Perhaps you'll open your Bibles
with me to the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation, chapter
4. I suppose the other disciples,
or most of them, were dead. For we understand that most of
them were martyred except for John. And John had been exiled to an
island called Patmos. And on this island, he said,
surrounded by sea. He was in the Spirit on the Lord's
day, and the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him, spoke to him.
And John said, I fell on my face like a dead man. And he gave
to him some words about seven churches. And then it says in chapter 4,
verse 1, after this, after this, after this first revelation,
after this revelation concerning the churches, he said, And behold, a door was opened
in heaven. I looked, John said, and heaven
just seemed to open up. This is not the first time that
this has happened. Jacob was fleeing from his brother
Esau. He came to a place he later called
Bethel, made him a bed and a pillar of rocks. and lay down to sleep. And during the night, he said,
Heaven opened, and I saw the angels of God descending and
ascending to the throne of God. And Jacob said, This is indeed
the house of God. And he called it Bethel. Another
time, John the Baptist said, when he came to baptize the Lord
Jesus Christ. He said when he came up straightway
out of the water, the heavens opened and the Spirit of God
descended like a dove and abode upon him. Another time this happened,
Stephen had preached that glorious message And in anger, the Jews,
the religious people, cast him to the ground and hurled stones
upon him. And he said, I saw heaven open,
and the Son of God standing on the right hand of the Father.
And their anger was kindled even more, and they dashed the stones
into his body until life was gone. heaven was open. And he said, the first voice
which I heard as it were of a trumpet, did you ever hear a trumpet in
the still of night? The blare of a trumpet, how crisp,
how sharp the sound is, and he said, that voice was like a trumpet
talking to me, and that voice said, come up here, come up here. come up here, heaven was opened.
And that voice said to John, come up here, and I will show
thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately he said, I was
in the Spirit. Now, the Apostle Paul had an
experience akin to this. He said there was a man some
several years ago whether in the body or out of the body,
I cannot tell. But such a man was caught up
into the third heaven. And he said, I saw things it's
not lawful or possible to utter. This is John's experience. I
was in the Spirit. I was in ecstasy. And behold,
I saw a throne. Now, I don't hope to describe
this. John didn't see fit to describe
it fully, and Paul said certainly the things which I heard it's
impossible to utter, but he said, I saw a throne set, a throne,
not many thrones, just one throne. And that throne was established,
that throne was set, oh, the vastness of it, the greatness
of it, that throne was set in heaven and once sat on that throne. Our God is one God. And He sat
on that throne. A God who is not pacing up and
down, wringing His hands, or worried, but a God who declares
the end from the beginning. And from ancient times of things
that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I
will do all my pleasure. And God sat on His throne. And he that sat on that throne
was to look upon like a jasper. Preacher, what's a jasper? A
jasper stone is a stone, they tell me, that's known for its
transparency and its variety of colors. All its variety of
colors, its different facets. And I believe John is saying
here that when I look on the throne of God, I saw all the
different perfections of God magnified. I saw His holiness
and His justice and His righteousness and His grace and His power,
His omnipotence. I saw all His mercy, His love,
all the many facets, all the many varieties of God's perfections
and holiness and glory. I saw him on a throne like a
jasper. And then, to look upon, he was
like a sardine stone. What's a sardine stone? Well,
it's red like a ruby. It's bloody red. And John seems
to say, I saw God on his throne, and I could see the many varieties
and perfections of God. But I saw also God's power and
God's judgment and the terror of the Lord like a red bloody
ruby." And he said there was a rainbow. Did I dig a rainbow? This throne must have been vast
and all the things that surrounded it. But he said, I saw like a
rainbow. around that throne. Ezekiel said
something about that. Ezekiel said, And above the firmament
that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as
the appearance of a sapphire stone. And upon the likeness
of the throne was the likeness of the appearance of a man. And
I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round
about within From the appearance of his loins even upward, from
