I told you this morning about
our conversation. Yesterday morning at breakfast
Shelby and I were chatting. She said to me, it's good to
be home. And then she says, good to be
anxious to get home. And then she said, we ought to always be just as
anxious to get home to heaven. And as she said that, those very
words were on the tip of my tongue to say to her, and I knew I wanted
to deal with that in my message tonight. I want to stir our hearts
to be set upon things above. upon that eternal bliss and glory
that awaits us in heaven's eternal delight. Turn with me, if you
will, to the book of Revelation. This blessed book that closes
the book of God gives us seven visions. The book of Revelation
is made up of seven visions. Each is a vision of the person
and work of our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
in this gospel age, throughout the gospel age. In these seven
visions, the Lord revealed to John what he had done, what he
is doing, and what he shall hereafter do for his church. in his church
and with his church. Now, the whole purpose of the
Book of Revelation is to assure God's children in this world
of our ultimate conquest over the world, the flesh, and the
devil. The purpose of the Book of Revelation
is to assure us of our ultimate conquest over the world, the
flesh, and the devil. As surely as our God drove out
all the enemies of Israel from the land of Canaan and gave them
victory over all their foes, so surely he shall drive out
all our foes before our face and give us triumph over the
world, the flesh, and the devil. In verse 1 of chapter 1, we're
told what the book's all about. This is the revelation. Sometimes we say things just
by force of habit, say the revelations or the book of revelations. It's
not many revelations, Bill, it's just one revelation. It is the
revelation of Jesus Christ. So the whole book is about our
Redeemer. It's about our Savior. telling
us that we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. And
he gives us these visions succinctly, one following the other. Each
vision begins with the first advent of Christ and carries
us through to the second advent of Christ. It begins with the
incarnation and concludes with our Lord's glorious second coming
in triumph over all his enemies. The first vision takes up the
first three chapters. Here, John shows us that Christ
is ever in the midst of his churches. He's walking among the golden
candlesticks, always with us. Sometimes he reveals himself
and makes his present manifest. Sometimes he hides his face and
refuses to show himself. But he is always in the midst
of the golden candlesticks in this world. The second vision
goes from chapter four through chapter seven. Here we see Christ
Jesus opening the seven sealed book of God's sovereign, eternal
purpose, opening the book of God's eternal decrees, that book
that is sealed until one is found worthy to open the book And the
only one worthy to open the book is this one who is the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, who is the word of God, God the
word, the wisdom of God, by whom alone all the will of God is
revealed. Then beginning in chapter 8,
we see Christ Jesus answering the prayers of his people. First
chapters 8, 9, 10, or 11. protecting and caring for his
people, judging our enemies, and taking care of us by his
providential rule of the universe. Then in chapters 12 through 14,
Christ is presented to us and his church as being persecuted
by Satan, by world government, by false religion. It speaks
of a war between Christ and Satan, a war in which Christ always
prevails. The war is never one that puts
things in jeopardy. Nothing is ever unstable, though
it may appear so. Nothing is ever shaky, though
it may appear so. Christ the King is always in
control. Though Satan roars, all he can
do is roar. Though he makes a lot of noise,
all he can do is make a lot of noise. And then the fifth vision,
verse chapters 15 and 16, shows Christ sending his angels to
pour out the vials of his wrath upon the earth. Chapter 17, 18
and 19 show us how the Lord Jesus conquers and prevails over Babylon. Babylon, that is all thoughts,
free will, works, religion, all the religious world opposed to
God. Babylon is fallen, the book says. Why didn't they say shall fall?
Because Babylon is fallen. Christ has already prevailed.
The warfare is accomplished. It is just being worked out in
time. And then in chapters 20, 21 and
22, John shows us our Lord's dominion over and destruction
of Satan and the glory that awaits us in the New Jerusalem. These
seven visions cover, as I said, the whole gospel age. They all
tell the same story. Victory is sure. We are more
than conquerors through him that loved us. Nothing is in jeopardy. The purpose of God stands fast. The purpose of God is ever being
fulfilled in this world. In this book, you'll see the
use of the word seven repeatedly. In the book of Revelation, it
seems to be striking. There are these seven visions, seven golden
candlesticks, seven stars, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven
angels, and seven vials. Seven is the number of perfection,
completion, success, and satisfaction. Seven is ever associated with
the work of God and the purpose of God. You can make too much
of numbers. I recognize that, but there seems
to be significance here. Seven speaks of the blessed rest
that awaits us in the end when we shall enter into his rest. Then there's another number that's
used, a number that folks are more taken up with in our day.
