Turn back to Revelation, chapter
five. Revelation, chapter five. And let's read verse 1. 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. The Revelation is such a mysterious
book to the world. It's almost a scary book to the
world. But the revelation is no different
from any other book in this Bible. Not one bit different. They all
have the exact same subject. This is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. And Revelation 5 begins with
very good news. Somebody is sitting on the throne. It says, and I saw in the right
hand of Him that sat on the throne. That is all our comfort, isn't
it? And all our hope. Somebody is sitting on the throne. I am so, so thankful. So glad somebody is in charge
of me. I'm so, so thankful. Somebody
reigns and somebody is doing as he pleases with the armies
of heaven and the inhabitants of earth. Somebody is sitting
on the throne. To a person that has absolutely
no control over anything. That is good news. That is good
news. Well, who is it? Who is this
one who is sitting on the throne? Our text says he's the one who
holds the book. It says, 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. What book is he talking about? What book does he hold? The answer
is every book. Every single book, and we're
going to look at a few of them. We refer to our own lives in
chapters. And we say it's time to move
on to the next chapter in life. Well, this book, the book, says
every step a man takes is ordered by God. That means somebody is on the
throne. It means our lives are in His hands. We are His to do
with as He pleases. Turn to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9 verse 15 says, He saith to Moses, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Why is he mad at me? If he does
everything, And if he's in control of everything, and if my steps
are ordered, then why is he mad at me? Verse 20 says, Nay, but,
O man, who art thou that replies against God? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and
another unto dishonor? You know what He's saying? Somebody
is on the throne doing whatsoever He wants to
do. In Deuteronomy 32, He said, I
kill. If anybody dies, I did it. He said, I make alive. If anybody
lives, I did it. I wound and I heal. And he said, neither is there
any that can deliver out of my hand. He holds the book. Every chapter of my life is in
the hands of the one who sits on the throne. I am so thankful
for that. I don't have to worry about any
of it. I don't have to make a decision about any of it. Also, he holds the book. This book. His book. It's His Word which contains
all the mysteries of God. All of the secret things of God. He holds this book. Job 11.7
says, Canst thou by searching find out God? Can a group of
scientists meet together and find out God? We've decided
we are going to find out who God is. Solomon said no man can
find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
There's not one single man that can find out that work. David
wrote, The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men
to see if there were any that did understand. This book. And seek God. Not one. Our Lord said in Matthew
13, Therefore, speak I to them in parables, because they seeing. See not. And hearing they hear not, and
neither do they understand." They don't understand. No man
can understand the book. Back in Revelation 5, verse 2
says, 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 in earth, neither under the earth,
nobody in heaven, nobody here, nobody who was, was able to open
the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much. 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 said unto
me." John said, I wept much because I needed to know what was inside
that book. There's a book that I need my
name to be inside. And I wept much because no man
was found worthy to open the book. to read it, to even look
at it. And one of the elders said unto
me, John says, the Lord God sent me a preacher. I wept much and one of the elders
said unto me, weep not and behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah. That is what a preacher is called
to do. To say, weep not and 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. Somebody
has unlocked the book. Our Lord said, I have been anointed
to preach good tidings unto the meek. I am sent to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound. If he uses an elder, it's
the Lord that's doing the preaching. If it's of God. I'm the one who
opens the prison door. How does he do this? He says,
weep not and behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah. There
is only one who is able to unlock the mysteries of this book. There
is only one who is able to reveal the truth to a sinner. There is only one who is able
to open blind eyes, open deaf ears and give life. There is
only one who can do it. It's the Lion of the tribe of
Judah, the Root of David, and the Lord Jesus Christ is His
name. He said, I have the keys of hell
and death. He holds the book. It's His to
reveal to whoever He pleases. It's His to unlock the mystery
to whoever He pleases. What is the mystery? What is the secret in the book? What is the truth in this word? What must he reveal to a sinner? And why are they broken hearted?
