hand of him that sat on the throne
a book." The first thing that I considered was the place where
this book was. It was in the hand of God. It was in the hand of him that
sat on the throne. This is God the Father, not to
the exclusion of the Son, of course, The Lord our God is one
God, though he's Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are three
that by record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit,
but these three are one. So when it says that the book
is in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, it's not in
exclusion, not to the exclusion of the Son, but it's a distinction. As our Lord Jesus Christ said,
my Father sent me. And he was in the world, yet
he never left the bosom of the Father. The Son of Man, which
is in the world, who is in heaven. Not to the exclusion of the sons.
I want to say, he sat on the throne. We're talking about a
distinction here. I came to do thy will, O God,
Christ said. And then Christ said of the Holy
Spirit, I go to the Father, but I'll send you another comforter
of the Holy Spirit. So this, in distinction, is the
Father, no question about it. This book is in the right hand
of the Father who sat on the throne. Now this book, secondly,
let's look at this book for a moment. It is a book, a book. Some people say it's seven scrolls
with seven seals, but this says it's a book. And it's written
with Ian and on the back side, and sealed with seven seals.
This book is written with Ian and on the back side. It's like
Ezekiel's scroll. Let's turn to Ezekiel chapter
2 a moment. I'll give you time to find this.
When you're preaching from the New Testament, if you go back
to the Old Testament, you'll These things will help you. Go back to the Old Testament.
So many things are revealed there to us. This book, Ezekiel's book,
this is much like it. Verse 9, And when I looked, behold,
a hand was sent unto me, and lo, a roll of a book was therein. And he spread it before me, and
it was written with in and without. And there was written therein
lamentation and mourning and woe. You see, the manner of writing
back then was on sheets of parchment which were rolled into a cylinder.
That's what Ezekiel saw and that's what John saw. A cylinder, a
roll, and a book back then was called a volume, which is a scroll. I come in the volume of the book
it's written of me. That's what a volume is, it's
a roll, it's a scroll. All right, what is this book?
And what are the things that are written within and without?
Well, we have, let's look back at Revelation 1. And I saw in
the right hand of him, the father who sat on the throne, a book,
a scroll. written within and on the backside.
What was in this book? Well, some say, I read a lot,
lots of people's writings about this. Some said it was the Old
Testament scriptures, all the types and shadows and promises
and mysteries of the Old Testament. But Christ opened that to John. He said he opened their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures. This is not the Old
Testament scriptures. because Christ had already opened
their understanding, the apostles, to the scriptures. And some said
they believe it's the New Testament and the gospel which is sealed
and a mystery as far as the natural man is concerned. I have not
seen, heard, neither entered the heart of man the things God
has prepared for them that love him. And to the natural man the
things of God are foolishness and they are not received. And
we were all natural men as John. But it says in that same chapter
in 1 Corinthians 2, but he has revealed them unto us by his
Spirit. So we understand the gospel.
John said the Son of God has already come and given us an
understanding that we may know the things that are written of
God. This is the true God. This is
eternal life. I'll tell you what this book
is. This book is the book of God's decrees, which have to
do with all creatures, past, present, and future, all creatures,
angels and men, all creatures. It has to do with all events. It has to do with all salvation. It has to do with the kingdom
of his dear son, all the kingdom of his dear son. It has to do
with future, heaven, the kingdom of God, and the glory of God.
You see, the Scripture tells us that known unto God and decreed
by God are all his works from the beginning, already written,
already decreed, already purposed. Let me show you that in the Scripture.
First of all, in Acts 15, Acts chapter 15, verse 18. It says in Acts 15, verse 18,
known under God are all his works, all events, all future happenings,
all past, present, future happenings, all creatures, all salvation,
all of God's works. Known under God are all of his
works from the beginning of the world, already decreed. or rather Isaiah 46, Isaiah chapter
46, verse 9 and 10. Isaiah 46, 9 and 10. He says in Isaiah 46, 9 and 10,
Remember the former things of old. I'm God, there's none else. I'm God, there's none like me.
I declare, declaring the end from the beginning. in the beginning,
God declared the entire purpose, program of God Almighty. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, I will
do all my pleasure, calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that
executeth my counsel from a far country, yea, I've spoken it,
I bring it to pass, I purposed I'll do it. And then in Romans
4, verse 17, this was the basis of Abraham's faith. He believed
God. And in Romans 4, verse 17, God is speaking, as it is written,
I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom
he believed, even God. who quickeneth the dead, and
calleth those things which be not, as though they were." You know, this is the question
that our God asked the idolaters in Isaiah 45. You've read this verse before,
and this is what he's saying about declaring the end from
the beginning. Can your God declare the end from the beginning? Can your God declare what's going
to happen and it come to pass Look at Isaiah 45, verse 20. He says, Assemble yourselves,
and come. Draw near to gather ye that are
escaped of the nation. They have no knowledge that set
up the wood of their graven image. They have no knowledge who pray
unto a God that cannot save. Tell ye, bring them near. Let them all take counsel together.
