Now this chapter that I've just
read for you conveys primarily one great message, even as the song that you've
just heard. One great message, and that is
everything that Almighty God has purposed Everything that
Almighty God has prepared for us is in Christ Jesus. Everything that God has purposed
and prepared for us is not only in Christ Jesus, but provided
by Christ Jesus and revealed in Christ Jesus and for the glory
of Christ Jesus. And these blessings and these
mercies and this grace, which God has purposed and which God
has provided, had to be purchased. God purposed it, and God in his
great will and providence provided it by sending the Son, but the
Son had to come. The lamb had to die. That's what
Peter said in 1 Peter. He said, we know that we are
not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
our vain conversation received by tradition from our fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb, as of a
lamb without spot or blemish, the blood of the lamb. And I'll
tell you, we hear from people on a regular
basis who are listening to our television programs and other
places and our tapes, and they say that they're studying and
want to know the truth, want to know the gospel. Well, I'll
tell you this, anyone who is studying and who is sincere,
who wants to know the who will give a careful reading
and consideration to the Scriptures, will make one discovery. Finally, one thing will be made
quite clear. Sinners who desire to come before a holy
God, sinners fallen in Adam, born in sin, By nature, practice,
choice, rebels. If they want to come before a
holy God and be reconciled and received and shown mercy and
grace and forgiveness, they're going to have to have a lamb.
They're going to have to have a lamb. That's the message all
the way through this, a lamb. Let me just show you this. You
don't need to turn to all these. I can turn more quickly, but
in Genesis 4-4, Abel says, Abel brought a lamb, and the Lord
had respect to Abel's offering. There's the lamb, typified. At the very beginning, in the
very early days of creation, after the fall, Abel came before
God and brought a lamb, and God had respect to his offering.
And then Abraham, when he was going to the top of Mount Moriah
to sacrifice his son, Isaac, God said, Take thy son, thy only
son, whom thou lovest, and sacrifice him, give him to me. Abraham
and the lad were going up the mountain. He told the young men
to wait down at the foot of the mountain, said, we're going up
and worship God. And the lad walking beside his father, probably
in his late teens, having been taught of his father, the way
to God, was carrying the fire and carrying the wood. He looked
at his father and said, we're going to worship. Our lad going
to worship. Where's the lamb? He knew that
much. That young man, 16, 17, 18, he
knew if a sinner is coming before God, he better bring a lamb. And he said, Father, where's
the lamb? And his father uttered these prophetical words. The
lamb prophesied, My son, God will provide himself a lamb. And then when God would lead
Israel out of Egypt with a view to going to the promised land,
Moses said to all the people, redemption is nigh, exodus, deliverance. Everybody get a lamb. Everybody get a lamb, a lamb
without spot or blemish, firstling of the flock. Slay the lamb. put the blood on the door. In
Abel, we see the Lamb typified. In Abraham's word, the Lamb prophesied. In the Passover, the blood of
the Lamb applied. God passed on, not without a
Lamb, not without a Lamb. And then in Isaiah, the Lamb
personified. He is a person. He shall grow
up before him as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground.
He hath no form, no comeliness. And when we see him, there's
no beauty about him that we should desire him. We hid, as it were,
our faces from him. He's despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, but he bore our sorrows
in his body on the tree. He was wounded for our transgression,
bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was
laid upon him by stripes we're healed. And he's laid as a lamb
before the sheep, before the slaughter, as a sheep before
her shearers is dumb. He opened not his mouth. They're
he, the lambs are he. The God man. The God man. That's my lamb. And then one
day, One day, after a lot of years had passed from the day
that Abel brought that lamb and sacrificed it, long time after
that, after Abraham uttered those immortal words, long years, 2,000
years after that blood was put on that door, those doors in
Egypt, long after Isaiah said, you'll come, the lamb will come,
He, born of a virgin. God himself will give you a sign. A virgin shall be with child,
bring forth a son. Unto us a child is born, a son
is given. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the mighty God. But he'll be numbered with the
transgressors, holy and harmless, and none defiled, separate from
sinners, and yet numbered with them. He'll come. And for 400
years, God didn't speak to this world. From the time Malachi
said, the messenger will come to the temple, it was totally silent on this
earth for 400 years. God never wrote and God never
spoke. That's right. There's not a book
between Malachi and Matthew, not a word. One day, the last
of the Old Testament prophets called John. There was a man
sent from God whose name was John, miraculously born when
his father Zacharias was old, his mother Elizabeth was old. God said, call his name John.
