Turn to Revelation chapter 5. Let me express my love to your
pastor, his congregation. I've known Paul nearly 40 years.
I heard Henry preach. My pastor preached the gospel
nearly 40 years ago. I was telling Mike and Debbie
and Vicki as we traveled down here last week for the conference,
I said, you know, one of the things that thrills my heart
is that we're still here. We're still at it. We still believe. We still enjoy the gospel. I
said, 40 years have almost gone by and it's more rich to me today
than the day I heard it. And I enjoy your pastor's preaching. I listen to Paul on the Internet
about every week. A lot of times, every day. I listen to Henry every morning.
I've got a situation where I'm working that I can do that. I
put earphones in my ears so I can tune out everybody else. And
I'll listen to one or two sermons of Henry. And I'll listen to
Paul. And I'll listen to Todd. And the Lord's given you a pastor. I told Paul last week, I was
talking to him, I said, the power of God's on your preaching. I
said, when I listen to you preach, like when I listen to my pastor
preach, it made me want to go home and read more, pray more,
love more, watch what I say more. That's the effect preaching has
when God's in it. You'll never be the same every
time you hear it. Never. And I have that when I
listen to your pastor on the internet. You're blessed with
God. Revelation chapter 5. I couldn't title it anything
else than Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. The Lord has given us a glimpse
into heaven. The curtain is pulled back and
we are allowed to look into that unseen world That's what's happening. We are allowed to look into that
unseen world. And the focal point is centered
on the Lamb of God, just as it should be here this morning,
on the Lamb of God. He is the praise of heaven. And our worship service this
morning ought to be in tune with that worship service that's going
on right now. Giving unto Him all the glory,
all the praise, all the attention that belongs to Him. He is worshipped
there as He deserves to be worshipped. And I pray that we can worship
Him here this morning as He deserves to be worshipped. In chapter
4, John saw the sovereignty of the thrice holy God in creation. In verse 11 of chapter 4, Thou
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for
Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are
and were created. None of this was created for
me. So get over it. That's what I
say to myself, get over it, it wasn't created for me, it was
created for Jesus Christ. This is my land, this is my house. No, it isn't. No, you and I pay
for it, but it's His. In truth, we're just renters,
that's all. This is my Father's world. And I want me and you to recognize
that all of it belongs to Him. All of it. We put up our borders. You know, we put them all up,
put our lines, we draw our lines in the sand. But you know, God
has no borders. He has no borders. It's all His.
The earth is the Lord's, the fullness thereof, and they who
dwell therein. Now in chapter 5, John sees a
throne, a book, and a lamb. Verse 1, 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. John saw Him who sits
on the throne and rules over all things. He saw the One who
sits in the heavens and does whatsoever He pleases." He pleases. Now let us never forget that
this throne of sovereignty and power is also a throne of grace. It's also a throne of grace. John's attention is drawn to
the book that's in the right hand of him that sat upon the
throne. This is a very important book.
For in it is written the eternal decrees and purpose of God for
all time and eternity. In that book, the whole counsel
of God, all the decrees of God, the purpose of God is written
in that book. That's in His hand. All of it. Every redeemed sinner's name
is written in this book. God is not sitting on the throne
writing down names as time goes by. All the names of all the redeemed
are written in that book. And they're written in that book
before the world began. Before the world began. It is
a complete book. It's a complete book. Written
within and on the backside and sealed with seven seals. And
there are no mistakes in that book. There are no mistakes in
that book. You know, I read over my notes.
Oh, I could tell you how many times. You know, I kept finding
an error, a spelling error. I kept finding it. And I'd have
to go correct it and then I'd correct it. And I'd think, man,
how did I miss that? Five times. There are no mistakes in God's
books. There are no errors in God's
books. There are no errors in this book. No error. This book is complete. I worked
for a Mormon several years ago, and he was talking about their
prophet getting new revelations from God. And I said, all that
God has to say to us is written in this book. And he said to
me, he said, you mean to say that God has no more to say?
