Alright, if you'll take your
Bibles and turn with me. Turn with me to Revelation. Revelation
chapter 4. We'll begin here, but I want
to take us through both of these chapters because they are vitally
linked together. And the title of the message
tonight is the book the Lamb and the Song. The Book, the Lamb,
and the Song. And here in chapter 4, we see
John being taken in the Spirit, given the vision and revelation
of God. He says, After this I looked,
and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice
which I heard was as it were a trumpet talking with me, which
said, Come up hither, and I will show thee the things that must
be hereafter. And immediately I was in the
Spirit, and beheld a throne was set, in heaven. And one sat on the
throne, and he that sat was as to look upon like Jasper in a
sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne
in the sight like unto an emerald." And so we see here, first of
all, John taken up into heaven. And the first thing he sees in
heaven is this, a throne. This is the center of all heaven. This is the object that catches
the eye first. It is the most prominent thing
in heaven, the throne of God. And he says about this throne,
this throne is set. As you see this table here, it's
not set. It's movable. Your chair, you pick it up, you
move it, you put it over here. It's not set. The first thing
he notices about this throne is that it's set. It's established. It's immutable. Because it is
the throne of God. And John, as he sees Him that's
set upon the throne, I would have you notice that he didn't
use any physical description. He cannot use any physical description,
but rather He describes the majesty. He begins to describe God in
relationship to His deity, His majesty, His glory, His brilliance. And so He can only use words
that we understand, the stones. Precious gems that shine with
brilliance, a sardine stone, a jasper stone. So He gives no
human features, but rather the brilliance of light and color
that shine forth from the throne of God. For the Scripture says
God is light. And in Him is no darkness at
all. So we see John describing the
throne of God, immutable. We see God sitting on His throne,
established in His deity, shining forth in His glory. And next
we see this in verse 4, in round about the throne. This is the
second thing he sees. He sees four and twenty seats.
And upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed
with white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of
gold. He sees these 24 elders clothed
in white raiments with gold crowns. And then, I'll go down just a
little bit here, and in verse 7, he also sees four beasts likened
to a lion, a beast likened to a calf, a beast with the face
of a man. And the fourth beast was as a
flying eagle, and these four beasts had each of them six wings
about him, and they were filled with eyes within. full of eyes
within, and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy,
Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, which is, and which is to
come." Is that not clearly seen in the book of Isaiah? When Isaiah
saw those seraphims coming, and they had those six wings, and
with twain they covered their face, with twain they covered
their feet, and with twain they did fly. Is this not the same
as these that cry day and night, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty
which was and is. And back in verse 5 he says,
Out of this throne proceeded lightnings and thunders and voices. This was no quaint sight. This was no peaceful setting. This was His deity on display. God was sitting on His throne
and His deity was in full view. So we see all of these at the
end. What are they doing? They're all worshiping God. Every
one of them. He said the four, in verse 10,
He said the four and twenty elders fell down before Him that sat
on the throne and worshiped Him that liveth forever and ever
and cast their crowns before the throne saying, Thou art worthy,
O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power for Thou hast
created all things and for Thy pleasure they are created. Behold here the glory and majesty
and dominion of God as John sees it in his vision. He is able
to witness the splendor and majesty and he is awestruck at the holiness
of God. See friends, there is only one
God and that's Him. John just described who God is. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which was and is and is to come. He alone created all things in
heaven and earth and the sky and the sea and in things below
and above. Everything God has created. And you know why God created
everything? He said He created it for thy
pleasure. You not see who's the center
of everything? God is the center. Man is created
for the pleasure of God. God is not for the pleasure of
man. Man is for the pleasure of God. God does what He pleases with
His creation. He's made all things for Himself. Nehemiah says, even thou art
Lord alone. Thou hast made heaven and the
heavens of heavens with all their hosts, the earth and all things
therein, the seas and all that is therein. Thou preventest them
all. Thou sustainest them all. You know why this sun rose this
morning and is now going to set this evening? Even because God
sustains it. This creation is in order. It is in perfect running order. You know, they say there's an
eclipse coming. August. They got the date, the
time, the exact location as to where it will be. This is not
random. This is not chaos. God created
all things in perfect order, in perfect design. He created
them. Isaiah 45, God says, I have made
the earth and created man upon it. Even my hands have stretched
out the heavens. I know it's impossible for us
to even grasp this. We can't even get a little satellite
to go to the end of the universe in one direction. You got that? We send a satellite out, and
15 years later, it's still going, sending little pictures, and
it's only going in one direction. What about all the other directions?