And what's all this talk of captivity? What are you talking about? What's
all this talk of being bound in prison? I don't understand. I know. Turn with me to Revelation chapter
20. Revelation chapter 20, look at
verse 12. It says, And I saw the dead,
small and great, stand before God. One day, every human being born
into this world must stand before God. And I believe To some degree,
most of the world has some kind of small understanding of that. I actually believe they do. I believe that they think they're
going to meet something. It says in verse 12, I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God and the books were
opened. Every single thing that we do and every single thing that we
say and every single thing that we think and every single thing
that we feel is being recorded in heaven. And I believe to some distorted,
small view, most of the world understands something of that.
Two songs came to my mind. One of them is a bluegrass song
called, I'm working on a building. Working on a building for my
Lord. Well, we're going to be judged
by those words. Another song says, where I come
from, We're working hard to get to heaven, where I come from. Well, we're going to be judged
by those works. I believe that the world knows
some small something of that. But here's what mankind by nature
does not understand. Just how holy God really is. Chapter 20, verse 13 says, The
sea gave up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every man,
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. Why will a person be cast into
the lake of fire? The answer is sin. Sin. Now, surely no one is so
delusional to think that they have never sinned. Surely nobody on this planet,
truly in their heart, thinks that they've never sinned. 1
John 1.10 says, if we say that we have not sinned, we make Him
a liar. We make God a liar, and His Word
is not in us. Every person can say, well, sure
I've sinned. Sure I have. But here's what
the world believes. Here's what man by nature believes.
All of my sins are going to stack up. And all of my good deeds and
my charitable deeds are going to stack up. And whichever one
comes out on top, then that's going to decide where I go. That
is not what this book says. Cover to cover, it says God is
so holy, not one spot of sin can be in his presence. Disease
is a result of sin. The whole reason we have disease
is because of sin. The reason we get cancer is because
of sin. And my mother had cancer. It
pleased the Lord to take her through that cancer. But she had cancer in a lymph
node, just a little tiny lymph node. And once that truth came out,
there was no way that her doctor would have said, well, you have
cancer. You do have cancer. But there
is so much good in the rest of your body, we'll just forget
about it. Absolutely not. The good does
not outweigh the bad. It must be removed. It has to
be removed. There was no way that my mother
could say, now lymph node, I know that you're cancerous and you're
vile and you're dead, but I forgive you and we'll just leave you
in. Absolutely not. It must be removed. That one spot was enough to bring
down her whole body. Sin is a deadly cancer that is
eating us alive. Everything that we do, everything
that we touch is covered in sin. Everything that we say is tainted
in sin. And everything that we think
and everything that we feel is a result of sin. If we get honest with ourselves,
we know that that's the truth. We know it is. This is what will
bring the fear of the Lord upon a person. Realizing He holds
that book. He holds my record. Everything
I've ever done, He knows. He knows all of it. Everything
about me. Well, if the books are going
to be opened, And if I'm going to be judged based on my book,
based on my record, my work, what hope do I have? I know that my name is not going
to be written in the Lamb's Book of Life based on my work. There's no possible way my name
can be in there. Do you know what my only hope
is? We read where the Lord said, I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. There is a way that mercy can
be found. I need mercy. Do you know the only place that
mercy can be found? It's in the one that you've offended. If I offended you, it does me
no good to get mercy from Him. I offended you. It has to come
from the One you've offended. My only hope is in the One who
sits on the throne. There's only one place that I
have hope. I must get to Him and I must
beg Him for mercy. Now, how can I get to Him? Go to Revelation 4. Revelation chapter 4, verse 1 says, After this I looked,
and behold, a door was opened in heaven. There is a door open
in heaven. Where is this door? And what
is this door? The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
am the door. I am the door. No man cometh
to the Father but by me. It said, 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. Revelation chapter 1
says that trumpet is the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
He said, I'm the way. And I'm the truth. I heard, as it were, a trumpet
talking with me, which said, Come. How do I get to him? He's already
gotten to me. He said, Come. Come up hither
and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately
I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and
one sat on the throne." When the Lord Jesus Christ calls a
sinner and says, come, immediately that sinner is in the Spirit.