And he struck his father dumb until the day that boy was born.
And all the neighbors said, what are you going to call him? He
wrote on a piece of paper, John. They said, is nobody in your
family named John? Call him Zechariah after his
father. He wrote again, John. John. And when they called him John,
his father spoke. And John pointed to this man,
Jesus, and he said, behold, Everybody, the Lamb of God. Long expected,
long awaited, long prophesied, long typified. There He is. The Lamb of God. The Lamb identified. No mistake. No mistake about it. There He
is. And then here in my text, turn
to it. Revelation 5. That Lamb is glorified. The Lamb is glorified. I love
to read this passage. I love to preach from it. I look
forward to the day when my eyes are going to behold the Lamb
in the midst of the throne. And with that vast congregation,
this voice is going to say, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. For thou hast slain and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood." Well, let's look at the chapter
5, verse 1. 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. Four prominent words in this
verse. First, the throne. Whose throne?
God Almighty's throne. Him that sat on the throne. Isaiah said, Thy God reigneth. It's a throne of sovereignty.
It's a throne of majesty. It's a throne of glory. It's
a throne of holiness and righteousness. Holy and reverent is His name.
It's a throne of justice. The judge of the earth will do
right. Be assured of that, He'll do right. No compromise. He'll do right. His throne is
a throne of justice, and judgment, and righteousness, and holiness,
and majesty, and glory, and power, and sovereignty, and none can
stay His hand or say unto Him, what doest thou? He's sitting
on a throne. But oh, I thank God it's a throne
of grace. Oh my, that gives you joy in
your heart. It's a throne of grace. I don't
want anything to do with a throne of judgment and holiness and
righteousness. But oh, I'm interested in the
throne of grace. And we're going to see that it's
a throne of grace. But it's a throne. I beg of all
who preach, don't for the praise of men, or the popularity of
this world, or the possessions of this world, compromise the
throne of God. Don't try to bring man to meet
God by bringing God down. Leave God where He is. Leave
Him on the throne, high and lifted up. Don't compromise His power,
His holiness, his integrity, his justice, his righteousness.
Allow him to bring man up where he is. Don't try to bring him
down here. Don't try to understand God.
Thou thoughtest I was altogether such as one as thyself. No. By
God's grace, maybe. He'll be pleased to make us like
himself. But I don't want him like myself.
That'll damn all of us. or it's a throne. The second
word is a book. In his hand is a book. It's his book. And it's not the
Bible. It's the book of God's decrees.
It's the book of God's purposes. It's the book of God's will.
It's the book of God's covenant. It's the role of redemption.
It's the Lamb's book of life. It's the book of purpose. It's
the book of his eternal kingdom. It's the blueprints and plans
of his eternal heavens, the new heaven and new earth. It's all
things future. That's what he has in his hand.
His purpose, his plan, his covenant, his will for the new heavens
and new earth, his kingdom, his people, written within and without,
on the backside and within. It's full of goodness. But you come to the next word,
it's sealed. But it's sealed. It's unrevealed. Only known to
Him. Not the angels or the seraphims
or the cherubims or the creatures or anybody around the throne.
It's His book and it's sealed. Unknown and unrevealed. Why is
it sealed? Because it's never been fulfilled. It's never been executed. The
kingdom's never been bought. The sheep have never been redeemed.
It's sealed. It's sealed. Nobody could read
it or look there on. It's sealed. And it'll stay sealed. that somebody found worthy to
open. But I tell you this, there's
another word, it's sealed with seven seals. I'm not a fellow that plays on
numbers, but numbers are significant. And in the Bible, the number
seven is very significant. It's the number of completeness,
the number of God. seven spirits of God, seven horns,
seven eyes, seven. And that means that this book,
this covenant, this kingdom, these purposes, this will, these
people, this redemption is sealed with seven seals. It's full,
it's complete. God's purposes are perfect and
unchangeable. as he said, can be taken from
it or added to it. What he has decreed and purposed
and written is full and complete. It's just got to be executed. It's just got to be fulfilled. The kingdom's got to be delivered.
The people have got to be redeemed. The purposes have got to be fulfilled. The law has got to be honored.
It's got to be done in decency, in order, in holiness, in righteousness,
true to justice. God's got to be God. These purposes
are only unfold as they are purchased by the blood of the Lamb. But
it's complete. It's complete. It's complete. David said God made a covenant
ordered in all things and sure. All right, verse 2, And I saw
a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who's worthy? Who's worthy to open the book?