The number of the beast is the number 666. Down in Madisonville, There's
a house right down the road from Brother Maurice Montgomery that
sat empty for a long, long time. You know why? The address was
666. It's the number the beast could
be scared. That's the number of man. That's
the number of frustration. and failure and defeat. That's
the number of the beast. Christ shall prevail. Satan never does. Never. Never. Let it never be forgotten. Satan is God's devil. God rules in heaven, earth, and
hell. He rules Satan as much as he
rules the angels of light. When your soul is heavy, when
your life is filled with chaos, when darkness blackens your day,
when everything in your life seems to be turning upside down
and confusion seizes your very soul, lift up your eyes unto
the hills and in hope look to God who closes this book with
the revelation of Jesus Christ. And when you read the book like
this, you'll find that it is not full of mystery. It's full of wonder. It's not
full of prophetic notions that you have to figure out and fit
together. It's a book full of the wonders of God's grace and
mercy in Christ Jesus. With that as the background,
I want us to begin in chapter four and go through the end of
chapter five tonight. And my subject is worthy is the
Lamb. If the blessed Comforter and
Revealer of Christ will show us what He showed John when he
was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day in these two chapters, we
will worship our Savior and our hearts will be drawn out of this
world toward Him. After this, that's how the book
opens this fourth chapter, after this, after the Lord's warnings
given to his church in these seven letters to the churches
of Asia Minor, representing God's church in this world throughout
the ages, not representing various successive dispensational periods
of time, but representing God's church as we live in this world. And these things we must be careful
to guard against all the time. First, the Lord warned us in
his letter to Ephesus to cherish and guard and keep fresh our
first love for Christ. Oh, God, teach me. Sweetly force
me to love my savior as freshly as when first I knew him. Cause
my heart to burn for him today as it has never burned for him
before. And then the Lord wrote to Smyrna and urges us to be
faithful unto death. Be faithful unto death. Sam Wall,
God Almighty, requires one thing of all his people, faithful. Faithful. And there's nothing
faithful about us. We must seek to be faithful,
but we must ever seek his grace to make us faithful. He writes
to Pergamos. and warns us to guard against
the doctrine of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.
The Nicolaitans were a people who indeed practiced religion
and religious worship of God, engaging in every form of evil
imaginable. The doctrine of Balaam is that
which promotes the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, the doctrine
of Balaam, is that which teaches us to mix the worship of God
with idolatry, to join the church with the world, to bring the
world into the church and make the gospel appealing to men by
compromising the word of God. Then in Thyatira, the Lord writes
to the church at Thyatira and speaks about Jezebel, that wicked
woman, the depths of Satan, that is of works, religion, That which
you already have, he says, hold fast till I come. The whole world
teaches you about your works. The whole world tells you about
your works. I'm so sick of hearing men who
claim to believe grace ever talk about works. You can go hear
somebody. Do you believe the gospel of
God's grace? Oh, yes, sir We believe election
predestination all those things and you go listen to them All
they do is talk about works Try to teach you how to behave and
teach you what you ought to do and ought not to do Teach me
about my Savior. He can tell me what to do Teach
me about my need of him who is my Redeemer and teach me to follow
after him in faith the Lord Jesus says you hold to my works and
You hold to my works. But Brother Don, aren't we admonished
to maintain good works? Indeed, we are. And the way God's
people are taught to maintain good works is to teach them their
debt of love and gratitude to Christ, the Redeemer. And then
the Lord warns us about Sardis, this church that has a name that
they're alive, but they're dead. And he says to us, watch, be
watchful, strengthen those things that remain. Remember, remember
what I've done for you. Remember who I am. Remember your
experience of God's grace, your debt of love to me. And he wrote
to Philadelphia and says, hold fast that which you have so that
no man takes your crown. What do you have? Christ alone. hold fast to Christ, ever cling
to the Savior, ever look to the Lord Jesus. And then he writes
to Laodicea and warns us of that which is ever the tendency of
our flesh, lukewarmness and indifference. My God, how I hate it. lukewarmness and indifference. How often we come in here with
lukewarmness at best, indifference, our minds wandering to everything. I can see from your eyes your
concern about this very thing right now. And I guarantee you,
as interested as you are right now, before you walk out that
door, your mind will be turned away from this Very, very needful
warning. Beware of lukewarmness, indifference. And the Lord urges us to buy
gold from him, the gold of his grace, to hold that which is