Who hath declared this from ancient times. Who declares the end from
the beginning? Who declares everything from
ancient times? Who declares it? Who had told
it from that time? Have not I the Lord? I'm the
only one who can do that, he said. I'm the only one who can
declare the end from ancient times and everything that's going
to happen from the beginning. Have not I the Lord? There's
no God beside me. I'm a just God and a None beside me. So you can look
to me and be safe because of who I am and what I do and what
I can do, what I'm able to do. You can look to me and be safe. All the ends of the earth, as
many as will look. And here's the reason, I'm God.
That's the reason. I'm God, isn't there any else?
Get all your idols and all your impotent gods people preach,
the lesser gods. God wants to do this, but he's
not able. That's not this God. You can't look to those gods
and be saved. They can't declare the end from the beginning. They
can't purpose and bring it to pass. They can't speak and do
it. He does. And that's what this book is.
It's everything that shall come to pass. And I'll show you a
little key to it in Revelation 1. Turn back to Revelation 1.
What's in this book? Verse 1, listen to this, the
revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to show unto
his servants, things which must shortly come to pass. They must. I'm going to show you what must
come to pass. And then look at Revelation 119.
Right, he said, the things which are seen, the things which are and the things which shall be
hereafter." So in that book, in that book, things which God
has decreed, which are, which have been accomplished by Christ,
decreed by God, accomplished by Christ, which shall be, are not yet come to pass, but
they shall be. They're wrapped in that book.
And you have a, I have a thousand questions. You do too. About
the new earth, it's in the book. About the inhabitants of the
new earth, it's in the book. About the angels, fallen and
elect angels, it's in the book. About all the infants that have
died, it's in that book. About the kingdom of God, about
the holy city coming down, it's in that book. About every name
of every believer, what'll happen to unbelievers, it's in the book
too. God's judgment is in that book. It's all in that book. God has decreed it way back yonder. God has decreed, God is perfect. God has planned a kingdom of
his dear son, a blood-washed throne. These people, Bob, read
about a moment ago, around the throne, 10,000 times 10,000,
a number which no man can number. Perfect. holy, righteous, like
Christ, never die, never cry, never hurt, never sorrow, never
sick. It's an awesome, awesome purpose
and kingdom. And I want to know so much about
it. And that's what's in this book. That's what's in this book. Look at chapter 5. The purposes,
the purpose of God, the decrees of God. It's not a question on
the lips or hearts of an angular man. It's not answered in that
book. There's nothing that God has decreed that's not in that
book. It's all in that book. And that's quote. And it's sealed
with seven seals. The seven is a perfect number.
So this is what that tells me. And the hand of him on the throne
is a scroll written within and on the backside. And it's sealed
with seven signals. That book is complete. It's finished. His full purpose forever is in
that book. For everything and everyone.
Secondly, it's unchangeable. It's sealed. It's unchangeable. Nothing... People say prayer changes things.
It doesn't change him. It changes you and me. It changes
him. That's unchangeable. It's sealed. That book is sealed. Thirdly,
it's perfect. The seven seals denote perfection. It's a perfect purpose from a
wise and holy God to bring him inestimable glory, eternal. Ah, the question arises, verse
2. There's the book. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, Who is worthy? Who is worthy to open the book
and to loose the seals thereof? Who is of such holiness to begin
with that he can even approach the throne? Who is of such holiness that
he can even approach the throne? Who is able to take Secondly,
not only to approach the throne, but who is of such equality with
God, such power, authority, and holiness and worth that he can
take the book? He's got to take it and open
it. These things are sealed in the book. They'll never be known. They'll never be done. They'll never come to pass. Now
who? Who indeed, by his knowledge,
can unseal it? and bring it into effect and
cause it to be explained to others, to be revealed. Who can obey
every law and pay every debt and defeat every enemy and remove
every obstacle? Who can find and call every sheep? Who can work so that a holy,
just, righteous God can embrace and receive sinners and give
unto them all that he has in the book? Who can, by his holiness
and righteous and perfect obedience, prepare people for a kingdom
and a kingdom for people? Who is worthy? Let him do it.
And the angel cried with a loud voice, Who is worthy? Verse 3 says, No man in heaven,
not an angel, not a seraphim, not a cherubim, not a departed
not of Moses, not of Abraham, not of Jacob, not of Isaac, they're
all there. This is on the Isle of Patmos.
