure forever.
Amen.