tried in fire, that we may be rich. And by white raiment, Christ's
perfect righteousness, to anoint our eyes with the eyesalves of
the gospel. And he says, behold, I stand
at the door and knock. If any man will open to me, I
will come into him and sup with him and he with me. He stands
here right now and knocks at the door of the church and he
says, anybody in there interested in me? Anybody in there interested
in a visit from me? Is there anybody here interested
in sitting down with the son of God at his table this hour? He says, open to me and I'll
come in and sup with you and you'll sup with me. After this,
John says, after this I looked and behold a door. Now here John
shows us five things that catch his attention. What John sees
here are the very same things that Isaiah saw. When the Lord
showed Isaiah his glory as he sat upon his throne, the mercy
seat in Isaiah chapter six. They're the very same things
that Ezekiel saw when the Lord called Ezekiel in the spirit
to see things in heavenly glory. John is now taking us into the
holy of holies as he is called of God to come up hither. The
first thing he beholds is a door and then a throne. And then he
speaks of a people and then a book. And then he speaks of the lamb
who sat upon the throne. All right. Verse one, chapter
four. After this, I looked and behold, a door was opened in
heaven. Bless God, there is a door open
to God. There is a way for sinners to
come to God and be accepted. There is a way for sinners to
approach the Holy Lord God and never be turned back. There is
a way for sinners to draw near to God and have God draw near
to us. There is a way by which we can
come to the very throne of God in his holiness in the holy place. And that way is Christ Jesus,
the door, who is the way, the truth and the life. We come to
God by faith in Christ, trusting his blood and righteousness.
The salvation that is God's is ours when we believe on his son. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Isn't that a wonderful word? I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. In the teeth of my sin, because
of my sin. In the teeth of my lukewarmness
and indifference, because of my lukewarmness and indifference.
In the teeth of my nothingness, because of my nothingness, I
look to Christ for everything. I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you? Do you? I do. Thou shalt be saved. I reckon
that means salvation is mine. Christ is the door. By him, we
draw near to God. And he said, come up hither and
I will show thee things which must be hereafter. These things which must be hereafter are not prophetic schemes. Come here and read this book
and I'll show you everything going to take place over in Israel
and among the Arabs, among the Jews, with Russia and the nations
of the world, all these scare things folks talk about. Now,
the things which must be hereafter are those things God has purposed. and they must be brought to pass. Those things which must be hereafter
are those things that God from eternity decreed, ordained, and
predestined that he wrote in the book of predestination, and
they must come to pass. People talk about signs of the
times. Read this book. You'll find that
there aren't any. We're not told to look for signs.
We're told to look for the Savior. Well, but people today are eating
and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage just like
they did in the days of Noah. What do you think they did in
the days of Abraham? People ate and drank and married
and gave in marriage. What do you think folks did in
the days that our Lord lived? They ate and drank and married
and gave in marriage. That's called living in this world.
Our Lord says, when the end comes, men and women are going to be
living just like they live right now, when Christ comes again. We're not looking for another
dispensation of time. Indeed, John himself tells us
in the book of 1 John, this is the last time. This is the last
tick of the clock. The end time began when Christ
Jesus appeared on this earth in human flesh, accomplishing
redemption. This is the last time. He says
come up hither and I will show thee the things which must be
accomplished they must be because God has ordained them look at
verse 2 and Immediately I was in the spirit With eyes Wide open full of wonder
John looks with the eyes of his soul and he says and behold a
throne A throne was set in heaven and one sat on the throne. The first thing John saw when
he walked through the door is a throne. And the first thing
everybody sees about God is his sovereign dominion. He sits on
the throne. You don't learn about this somewhere
down the road. If ever you meet God, you meet
a sovereign. If ever you come to know God,
you come to know a sovereign. If ever you come to find out
who God is, you'll find out that God is on the throne, right where
he has always been. Nothing changes. I've told you
before, back in 1969, brother Henry Mahan's oldest son, Robbie
volunteered to serve the nation, went to war, went to Vietnam. As he landed in Vietnam before
he ever got to camp, the truck he was in was blown up and Robbie
was killed. The next day, news broke in papers
here in Kentucky, one of the preachers in Ashland called by
the mayhem and said to him in cruel derision, where is your
God now? And this was Henry's response.