Their spiritual eyes are opened. Their spiritual ears are opened. Spiritual life is given. And they no longer see Jesus,
the one that everybody's talking about, Jesus. What they see is
a throne set in heaven and somebody is sitting on it. They see Jesus
Christ, the great judge of the earth. He reveals Himself, who
He is and what He's done. Chapter 4, verse 3 says, He that
sat was to look upon Like a jasper and a sardine stone. When a sinner
comes begging for mercy, and if that sinner looks to the
one sitting on the throne, this is what they'll see. A jasper
stone and a sardine stone. Revelation 21 says a jasper stone
is clear as crystal. And my center margin in Exodus
28 says a sardine stone is a ruby. It's blood red. They're going
to see something that is clear as crystal. Something that's
blood red. He that sat was to look upon
like the water and the blood. That's what he looks like. Clear
as crystal. Purifying, cleansing, sanctifying
water. And redeeming, justifying shed
blood. That is called sanctification
and justification. And it is the mercy of God to
a sinner. Look at Revelation five, verse
six. I beheld in low in the midst
of the throne and of the four beasts and in the midst of the
elders stood a lamb as it had been slain. That's what I saw
when I looked at the throne. If we want to know what sanctification
and justification look like, He is sitting on the throne. What does that mean? What is
sanctification and justification? What does that mean? If a sinner
is sanctified and justified, what does that mean? I am 35 years old. Every single thing that I have
ever done, ever said, ever thought, and ever felt has
been recorded in heaven. Our Lord walked this earth for
33 years. And everything He ever did, everything
He ever said, everything He ever thought, and everything He ever
felt was recorded in heaven. My book was spotted. My book was vile and decayed. It was cover to cover, inside
and out, full of sin. And His book was clean. And it was pure. It was right. It was good. Cover to cover,
inside and out, full of holiness. And he traded books with me. He put his name on the cover
of my book. And he put my name on the cover
of his book. And the books were opened. He made my record clean. He is my sanctification. Because he traded books with
me, I received his inheritance." Well done, thou good and faithful
servant. Enter in. I received all things. And because
he traded books with me, he received my damnation. He is my justification. Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer. With His blood, He purchased
me. On the cross, He sealed with
seven seals my pardon. He paid my debt, and then He
set me free." And I told you, we echo it again.
I say it every time I stand up. Did He do it for everybody? No. Many shall say, Lord, we've done
all these wonderful things. They'll say, depart from me.
The disciples came to him one time rejoicing because even the
devils were subject to them. And our Lord said, don't rejoice
over that. He said, rejoice because your
names are written in heaven. He said to the father, I pray
not for the world, I pray for them which thou has given me.
All that thou hast given me will come to me begging for mercy."
Every one of them will come begging for mercy. And if any sinner
has a desire to come to Christ begging for mercy, it's the Lord who put that desire
there in the first place. It's the Lord who said, come,
in the first place. And for any sinner that says,
you know, He lived and he died on this earth a long time ago. 2,000 years ago. A lot of sinners have needed
his book, his record. Are there any more copies? If I really do have a book, if
this is not fairy tale, if I really have a record, If there's a book
with my name on it, and if He really did trade records with
His people, if He really did trade books with me, I need a
new record. I need a book. Are there any
more copies? Are there enough for all whom
the Father gave Him? Are there enough for me? Is there
just one more copy left for me? Turn over to John 21. John chapter
21. John 21, verse 24 says, This
is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these
things, and we know that his testimony is true. And there
are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they
should be written, every one, and they were, I suppose that even the world
itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. The world can't contain the number
of copies, the records, did he really do enough to accomplish
salvation and substitution for all of his people? Absolutely. The world couldn't contain the
books. In John 17, he said, while I
was with them in the world, I kept them. I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I
have kept and none of them is lost. None of them. The Lord Jesus Christ sits on
the throne. He holds the book. He holds the book of life and
He holds all who are in it. Thanks be to God, He sealed it
with seven seals. It's ordered and it's sure. And Revelation 5 ends in verse
11 with 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands saying
with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Worthy
is the Lamb. Verse 14 says, The four beasts
said, Amen. The four and twenty elders fell
down and worshipped Him that liveth forever and ever. Well, may the Lord bless His
Word. Brother John.