I said, do you know what's written in this book? All of it? No,
then why should you say any more? You don't even know what's in
this one. All that God has to say is written
in this book to us. And all that God has decreed
and purposed is written in that book that's in His hand. It's
in His hand. It's a perfect book. And verse 2, he said, And I saw
a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? This angel's voice went throughout
all time. And no one stepped forward. Now
remember, there's 10,000 times 10,000, 1,000, Angels and saints around the
throne, they're there, the beast and the elders and all of them.
And this angel steps forward and he cries with this unbelievably
loud voice. Who's worthy? Who's worthy to
take the book and to open it and to loose its seals, make
what's in it happen? Who's worthy? Who's fit? Who's fit to open
this book? Who is morally fit? Who has the intelligence and
the wisdom and the holiness and the knowledge to take this book
and open it? Open it. That loud angel that
proclaimed it, he didn't step forward. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David,
none of them stepped forward. They didn't step forward. No, they didn't step forward. No man, listen, verse 3, no man
in heaven nor in earth, no man on that earth, on the earth at
this time, the Apostle Paul, he didn't step forward. Neither
under the earth was Abel to open the book, neither to loose the
seal thereof. None was found able. The cry
went out, and it was what? Absolute failure. For anyone,
it looked bleak. For anyone to step forward. All looked hopeless. John wept. He wept. John felt his own unworthiness
as that sound went out. John felt his own unworthiness. You know he felt that. The Scripture
says, Who hath known the mind of the Lord? Who hath been his
counselor? Let that one step forward. None
stepped forward. So much for human wisdom and
intellect, huh? You know, when we stand before
God, we're going to finally realize how stupid we really were and
how little we really knew. Really. Human intellect can't do it.
Human wisdom can't open that book. Human wisdom can't open
this book. It's a closed book until God
reveals Himself. Until you have Christ, who is
the key of knowledge, then you can start understanding. Human wisdom and intellect will
do for earthly things, but not heavenly things. The natural
mind cannot discern the things of the Spirit. Can't do it. And verse 4, he said, and I wept
much aloud uncontrollably. John wept uncontrollably. And
he wept, he said, and that word much is aloud. He just wept aloud. Because no man, no man was found
worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
Are the decrees of God forever sealed? Will I ever know the will of
God for me? Will I ever know that? John wept because he said, no
man. No man was found worthy. Isn't
that the place we have to be brought to? When God saves us,
when He saves us, He has to bring us to the place where we realize
we are absolutely unworthy. I'm not worthy to pick this book
even up. By His grace, now by His grace
in Christ He makes us worthy. And He gives us an understanding.
But John wept. He wept over his unworthiness.
The man who has never wept over his sins or his unworthiness
will never see him who is worthy. Because it wasn't until John
realized there was none worthy that then he gets the revelation
and sees the one who is worthy. And John went because he desired
to know the mind and will of God for himself. No doubt about
that. Do you desire to know that? Verse 5, And one of the elders
saith unto me, Weep not, weep not. Behold, now here it comes. John's there weeping over his
unworthiness, the unworthiness of anyone to open that book. And then one of the elders said
to him, John, stop crying. Stop crying. 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." There is one. Out of all those
myriads of thousands and thousands of angels and saints, there's
only one. Only one that's worthy to open
the book, to loose the seals, and make it happen. We'll see
this here at the end of it. And make it happen. One of the elders, I like this,
one who had been redeemed by the blood of a lamb, a man and
not an angel, stood forth. One who had experienced what
he was talking about. There is one, John. There's one that's worthy. There's
one. Weep not. There's good news.
I'm giving you good news this morning. Brethren, we're reading
good news this morning. I don't get the newspaper. We
don't take the newspaper home anymore. There's no good news
in it. There's really not. It's who shot who and who didn't.