They're all there. Who's worthy? Nobody in heaven
and nobody on earth. All the wise and the prudent
and the pious put together with all their religion, none of them
are worthy. They can't even look there. Most
of them don't even know there's a book. Nobody under the earth, and all
of creation. So verse 4, he says, I wept. I wept much. I wept much. Why is the Lord doing this to
John? Why is it? John's weeping. John the beloved,
John who leaned on his breast at the table. John, who was called
so often the disciple whom Jesus loved. Why is he doing this to
John? John's over there on that isle, suffered for the preaching
of the gospel, suffered for the testimony of Christ, and 90 years
old in exile, and all of his friends are dead. And he's anticipating
no more sea, no more clouds, no more suffering, a perfect
kingdom. And the Lord said he's going
to show it to him, and now he's tantalizing him. Who's going
to offer it?" He said, nobody's worth it. I began to cry. I'll
tell you what he's doing, there's three things here, and we need
to do it all the time. Number one, he's showing to John
the greater glory the Lord has prepared for them that love him.
He's going to show him that greater glory. God's going to do it. Secondly, he's showing him the
total impotence of any creature. not only to affect it or to accomplish
it, but even to know it. That's what he's doing. Thirdly,
and he's showing him in a moment the glory and excellency of the
power of the Lord Jesus Christ who can open. Those are things
that have to be rehearsed over and over again. There's a glory
to come. There's an unspeakable glory
to come. We need to be constantly reminded
of it. There's a glory. God's prepared for them that
love him. But there's nobody with any power or worthiness
or holiness or piety that's able to accomplish anything having
to do with that glory. But there's one who is. Isn't
that the three things he's showing John? There's one who is. All
right, verse 5. John, verse 4, he said, I wept
much because no man was found worthy to open. Not to read the
book, not even to look that long. We're not even going to know
what's in that book. Left to us. Lots of people got all the answers
about the return of the Lord, and the tribulation, and the
millennium, and the new heaven, and the new earth, and what kind
of homes we're going to live in, and all these things, you
know. They've got all the answers. But they haven't seen the book.
And one of the elders said, and who is this, one of the elders?
He's not an angel. He's not Moses or Elijah, or
this man's not even named. He's just one of the, there were
a lot of folks up there, thousands and thousands. This just one.
You see, everybody who's in his presence knows the answer to
this question. Whose wife is holding the book?
It doesn't have to be an angel that announces who's worthy.
Everybody out there knows who is worthy. Might just sing about
it. Worthy is the Lord. And this
elder, this common, everyday elder, unnamed, he said, don't
cry, don't weep, behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The
Lion of the tribe of Judah. According to the scriptures,
Our Messiah must come from Judah. Jacob said the scepter shall
not depart from Judah, so shall O come. He's the priest, but
he's not from the tribe of Levi. He's a king priest. He's from
the tribe of Judah. Well, I thought he was a lamb.
He is, but he's called a lion because he's mighty and strong. He's a mighty, strong redeemer.
Our Lord is the lamb. in that he's humble, obedient,
submissive, and a sacrifice. Our Lord is the lion, and Jacob
called him an old lion, a crappie, an old lion, an old lion of wisdom
and power, king of the jungle. He calls him an old lion because
he's mighty and strong. That's right. Our Lord is a lamb, but he's a lion. Weep not, the
Lamb of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, the root of Jesse. It says in Romans 1, I'm separated
to the gospel of God, which he promised before by his prophets
in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his son, who was made of the
seed of David. He was made a man according to
the flesh from the seed of David. Take the book of Matthew and
you can trace the lineage and heritage and family of the Lord
Jesus Christ straight from Mary and Joseph and Luke and Matthew
right back to David. Joseph and Mary were both in
line for the throne. Mary's son, son of David. But he was declared to be the
son of God. He was made what he wasn't. He
declared to be what he is. Don't weep, he said, the Lion
of the tribe of Judah, according to the scriptures, the Root of
David, he hath prevailed. He hath overcome all difficulties. He's satisfied every attribute
of God. He's the love of God personified.
He's the righteousness of God, the justice of God, the holiness
of God, the truth of God. He hath prevailed. He hath fulfilled
every prophecy. brazen serpent lifted up, he's
the smitten rock, he's the Passover lamb slain, he's the city of
refuge, he's the desire of all nations, he's the priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. The virtue of his life and the
virtue of his blood, by that he'll open the book and release
the promises of God and enable God to be just and justifier.