This universe is vast. It's infinite. And you know how
God made it? David said he spread it out like
a curtain. You throw open your curtains this morning, how much
effort did that take you? To throw open curtains. That's
how much effort it took God to expand this universe. Oh man, whoever you are, you cannot look
up to the sky, you cannot look down to the ground, you cannot
look at yourself in the mirror and know that God did that. Only God could make such complex
things, the sun, moon, and day, and seasons, they'll move. You
know, people run around saying, oh, it's going to be such a time
where there's no more seasons. It's going to be an ice age.
It's going to be this. No, it's going to be a season. And God's
going to keep the seasons until He comes back. See the complexity even of our
human bodies. And even this is the fallen. Creation. This has even fallen. And look at how beautiful things
are. God made them. The whole creation
testifies then of His deity and His power so that men are without
excuse. You cannot look at the trees
or the stars or the moon or the sun and say there is no God. You are without excuse, whoever
you are. God has made all things. The
angels and the saints do praise him. The skies move according to his command
and yet here is man defying his maker. Man by nature will not
praise him though he is surrounded by evidence of his deity and
power He refuses to honor and glorify God. Therefore, man knowing
that God is, that he must be judged by God, seeing he himself
judges, being only the creature of God. So what does man do? With such knowledge of God, with
such understanding that God made all this, what does man do? Knowing
that he cannot escape the fact that God is, he makes a God of
his own imagination. He makes a God of his own depraved
mind. His depraved mind is not devoid
of the knowledge of God, but is completely set against God. Therefore, a man creates a God
of their own imagination. And while some form gods out
of stone and wood, most men in our day form God out of their
own minds. I feel God to be like this. I think God is like this. So they fashion a God of their
own making. of their vain imagination. And God said, Thou thoughtest
that I was altogether such in one as Thyself. You know, man's
God is much like himself. However that man is, that's how
he sees his God. But God is not made by man, but
man is made by God. Therefore, all men, all men are
subject to God. It does not matter even if they
believe God or not. You get that? Even though man
do not and will not believe God, they are still his subjects. They're still his subjects. I was watching a little Christmas
program with the kids one time and poor Santa Claus, he couldn't
get his sleigh to fly because man didn't believe in him. He laughed. That's exactly how
men believe God, that His power and His right to rule depends
upon their faith in Him. No! God does not depend upon
you. You depend upon Him. You depend
upon Him. But this is how men view God,
that if they put their head in the sand like the ostrich, You
know, the ostrich puts a head in the sand, I think, to look
for his eggs, to look at the eggs. But that's what man does.
He puts his head in the sand so he can look at the things
of the earth. He only sees the things of earth. He only sees
the things of himself. He cannot and will not worship
God because he is blind and depraved. He will not give glory to God. Fools. That's what man is by
nature. He's a fool. God, whose throne
is set from eternity and by whose hands all things are made. He
before whom the holy angels must hide their face and feet. God
will come. He will judge every one of his
creatures. Every man, woman, boy and girl
will be judged of God. this God who condescended and
came down to Mount Sinai. What happened when God came and
strict justice on Sinai? That mountain burned with fire. He uttered His voice and the
earth melted. It is upon this view of God We
see as he sits upon the throne of heaven, unmoved by his creatures,
whose sovereign will and decree must be accomplished. For he
says, behold, I am God and there is none else. I know men wish there were another
God, but I'm here to tell you there is no other God. There
is no other God. He says, I am God and there is
none like Me, declaring the end. When did God declare the end?
From the beginning. From the beginning. And from
ancient times, the things that were not yet done, saying, listen,
all My counsel, all My counsel, All my counsel shall stand, and
I will do what? All my pleasure." What is God
doing? He's doing all His pleasure. Do you believe this to be chaos
out here? Because I tell you, it's perfect order. What you see chaos, I'm telling
you, God sees it in perfect time and sequence. Because everything is falling
directly according to His will. Everything. And not one thing
is out of place. Everything is moving exactly
in precision clockwork according to the will of Him whose throne
is set in heaven. Whose brilliance shines as the
glory of God. and lightnings and thunders proceed
from His throne, and all His creatures bow to Him. Bow to Him. Where then is free
will? Exactly. Where is it? There's no such thing. No such
thing. The only one who has free will
is God. That's where free will resides.
