In the fifth chapter of the book
of Revelation, John writes this, I saw in the right hand of him
that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside,
sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? And no man in heaven nor in earth,
neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither
to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man
was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to
look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto
me, Weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book,
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo,
in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain, having
seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God,
sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And
when he had taken the book, the four beasts, and four and twenty
elders, fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them
harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers
of saints. And they sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof,
for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood,
out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and has
made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on
the earth. In Revelation 14, we read again
of this lamb and of those gathered around him. And I looked, and
lo, a lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with him an hundred
forty and four thousand, having his father's name written in
their foreheads. and I heard a voice from heaven,
as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder,
and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps, and
they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before
the four beasts and the elders, and no man could learn that song
but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed
from the earth. These are they which were not
defiled with women, for they are virgins. They are they which
follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed
from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And
in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before
the throne of God. And I saw another angel fly in
the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel, to preach
unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred,
and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God,
and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come,
and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the
fountains, of waters. In both these passages we see
the great glory of the sight of the Lamb of God, victorious,
the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Lamb that came into this
world and offered Himself up as a sacrifice, as a sacrificial
Lamb in the place of His people. that great saviour of sinners
who came and laid down his life as the Passover lamb of old was
sacrificed and shed his blood that the sins of his people should
be washed away that a great company should be redeemed from the earth
and that that company in the end should be gathered around
His throne forever and ever, bringing praise and worship under
His name. This is the picture we see in
these chapters. This Saviour, this Lamb of God
who came, who He is, the great work that He did in redeeming
His people. And we see something of who that
people are. and from whence they came. I saw another angel fly in the
midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that
dwell on the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue
and people. Saying with a loud voice, fear
God and give glory to him. for the hour of his judgment
is come and worship him that made heaven and earth and the
sea and the fountains of waters. Well, do you hear his word? Do
you hear what this angel has said with a loud voice? Fear
God and give glory to him. for the hour of his judgment
is come and worship him that made heaven and earth and the
sea and the fountains of waters. You who dwell on the earth, all
you who dwell on the earth, male, female, child, adult, black,
white, whatever nation, whatever kindred, whatever tongue and
whatever people you are from, all you that dwell on the earth,
have you heard this word? Do you fear God? Do you give
glory unto Him? The hour of His judgment has
come. Your time on this earth is brief. And your time on this earth is
always, always within the hour of this judgment. It is always
within that span of time in which a voice from heaven speaks unto
this world in the everlasting gospel, calling out unto sinners
in this world to tell them that the hour of judgment is come. Fear God and give glory to Him. Now what hour do you think it
is? Perhaps you think at this very hour, this is the hour when
you are brought to a meeting to sit and to listen. And in
the next hour, perhaps you'll go home and have something to
eat. And in another hour, you will go out and shop. And another hour, you'll go out
to school. And another hour, you'll go out
to work. And another hour, you'll do this
and you'll do that. And you divide time into hours
in which you do this and you do that and you do the other.
But to God, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is
as one day, and one hour is as the span of all time. And in
God's eyes, the hour in which you live, whichever hour, this
hour, the hour in which you are, ever in the present, At the moment
it's this hour when you're listening to this message. Another day
you may be in the workplace, but it's still this hour. Another
day you may be in school, but it's still this hour. Another
day you may travel, but it's still this hour. Another day
you may be taken up with concerns of this world, finance. shopping, whatever it might be,
but it's still this hour. Fear God and give glory to Him,
for the hour of His judgment is come. Now the hour of His judgment
encompasses many things. It encompasses the fact that
there is a need for judgment. and that God as judge will look
upon a people in this world and pronounce his judgment. whether you have done good, whether
you have done righteousness, and the judgment is to declare
this is righteous, or whether you have done wrong, whether
you have done evil and unrighteousness, and his judgment is that you
are a sinner, wicked, who has gone astray, and judgment must
come down upon that. We will each be judged for our
deeds, whether they are right or whether they are wrong, whether
they are good or whether they are evil. The righteousness of
God is impartial. It looks upon every man, every
woman, every child throughout all time, throughout every nation.