And he'll be exalted to the throne of God to assure and affect and
make certain that all of it comes to pass, that Testetar reigns,
and to loose the seven seals. And I beheld, and I watched this,
verse 6, and I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, the
word was God and was with God. That's right. In the midst of
the throne, in the midst of the four beasts, in the midst of
the elders, right in the center, stood. Who shall ascend unto
the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy presence? The Lamb. He stood. He had clean hands and a pure
heart, never lifted his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
Stood a Lamb. Stood a Lamb, as it had been
slain. already slain. How did John... John said, I saw a lamb. Now,
he didn't see an animal. I don't know what he saw. I can't
explain what he saw. But I'll tell you how he knew that lamb
had been slain. When our Lord appeared to his
disciples, our Lord was crucified, buried, and rose again, and appeared
to his disciples, and they thought they saw a And they were taken
aback. And he said, fear not, don't
be afraid, it's I, it's I myself, he said, myself. He said, a ghost
doesn't have flesh and bones as you see me have. Reach hither
your hand, and behold my hand. What's in there, you say? Scars. Reach hither and behold my hand.
A lamb that has been slain, I see the scars. hand and thrust it
into my side, I saved the woman. By his stripes we are healed."
Let me tell you something. I maybe don't know what I'm talking
about here, but I believe our Lord will bear in our presence
in glory the scars that he bore at Calvary's cross. He did when
he arose, and he told them, he said, touch me. Put your hand
right there where that nail went in. The Lamb has already been
slain. He's already accomplished our
salvation. The marks of his suffering are
upon him, my hands and my feet. And now he's going to open the
book, and John is going to see all that he stole in the past,
all. Let's see this lamb, a lamb that
had been slain having seven horns. A lamb doesn't have horns, a
goat does. A lamb doesn't have horns. seven anyway. All right. This is what it is. Horns are
expressive of kings in the Bible. Kings are called the horns. The
horn of the Lord is his power and authority. Let me show you
that. In Daniel chapter 7, horns in
the Scripture are kings. This lamb is a king. This lamb
is the king. That's what he is. This lamb,
having been slain, bearing in his hand the marks, and you see
these pictures and these types and parables, they won't walk
on four legs. John saw what he saw and he explained
it to us here, and we take the scripture and find out what it
says. But here in Daniel 7, verse 24, the ten horns out of this
kingdom are the ten kings that shall arise. That's what these
horns are, the ten horns, ten kings. When we say seven horns,
that's a perfect king. That's a perfect king. That's
the number of God. That's the number he uses all
the way through the Scripture. There's the seven candles in the tabernacle. There's all the sevens all the
way through the Scripture, these seven horns. Let me show you
another Scripture, Daniel 8, one page over. Daniel 8, verse
20. The ram which thou sawest having
two horns, That's the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough
goat is the king of Grisha. And the great horn that is between
his eyes is the first king. So the horn is a king. That's
what it is. And there's a scripture, if you
want to look it up, Luke 6, 1, 68, talks about the horn of the
Lord raised up from David. All right, I look in the midst
of the throne a lamb that hath already been slain. It has all
power, is a king of kings and lord of lords, seven eyes, omniscience,
perfect vision, perfect knowledge. Said to Nathanael, before they
found you under the tree, I saw you. Jesus knowing their thoughts,
he knows all things, omniscience. Which are the seven spirits of
God sent forth into the earth, that's the Holy Spirit. perfect
omniscience, perfect omnipotence, all-wise providence, and almighty
power over all things. I have all authority, he said,
in heaven and earth. God the Father has given me all
authority over all flesh, that I should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given me. This is our Lord Jesus. All right,
verse 7. And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of God. that sat upon the throne, all
worthy of the Lamb." Our Mediator, our Christ, our Messiah, our
Redeemer, is one with God. One writer said, as a Mediator,
he took the book, as God, he gave it to him. I believe that's
right. As our Mediator, he took the
book, and as God, he gave it to him. This is what Abraham
said with Isaac on walking up the mountain. Isaac said, where's
the lamb? Where's the lamb? And Abraham
said, my son Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide himself a lamb. And everybody interprets that,
the Lord himself will provide a lamb. That's true. But it's
also translated and interpreted, the Lord will provide himself
He is the lamb. And thirdly, the Lord will provide
for himself a lamb. That lamb didn't die to get you
to feel sorry for him. He died before the Lord. He died to satisfy the justice
and judgment of a holy God. That's why he died. His blood
was offered before God in heaven, not in front of a bunch of people.