With God. He does whatsoever He pleases.
The only free will is God's and all men and angels are subject
to His will. Subject to His will. So then, what does God require of us? Is that not a good question considering
who He is and who you are? What does God require of man? I want to make this as plain
as I possibly can. Perfection. Not what you think perfection
is. Whatever you think perfection
is, perfection is infinitely more perfect. God requires you
to be as holy as He is. That's what God requires. And
He will accept nothing less, nothing less than absolute, total
holiness. When God descended on Sinai,
you know what He said? He said, Cursed is everyone that
continueth not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them. Therefore, because of the revelation of God, Because
of what John saw. We therefore then see a very
sad condition. If God's throne is set and demands
perfection of all His creatures. The scripture says in verse 1,
And I saw at 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 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 listen, John says, I wept
much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the
book, neither to look thereon. John says, I've wept much. And
so the first thing I want us to see now is the book. This
book on the right hand of God surely is God's sovereign purpose
and salvation of all His elect people. Now, how do I get that? How does that register to be
the book of God's eternal purposes and decrees as far as salvation?
Well, if you go back and you see the 24 elders, the 24 elders
in chapter 4, these represent all of God's chosen people. All
that the Father had purposed to save before the foundation
of the world, that which in Scripture is called His elect. In 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13,
Beloved, we are bound always to give thanks to God for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning
chosen you, chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. And you see these 24 elders,
I want you to know this, how many thrones were there? Were there not 24? This evening I put out several
chairs. Why? I don't know who's coming. I
just want you to have enough room. You see, I don't have power
to decipher who is going to be there and who's not. So I put
out more. You see, God doesn't put out
any more than He purposed. There are 24 elders and 24 thrones. Because God purposed to save
as many as He's purposed to save. These 24 represent all of God's
elect. You remember 12 tribes of Israel,
there were 12 apostles. You see these numbers and things,
but they're not just 24 seats up there. That's not what it's
saying. It's saying that there's a perfect number, a perfect number
chosen of God, elect of God, a remnant. Therefore, we know
this, that all the Father has chosen to save, He will save. And each of these were given
golden crowns, which is a picture of eternal life and victory. They are every one given a white
raiment, which is pictured as the everlasting robe of righteousness. And see how God testifies of
His grace, saying, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. and will by no means clear the
guilty. You sons of Adam's race, the
thrice holy God, thy thrice holy God, to be accepted of Him you
must be as holy as He is, and here God testifies by His eternal
immutable decree, there will be some. You see, this gives
hope. This is a hopeful gospel that
there are some God has purposed to save. Because if God had not
purposed to save any, none would be saved. God testifies by these 24 at
the very beginning of the vision. He testifies that there will
be some saved, a chosen people in whom He would give thrones
and crowns and clean robes which picture to us the victory and
righteousness of God. And these elect of God were chosen
to salvation, to holiness. You can see this in many places.
You can go to Ephesians chapter 1. And it tells us that God,
before the world began, purposed that you should be holy. Isn't that what it says in Ephesians
1? He gave you to Christ, put you
in Christ, gave you all spiritual blessings. That you should be
holy. That's what God purposed. and
without blame before him in love, having predestinated us according
to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. But how shall the
elect be known? How is it that they gain access
and acceptance before God? This is what John is seeing here.
He's seeing God is set on His throne, He's holy, He's created
all things, He's omnipotent, all-powerful. Lightnings and
thunders coming from the throne of God, crying out some, Holy,
Holy, Holy! And here John is, knowing his
sinful state. How is it that we should be accepted
of Him? There are 24 there. How in the
world am I going to be numbered with them? And John sees something. He says, there's a book. There's
a book written within, without. What is this? It is the salvation
of God. It is how these were made righteous. And He desires to know what's
in the book. He desires to see what's in the
book. Do you have any desire to be
accepted of God? But who is worthy to open it?
Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals? Who is
worthy to take the book and fulfill the salvation that's written
in it? Who is able? And we see that
the angel cries with a loud voice, is there anyone? And you realize
this, that John's looking around and he's, no one, no one in heaven,
no one in earth, no one in the grave, no one is able to open
the book or even look on it. You see, the salvation then is
pictured here as unattainable by man. Salvation is impossible
with man. Man cannot by will, determination,
dedication, devotion, study, cannot by morality or obedience
ever, ever, ever obtain holiness. Cannot. It's impossible. No man has or ever will be able
to make himself acceptable with God. The reason for this is because
we've all sinned. Righteousness and holiness is
an all or none principle. You either are holy or you're
not. You're either holy or a sinner. There's no straddling the fence. You are either righteous or you
are a sinner. There is no middle ground. And because of Adam, because
of our Father, because we were represented by Adam when he died,
when he sinned, so did we. The Scripture is clear about
this. It's without debate. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed. Why did it pass? Why did death
pass to you? Because you were represented
by Him. And when He died, you died. When He sinned, you sinned. And so when you took your first,
when the seed of the man actually creates life in the womb, you
are born spiritually dead in the womb. So even in the womb,
you're without hope. No man is able, therefore from
birth, nor is anyone willing to please God. Matter of fact, men are at enmity
against God. By nature, they cannot obey the
law and they will not. They will not. But now only Not
only were we unable to open the book of salvation, we could not
even look on it. What does this mean? It means
we were blind. We were blind to it. Not only could we not
save ourselves, we could not figure out how to save ourselves. No matter where you go on earth,
no matter which century you lived in, you would rather find a civilization
without an alphabet as you would find them without a temple. Do you realize that when they
excavate all these ruins? What do they find? Temples. Why? Because man's religious. Because
man religion, false religion is prevalent because man is a
God factory. You know what the common denominator
of all false religion is? You know what they all have in
common? You take all the religions of the world, put them together,
and you know what they got in common? Every one of them is
earning their way to heaven. Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Baptists,
all of them. Works religion is the common
denominator. But God's Word declares this,
there is none righteous. No, not one. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh after God. They are all together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Now you see why
John is weeping. Now you see why he's lamenting?
There's an elect. There's a people that God has
chosen. I don't know who they are. I don't know how to know
if I'm one. What do I do? Where do I go? Who is going to open this to
me? Who's going to reveal this to me? There's no one that can
open the book of salvation. None is able to see it. And John
weeps. Are you in such a place? Do you
weep concerning your sin? Have you beheld the holiness
of God in your own depravity? Depravity is not a doctrine to
be grasped in the mind. It must be known in the heart. Otherwise, you'll never seek
God. Secondly, now behold the Lamb. God looks and there's no
one. And look at verse 5. 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 loose the seals thereof. John was weeping. There
was no hope of heaven or glory, no such hope. And one of the
elders come to him and says, Don't weep. Weep not. Isn't this always the way of
God's salvation? He sends somebody who's already
experienced the grace of God to tell others about the grace
of God. This elder, he knows what it's like. He knows what
it is to be one of those on the throne. He knows what it is to
be one who has a crown and a white raiment. And what does he do?
He sees John weeping that there's no hope. There's no hope. And
he said, oh yes, there is. Let me tell you, don't weep.
There's hope. There's hope. He tells him, and
the elder that first experienced this tells him of the salvation
that he himself has experienced. These are men that called of
God to preach the gospel. God says, I have set watchmen
over the walls of Jerusalem, and they shall never hold their
peace. Listen to me, I will never hold my peace. There is hope. There is hope. As long as there
is life, there is hope. There's hope. Therefore, you
hopeless, I'm going to point you to the hope. The lion of
the tribe of Judah hath prevailed. to open the book and loose the
seals thereof." Now, this is Jesus Christ, friends. There's
no doubt this is a revelation of Jesus Christ. This whole book
of Revelation, you know what it's about. It is about the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. Behold, Jesus Christ, the Lion
of the tribe of Judah. Go to Genesis. I want you to
see where he gets this from. Isn't that amazing? In the back
of the book, he's referring to the front of the book. Genesis
chapter 49. Chapter 49 and verse 9, Jacob on his deathbed blessing
by a prophecy his son Judah from which Christ should come. He
says in verse 9, Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son,
thou art gone up. He stooped down, he crouched
as a lion, as an old lion. Who shall rouse him up? The scepter
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet, until Shiloh come. And unto him shall the gathering
of the people be, binding his foe unto the vine,
his asses colt unto the choice vine. He washed his garments
in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes. I cannot tell you what the whole
of this, this is beautiful, this is so clear picture of Christ. Jesus Christ is the Lion of the
tribe of Judah. And He stooped down, did He not? When He came into this world,
He stooped down as a young lion. And I tell you, He has now risen
an old lion. Why? Because He prevailed to
open the book. How did He do it? Well, let me
tell you what He said He was going to do first. He said that
he should be unto him shall the gathering of the people be. And
binding his foal unto the vine, his ass is cold. This is a picture
of us. We're the ass. You got it? You're the stubborn ass. That's
what we are. We're the unbroken ass. And you
know what he binds us to? A vine. Have you ever thought
about binding an ass to a vine? That wouldn't be... That would
just break off. Now talk about that kind of vine.
