Revelation chapter 5. I didn't have to struggle with
the title for the message. Worthy is the Lamb. Verse 12. All those redeemed with the blood
sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. They say, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive all blessings, all honor, and all glory. The grand design of God's redemption
is all about the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of God's
salvation is so designed and intended to honor and glorify
the Lord Jesus Christ now, and forever, and ever, and ever. He is worthy. He is worthy. Remember in chapter 4, look at
verse 11. Chapter 4, verse 11, Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honor, power, For thou hast created
all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and they were created,
God's purpose, God's pleasure. Worthy is the Lamb. Look at chapter
5, verse 9. And they sung a new song, saying,
thou art worthy to take the book. to fulfill the book, because
you were slain and have redeemed us to God by the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's no wonder that the message
of John the Baptist was, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away
our sin. He takes away our sin by bearing
it away. You remember 1 Peter 2.24, He
bare our sin and His own body on the tree. And then 1 Peter
3.18, 3.18 says that He suffered once for our sin, the just for
the unjust that He might bring us to God. We just read 1 Peter
1.18 where he says, we are redeemed with the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Aren't you glad you have such
a lamb? Aren't you glad you have such a sacrifice, such a Savior,
such a God who provides salvation for us through a substitute?
Name the Lord Jesus Christ. bearing our sin in His own body
on the tree. No wonder the apostle Paul said,
I'm determined not to know anything among you but Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. That's the Lamb. The Lamb is
His sacrificial character. All through this book, we're
going to see the glory of the Lamb, the beauty of the Lamb,
the power of the Lamb, the Lamb on the throne of God. He's a
sacrifice that has all power to put away our sin. Now, you
remember from last week in the message, we saw the vision that
John was given, and that vital question was asked, who is worthy? Verse 2, and the strong angel
proclaiming with a loud voice said, who was worthy to open
the book and to lose the seals? And a search was made. No man
in heaven was worthy. No man in the earth was worthy. No man under the earth was worthy
or able to open a book, neither to look on it. And John said,
I started crying. I wept much. And one of the elders
said, don't weep. There's a time to weep and a
time to rejoice. Behold, the line of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, He had prevailed to satisfy God's
law and justice. He prevailed to put away our
sin. He prevailed to establish righteousness. He prevailed to fulfill every
type, picture, promise, and pattern in Scripture. He had prevailed
to accomplish all our salvation. He said, it is finished. It is
finished. It is finished. No man was worthy
or able to open the book, to read the book, to look on the
book, to fulfill the book, but the Lord Jesus Christ. Aren't
you glad and thankful for him? Our Lord comes and it says there
that he was a lamb that was slain, having seven horns, all power,
seven eyes, all knowing. The seven Spirits of God. He
had the Spirit of God without measure sent forth into all the
earth. And this one, verse 7, says,
He came. He came before the throne of
God the Father. He came before that throne of
majestic power and holiness. He came and He took the book. Imagine that. He took the book
out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne. The Lord Jesus Christ stepped
up to the throne of God Almighty, and rightfully takes the book
from the hand of God the Father, and God the Father willingly
gives Him the book, because He said, This is My beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him. The Father is well
pleased with the Son, and He gives the book. One old preacher
of the past said this, as the mediator and surety of the covenant,
the Lord Jesus Christ took the book, as God our savior, he gave
the book. You see, he is the sacrifice,
and he is the one to whom the sacrifice was offered unto God,
our Savior. He is the surety, the mediator,
and the sacrifice of the everlasting covenant. Notice the language.
It says, here he came. He didn't beg for the book. He
didn't ask for the book. He stepped up to the throne of
God, and he took the book. He took the book from the hand
of Almighty God. He took it not by violence, not
by fraud, not by deceit, but by the righteousness and the
merit of God that He established, and by God's eternal purpose.
God decreed that the Lamb who is worthy should take the book.
Now this book here is all the decrees of God. All the decrees
of God, God hath from the beginning decreed all things that come
to pass in time. These things we see happening
in our day, they all come to pass because God hath from the
beginning determined and accomplished and purposed to do these things.