the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the
appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about, as the
appearance of a rainbow that's in the cloud in the day of rain. So was the appearance of the
brightness round about that throne. This was the appearance of the
likeness of the glory of God. And I saw it, and I fell upon
my face. And I heard a voice of one that
spake, and he said to me, Son of man, stand on your feet, and
I'll speak to thee." And John said, that rainbow around that
throne, verse 3, in sight like unto an emerald. Matthew Poole
says, an emerald is green and is pleasant to the eyes. For
God is not only in his many perfections a glorious God, and in his power
and judgment and terror, but he is good, and God is peace,
and God is love. And round about that throne,
verse 4, were four and twenty elders. You say, who are they? Well, you can read five books
and get five different opinions. But I believe those four and
twenty elders are the twelve patriarchs for the twelve tribes
of Israel, and I believe they're the twelve apostles, or representatives
of the twelve apostles. And I saw four and twenty elders
sitting. I do know this, they were clothed
in white raiment, holiness and purity. That's the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they had on their heads crowns
of gold. made us kings and priests unto
our God. And verse 5 says, Out of that
throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. What
a magnificent throne. I can't describe it. Our words
are so poor. Our vocabulary is so poverty-stricken. But you have to use words. And
John said, I saw that throne. It was like like a jasper, a
sardine, with a rainbow about it, like an emerald. And around that throne, four
and twenty elders, clothed in white garments with crowns on
their heads, and that throne out of the throne proceeded lightnings
and thunders, thunderings and voices, and there were seven
lamps of fire burning before the throne, which is the Holy
Spirit of God in His perfection. Seven is the perfect number.
And before that throne there was a sea of glass like unto
crystal. Now watch this. And in the midst
of the throne and round about the throne were four living creatures,
the word beast is used, but a better word is living creatures, full
of eyes before and behind. When Isaiah saw the Lord, he
said, I saw the Lord high and lifted up. His train filled the
temple. And he said, the seraphim with
six wings, do you remember? Well, look down here at verse
8, "...and the four beasts had each of them six wings, and they
were full of eyes within, and they rest not day or night, crying,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!" Is not this the same as Isaiah
saw? And was not those seraphims in
Isaiah's vision God's ambassadors, God's ministers? God's preachers,
and that's who these creatures are. He said in verse 6, and
round about the throne were four beasts, full of eyes, that's
understanding, revelation. God has taught them, and they
see. And the first beast was like
a lion, bold. The boldness of God's ambassadors
is illustrated here. And the second beast, like a
calf, the meekness. the servant who brings the milk
of the Word. And the third beast had the face
of a man, identified with those to whom he preaches, flesh, clay. God put this treasure in earthen
vessels as a man. And the fourth beast was like
a flying eagle, with a sharp eye, with a discerning spirit,
which is God-given, with understanding That's God's preacher, bowl,
servant, man of flesh, and yet a man of understanding. And the
four beasts had each of them six wings about him. Isaiah said,
with two he covered his face in the presence of the Lord God,
ashamed, fearful to look upon such glory.
With two he covered his feet, knowing that his walk is imperfect. But with two he did fly, and
he rests neither day nor night, because he has a message that
the whole world needs to hear. And that message is not about
himself, but that message is about his God whom he has seen,
the God with whom we have to do. The only Lord God of glory,
and that messenger cries, he's holy, he's holy, he's holy, He's the Lord God Almighty, which
was, which is, and which is to come. And when those living creatures
give what? Give the glory. All the glory. And all the honor, and thanks,
and praise, and adoration. The glory, the honor, and the
thanks to Him. to him that sat on that throne,
who liveth for ever and ever." The four and twenty elders fall
down before him that sat on the throne, and they worship him.
Oh, how they worship him! Oh, how I wish we could worship
him! That liveth for ever and ever, and they cast their crowns
before his throne, and they cry, This is not the ten-cent store
God I hear preached today. This is not the God who says
he has a wonderful plan for your life if you'll just let it work.
