Let us turn back in our Bibles
this morning to Revelation chapter 5. The theme of this chapter is
the theme of the Bible and it is found in the words of verse
12, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. I want to
point four truths out to us from this chapter that the Lamb is
worthy to do. First, the Lamb is worthy to
reveal God. You notice in verse 1, we read,
and I saw in the right hand of Him. The Him who sets upon the
throne is God Almighty. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
whose essence is invisible. You know, in chapter 4, where
John first began this vision, he said that he saw him upon
the throne like a jasper, a jasper stone. The writers say he used
that word because of the brightness the brightness of him who sits
upon the throne. God is light and the scriptures
tell us that he dwells in light inaccessible. The hymn writer said immortal,
invisible, God only wise. In light inaccessible, hid from
our eyes. Most blessed, most glorious,
ancient of days, almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise. The Apostle John tells us in
the first chapter of the Gospel of John, no man has seen God
at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared or revealed
Him. Worthy is the Lamb. First of
all, he is worthy to reveal God. He is worthy to reveal God because
he is God's only begotten Son, one with the Father and with
the Holy Spirit, who was made flesh when the fullness of the
time was come. That is, in God's appointed time. God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman. Now, the scripture tells us that
God the Holy Spirit prepared Him a body that He joined to
His eternal person, the Son of God. Worthy is the Lamb. He is worthy to reveal God. This Lamb we see is a man. We recognize that. He is a glory
man. He is a good man. He is the one
who is both God and man in this one person. Philip said to our
Lord just before he went to the cross, he said, show us the Father. Show us the Father and it sufficeth
us. Show us the Father and we'll
be satisfied. And our Lord said unto him, Philip,
He that has seen me has seen the Father. Worthy is the Lamb
to reveal God. The writer of Hebrews tells us
that He is the brightness of His glory and the express image
of His person. The Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians,
who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. And I ask you here this day,
would you know God? Would you know God? Would you
see God? You will only know God and see
God in the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. Worthy is the Lamb to
reveal God. The Scripture says, No man knoweth
the Son, but the Father, neither any man the father save the son
and he to whomsoever he shall reveal him. There's no knowing
God apart from Jesus Christ. Any God, know this my friend
today, any God, any God apart from Jesus Christ is an idol. There is no true God apart from
Jesus Christ. He said this is life eternal. That you might know God and He
whom thou hast sent. Who did He send? He sent His
Son. And there is no knowing God,
no seeing God apart from Jesus Christ. Worthy is the Lamb. Why do we sing these hymns of
praise and worship Him as we do? Because He is God. He is God manifest in the flesh
and to see Him is to see God. No one No man hath ever seen
God. God dwelleth in light inaccessible. The brightness of God Almighty. We don't know any other way to
express that other than to say that He dwelleth in light. He
is light. And for any creature to come
into the presence of God, any man or woman, apart from Jesus
Christ would mean immediate destruction. Worthy is the Lamb to reveal
God. Now notice the second thing we
are told in this chapter that he is worthy to do. The Lamb
is worthy to reign over all. The question is raised here In
verse 3, who is worthy to open the book? Now this book is God's
eternal purpose. They didn't have books like we
have today. We know it would have been a
scroll. But the scroll is written within and without because it
includes everything Everything that takes place in time is according
to God's purpose, which He purposed in eternity. We call it providence. Who is worthy? Who is worthy
to take the book and unseal it and open up the book? Well, John
began to weep, didn't he? Because no man was found, neither
in heaven nor in earth, or under the earth, who was worthy. But
wait! Wait! There is one who is worthy. It's the Lamb. And he appears as though he had
been slain. The Lord Jesus Christ on God's
eternal throne. And from here on, remember in
the book of Revelation, the throne is always referred to as the
throne of God and of the Lamb. That pure water of life flowed
from that throne, the throne of God and the Lamb. He's worthy. He's worthy to take
the reins of government and to rule over all. There's nothing. There's no one. There's no time. There's no place
where the Lord Jesus Christ does not reign. You notice in verse
5 of the text when the angel explained, or the elder rather,
explained to John not to weep, one of the elders saith unto
him, or to me, Weep not. Behold the line of the tribe
of Judah. The root of David hath prevailed
to open the book. Now this word which is translated
prevailed, it's the same word which is translated conquer in
the next chapter. If you look in chapter 6 and
verse 2, And I saw and behold a white horse, and he that sat
on him had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went
forth conquering and to conquer. There's one who has prevailed. There's one who has conquered.