Who's worthy to loose the seals there? Who's worthy? If one is found worthy, he'll
have to be in the form of God, equal with God, and yet in the
form of a servant, the likeness of men. If someone's found worthy
who can open the book, he's got to be holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and yet got to be numbered with them.
This conqueror, this captain of our salvation, If he's worthy,
he'll have to be a man tempted in all points as we are, and
yet be without sin. He's got to be one who can die
under the judgment of God, be buried, and walk out of the tomb
victoriously under his own power. He's got to take on personally
Satan, death, and hell, and the grave, and defeat them all. If anyone's found worthy, he'll
have to ascend to heaven in a glorified human body and hear God say,
thy throne, O God, is forever. Come up and sit at my right hand
until I make thine enemies thy footstool. That's the reason the angel said,
who is worthy? And verse 3 said, no man in heaven
or in the earth or under the earth was able to open the book
or to look thereon. None are able. And verse 4 says, and I wept
much. It's time to weep, isn't it? When I hear preachers Like I
heard one last night say, if you do your part, God will do
his. I wept in here. To assign a man a task like this
to do your part. Boy, it's time to cry, isn't
it? There he sits on the throne with
that immutable, magnificent purpose of God, and you're asking me
to go take it out of his hands? I wept, and I'll tell you why
he's weeping. If it's not opened, if this book's
not opened and fulfilled, the purpose of God fails. If this
book's not opened, no man will ever be redeemed. No woman will
ever be in glory if it's not opened. Everybody's lost. If this book's not opened, there's
not going to be any new heaven and new earth. There's not going
to be any kingdom because it's sealed. unfulfilled and unexecuted. If this book's not open, Christ
is not going to be glorified. There's not going to be any song
of Moses in the lamb. There's not going to be any wedding
feast. There's not going to be any bride. There's not going
to be any heaven. It's time to weep. And I'll tell you, salvation
is a work of man's flesh in any way. Let's all sit down and weep,
and then go on to hell. But listen, verse 5, it said,
one of the elders, one of those chosen, redeemed, saved, weep
not! That's the good news. That's
what we're sending to this world, to cry, to people, don't. Don't despair. Let not your heart
be troubled. You believe in God, believe in
me, Christ said. Weep not. Weep not. Behold, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah. You know who that is? Old Joseph,
before he died down there in Egypt. Old Jacob, before he died
down there in Egypt, blessing his sons. He looked over at Judah. And he said, the scepter shall
not depart from Judah till shadow comes. King of peace, King of
Salem, Son of God. And this Savior, this Lamb, this
One who is worthy, came from the tribe of Judah. He is the
King. He came from the root of Jesse,
and He came from the root of David. throne of God, declared
to be the Son of God, but manifested in the flesh the Son of David. He said, Weep not, behold, the
Lion of the tribe of Judah, the King-priest, the Root of David,
hath prevailed to open the book. How did he do that? Well, he
came down here as the Root of David. as the son of God, as
the son of man. God in human flesh, born of a
woman, made of a woman, made under the law, and he met that
law as a man, and he prevailed. He prevailed. Every time I meet
the strict, holy, spiritual law of God, I fail. Don't you? In some way. But he prevailed. He met Satan. He said, Satan
has come. He met Satan. When Adam and Eve
met him, they crumbled. When Job had to deal with him,
he crumbled. And everybody who's ever dealt
with him, Michael the archangel, wouldn't deal with him. He said,
no way. When Satan contended with Michael
the archangel over the body of Moses, Michael backed off. You
remember, he said, the Lord rebuked me. Don't you pay any attention to
any preacher who challenges you to challenge Satan. Don't do
that. Don't do that. But my Lord challenged
him. Satan has come, he said, and
found nothing in me. He prevailed. Whipped him. Met Him on the Mount of Temptation
and with Him. He didn't find anything in Christ
to agree with anything in Him. He does in us. He comes to us
and He finds agreement. He came to Christ,
defeated. He prevailed. Our Lord took our
sins and went to the cross. And there the wrath of God fell
on Him. The judgment of God, condemnation,
curse fell on him. And he prevailed. He prevailed. He satisfied everything that
they poured on him, every charge, every curse, every condemnation.