It looks upon every nation, every kindred, every tongue and every
people with the same judgment, the same measure and the same
rule. And we will all stand before
Him and this judgment. And the hour of that judgment
is now. It is neither past nor is it
to come. You stand before God in the present
hour in his judgment. Where do you stand? And what
do you fear? If you are found wanting, if
God's sight, God's view of you, God's assessment of you, God's
judgment of what you are, what you think, what you do and what
you say, finds you wanting, then his wrath is kindled against
you. because of what you have done.
And his wrath will come down upon you very soon as the penalty
of his judgment is exacted upon the guilty. And his judgment
against sin and sinners is eternal separation from him, is eternal
judgment, is eternal burning with fire in a separate place
called hell. This is reserved for the devil
and his angels and all those who've gone astray like him,
listening to the lies of the devil from the day that they
were born and despising the truth of God and the message of God,
shutting their ears to the everlasting gospel, even though God continues
to preach it throughout time and throughout the whole earth.
This judgment is reserved for all the wicked. Where do you
stand before this God? Do you fear God? And do you give glory to Him? Perhaps you feel that you are
outside the scope, the reach of this judgment. Perhaps you
feel that where you live and what you do is outside of God's
sight. Well, he says that this gospel
is preached unto them that dwell on the earth. Where do you dwell?
And to every nation. In which nation do you dwell?
And every kindred, and tongue, and people. And you're not out
of sight, and you're not out of his reach. This judgment regards
you, and it regards me. Perhaps you might say, well,
that's all very well, but I've never heard the gospel. But we read that another angel
flew in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach
unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation and kindred
and tongue and people. The message of this gospel has
been made known throughout the entire earth throughout entire
time. You may choose to ignore it. You may choose not to listen. You may choose to use your time
to every other end than listening to this message, but you cannot
claim the message isn't there. Whoever you are and wherever
you are. Now there will be some who say,
well, what about some of those tribes in the remote jungles
that haven't heard a preacher? But Paul makes it plain in Romans
that all men upon this earth, having descended from Adam, have
a common ancestry. We're made of God. We're made
of God in the beginning. And being made of God, we're
made with a conscience. And there's that within us that
knows right and wrong, and knows that we are created beings. We know that God exists. Whatever foolishness there may
be within us, however blind we may have become, that is there. We can try to quench our own
conscience and understanding, but we know this is why all these
tribes that you discover cut off from the rest of the world
are spiritual. Natural man, man in the 21st
century, clever, wise man in the Western world, tries to delude
himself with his science and understanding and knowledge that
there is no God, that the world came into being by chance, that
there was a big bang, that chaos ensued, and somehow over millions
of years, things evolved into the state we're in, but there
is no God. But he's a fool. and his wisdom
and knowledge that he's gathered has led him there. But without
such folly, every nation, every kindred, every tongue in this
world left to themselves and left without much guidance know
innately that there is a God. And every tribe you come across,
cut off from the outside world, has its own ideas of how the
world was created, who God is or who Gods are. They know there's
a spiritual realm. They know that there are powers
and forces outside of them. They know it. And we're answerable to such
a knowledge. Not only this, but the creation
around us, the earth in which we dwell, the heavens and the
earth around us, tell us of the mighty power of God, of his eternal
Godhead. The heavens declare the glory
of God, the stars above, the sun and the moon, the passing
of the days, the weather. All declares the mighty power
of God and we know it. How foolish and small we are.
How great man thinks he is until a little wind comes up, until
a little storm comes up, until the snow comes and the blizzards
come, and then how small he realizes he is. Without strength, without
power, easily swept aside unto destruction. because there's
a mighty power to which he's answerable, a power that created
him, a power that created the world in which he dwells. and
a power to whom he will be answerable, a God, the God, the one true
and living God, which his own conscience bears witness to,
which the world and the creation around him bears witness to,
and which the gospel, when he hears it in word, bears witness
to. And this gospel has been preached,
is being preached today, you are hearing it, You have a Bible
to read it. You cannot claim you know nothing
of it. And it comes unto you and says
unto you that now is the hour of judgment. The hour of his
judgment is come. Worship him that made heaven
and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters. Why are
you here? You are here, created of God,
as part of the glory of His creation, to be one with God and to worship
Him. And your rebellion, your turning
your back on your Creator to go your own way, is the greatest,
the worst, the ugliest, of sins that you could commit. He made
you. He sustained you. He's given
you all that you have. And you pretend and live as though
he isn't there. You take everything from God's
hand. You never say thanks. You go
and use it for your own ends and your own glory. And then
you wonder. when the storms come in life.