I mean, it's basically filled with just smut, crimes and all
this. That's not good news. That's
not good news. Let's put a little pinch of it
here and there. This is good news! To some of you. It's to some
of you. Good news! And it's the same
good news, listen, the good news he heard there in heaven is the
same good news we have here this morning. Same good news. Behold, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven
seals thereof." John, he says, dried up. If your parents ever
tell you that, just dried up. Stop weeping. The Lion, the Lion
hath prevailed. Christ is called a lion because
of His power and His courage. The lion of the tribe of Judah. King of kings and Lord of lords
hath prevailed. He hath prevailed. He conquered
death. Here's how He did it. Here's
how He prevailed. He conquered death by dying. That's how He did it. He conquered sin
by being made sin. He conquered Satan on his own
ground. He conquered the curse of the law by being made a curse.
He conquered the grave by being buried and rising again out of
it. Nothing was able to stand him
down. This is the lion. I saw this
the other day on the National Geographic. I saw this old lion. He was a strong, he wasn't an
old lion, but he was a mature lion. Strong, big old mane. And boy, when he went after that
zebra, that's what he took down, he took that thing down and it
was amazing how fast he took it down. And then the other pride
came in and feasted. The lion of the tribe of Judah. But notice here now what he sees
after this. He tells him first, he tells
him, he says, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. But now when
he's going to see this Lion of the tribe of Judah, in verse
6, look what he sees. In the midst of the throne stood
a Lamb. A Lamb. You would be expecting what?
To see what? A Lion. But he sees a Lamb. And he not only sees a lamb,
but he sees a lamb as it had been slain. The lamb, listen, the lamb is
the reason to stop weeping and rejoice. John sees the one who's worthy
to take the book and to open it up. And when he looks upon
him, he sees the lamb slain as it had been slain. Here's what John sees. He sees
Jesus Christ in His sacrificial character. The same way he saw
Him here is the same as he sees Him there, our sacrifice. He sees Him in
that character that won the victory, the Lamb. He saw Jesus Christ
crucified. That's what he saw. And that's
why Paul said, I determine not to know anything among you except
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He's our message. He's the object
of our worship here, and He's the object of their worship in
heaven. He saw Him as a Lamb on earth,
and now He sees Him as a Lamb in heaven. And here's what I like. I must
have got this somewhere else. I'm sure I didn't come up with
this. The sacrifice is always fresh in God's sight. Isn't that
good? The sacrifice is always fresh
in God's sight. John saw a lamb as it had been
slain. This is His most glorious character
and the object of our worship. The Lamb. The Lamb of God. The Lamb is not only our sacrifice,
but He's our mediator. He took the book. He took the
book. And it says here that this Lamb
having seven horns, you know what that is an emblem of? That
was an emblem of Kings. In the Old Testament, you go
back and look, Horns is an emblem of kings. It was an emblem of
power. That's what he sees. He sees
a king. He sees King Jesus. That's what
he sees. Perfect in power. He's not a
weak, defeated lamb. He has all power and all authority
given to Him. He said He has all power over
all flesh. that He may give eternal life
to as many as the Father gave Him in John 17. He has such power and authority
that He can walk up to the throne. Think about this now. He can walk up to the throne,
take the book. He doesn't say, ask for it. He
doesn't say, will you give me the book? He walks up and He
takes it. You know why? Because He's equal
with the one sitting on that throne. That's why. He walked up to the throne, took
the book out of the hand of God. John saw a living Lord, not a dead one. Not a dead one. He saw Him and
He says, He stood. Dead things don't stand. He stood. Christ is a living... Jesus Christ
is our living sacrifice. He's my living sacrifice. Those
lands that they killed and slaughtered in the Old Testament, they were
dead. That's why they had to kill another
one, and another one, and another one. Jesus Christ is a living
sacrifice. That'll never happen again. Never
again. And He had seven eyes. This is
His omnipresence. There's nothing hid from the
Lamb. He sees you, me. Thou, God, seest me. He sees every minute thing about
me. Everything. He knew the mind of God. This
lamb knows the mind of God perfectly. And you know what? He knows mine. Peter said, Lord, You know all
things. You know I love You. Scripture says in Psalm 11 4,
the Lord is in His holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven.