The Lord Jesus Christ took the book. No one else could. No one else had the right to. but the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't
you give thanks for our blessed Savior and surety, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And think about this. I thought
about this when I was on this thought. Think about this. Included
in this book, the book of God's decree was what? Included in
that book was the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He willingly
took that book knowing what was in it that He must lay down His
life for His people. He knew what was written in the
book, and yet He did not hesitate to take the book and to fulfill
it as our substitute. Oh, what love! Behold what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. Now hold your place
there. I want you to turn and read this with me. We've looked
at this many times, but turn to Matthew 16. Matthew 16. Remember the Lord said to His
disciples, I must I must, I must go to Jerusalem, Matthew 16,
21. And from that time forth, Jesus
began to show unto his disciples how that he must go to Jerusalem,
that he must suffer many things of the elders and the chief priests
and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day.
Peter thought he knew better. Peter took him and began to rebuke
him, saying, Lord, be it far from thee. This shall not be. I don't want to see you suffer. Look what the Lord said. He turned
and said to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou art an offender
to me. Thou sabrest not the things that
be of God, but those that be of men. The cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ is no accident. He dies on purpose, God's purpose,
to put away our sin. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only one who has the right to take the book, to fulfill the
book upon His righteousness, upon His sacrifice. The Lord
Jesus Christ bought the rule. He bought the right to rule over
all creatures everywhere. He rules this entire universe
for His own will and own purpose. Now listen to this Scripture.
Romans 14, 9. For to this end, to this purpose,
Christ both died and rose and revived, that He might be Lord
both of the dead and the living. He's every man's Lord and He
bought that right with His redeeming blood. He not only took the book,
the book of God's eternal decree, but he also completely fulfilled
all things for us. Remember the Lord's words when
he ministered among men? The first words he spoke as just
a 12-year-old boy in the temple, he said, I must be about my father's
business. The Lord Jesus Christ came on
business. the bidness of the Father's will
to redeem us with His blood. In John chapter 4, when He began
His public ministry, He said to His disciples, my need is
to do the will of Him that sent me in to finish His work. And
then later, just on the eve of the cross, when He prays that
intercessory prayer in John chapter 17, He said, I glorify Thee on
the earth, I finish the work You gave Me to do. And then on
Calvary's tree, when He yielded up the goat. No man took His
life, He laid it down. When He yielded up the goat,
He said, it's finished. It's done. It's done. The Lord
Jesus Christ came and took the book and fulfilled all things
therein for us. Now look at verse 8. What happens
when He takes the book? And when He had taken the book,
by right, by righteousness, Those four beasts who represent the ministers of
the gospel, and those 24 elders representing all the elect of
God, redeemed with the blood of Christ. They fell down before
the Lamb. Why did they fall down? They
fell down to worship the Lamb, having every one of them harps.
Harps are intimate to praise. And they had golden vials full
of odors. Again, this is symbolic language.
Golden vials full of odors which are the prayers of the saints. Now, I see two things there. I see harps and I see prayers. In other words, harps are instruments
of praising the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. We've seen that all through the
book of Psalms, haven't we? Our hearts are instruments of
praise. We make melody in our hearts unto the Lord, speaking
to yourself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody in your heart unto the Lord. That's the hearts
of praise. God's people praise the Lord
Jesus Christ. They honor and worship Him. And
then he mentions there's the prayers. So we are praying people,
we're praising people, and then we're singing people. the golden
vials of odors, or incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Now, what makes our prayers sweet before the throne of Almighty
God? What makes our prayers acceptable
unto God? It's only through the blood offering
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He ever lived to intercede for
us, He takes our prayers and sweetens them with the power
of His blood and presents them to the Father. golden vials full
of odors, incense, which are the prayers of the saints. God's
people are a praising people. They are a praying people. What
did we study in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5? Rejoice in the Lord,
in everything give thanks, pray without ceasing, and in everything
give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. Now look at verse 9. And they sing. God's people love
to sing about the glory of Christ. And they sing this new song.