Jesus said, I am the vine. I am the vine. You see, He breaks the ass and
we are tied to Him. We are in union with Him. And
look what He says He does. How is He going to do this? He
washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes.
Did we not just go over this in Isaiah chapter 62, when he
sees Him coming with His garments in the wine, the blood of the
grapes, and He said, I have tread the winepress alone. How is He
going to bind the ass to the vine? By His death. That's how. Behold, the lion
of the tribe of Judah has stooped down, and he has come in, and
he has saved his people. He has prevailed to open the
book. How? By providing righteousness
and atonement through his blood. That's how. He has come, he has
prevailed to open the book. And this speaks of his deity.
A lion is a mighty beast. Speaks of His deity. And yet
He is the root and offspring of David. Speaks of His humanity. And when Shiloh had come, He
had come to provide righteousness for us. You lost it by a substitute. Yeah, but you lost it by a representative.
How do you gain it? By a representative. A representative. This young lion came and in his
strength honored the law of God in your stead. You know this, God is always
going to deal with man through a representative. Either he'll
deal with you in Adam or he'll deal with you in Christ. So in hope, John turns. He says,
there's one that prevailed. Don't cry. Don't weep. Look,
one has prevailed. And he turns. And what does he
see, John? He turns and behold, and lo,
in the midst of the throne, 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 in all the earth. And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne." John
turns and sees not a lion but a lamb. This is good news. Because Christ came meek and
lowly and approachable. You don't dare approach a lion.
But a lamb? You bet. You bet. This shows
us his approachableness. He is a Lamb. What did John the
Baptist say? Behold, the Lamb of God that
taketh away the sin of the world. And what was the purpose of a
Lamb in the Old Covenant? It was to be a sacrifice because
of its purity, because of its innocency. And Christ came in
His purity and innocency and He offered Himself a sacrifice
to God. as a lamb as it had been slain. Slain. Our Savior as He hung upon that
tree was slain. Yeah, He was slain of men, but
I tell you this, He was slain of God. You know, in Zechariah it says,
Awake, O sword! and smite the shepherd, the man
that is my fellow, and I will turn my hands to the
little ones." Upon that tree, his garments
were stained with his own blood and the justice and fury of God's
wrath. Those lightnings and thunders
and voices which John heard fell on Christ. Darkness and sorrow
filled his heart and mind, and yet there was no standing. He
said, My iniquities have taken hold on me. And yet there was
no sin in him. He who has made sin knew no sin. Therefore, when the suffering
of God's vengeance came upon him, he still trusted in God. He still trusted in God. So when
it was finished and the transgression of sin was made an end of, reconciliation
was brought in, Christ brought in everlasting righteousness.