You wonder when the trials come what's going on. You moan and
you complain when there isn't fair weather and sunny days for
you every day. And yet you take from God's hand
and use all that he gives you for your own glory and your own
ends. Then don't be fooled and don't
be surprised when he says unto you with a loud voice, the hour
of his judgment is come. Fear God. Yes, wherever you are
and whoever you are, this message reaches you. For it comes unto
them that dwell on the earth, to every nation and kindred and
tongue and people. Why does it? because God created
every nation and tongue and kindred and people. We are all descended
from his first man that he placed upon the earth. He created Adam,
took out of Adam side Eve and they went forth and multiplied
and all the generations of man thereafter came from them. We
are all of the same generation. And God has a people chosen out
of these nations, out of these kindreds, out of these tongues,
out of these people. He has a people chosen to be
redeemed. All the people in this world
have gone astray. We've all been born and gone
astray from the womb speaking lies, you and I included. And yet out of every nation,
God has chosen those whom he would forgive. He has looked
upon this world, and even before it came into being, he has said,
out of that people, I will choose a people whom I will wash clean. I will choose a people whom I
will redeem. I will set them free. They may
be captive to their own sin. They may be born blind. They may be deaf to the truth. They may be dead in trespasses
and sins, but I will set them free. I will open their eyes
so that they see. I will open their ears so that
they hear this gospel. I will open their understanding
so they can comprehend and understand that which was hitherto hidden
from them. I will choose them. I will love
them. I will redeem them. Like slaves,
I will pay a price to set them free and have them be mine, freely. I will set them free from their
sin, free from the captivity of sin, free from the judgment
that sin has brought in. And I will bring them unto myself. And to do this, he sent his son.
He sent a lamb into this world. He sent a sacrifice. For he said,
now is the judgment of this world. Now is the hour of judgment come. Sin must be judged. But if this
people are to be redeemed, if they are to be separated from
their sins, If they're to be washed clean of their sins, if
they're to be forgiven of their sins, if they're to dwell with
me forevermore, then their sins must be judged, not in them. Their sins must be condemned,
not in them. For if I judge them, then they
will die forever. Then another sacrifice must be
found. One who could bear the judgment
on their part. One who could suffer in their
place. One who could die that they might
live. And God found one who could stand
in their place. The only one who could stand
in their place. The only man who could suffer
and die in the place of other men and women. and bring in salvation. The only one whose shoulders
were large enough, the only one whose arm was strong enough.
God himself as man, the son of God, who took upon himself human
flesh, yet without sin. A man just as they are, but without
sin. One who could stand equal with
men. and yet could take their sins
upon him as a substitute, because there's no judgment due under
him, but only unto them. He could take their sins and
pay the price for their sins. But having died, he could rise
again. For having taken the sin away,
He was great enough and perfect enough in himself that there
was nothing to keep him in the grave. once they had been slain
in Him, once their sins had been condemned in Him, once the full
judgment of God had been rained down upon Him, He Himself could
come forth from the grave again with everlasting life, for He
Himself never sinned. He was God, the Son of God, eternal. full of the everlasting righteousness
of God. A lamb who could rise again from
the dead having redeemed his people. Here was one who was
worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof. Here
is one who could take a book naming all the people that God
had chosen to save. A book which declared the judgment
of God against that people. A book which pronounced judgment
against their sins. But here was one who could take
that book and open it up and say, take the sins of this one
and judge them in me. Take the sins of that one and
judge them in me. Take the sins of every one named
in this book and judge them upon me. And I will go through the
book and I will redeem every name in that book. Every name
which is written upon my heart. and I will save them, and I will
redeem them. No man could do this. No man
was able to do this. No man was worthy to open such
a book. No man could look and say, I
will save him, I will save them. None could, for all were sinners.
But here was one who was able and worthy to open the book.
and to take the price of God's judgment against their sins and
drink it up as he drank the cup of God's wrath against them.