It's the same word that in each of the seven letters, in chapters
2 and 3, remember, there's seven letters written to the seven
churches. And every letter ends with the same statement, He that
overcomes. And the word that is translated
here, prevailed, is the same word. In other words, it could
be translated, Weep not before the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the Root of David, hath conquered. hath overcome, hath prevailed
to open the book. The Lion of the tribe of Judah,
he has prevailed because he has conquered sin. Sin, that great
offense against God. That awful thing that has all
of us in captivity when we come into this world. And man may
try his best, he may turn over new leaves, and he may make decisions
and everything else, deciding he's not going to sin anymore.
But he cannot conquer sin. He not only conquered sin, but
he conquered Satan, that strong man who keeps his palace at peace. We come into this world and we
are under the dominion of Satan, under the rule of Satan. We can't
free ourselves. I tell you people, people boast
about free will. Let them boast all they want
to, my friends. But I'm telling you this morning,
it's going to take someone greater than you and your free will to
liberate you from Satan. Someone had to overcome the strong
man that he might spoil his goods. He hath prevailed He has conquered
sin. He has conquered Satan. And yes,
he has conquered death. Laying in that, his body laying
in that tomb for those three days. And yet he came out. No one's ever done that. And
no one ever will do that of his own power. But worthy is the
Lamb, because He has prevailed. He's worthy to reveal God. If you would know God, see Him
in the face, in the person of Jesus Christ, or you'll never
see God. You'll never know God. And He's
worthy to reign. He reigns because He has prevailed. He has conquered. Yes, my friends,
He reigns over all. In the letter of Hebrews we read,
Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels. You see, as
Him being made a man, men are lower than the angels. The angels
are a higher order of creation. But God hath made Him a little
lower than the angels. He didn't make His Son an angel.
In the fullness of the time, He sent forth His Son made of
a woman. Made of a woman, made a little
lower than the angels, thou crowned him with glory and honor, and
did set him over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all
things in subjection under his feet." There's nothing. There's not the tiniest insect. There's not the strongest man.
There's not the greatest power that is not under his feet. He's worthy to take the book
and open the seals and to read, to execute God's purpose, God's
providence. He said all power is given unto
me both in heaven and in earth. If you turn back just a few pages
a minute to Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 1, verse 20, the scripture says,
Which he wrought in Christ, that is, his power, which he wrought
in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at
his own right hand in the heavenly places. far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and
hath put all things under his feet. gave him to be the head over
all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of
him that filleth all in all." Notice, gave him to be the head
over all things to the church. God's providence, which he orders,
is working all things for the good of his church. That's the
reason this world continues, isn't it? Because God has a people,
a people, a church in this world that He is saving, that He's
calling out. And He has all power to execute,
to make sure that each and every one shall be saved, shall be
called by His Spirit. The Lamb takes the book and Paul
says he must reign in that 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians. He
must reign until he hath put all things under his feet. The
last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. He's already conquered
death, but you and I, we know death is before us. My friends,
the time is coming, the day is coming when death shall be no
more. He has put all things under his
feet and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. The Lamb is worthy to reign over
all. All things are put in subjection
to Him. Here's the third thing, the Lamb
is worthy to redeem God's elect. He's worthy to reveal God, He's
worthy to reign, and He's worthy to redeem God's elect. Notice that in verses 9 and 10. And they sung a new song saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof.
Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of
every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and hast made
us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. God, thank God for it. God has an elect people in this
world. A chosen people that are scattered,
as this verse tells us, among every kindred, among every tongue. We'll all speak the same language,
though, when we get to heaven, won't we? We'll see that. But
God has His elect people scattered all over the world in all the
ages of the earth. Among every kindred, every tongue,
every language, Every people and every nation. Our Lord said
some will come from the east and from the west and from the
north and from the south and shall sit down with him in his
kingdom. Worthy is the Lamb to redeem
his people. His people, his elect, all were
sold into the market of sin. by our head, by our representative
that is Adam. Now this word which is here translated
redeemed, I believe there's four different words in the New Testament
which are all translated redeemed. And each one of these words brings
out a different idea. about Christ's redemption but
this word here that is translated redeem it literally means to
go to the market and purchase to go to the market and purchase
the Lamb of God to purchase those given to him by the Father had
to come into the market that is he had to come into this world
And it was while in the market, in the market of this world,
that he was slain, and with his life's blood he purchased his
sheep. Now I like the word redeemed.