This is not the God whose hands are tied. This is not the God
who's frustrated, disappointed, defeated. This is not the God
who sits about casting a vote and Satan casts a vote and hopes
somebody will cast a vote in his favor. This is the God before
whom the four and twenty elders fall on their faces and worship
Him and cast their crowns at His throne and cry, Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou
hast created all things visible and invisible, principalities
and powers. All stars and sun and moon and
all earth and worlds and planets and all men and angels and demons
now has created all things and for your pleasure they're created
to do with as you will, to serve your purpose, to bring glory
to your matchless name. We're not going to hear from
God today until somebody starts telling this generation who God
is. We're not going to hear from
God in any saving mercy, in any great revelation of himself,
because this generation wouldn't recognize him if he did reveal
himself. John said, I was in the Spirit
And I heard a voice, like a trumpet blast. And that voice said, you
come up here. I'm going to show you some things. And when he brought me up there,
he showed me a throne. He showed me a throne. Most of us, if we were to take
someone up there, we'd start looking for the folks we won
to Jesus. Or maybe we'd start looking for
a reward for ourselves. Or looking for a mansion next
door to Jesus. But John said, he said, come
up here and I'll show you something. And he showed me a throne. And
him that sat on it, he was like a jasper and a siren. There was
a rainbow about that throne. And the four and twenty elders
sitting around And then the ambassadors of God swiftly flying about,
crying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. But John said in
verse 5, now listen, he said, oh my friend, he said, I saw in
the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book. Whether he was holding it up
or whether he was holding it here, but John said, I saw a
book. In this vast revelation, huge, magnificent, with all the
lightnings and thunder and voices and the seraphims and the living
creatures and the four and twenty elders, John said, I saw a book. I saw a book in his right hand. And that book was written within,
it was written within, it was written without, it was written
on the back side and all around. That book was, but it was sealed
shut tight with seven seals. And he yelled at anything. What is that book? What is that book that John saw
in the hand of him that sat on the throne? Well, you don't have
to guess. If you look at chapter 6, when
the book was open, it said, And I saw, when the Lamb opened one
of the seals, and I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder,
one of the four beasts said, Come and see, come and see. And if you read those next few
chapters, not now, but later if you read those next few chapters,
you'll find out that that book, that book in the right hand of
him that sat on the throne, this book is the counsels, decrees,
purposes, providence of Almighty God in regard to his church and
his people. is elect in this world. That's what that book is. He
sat on that throne, and that book is written within and without,
on the backside and all around, and it's sealed shut. Sealed
shut. That which is within will never
be made known as long as it's sealed. That which is within
will never be read as long as it's sealed. Those purposes and those promises
and those counsels and decrees will never be unleashed until
it's open. And John knew that. All that
John needed to know was in that book. All the purpose of God in regard
to man is in that book. All of the providence and counsels
and decrees of God in regard to redemption, life, heaven,
hell, eternity is in that book. And he said, I saw it. I saw
it. I saw it in his hand. And I saw
strong angels. There were no weak angels, but
this was a mighty angel. And that mighty angel proclaimed
with a loud voice, listen, And he cried so it could be heard
in heaven, earth, and under the earth, and he said, Who is worthy
to open the book? I want it open, John said. We all want it open. It must
be open. God has decreed that it be open.
God's purposes and counsels and providence and decrees must be
exercised. He must be just and justifier. He must be love and righteousness.