My God is right where he was the day my son was born. He's
on his throne. That's where he is. God's on
his throne. Nothing changes. Behold, a throne
set, a throne fixed, immutably fixed in heaven, and one sat
on the throne. God Almighty, the triune Jehovah,
sits on his throne in the blessed serenity of absolute sovereignty,
always having his way. Always. Oh, imagine what it would
be to have absolute control. Absolute control of everything,
of every thought, of every mind. of every deed, of every hand,
of every step, of every foot. Oh, man, I'd never have anything
to worry about. You'd sit still. You wouldn't chew your nails
off into the quick. You wouldn't paste the floor.
You would worry about nothing. So it is with him who sits on
the throne. He's in total ease because he's
in total control. Everything obeys his will. Everything moved at his direction. Everything set still when he
says set still. Everything moves when he says
move. Everything goes forward when
he says go forward. Everything goes backward when
he says go backward. Nothing changes. God sits on
his throne. Behold a throne and one sat upon
the throne. Sitting there in total supremacy,
ruling over all things according to his own will, according to
his own pleasure. And he was to look upon like
a jasper and a sardine stone. Now John's not describing God,
that would be idolatry. God can't be compared to anything.
but rather he is describing that which radiates from God, his
majesty and his glory radiating from the one who sat on the throne.
Matthew Henry suggests the jasper is a transparent stone which
offers to the eye a variety of most vivid colors signifying
the glorious perfections of God. We're told in Revelation 21 it's
clear as crystal representing perfect holiness. The sardine
stone is blood red, representing God's justice. You see, God will
never give up his holiness. God will never give up his justice.
God will never give up his truth. He is gloriously just and true,
both in the execution of justice and in the salvation of sinners.
God is holy, just and true. He always does that which is
right. Verse three. And he that sat
on the throne was to look upon like Jasper and a sardine stone.
And there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like
unto an emerald. The rainbow. Rainbow. What's this? You remember what
God told Noah when he came off the ark, he said, I'll set my
bow in the sky, and every time you see that bow, you'll know
that I'll never again overthrow the world with a flood of waters
as I've just done." I often try to think about what
happened when Noah saw the first cloud form in the sky. He must
have looked up and saw that cloud, sky getting dark, thunder, begin
to clap, lightning begin to flash, and he says, oh, what are we
going to do? I've already burned up the ark for firewood. What
are we going to do? And it rains. And then he looks
up and he sees a bow in the sky. Oh, God told me he's going to
do that. He told me he was going to do
that. The bow represents God's covenant. Hear me, children of
God. Behold what John beheld, circling
God's throne is a bowl of covenant mercy. Nothing ever proceeds
from the throne except that which is in accordance with covenant
mercy. Verse four, and round about the
throne were 24 seats And upon the seats I saw 24,
four and 20 elders sitting, clothed in white raiment, and they had
on their heads crowns of gold. Who are these people? These people
sitting before the throne. These are God's elect out of
the Old Testament and the New. You remember over in Revelation
21, it describes the foundations of the city, 12 foundations. And it describes the gates of
the city, 12 gates. 12 gates named after the 12 tribes
of Israel and 12 foundations named after the 12 apostles,
representing all the host of God's elect in the Old Testament
and the New. And these 24 seats are every
one filled. There's not an empty seat around
the throne. There's not an empty seat there. All God's elect,
all the host of God's Israel, all the 144,000 of God's chosen,
every one of them shall at last be seated round the throne wearing
crowns on their heads, crowns of victory. Crowns given to these
elders that reign with Christ as kings over sin and Satan and
the world. Crowns given for they have a
kingdom of grace which shall never be removed and they shall
reign with Christ to all eternity in heavenly glory. These redeemed
ones from every corner of the earth simply enhance the glory
of God their Savior sitting on the throne. God saves his people. Mark, God saved you for the praise
of his glory. And we shall forever show forth
the radiance of God's glory by the fact that such things as
we are are seated with Him in the perfection of Christ Himself. He will forever display to wandering
worlds in hell what His grace has done for the praise of His
glory. These crowns. These crowns. Now, some folks have the idea,
foolish as it is, that When we stand before God at the last
day, God's going to judge us for our works. And some of you
are going to have star-studded crowns. Just, oh, have so many
crowns, it'll bend your head over sideways because you've
been so good. And others are going to get into
heaven by the skin of their teeth. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Wouldn't
that be wonderful? That'd make for a great place,
wouldn't it? I had a fellow preach to me one time, just once. He
ought to have known better. I thought he knew better. He
said, he said, in heaven, you're going to weep every day for every
sin you've committed since God saved you. If I hadn't been so
polite, I'd have kicked him off the platform. What stupidity. What kind of heaven is that?