I know sometimes we speak about him buying, and that's true,
but I love this word redeemed because when we use this word
redeemed, the meaning that we associate with it tells us the
truth about His redemption. When a person pays a price for
something that is already his, that's when you redeem something. If it's not yours, you buy it. But if you redeem it, it's already
yours. We use this word in reference
to pawn shops, don't we? You take something of value to
the pawn dealer, he gives you so much money, he gives you a
redemption ticket. And in a certain time frame,
you come back, it's really yours, but it's not yours. Possession,
they say, is nine-tenths of the law. No, he's got it. He's got it in his possession,
but it's yours. But you come back, you pay the
price, and He hands it to you. The Lord Jesus came into the
market, the slave market, my friends, to redeem His people. Those who were already given
unto Him by the Father. They were His sheep. And you
see this so clearly in this verse of Scripture. He has redeemed
us out of He didn't redeem every single person in every nation
and tribe and kindred and tongue. He redeemed those that the Father
gave Him, who were scattered among all the nations of the
earth. But He redeemed His people, and
He shall have His people. He shall see of the travail of
His soul, and He shall be satisfied. Thank God this morning. He is
worthy, worthy. The Lamb is worthy to reveal
God, to reign over all, and to redeem God's chosen people. Now redemption is usually from
something to something. Let me say that again. Redemption
is usually from something to something. If you notice in Titus
chapter 2, we see what we are redeemed from. Titus chapter
2 and verse 14. Titus chapter 2 and verse 14. Who gave himself for us that
he might redeem us from all iniquity. That is what we are redeemed
from, from all iniquity. That is from the bondage of sin,
from its guilt, from its condemnation, from its punishment. He has redeemed
us from all iniquity and what our iniquity deserves and brings. But I said usually you are redeemed
from something to something. And we know in our text we are
redeemed unto God. That's what it says, is that
He hath redeemed us. Verse 9, He hath redeemed us
to God. To God. You who are redeemed
are not your own. You are bought with the price. You've been redeemed from all
iniquity and all of the consequences of iniquity of sin. But you've
been redeemed to God. You've been bought with the price.
Look over back with me to Luke chapter 1 just a moment. This
prophecy of the father of John the Baptist, Zacharias, I tell
you, it has so much, so much. Verse 68, it says, Blessed be
the Lord God, Luke chapter 1 and verse 68. And this is a prophecy
of Zacharias, who was filled with the Holy Spirit. Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed
his people. That ought to cause every one
of us here today who know Christ as our Lord and Savior just to
say in our hearts, Hallelujah. Hallelujah. He has visited, visited
this world and he has redeemed his people. But notice that's
not all. And hath raised up in horn of
salvation for us in the house of his servant David. as he spake
by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world
began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the
hand of all that hate us, to perform the mercy promised to
our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which
he swore to our father Abraham, that he would, now notice this,
he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand
of our enemies might serve him without fear in holiness and
righteousness before him all the days of our life. We're redeemed from all iniquity,
we're redeemed unto God that we might serve him in righteousness
and holiness all the days of our life. And to do so without
fear. Without fear. Now here's the
fourth thing, the last thing. Back in our chapter 5 of Revelation. The Lamb is worthy to receive
all glory and honor. Verse number 11. 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 was ten
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 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 which is in
heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in
the sea, And all that are in them, heard I saying, blessing
and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon
the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever. All of heaven, ten thousand times
ten thousand and thousands of thousands, all of the elect angels
of God, and all of God's redeemed people, redeemed by the precious
blood of the Lamb. We all join in praise, saying,
worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Now, these
four things all begin with the same letter, R. I hope that will
help us to remember. The Lamb of God, He's worthy
to reveal God. If you ever know God, it will
only be through the Lamb of God. He's worthy to reign. We don't
come and worship some wannabe. Lord, we come to worship Him
who is reigning over all things. Everything is put under His feet. And He's worthy to redeem. Thank
God His precious blood redeems us from all iniquity. And fourth,
He's worthy to receive all of our praise. And I want to add
a fifth one this morning. Worthy is the Lamb of our trust. You may be here this morning
and you've never trusted in your heart, you've never looked to
Jesus Christ as your Lord and as your Savior. He's worthy. He's worthy of your
trust. That Old Testament verse in Isaiah
45 says, Look unto Me. Look unto Me. Look unto the Lamb
of God. Look unto Me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth. Now
I know that includes you. All the ends of the earth. That
includes you. Look, look, look unto me, all
ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there
is none else. And John the Baptist had the
privilege of pointing him out that day as he walked by the
river Jordan. Behold, the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. You look to Him in faith this
morning, and your sin is taken away. That's the only way it'll
ever be taken away. If you look within, it won't
be taken away that way. If you look to the preacher,
to the church, to the waters of baptism, what have you, your
sin will not be taken away. Look to the Lamb of God and be
ye saved. He's worthy. He's worthy. We're going to sing a hymn. Look
to the Lamb of God. And I pray this morning in this
service, someone right now is looking to Him. And your sins
are taken away. Number 216. And let's stand as
we sing. Number 216.