He must have a people. He must populate the new heaven
and earth. Will there be a new heaven and
a new earth? Well, who's worthy to open the book and loose the
seal? And he cried out with a loud
voice, and he said, Who's worthy? Who is able? Watch it now, verse
3, and no man, and no man, even in heaven. Moses, sitting there with those
24, one of the 24, Moses! He looks up, Moses, open the
book! Moses said, I can't open the
book. I can't even look at it. Abraham, help us!" The Jews trusted
in thee. They said, we have Abraham. Abraham
opened the book. I can't even look there. One
of your angels opened the book. Well, look down on earth. No
man in heaven, no man in earth. Over there in Rome, we've got
the proud pontiff who walks about with his silver cross. And here's
magic ring, and here's fish hat, and here's long robes, followed
by a bunch of palace clothing red. Hey, Pope John, open the
book! He didn't even know there was
a book. All these ranting, raving preachers
stomping up and down with their predictions and prophecies. building
their colleges and schools and hospitals, claiming to have a
direct line to heaven? Well, you fellas open the book!
That's not the God they're talking about. No man, no creature, no
angel, no person in heaven or earth or under the earth Satan,
you were once the great Prince of the Paradise, the mighty Lucifer,
what about you doing something about the book? He can't do anything.
Nobody was able to open the book either, neither to look there. Matchless, mighty, magnificent,
almighty God. in perfect holiness and beauty
and truth and righteousness and justice, with his divine decrees
and counsel and purposes sealed in a book with every name written
thereon, and the fate of every man and every nation and every
plague and everything that shall be hereafter is in that book. And John sat there in silence
and listened as the angel said, Who is worthy? And he said, verse
4, and I cried. I wept much. And I'll tell you this, if any
of us had any inkling, even the slightest inkling, of what's
going on here, we'd be on the edge of our seats. the very edge of our seats. Because no man was found worthy,
no man was found worthy to open and to read the book. It will
never be revealed, men will never know God, neither to look thereon. But one of the elders, I wonder
who that was, but it doesn't matter. But one of the elders
said to me, weep not, John, Oh, I tell you, when a man comes
to discover by the grace of God the good news of the God-man,
that's his message, that dries up his tears, that gives hope
to his heart, that gives a foundation for his feet. Don't cry! Behold
the line of the tribe of Judah. Does that suggest anything? One
time old Dime Jacob was blessing his twelve boys, all twelve of
them, and he blessed Simeon and Gad and Reuben. And he came to
Judah, and he put his hand on Judah's
head, and he said, Judah, thy brethren will serve thee. Out of thee shall come he whose
goings forth have been from everlasting. And the scepter shall not depart
from Judah till Shallow comes, Prince of Peace, King of Salem."
Who is this Lion of the tribe of Judah? He's the Lord Jesus
Christ, the perfect man. That's right. He's identified
with us, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the King, the Ruler. the great priest, the
only priest out of the tribe of Judah. But not only that,
he's the root of David. He's heir to David's throne.
He's the one of whom David said, Thee, Lord, said unto my Lord,
sit thou on my right hand. Yes, the elder said, you don't
cry now, because there is one And he is of the line, he's the
line of the tribe of Judah, he's the man, he's the root of David,
he's God, he's the God-man, and watch it, he hath prevailed. Oh, I tell you, that word, that
word is a word of words. He hath prevailed. He hath prevailed
because he travailed. He hath prevailed over Satan.
For he said, the prince of this world is judged and cast out. Satan has come to me, he said,
and found nothing in me. He's prevailed over Satan. He's prevailed over sin. All
the sins of all his people were laid on him, and he died under
the weight of them, under the guilt of them, under the wrath
of God. But he didn't stay dead. He rose from the grave. He hath
prevailed. He hath prevailed over God's
law. He came down here in human flesh, bone of our bone, flesh
of our flesh, with all of the humanities that we carry, and
he met the law of God, the awesome law of God. He met it head on,
and he fulfilled it in every jot and kiddle, every dot and
comma, and prevailed. And he met the awful justice
of God on Calvary's mountain, and he prevailed there. And he
prevailed over the hearts of his people, and he prevailed
with God. Because God said to him, after
he had finished his work, sit down on my right hand until I
make your enemies your footstool. Yes, don't cry, because Jesus
Christ, the Son of David, hath prevailed to open that book. and to loose the seven seals.