His eyes behold, His eyelids try the children of men. He knows exactly what's going
on with every person. There's seven billion people
on this earth plus. He knows every thought of every
woman. Can't comprehend that. Can't
do that. Believe it, but you can't comprehend
it. Verse 7, "...and he came and took the book out of the
right hand of him that sat upon the throne." He's the only one
worthy to step forward and take the book and reveal its contents.
He's the one who, listen, he's the one who won the victory.
Isn't he? Who won the victory? The Lamb. Who opened the book? The Lamb. Who revealed the secrets? The
Lamb. Who is to be worshipped? The
Lamb. Don't you think He's worthy?
Is He not worthy? And when he had taken the book,
in verse 8, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down
before the Lamb, having every one of them hearts and golden
vials full of odors, listen, which are the prayers of the
saints. You think God doesn't hear my prayers? He's got them
all. He's got every prayer I've ever
prayed to Him in sincerity. From my heart, He's got every
prayer. Henry told us one time in the
Bible class, he said, write your prayers down. He said, write
them down sometimes. And I started doing that some
time ago. And you know, it's interesting.
It's interesting to write them down and go back and look at
them a year later. It's things that you've forgotten. He's not forgotten. Things that
he's answered that you've forgotten. Now go back and look at it. Here is evidence of His deity.
They all worship Him. That would not have been allowed
if He were not God. Not been allowed. And it says here, they fell down.
That is a posture... I wish I had that profound feeling
this morning. I wish I did. When they fell
down, that's a posture of profound worship. Like that woman who washed his
feet. Oh, that we could, before we
die, sometime before I die, if I could just worship God in Christ,
as He ought to be worshipped at least one time. Verse 9, they sung a new song.
Thou wert worthy to take the book, and to open the seal thereof,
for thou wast slain, slain, and hast redeemed us to
God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people
and nation. This new song is always fresh, You know, there's
always someone singing it for the first time in His presence.
I assure you this morning, right now, that there is some child
of God that has just gone to glory and entered into that song. Somewhere on this earth. Somewhere
on this earth. And this new song has to do with
Him who is worthy. Him who possesses the credentials. All the fullness of the Godhead
dwells in Him bodily. Don't you think He has the credentials?
He sure does. Joy of heaven has to do with
the Lamb and His redemption of sinners. That's the joy of heaven. And it says, for thou wast slain.
He tasted death for everyone there. He tasted death for them.
I'm not going to taste death. My body is going to die. This
body is going to go back to the grave. I'm not going to taste
death. No one who believes God is going to taste death. Not
the death he tasted. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why art thou so far from the
words of my roaring?" I won't experience that. I won't experience
that. Hmm. Torment? He absolutely took my torment,
the hell that I deserve and would get if He had not been my substitute. He took it. And he felt every bit of it,
more than we can even think. Oh, he who died for sinners is
worthy of all honor and praise. No one, now listen, no one will
ever be guilty of praising him too much. We will never be guilty of worshipping
Him too much. We ought to be absolutely obsessed
with Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory, boast, save in the cross, in the cross, of Christ. And note how far-reaching His
redemption is. Every kindred, every tribe, every
tongue, every people, and every nation. His redemption may be limited
in its scope, but not in its power. He can redeem A black man, a white man, a yellow
man, a red man, a Pharisee, a flat-out rebel. Oh, how far-reaching is His redemption.
And He has made us, in verse 10, and I'll start winding this
down, He hath made us kings and priests. Right now. Kings and priests. This church, the Lord's church
right now, reigns on this earth. You say,
it don't look like it. It don't look like it. Well,
I tell you what, you just let her pray. Let her pray and see
what happens. The prayer of a righteous man
does what? It avails much. It availeth much. And we're going
to reign, but the real reign here is on that new heaven, new
earth. He hath made us kings and priests,
and we shall reign on the earth. When others are in torment, we are going to reign. This people, this redeemed people,
shall never fail nor fall again. The possibility of that is gone. It's gone. They're standing in Jesus Christ
as firm. A firm foundation, we sing that
song. They are royalty. As I said to
you this morning, I'm looking at royalty. And they offer up the sacrifice
of praise and thanksgiving. That's the sacrifice we offer.