These crowns are crowns promised throughout the New Testament
to every believer. a crown of righteousness, a crown
of life. a crown of glory, crown of victory,
all given to all God's elect. Not one thing said anywhere in
the New Testament to suggest that some who believe God won't
have these crowns. These crowns are all really one
crown. The Lord Jesus speaks to his
own and declares to us, in that day shall the Lord of hosts be
for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue
of the people. You mean, Brother Don, Christ
is our crown? There you go. Christ is the crown
with which we are crowned before God. Look at verse five. And
out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. And
there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which
are the seven spirits of God proceeding from the throne of
this great God. John saw lightning bolts of divine
wrath. He heard thunderous terror from
God's holy law and the sweet, tender voices of mercy, love,
and grace by the gospel. The seven lamps of fire burning
before the throne are the seven spirits of God. They symbolize
the all-wise, eternal, all-seeing spirit of God. Again, the number
seven representing perfection. The spirit of God is full of
wisdom and light and holiness. It constantly burns like fire
to consume his enemies and to refine his people. Then in verse
six, John said, I saw a sea of crystal, a sea of glass, like
a crystal sea of glass. You remember in the Old Testament
tabernacle and temple, Before the priest could go in to do
business in the temple, there was a brazen laver in which everybody
must be washed. That brazen laver represents
the blood of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, that fountain open
for cleansing. And all who enter in by the door
to the throne presence of God Almighty must be washed in the
blood of Christ. Look at verse six. And before
the throne there was a sea of glass like in the crystal. And
in the midst of the throne, around about the throne, were four beasts
full of eyes before and behind. Four living creatures. And the
first beast was like a lion, bold. These living creatures
are God's servants, gospel preachers in every age. Notice there are
four of them. Four of them. Why four? Because the gospel of God is
preached in the four corners of the earth. And God has his
elect in the four corners of the earth, north, south, east,
and west. And wherever God has sinners
whom he will save, God sends a preacher to proclaim the gospel
of his grace. There are four of them to tell
us there's always enough. Always enough. We fret. What's going to happen when these
preachers begin to die off? God takes them one after the
other. Most of the preachers you know who preach the gospel
of God's grace in my age are close to it. And soon, all going
to be gone. No, we won't. No, they won't.
As long as God has his church in this world, God will supply
his church with pastors after his own heart who shall feed
them with knowledge and understanding, who shall instruct them in the
way of truth and guide them in his worship. They're lions. God's preachers are. There's
no such thing as a timid, spineless preacher. No such thing. I say
to these preachers, young, Preachers and the ones who God calls when
they're a little older and they talked to me about preaching
and pastoring I tell you what you've got to have You may as
well find out now you better have a spine as broad as an eight
law eight-lane highway and Just as rigid and the height of a
rhinoceros. You're gonna need it You're gonna
need it I got a call from Brother David Edmondson a few weeks ago.
He said, you remember what you told me? He started to ask, yeah,
I remember what I told you. Got to have a spine of steel
as wide as an eight-lane highway and the height of a rhinoceros.