The high priest went alone into the Holy of Holies, and Christ
went alone to the cross and then to the throne. And he took that book. He didn't
ask for it. It was already his, because he
had already paid the price. He had the scar to put there. He just took it while he just
took it. Oh, I tell you, I love the Word of God, don't you? I
love it when I can see things in him. But I can see what it
tells you. And bless your heart when he
took it. It broke loose everywhere. The
crying stopped, the weeping stopped. When he took it, the four beasts,
the four and twenty elders, fell down. Like Daniel said, when
I saw the Lord, all of my strength left me. Just left me. Fell down before the Lamb. Having
every one of them harps, what's a harp for? What Mike was doing
a while ago, praising God. A harp is to praise the Lord.
And golden vials full of odor, a vial is a bowl, a golden bowl
full of incense. What's that for? Praise the Lord.
Worship the Lord. Prayer, pray to the Lord, incense. Which are the prayers of the
saints. And they began to sing. saying, Thou art worthy to take
the book, Thou art worthy to open the seal, for Thou wast
slain, hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred
and tongue and people and nation, and made us kings unto our God,
kings and priests, and we're going to reign on the earth.
Let me tell you something. You can bank on this. The whole
creation, not only Adam and his posterity, human beings was plunged
into sin and death. But when sin came upon this world,
the beautiful creation of God, he created all things, he said
it's good. If it's good enough for him,
it's good enough for me. He says it's good, it's perfect.
But sin blighted it. God's going to restore it. I don't have any thought in my
mind of floating around on a cloud somewhere plucking a heart. with
a body you can see through. When our Lord rose from the grave,
he had a body of flesh and bones, glorified flesh, glorified flesh. This corruptible is going to
put on incorruption, this mortal, immortality. There are several
kinds of flesh. There is a flesh of fish, there
is a flesh of animals, there is a flesh of birds, there is
a flesh of man, and there is a flesh of the Son of God who
said he took on himself flesh, glorified flesh. We're going
to live on a new earth. We're going to reign on this
earth. That's just clear to me as anything in the word of God.
We're going to know each other, love one another, rejoice together. We're going to live forever on
a perfect earth. No sin, no corruption, no hospitals,
no jails, no automobiles, no television, no nothing, but God's
original creation. You farmers are going to have
a field day. You fishermen are going to have a field day. That's
right. Oh, I tell you, it's going to be a new earth. Animals? God
made animals. It's going to be a river of life. There's going to be fruit trees
bearing twelve fruits. Is that what it said? Crystal
river. No pollution. It's going to be
a new earth. That's right. That's what's in
that book. And he brought it to pass. It's as sure as the
throne of God. And I beheld, and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne. And angels don't
have wings, incidentally. When that angel came, Dan read
it in a study a while ago, and woke Peter. Peter didn't even
know it was an angel. He thought it was one of the
soldiers playing a trick on him, I think. Angels don't have wings. Round about the throne and the
beast and the elders, the number of them 10,000 times 10,000 and
thousands and thousands. Don't think little when you think
of God's kingdom. Our Lord's the Lord of hosts. And I'm going to make a statement,
and when we get to glory we'll see if I've done the truth. There's going to be more people
in glory than ever perish under the judgment of God. There's
going to be more of that. He's the Lord of hosts. That's
right. That's right. Somebody told me the other day
about going to the doctor. I heard about this and they took
a picture of the lady's pregnancy, expecting a baby. I don't know
how far along, a month or two. or three months, they took a
picture and it was about the size of a jelly bean. But it
had arms and had movement. That's a person. And everyone
they kill, everyone these liberals kill is going to be in glory.
That's right. That's one good thing. God, even
the wrath of man will praise the Lord. Even the wrath of man
is going to praise the Lord. God made for his purpose even
the wicked. for the day of evil. This is
an evil day. We're killing people. Passing laws to permit folks
to kill people. It's a terrible day. But they're
going to be in glory. Every infant that's ever died
is going to be in glory. Elect infants. That's what the
old timers called them. Well, there's going to be lots
of folks. They're all going to be there by the blood of the
lamb. You say, how's he going to save them? That's his business.
I'm just content that he will. I'm just content with that. And
I'll tell you this, no evangelical preachers ever live, no evangelical,
truthful, God-used preachers ever live, believe that infants
perish. I've read too many of them. The
only people who believe that are heretics. Verse 12, our God
is a good God. 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. And every
creature in heaven, on the new earth, under the air, such as
in the sea, all that in them heard I say in blessing and honor,
every knee will bow and every tongue will confess." What? Blessing and honor and glory
and power unto him that sits upon the throne and to the Lamb.
forever and ever." And the poor beast said, Amen. Four and twenty
elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth forever and ever.
Isn't that a beautiful chapter? I hope that was a blessing to
you as much as it was to me as I read it and prepared to preach
it to you tonight.