It's a new song. It's a song of redemption saying,
here's how the words go, thou art worthy to take the book. We agree. The only one who was
worthy, in heaven, earth, or hell, to open the book, to fulfill
the book, to reveal the redemptive will of God, is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's worthy to take the book,
to open the seals thereof, because for, or because thou wast slain,
sacrificed himself for us, and through that sacrifice, what
did he do? He redeemed us. He redeemed us. He bought us with his own blood.
He redeemed us to God. He bought us and brought us to
God by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, that precious blood
that Peter writes about, redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.
And He redeemed a people out of, you see that? Don't miss
that, out of every kindred. Now how many people is that?
Out of every kindred. Every nation. Every tongue. How many languages do people
speak? Thousands. And people. God has his elect
everywhere in this world. That's why he told his church
to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. The ministers of the gospel of
Christ, and the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, bought with
His blood, loved to sing about the accomplishment of the victorious
atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Savior who really saves. He's the Redeemer who really
redeems. He redeemed us. He didn't try
to redeem. He didn't make an effort at redeeming.
He actually made complete atonement, full atonement for all the sin
of God's people. The Lord Jesus Christ has won
the victory for us. He bought us with His own blood. This new song, the saints of
God have been singing this song for a long, long time, but it's
always new. It never grows old. It never
grows old. I read this, I think Wednesday
night, Psalm 98, O sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath
done marvelous things, his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten
him to victory. Thanks be unto God who has given
us to victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ indeed is
worthy to take the book, to open the book, to fulfill the book
because, number one, Look what it says, that word for is rendered
because Christ was slain. Christ was slain. What does that
mean? That means He died for our sin. He died for our sin
according to the Scripture. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel for knowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified the Lord of glory. He died, He was slain
for our sin. Now you think about that. The
reason of His death, sin deserves what? Death. The reason of His
death is our sin. When sin was put on Him, when
our sin was reckoned to Him, all the sin of God's people reckoned
to Him, He made sin for us, guilty for us. The law of God demanded
death. The guilty must die. That's why
the Lord Jesus Christ died. He died on God's purpose because
God purposed for him to bear the sin of his people and to
put them away. He redeemed us. He was slain. He appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. God made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made to righteousness of God
in him. He redeemed us. That word redeemed
means bought. It means delivered. He bought
us to God. He brings us to God through His
blood sacrifice. By Thy blood, He has redeemed
us unto our God. What kind of redemption did He
obtain for us? He didn't bring, as the great
high priest, he didn't bring the typical animal sacrifice,
did he? He said, not with the blood of
bulls and goats, but with his own blood, he obtained for us,
what? With his own blood, he obtained
for us eternal redemption. We are redeemed forever. He put
away our sin forever. And Christ has redeemed his people
alone, his elect alone. He has redeemed us to God by
thy blood out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. Now, it doesn't say that He redeemed
every man out of every nation, doesn't it? He said He redeemed
the people out of. So what is that teaching us?
When we talk about the atonement of the Lord, His death, His shedding
of His blood, for whom did the Lord Jesus Christ die? Now think
with me, for whom did the Lord Jesus Christ die? It said here,
He redeemed a people out of every tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue. That means the Lord Jesus Christ
died for specific people. That means He died for His sheep.
That means He laid down His life for His covenant children. So
that teaches us what we call particular redemption. That teaches
us what we call a definite atonement. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
redeem those people given to him in that covenant of grace.
So we do not preach a universal redemption, do we? No. We preach a particular redemption. He redeemed his covenant people,
his covenant children. That's what this book teaches.
He said in John 10, I laid down my life for the sheep. He said
he loved the church. Paul wrote he loved the church
and gave himself for it. Who are those people? Those elect,
chosen from the beginning, given to the Lord Jesus Christ. God
the Father made him our surety and substitute and sacrifice
and he put away our sin. Christ has redeemed us unto our
God. And look what it says in verse
10. He made us. He made us. Now, we don't make
ourselves believers. We don't make ourselves new creatures. We are not our own Savior. We
are not our own Redeemer. He made us. What did Paul say? By the grace of God, I am what
I am. Everything I know, everything
I have, everything I will be, oh to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be. He has made us, not we ourselves. Doesn't it say that in the Psalms?