What did He accomplish? He prevailed to open the book. Sinner weeping endureth for a
night, but joy cometh in the morning. This is salvation. Christ hath prevailed. The Lamb
having seven horns. What is that but perfect power? Seven eyes. What is that but
perfect wisdom? Jesus said, I know my sheep. Perfect wisdom. See, Christ didn't
come blindly into this world to die for adventure. He had
perfect wisdom, perfect power to save His people. And listen,
His perfect Spirit is sent into this world and He will save them. Why? He's prevailed. He's prevailed
to open the book. I'm sure of this. Not one for
whom Christ died will ever be lost. They were born lost, but
I tell you this, they won't die lost. Why? The Spirit of God will come to
every one of them and give them life and faith and they will
believe on Christ. Jesus said, of all the Father
had given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again. Why? He's
prevailed to open the book and loose the seals thereof. And I want you to see this, you
that have been born again of the Spirit of God, you who know
this to be true, I want you to see this for your surety. The salvation of your soul, do
you know the glory of God depends on it? You see, I told you when He created
all things, He created all things for His pleasure. And it was
His pleasure to save His elect. It was His will to save you. How many times in Ephesians 1
does it say, according to the praise of the glory of His grace. Why did He choose you? According
to the praise of the glory of His grace. Why did Christ redeem
you? According to the praise of the glory of His grace. Why
did the Spirit call you? According to the praise of the
glory of His grace. Why did you believe and not everyone
else? According to the praise of the
glory of His grace. Why should you ascend into glory and be
with God? among the twenty-four elders seated on twenty-four
thrones, having crowns and raiments, according to the praise of the
glory of His grace." That's why. According to the praise of the
glory of His grace. The glory. His glory. That's why. And so you know this. God put
everything in Christ. Even His glory. And He has prevailed. That's
the gospel. He hath prevailed. And listen,
there is a new song. Look at this. And He came and took the book
out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne. And when
He had taken the book, the four and beast and four and twenty
elders fell down before the Lamb, every one of them having harps
and golden vows full of odors, and the prayers of the saints.
And they sung a new song. So after the Lamb took the book,
after He had provided righteousness and atonement and eternal redemption. Music filled the air. You know
what this is? This is the resurrection, the
ascension of Christ. When He took the book, that was
at the cross. He took it. He prevailed to open
it. But I tell you this, when He
opened it, what is that but His ascension into glory? His sending
His Spirit into the world to make it known to man. This song
is the gospel song. It is the gospel song. It was
first sung by Christ. You remember, we just did this
recently in Psalm 40. He said, after He had brought
me up out of a horrible pit, established my feet upon a rock.
It's a prophecy of Christ. He put a new song in my mouth.
Even song of praise unto our God. Jesus, having obtained eternal
redemption, made us holy and acceptable before God took the
book. And now then he sings the song,
and what is that? Thou art worthy to take the book. Thou art worthy. Thou alone,
the God-man mediator, thou alone has come and provided righteousness
for thy people. Thy blood alone has made atonement
for our sins. I want you to listen. If you
refuse to come to Christ, that'll be your own fault. But if you
ever come to Christ, it'll be His. It'll be all because of Him.
And how will you come except you hear this song? The song
of the gospel. And all sinners... All saviors who did not prevail
to save are no saviors at all. They are refuge of lies. But
we sing, thou art worthy to take the book and open the seals. See now that Christ has opened
the seals. He is now moving all things,
nations and events for the divine purpose to save His people from
their sins. He by His Holy Spirit reveals
salvation. He's by the grace of God through
Christ alone. And how does He do this? By our
gospel. This is no light thing what we
do. Because this is the means God has chosen to save sinners.
This is it. There won't be any other means.
This is the means God has chosen. Therefore, the only object of
our praise and preaching is His holy blood. For thou art worthy
to take the book and open the seals. Why? For thou was slain
and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred,
nation, tongue, and people, and has made us unto our God kings
and priests. This is the song of the righteous.
This is the song of every born-again sinner. We were captives and
needed redemption. We were sinners, and we had no hand in our own
salvation. Our song is Valor-worthy. Thou
was slain. Thou has redeemed us. Thou has
made us kings and priests. And I tell you, curse any other
doctrine that puts man's hand into that work. Any other doctrine
is cursed. Therefore, our song now is worthy
as the lamb to take the book, to open the seals for Thou has
redeemed us to God. And only those who are born again
sing this song. Only those who believe on Christ
sing the song of His blood, His worth, and His redemption. And
we are kings and priests. And say we're going to be. He
has made us kings and priests. You are kings and priests. What
does that mean? You have the victory and you
have access. In the Old Testament, how many priests were allowed
into that place? And how often? Yet, how often a day do you go
into the presence of God? You can go as often as you want. You're a priest. You're able
by the high priest to enter in. And listen, you shall reign. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be. But I know this, when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him. We shall reign on the earth. And we will worship Him then
forever and ever. The book. The book of God's salvation. God chose a people. Purpose to
save them. We could not and would not or
are not able to know the salvation of God had Christ not come but
he came and the lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed to open
the book and loose the seals thereof and he was slain to do
so your sin didn't go unpunished believer it was punished and the righteousness of God
is now imputed and imparted to you and we shall reign with Him." I do pray that all the glory
and praise go to Christ. I stand and be dismissed.