He said, I'm finding out you were right. God's preachers are
bold as lions. Bold. Bold. Courageous. Not naturally so. Not by, I'm
not talking about some kind of a natural courage and boldness,
no. I'm talking about a man who knows
who he is and whose he is. I belong to God Almighty. Allen
Kibbe, I represent the triune God. I've got nothing to fear
from anybody, anywhere. What do you mean? The meekest
man living upon the earth. walked into the mightiest king
living in the world, and he said to Pharaoh, let my people go. And Pharaoh said, who's God that
I should obey here? Moses said, hang on, bud, you're
about to find out. You're about to find out that
bold as lions. The second living creature before
the throne was like a calf, strong, strong to work. And the third
had the face of a man full of compassion, a man like you, a
man who is full of Sid, just like you, a man saved by grace,
just like you, a man who knows your weaknesses and knows your
frame just as you do. And the fourth, like a flying
eagle. Eagle known for wisdom and for
readiness, swiftness. So God's servants are given wisdom. wisdom to feed his people with
knowledge and understanding. And they're ready, ever ready
to preach the gospel, ready to serve him day and night. And
the four beasts, each of them had six wings about him. Six
wings, Isaiah saw them as seraphim with two that covered their face
and with two that covered their feet and with two that flew swiftly
to do God's will. They had six wings about them
and they were full of eyes within. Full of eyes. Full knowledge. Understanding the book. Understanding
it. If God calls a man to preach
this book, to preach the gospel of his grace, he gives that man
knowledge of the whole book. The whole book. full of eyes,
full of eyes, eyes within so that this knowledge that he has
is a knowledge of experience. He declares that which he himself
has experienced by God's grace. They're full of eyes within and
they rest not day and night. They labor in the word saying,
holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. which was and is and is to come
ever declaring Jesus Christ in him crucified in all his glory,
in all his beauty, in all his mercy, in all his grace. These
are the men who lead God's people in the worship of God. Look at
verse nine. And when those beasts give glory
and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth
forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders
fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him
that liveth forever and ever. Watch this. And they cast their
crowns before the throne. They take the crown he puts on
their heads and not me. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and thy truth's
sake. And they 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 and were created. Now look at chapter
five, verse one. I'll come to this another day,
but I can't quit here. And I saw in the right hand of
him that sat on the throne a book, a book written within and on
the backside sealed with seven seals. Imagine the picture. John said, I saw this book, this
book full of writing. It's obvious the book's complete.
It's written from cover to cover on the backside. It's written.
But it's sealed. 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? Who can show us what God has
purposed? Who can show us the mystery of
God's will? Who can show us God? Who can
make known the infinite Jehovah? Who's worthy? And no man in heaven,
nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book,
not even to look thereon. Verse 4. And I wept much, because
no man was found worthy to open the book, and to read the book,
neither to look thereon. Verse 5. And one of the elders
saith unto me, Weep not, behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The lion of the tribe of Judah. The lion who catches and waits
for his prey and always gets it. The lion who catches and
waits for his enemy and always prevails. The lion of the tribe
of Judah. The Lord Jesus Christ. He who
is the root of David. That is the root from which David
sprang and he who comes from David's roots. God who is David's
Lord and the man Christ Jesus who is David's son. He hath prevailed
to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. What? He hath prevailed? Yes. The works were finished from
the foundation of the world. Verse six. Now John sees something
else. And I beheld in low in the midst
of the throne and of the four beast and in the midst of the
elders stood a lamb. stood a lamb as it had been slain. That's Christ, the lamb of God.