He has made us, not we ourselves. What did He make us? Heirs of
God and joint heirs with Christ. He made us our God. Under our God, He's made us kings
and priests. Under our God. And we shall reign
on the earth. We reign in Him. He's made us
kings and priests under our God. Have we read that before? Turn
back to chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1, verse 5
and 6. We are a kingdom of priests.
We've been made heirs of God and joint heirs with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Revelation 1, verse 5. Jesus
Christ, who is a faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead,
and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved
us and washed us from our sin and his own blood, and hath made
us kings and priests, heirs of God, unto God and his Father. To him be glory and dominion
and honor forever, glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So be it. Amen. Now look back at chapter 5. So He made us. We are His people. He made us. He chose us. He bought
us. He redeemed us. He makes us new creatures. Sounds
to me like salvation of the Lord. Doesn't it sound to you that
way? That's the way it is. Now look at verse 11. We shall reign on this earth
with Him. He's going to destroy this earth
as we know it. Let me read this to you. He's
going to destroy this earth as we know it right now. Everybody's
all up in arms about global warming. I don't believe in global warming.
I believe in global burning. He's going to burn this place
up. Listen to this, 2 Peter 3. The day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with
great noise. for 2 Peter 3, 16, and the elements
shall melt with a fervent heat. The earth also and the works
therein shall be burned up, saying then that all these things shall
be dissolved. Everything you see with your
eye today is passing away. What manner of persons you ought
to be in all holy conversation, in godliness, looking for and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God, when the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with
a fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, Look for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. God's going to destroy this place
and He's going to make a new heaven and a new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness. And we shall reign with Him on
the earth. Talk about that new earth, that
new heaven, new earth. Now, look at verse 11. And I
beheld And I heard the voice of many
angels. These are the elect angels of
God. Many angels, thousands and thousands
of them, round about the throne. And those four living creatures
were there, ministers of the gospel, all the elders representing
the elect of God, the church of God, and the number of them
was 10,000 times Ten thousand, and thousands,
and thousands. Now, I'm not very good at math,
but I know this. That's a lot of folks. That's
all the elect angels. That's all the redeemed of the
Lord Jesus Christ. All redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. And here's what they say. Verse
12. With a loud voice. angels, and
all the elect of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, all sang
with a loud voice, Christ is worthy. The Lord Jesus Christ
is worthy. He's worthy. He's the Lamb that
gives the worthy sacrifice for our sin that was slain to receive
all power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and blessing in
every creature. Every tongue is going to confess,
every knee is going to bow that Jesus Christ is Lord. But it
says here, every creature, all those in heaven, all the elect
angels, all the redeemed of God in heaven, and those on the earth,
when the Lord comes back, they'll be changed in a moment and twinkling
of an eye. Those under the earth, all creatures
that dwell in the earth, and all those that are swimming in
the sea, all those that crawl through the earth, all of them,
heard I say, all of creation is going to say, blessing, honor,
glory, and power be unto Him that sits upon the throne and
unto the Lamb forever and ever and ever. Everything is made
to glorify Christ. And the four beasts said, those
four living creatures, ministers of the gospel, what do they say? Amen. I'm glad it's that way. Amen. And all the elect of God,
the 24 elders, fell down and worshipped Him that lived forever
and ever and ever. Everything, ultimately everything,
serves the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what we
studied Wednesday night? This is the Lord's doing, and
it's marvelous in our eyes. This is the Lord's doing. Our
Lord Jesus Christ reigns supreme without any rivals, without difficulty,
without any possibility of His will not being done. He does His will in heaven and
in the earth, and no one can stay His hand. The kingdom of
God is safe and secure in His hands. The eternal glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ is certainly sure, ordered in all things and
is sure. All the promises of God in him
are yes, and in him, and amen, and to the glory of God. And
they said, what did they say? They said, amen. And they worship
Him who lives forever and ever. We worship Him now by His grace,
and we worship Him in spirit and in truth, But in
that day of eternal glory and eternal praise, we'll worship
the Lord Jesus Christ perfectly. Without any distraction, without
any hesitation, without the frailty of this sinful flesh, we'll see
Him as He is and be like Him and worship Him. What a day to
look forward to. What a day to look forward to. We say amen. Amen. Now.