And I beheld," watch verse 6, "...and lo, in the midst of the
throne," in the midst of the throne, because he thought it
not robbery to be equal with God. David, he wasn't around the throne
only, he was in the throne and on the throne. I saw a lamb on
a throne as it had been slain. I beheld, John said, and that
Lamb of God rose right out of the midst of the throne." But
not only was he in the midst of the throne, but he was in
the midst of the four beasts. That's right. He was one of them. He came to preach the gospel
to the poor. He was a preacher. And not only
that, but he said, and he was in the midst of the four elders.
He's not ashamed to call them all brothers. Where'd this lamb come from?
By the midst of the throne. And yet Moses said, God will
raise up a prophet like unto me out of the midst of the brethren. And he had, listen, a lamb as
it had been slain. That's our Lord's That's our
Lord's attribute of redemption. He's a Lamb. He's a Lamb. And if you take this book and
you want to read about how sinners are saved, you're going to have
to have the word Lamb with you all the way through. But you'll
have to start before the foundation of the world, because he was
a Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. And you'll come
down to Abel. and you'll see him offer his
lamb. And you'll come to Abraham and Isaac as they walk up that
mountain to worship God, and Isaac carrying the wood and the
fire says, Father, here's the wood, here's the fire, where's
the lamb? And you'll come down in Egypt and you'll see Israel
slay the lamb and roast it with fire and eat the carcass and
put the blood on the door and wait on God to pass over them.
For he said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. And you'll
see that priest going every year into the Holy of Holies, and
with the blood of the Lamb, to put it on the mercy seat to cover
the broken law. Yes, that's the Lamb. Watch Him,
He has seven horns, that's perfect power. Seven is the number of
God, perfection. And horns of power. There's nothing
that Christ can't do. He has seven horns and seven
eyes, which are the seven spirits of God. He has the Holy Ghost
without measure. There's no one can conquer him.
He said, no man takes my life from me. Pilate said, hey, insist
thou not, I have the power to crucify you, let you go. You
have no power over me at all, except it be given you from above.
I'm weary of hearing of this, of this frail, weak Jesus. I'm awfully wary of hearing people
talk about Jesus can and he will if you let him. Nobody's ever
let him do anything yet. Even as the Lamb slain, he has
seven horns and seven eyes, the seven spirits of God. Now watch
it. Here's sense if you can imagine
in your mind. Almighty God in all His awesome,
awesome, fearful holiness, on His throne of judgment and righteousness
and truth and justice, holding that book, that awesome, awful
book, of all His purposes and decrees. And there's nobody in
heaven, earth, or hell that can touch it, open it, or look thereon. our brother, our surety, our
Lord Jesus Christ, who dwelt in my flesh with my name in his
hand, on his heart, in his book, and on his breastplate, who loved
me and gave himself for me." Watch it. It says verse 7, "...and
he came and took that book." right out of the right hand of
God. That makes cold chills up down
my back. A man, a lamb, our Lord Jesus
Christ, don't lose sight of who he is, came out of that throne,
equal with God. He came from the midst of those
living creatures, a preacher of the good news. He came from
those four and twenty elders, identified with them, not ashamed
to call them brethren. And in his holiness and perfection
and power, he walked right up and took that book right out
of God's hand. And I'll tell you this, when
he took that book out of God's hand, do you know what it's saying?
that the Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into
his hands." Not in the hands of the Church, or the preacher,
or the evangelist, or missionary, or anybody else, but in the hands
of Christ. In the hands of Christ. And our
Lord Jesus Christ took that book and opened it. And in him, everything
that God has written has been fulfilled. Every requirement
has been met. Every debt has been paid. Every
name has been cleared. Every curse has been removed.
Every requirement has been fulfilled. Every covenant has been met.
He opened the book. My salvation is in his hands.