See, Stephen saw him standing to receive him into heaven. John
sees the door open in heaven, one sitting on the throne, but
he sees standing as one ascending up out of the throne and standing
on it to receive him into heaven. Christ, the lamb. stands upon
the throne with open arms to receive every sinner who comes
to God by him. He stands in the midst of the
throne, a lamb that had been slain. What's this? Having seven
horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent
forth into all the earth. Horns represent power. Eyes represent
wisdom and knowledge. Horns and eyes tell us that Christ
the Lamb has all power and all wisdom And he sends forth his
spirit with all power and all wisdom for the gathering of his
elect for seven and he came and Took the book out of the right
hand of him that sat on the throne the Lord Jesus the lion who prevailed,
the surety who stood as our representative before God, before the world
began, came and by right, by right, took the book. He didn't ask for it. He took
it because it's his right to do so. He is the word of God
and the wisdom of God. He takes the book out of the
right hand of him that sat upon the throne. Then we read in verse
eight, Our Lord Jesus came and took the book. He holds it in
his right hand. And this book he holds in his
right hand, opening each leaf by which he fulfills God's decrees. He now goes on in verse eight
and says, when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the
four and 20 elders fell down before the lamb, having every
one of them hearts and golden vials full of odors, which are
the prayers of the saints. He takes the book. And he rules
the world according to the book. And all God's elect bring their
prayers to him. What are those prayers? The prayers
of the saints. What is it you really want from
God? What is it you really want from God? Oh, brother Donna,
my job's in jeopardy. My children are rebelling. My wife about to leave me. My husband's forsaken me. What
is it you really want from God? What is it you really want from
God? Let me tell you what I want. This is what I pray for. God's
teaching me to pray like this. Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. God honor your name. I really want that. No matter
how painful it may be for me in the process, God honor your
name. Thy will be done. I don't know what's best. Been trying to pray for Joyce,
you have too, listed for trouble, sickness. Brother Oscar, one
of those difficulties this last few months, Brother Bill, how
do you pray for? I don't know how to pray. I don't
know. I tell you what I can do, I can
commit you to God and ask God in you to honor his name and
do his will. And that's what I want for you.
That's what I want for you. That's what I want for me. Thy
kingdom come. God save your people. Gather
your light from the four corners of the earth. Give us our daily
bread. Don't give me too much lest I
presume Don't give me too little lest I steal and dishonor you. Forgive us our sins. These are the prayers of the
saints. They pour them out before the throne and before him who
sits on the throne. Verse 9. And they sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book. Lord Jesus, you're worthy to
rule, to open the seals thereof. for thou was slain, and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood. Lord, you're worthy. You're worthy of all glory and
praise and honor, for you have redeemed us to God by your blood. Now watch this. Out of, out of,
not alone with, out of every nation and kindred and tribe
and tongue. kindred, and tongue, and people,
and nation. Verse 10, and has made us unto our God kings and
priests, and we shall reign on the earth. My dear friend, Brother Sid Buggins
was talking to me again the other day. Sid's 80 years old now,
and very young 80, but he's 80 years old. He was talking about
heaven and what's it going to be. I said, I don't know, but
I suspect that if you took sin out of this world, there wouldn't
be anything wrong with it. I suspect when God makes all things new,
we're going to serve him just like we do now, right here on
this earth. Just one thing different, no
sin, no sorrow, no sickness, no death,
no pain, no suffering, no toil, no labor, no regrets. No bad memories, just good. Seeing
everything as God sees it. We shall reign as kings on the
earth. We're priests. Priests under
God. Priests. Men and women who live
about the holy things. Men and women who live upon the
sacrifices. Men and women who serve God in
the holy place. Verse 11. And I beheld and heard the voice
of many angels round about the throne, and beasts, and elders,
and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000, and thousands of
thousands. the chosen angels, all elect
men and women, all the redeemed, all who are called by grace,
all God's saints, all who believe 10,000 times 10,000 saying with
a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power
and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing
all the saints of God. But that's not all. That's not,
they're not the only ones who give the Lamb praise. When God
gets done, watch this, verse 13. Every creature which is in
heaven and on earth and under the earth and such as are in
the sea and all that are in them heard I say. What? Every creature? Can it be true,
Rod? Every creature? Everything that
has breath. Every angel and every devil.
Every saint and every sinner. Every creature, every event.
Yes, Satan himself, everything. Saying blessing and honor and
glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and to
the lamb forever. Merle, it won't be long. And
we're going to see everything redound to His glory. Everything. Everything. Oh God, give me faith to see
it today. Everything shall praise Him. Everything shall praise Him. And the four beasts said, that's
just what we wanted. Amen. And the four and twenty
elders, every one of God's elect, fell down and worshipped him
that liveth forever and ever and said, that's just what we
wanted. Amen.