He prevailed. He went into the grave and lay
there and walked out. He prevailed over sin, justice,
law, Satan. death, hell, and the grave. And he ascended to heaven. And the God-man walked in the
glory. And they began to cry, Open the
gate! Lift up your heads, O ye gates! Be ye lifted up, ye everlasting
doors! The King of Glory is coming in!
Who's this King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts! He's got a
whole lot of folks with him. A host of people. He is not the
Lord by Himself, He is the Lord of hosts. And the gates opened, and the
Father said, Thou hast prevailed. Call Me. Verse 6 said, And I
beheld... Let's identify Him. And I beheld
and lo, in the midst of the throne, And the four beasts in the midst
of the elders stood alame as it had been slain, slain from
the foundation of the world. Having seven horns, that's all
power. The horn is the power of the
Lord. And the seven horns are all power, omnipotence. Having
seven eyes, wisdom, insight, perfect, Wisdom. Omniscience. He knows all men. The seven spirits of God sent
forth into all the earth. Omnipresence. He's everywhere. Where shall I flee from His presence?
If I ascend into heaven, art there. If I make my bed in the
grave in the lowest parts of the earth, art there. If I take
the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea, He's there. Lord, I'm with you. Always. Not just you, but every son of
God ever will. Where shall I flee from this
pleasure? Verse 7 says, And he came and
took the book. He didn't ask for it, he took
it. John Trapp said as a mediator,
he took it. As God, he gave it. I come to do my Father's will. As the mediator, he took the
book. And as God, he gave it to himself. He has all authority over all
flesh that he should give eternal life. as many as God has given
Him, whose names are written in the
book of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. And He came and redeemed them.
And my friends, this is not a future thing. This was done in God's
purpose before the world began. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. This was done when Abel brought
that Lamb. Christ was already in God's purpose
and mind, the Lamb slain. This was done when he hung on
that cross outside the walls of Jerusalem. And this will ever
be remembered throughout eternity, for it's the song of the redeemed. Let's read verse 8. And when
he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four elders, four
and twenty elders, fell down before the Lamb. having every
one of them harps and golden vows full of odors, which are
the prayers of the saints, and they sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy, Thou art able to take the book, to open the
seals thereof, because he prevailed. Thou was slain, and Thou hast
redeemed us to God, hast redeemed us. It's done. It's finished.
It's complete. It's not his part and your part,
it's all his part. It's his doing. It's the Lord's
doing. It's the gift of God. It's the
gift received. It's the gift purchased, provided,
and given. And on this center, I receive it. And he enables me to receive
it. He gives me the want to, the desire, the will, the ability. Thou shalt redeem us to God,
how? By thy blood, the blood of the Lamb, out of every kindred,
tongue, and people, and nation. And you've made us unto our God
kings, royal priesthood, kings and priests. And we'll reign
on this new earth." There's going to be a new earth because the
Lamb has prevailed. There's going to be a new heaven.
There's going to be a new earth. I tell you, this old earth You
take one thing out of it, it'd be a wonderful place to live.
That's sin. Just take sin out of this world.
It'd be a wonderful place. And God's going to take it out
someday and make a new earth. And every believer is going to
live in a new body, flesh, on a new earth. That's right. Creation is going to be restored.
I can't wait to see it. And he's made us kings and priests
unto our God, and we'll reign on the earth. And I beheld, and
I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the
beast, and the elders, and the number of them innumerable. This is a definite number for
an indefinite. Ten thousand times ten thousand,
and thousands of thousands. All of them had one song. It
wasn't a Baptist song, or a Catholic song, or a Methodist song. They
all had this song, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb.
that were slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing, and every creature which is in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, all in perfect harmony,
such as in the sea, all up, heard our saying, blessing and honor
and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne
and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And we're going to reign
with him. The glory which God gave him, he's given us. The
love wherewith God loved him, he's loved us. I don't know,
I can't explain all this. I just know that coronation,
graduation, maturity, perfection, all will be realized when we
are once again restored into the likeness of our Lord, with an impossibility of ever
falling or ever departing from that glorious state. But every man's got to have a
lamb. Father, where's the lamb? My
son, God will provide Himself a lamb. Thank God for the lamb. All right, let's sing number
44, our closing hymn. Number 44, Can it be? Back on David's team, but who
am I? Well, I don't know. Just keep that attitude. You'll
find out someday why you, we'll find out. You'll let us know. But right now it's just who am
I that I should gain. All right, let's stand and sing.