My times are in his hands. And I hear all the preachers
talk about the tribulation and the church and the millennium
and all these different things. I'm not worried because it's
in his hands. And he loves me. Not the slightest
bit. And actually, I'd rather just
not worry over it. I'd rather leave it in his hands.
I'd rather not be bothered by it. I'm going to leave it in his
hands. But I'll tell you this, when he walked up and took that
book, all glory broke loose. I want you to listen. Boy, I'll
tell you. And when, and when, oh, when,
I'm glad I know something about this, when he took the book,
when he took the book. And my friend, it can be back
in God's eternal purpose. It could be there on Calvary.
It can be in days to come. There's no time with God. We're
creatures. We have to wear watches. God
doesn't wear watches. Because everything's an eternal
present. But when he took the book, here's
the thing for you to determine in your heart. That the book
is there, and it's God's book, and it's God's purposes, and
God's counsels, and God's decrees. Don't mess with that. And you
determine this, that you don't have the ability, power, or holiness
to touch it, nor does any other creature. But you determine this,
that Christ our surety and Christ our representative does have
the right, does have the power, and has taken the book. Now can
you do that? And if you can, when you can
imagine or visualize in your heart and by faith, that he took
the book, you'll respond just like these did. The beast, the
living creatures, the four and twenty elders, just fell down
before the Lamb. We'll quit worshiping men, we'll
quit putting confidence in the flesh, and we'll fall down before
the Lamb, having every one of them hearts and golden bowels
full of odors, incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
And they sung a new song. Here's the new song, ever new,
always new, eternally new. Thou art worthy to take the book,
God's book, God's counsel, God's purposes, God's decrees, and
to open the seals thereof. What gave him that right? For
thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. And thou hast made
us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth."
Brethren, in 1985, with all its modernism and liberalism, fundamentalism,
we're going to have to go back. preaching the message of redemption
by the blood. It's by his blood that he redeemed
us. It's not because we're nice people.
Our sins required a blood sacrifice. Our sins are so dark and evil
they required the death of God's Son himself. And I beheld, now
stay with me, verse 11, and I beheld and I heard the voice of many
round about the throne. And the elders, the beasts and
the elders, and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000
and thousands and thousands, and the living creatures and
the elders and the angels, too, were crying, worthy is the Lamb.
I used to hear a song all the time, holy, holy is what the
angels sing. And I expect to help them make
the courts of heaven ring, but when I sing redemption story,
they will fold their wings. I don't know about that now.
They're doing a pretty good job here, singing redemption story. But you say the angels never
failed. These didn't. Some did. And the angels don't know anything
about the gospel, don't they? They're saying something about
it here. The angels and the beasts and
the elders are all saying, worthy is the Lamb to receive power
and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and every
creature in heaven. Now, brethren, I suggest something
to you. I believe there's going to be
some tiny babies in heaven Not tiny babies then, but when they
died they were tiny babies. But they're there because of
the Lamb. They're there because of the
Lamb, and every one of them are going to praise the Lamb who
redeemed them. And I'll tell you something else. I believe
the elect angels are going to praise the Lamb. who elected them and chose them
in Christ. There's not going to be anybody
in heaven that doesn't know how to praise Christ, because they'd
be a rival for his glory. Think now, I've often wondered,
everybody in glory is going to be there because they were sinners
and Christ died for them. But here's a whole bunch of angels
that never fell. And I got to thinking this, well,
maybe they'll fall yet. Because if they're not in Christ,
they have that possibility, don't they? They face that possibility. But I kind of believe this, having
read this scripture here, that every creature in heaven knows
he's there because Christ loved him and assumed the responsibility
of his safety, security, and redemption. I believe that. And there's no creature in heaven,
watch it now, verse 13, or on earth, or under the earth, or
even in the sea. You say, can fish talk? They're
doing some talking here. Because I heard every creature
say, Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth
on the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And the four living creatures
said, well, amen. Amen.