Praise and thanksgiving. And it's an innumerable, listen,
in verse 11, And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels
round about the throne, and the beast, and the elders. And the
number then was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousand,
and thousands. Innumerable. Innumerable. Sing with a loud voice. Now when
we stand up to sing after this, let's sing with a loud voice.
Let's say, worthy. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and blessings. And you know what? What's His
is mine. He's worthy, first, because He's
God's Lamb. This is God's Lamb. And secondly,
He's worthy because He was slain. In His life and death, He magnified
the law and made it honorable. He did that by the sacrifice
of Himself. He kept it, and then He was obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Now He who was slain has all
power given to Him. That's our Lord. I want to say,
Church, this is our Lord. He has all power given to Him.
We ought to have a good day. We ought to go home and have
a good day. All power given to Him over all flesh that He should give eternal life
to as many as the Father gave Him. Can you imagine that? I was one that the Father gave
Him. You believe the gospel? You were one that the Father
gave Him. You know, one of the verses that I, that when I first,
when I heard the gospel in power from my pastor, Henry, nearly
40 years ago, one of the very scriptures that
kept me going. Turn over to John chapter 6.
This is a scripture that kept me going. I felt so in despair. In John chapter 6. Maybe somebody
here will get a hold of this. Maybe somebody here will need
it. Hold on as I get there. John chapter 6. Let me find the
verse. I believe it's verse 37. Let
me find it. Here's the scripture that God
gave me when I heard the gospel. When I heard it in power, and I was so troubled. I was
so troubled. Surely the Lord wouldn't save
me. Surely not. I made a profession when I was
20 years old, me and Vicki both, became just religious for three
years and then I heard the Gospel. Went over to my parents' house
and my dad said, that man is preaching the Gospel. I sat down and listened
to him and I heard it. I heard the Gospel. And for the first time I knew
what conviction of sin was. First time I got myself all fixed
up. I got all fixed up. I got all fixed up. Not going
to go to hell now. Got religious. Took care of that
guilt. Took care of that guilt. Just like throwing a rug over
dirt, you know, that's what it was like. Aidan was baptized. I went up to the front of the
altar, kneeled down, wept, cried, carried him. Did all that he
was supposed to do. And three years later, I found out I didn't
know what I was doing. I found out I was lost. I found
out I was lost. And I heard the Gospel and it
drew me and I heard it. I just had to keep on coming.
This is the Scripture right here. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out." I said, Lord, You said. You said. You wouldn't cast me out. And
to this day, that same scripture, I keep using it. I keep using
it. And after I'd heard, I asked
my pastor to baptize me. Now someone's going to say, I
thought you were baptized. No, I just got wet the first
time. The first time I just got wet, the second time I knew what
I was doing. And that was the first time.
I knew whom I was confessing. I knew whom I was following.
I knew what I was doing. I wasn't getting fixed up. I was following a person. World of difference. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me I want to know why I cast him
out. For no reason, for no reason I'll cast him out. There's nothing
I can do to be cast out because it doesn't depend on me and it
never has. It never has. Same with a loud voice, worthy
is the land that was slain to receive power, riches, wisdom,
strength. Honor, glory, blessing. All honor
belongs to Him. He earned it. All glory and blessing belongs
to Him. He deserves it. He deserves it. And it says in verse 13, and
I'll read 13, 14, and I quit. 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 say, blessing,
and honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four
beasts said, Amen. What do you say? Amen. And the four and twenty elders
fell down and worshipped Him that liveth forever and ever. Is He not worthy? Is He not worthy? Now, we're about to see. We're
about to see.