He could drink it up to the dregs. John writes, 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 was able to open
the book, neither to look thereon. No one could do anything about
it. No one could do anything about
the sins of mankind. No one could do anything about
their own sins, let alone the sins of others. If you were to
come upon that book, how could you open it? How could you dare
to come close? You're not worthy, you're a sinner. You come near that book, you
come near that throne, you come near this God, and his judgment
would rain down on you in flames of fire in an instant. You wouldn't
get close. They're all condemned. Because
of this, John wept. I wept much because no man was
found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
How far man has fallen in his sin! How separated he is from
God! How universal the judgment of
God against fallen sinners is. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, Paul says in Romans. All have sinned,
you and I included. No one can get close to God. No one can get close to heaven. No one can get close to this
book. There's none worthy. And he wept. Well, would you weep? No. You
wouldn't shed one tear. You're so dead in your sins.
You're so apathetic to the things of God. You're so careless for
the things of God. You'd never shed one tear. What
does it matter, you say? But you'll shed a multitude of
tears if you go to the grave in such a state. When the hour
of judgment has passed and it comes upon you in its penalty,
and the time in this world is over, and you stand before Almighty
God, then the tears will flow forth. Then you'll realize what
this is all about. Then you realize what a fool
you were to waste your time in this world on every diversion,
every pleasure, every scheme you could run after, but never
seeking God, never seeking heaven, never seeking this book, never
seeking the Lamb of God. Well, John, desired the things
of God. John's eyes had been opened.
John's heart had been opened. He knew the glory of God. He knew the hope of salvation. And when he saw this book, and
when he looked upon every tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue,
and saw the universal depravity of man, he wept that there was
none worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. He wept at how awful the state
of sin in man was, that no one could get close. But wondrous gospel, one of the
elders said unto him, weep not, Behold, the lion of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, have prevailed to open the book
and to loose the seven seals thereof. He's opened the perfect
seals of the book. He's seen the names within. He's
come to redeem them. He's come to save his people. He's done it. and I beheld and
lo 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. Not a lamb who would be slain,
not a lamb who was ready for the moment, but there he saw
a lamb that had been slain, a lamb that had already accomplished
salvation. Here was a lamb who had already
taken the book, taken the names, gone to the cross, suffered for
everyone named, suffered for all the elect of God, all 144,000. figurative names of his people. All the entire election of grace,
he'd already been slain. And there he was, standing, bearing
in his body the wounds that man's sin brought down upon him. And there he was, standing in
the midst of the elders, 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. He's the Son of God, who looks
upon all the earth and sees everyone. Now I speak of the hour of judgment. I ask you, do you fear God? Well,
do you realise that at this moment, this Lamb of God, this slain
Lamb of God, looks upon you with seven eyes? The seven Spirits
of God which see within, which see every thought within your
heart, Oh, you can sit and you can hide from others. Oh, you
can sit with your thoughts and your feelings and your rejection
and your apathy and your hatred of the things of God and nobody
can see what you're thinking, but he's looking and he's hearing
every word that you mutter within. He's hearing every objection
which you bring forth. He's hearing every cry of rebellion
that you can muster. He sees. And he says unto you,
now is the hour of judgment. And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And
when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and 20 elders
fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden
vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. And they
sung a new song. saying thou art worthy to take
the book, and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain,
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred,
and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God
kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. Here's the
people who beheld the Lamb, They beheld what he'd done. Here's
a people whose eyes had been opened. Here are the saints who
pray, and they look, and they behold their Savior crucified
for them, and they say, Thou wast slain, and Thou hast redeemed
us to God by Thy blood. out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation, and has made us unto God, unto our God,
kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. What a wondrous
thing. that this people, sinners like
you and I, who were once under the judgment of God, who once
felt the hour of God's wrath, the hour of his judgment upon
them, who once felt that outside of Christ they would perish,
who once felt that they deserved His anger, they deserved His
judgment, here they are and they've heard the gospel, their eyes
have been opened, and now they know the Saviour. Now they know
this Lamb that was slain. Now they know that they have
been redeemed. Do you know? Have you heard it? Have you heard his gospel? Here
in this chapter we see the Lamb that would redeem this people.
In chapter 14, we read of the gospel going forth to the same
place that such a people should hear and believe. Here they are
pictured, a people who have believed, a people who have been saved.
A people chosen out of every kindred and tongue and people
and nation, but a people who once were in darkness. Who once, like you and I, were
lost, blind, deaf, dumb, without understanding, without faith,
careless of the things of God. A people who once felt the judgment
of God would be against them and their sins. but have now
come to discover that the hour of judgment for them was an hour
of judgment in which the judgment of God came upon another. This hour of judgment in which
we dwell is an hour of judgment that divides the world in two. It divides every kindred in two,
and every tongue in two, and every people in two, and every
nation in two. into those people for whom the
judgment is a judgment of God's wrath and anger against their
sins against them. A people who should fear, a people
who have no hope, a people who left in such a state have nothing
but wrath before them. But it is also an hour in which
a great company chosen out of the same kindreds, the same tongues,
the same peoples, and the same nations, have come to discover
in the gospel that the Lamb of God was slain for them. And the hour of God's judgment
came down upon Him, not them. The hour of God's judgment now
says to them that thou art redeemed, thou art free, They are saved. They have been washed. God finds
no fault with them. God finds no blemish in them. God no longer sees their sins. They're perfect. And they find
themselves amongst those who live and reign with God. They've
been made kings and priests and they reign on the earth. praising God who took their sins
and washed them. I heard a voice from heaven as
the voice of many waters and as the voice of a great thunder
and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps and
they sung as it were a new song before the throne and before
the four beasts and the elders and no man could learn that song
but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed
from the earth. Only these people could sing
this song, only these understood these things because God had
opened their eyes. God had taken these who were
dead and caused them to be born again, caused them to live. cause them to raise, to rise
up from the dead. When Christ died, they died with
him. When he was buried, they were
buried with him. When he rose, they rose with
him and they rose up seeing that which once they could not see,
hearing that which once they never heard and singing that
which once they could not sing. Only these could sing, these
which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were
not defiled with women, for they are virgins. They are they which
follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed
from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found
no garb, for they are without fault. before the throne of God. They are without fault before
the throne of God. The hour of his judgment is come. Will he find in your mouth guile? Are you without fault before
the throne of God? Look within, consider. Where
do you stand before this God? Can you say that before God you're
without fault? Can you say that from your mouth
there has proceeded no guile, no angry words, no sinful words? Is your mouth full of praise
for God and His salvation? Or do the utterances of your
mouth betray the wickedness of your heart? Well, here's the
people. of whom it could be said that
in their mouth was found no guile. They are without fault before
the throne of God. What made them thus? Are they
naturally without fault? No, they are as guilty as you
and I by nature. They're as guilty as all men,
all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. They fell
in Adam and they're descended from Adam like all others. They're
as guilty by nature as anyone. Here they are in this hour of
judgment before God faultless because the Lamb redeemed them
from the earth. because there's a people chosen
out of every nation and kindred and tongue and people whom he
redeemed, for whom he died, for whom he shed his blood, whom
he has washed, whom he has presented to his father faultless and without
guile. Has this angel come to you flying
in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel, to preach
unto you who dwell on the earth, amongst every nation, kindred,
tongue and people. Has he come unto you and said
with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to him, for the hour
of his judgment is come? Has he come unto you? Have you
heard his voice? Have you heard his gospel? Has
that gospel opened your eyes to see this Lamb stood on Mount
Zion? Has this Gospel opened your eyes
to see the Lamb which has been slain? Has this Gospel opened
your ears to hear His voice? Has this Gospel brought you to
that point where being born again of God, with faith in the heart
you can look up and sing a new song unto this Saviour? Or are you yet with those that
dwell on the earth in darkness? This message is universal. This
Gospel is not reserved for one nation or one people. This Gospel has not just gone
to this country or that country. This gospel is not just for the
white man or the black man. It's not just for those in the
East or those in the West. It's gone to every nation, every
kindred, every tongue and every people. You cannot say that you
weren't within its reach. God judges impartially and fairly. His judgment is over all the
earth. And He sent the message of His grace through His Son
throughout all the earth. And He says at this moment to
you that the hour of His judgment has come. Then where are you
looking? Where are you gazing? Where are
you heading? Who are you following? This people who heard His voice
follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. This people who have
heard his voice sing a new song that none else can sing. This
people who have heard his voice have been redeemed by his blood,
chosen out of every nation, kindred, and tongue, and people. This
people fear God and give glory to him. This people know Christ
and His salvation. This people have received the
free grace of God freely and praise and worship Him. Are you
amongst this people? Amen.