So Wester's up and about. She's
got a black eye and a brain wrist. Redhawg's feeling better. Redhawg's
feeling better, too. She got this, hopefully, the
last stitch out of her eye. So remember these folks in your
prayer. Seek the Lord's help for them.
How's Eddie doing? He's doing pretty good. He's
not having any problems? Did they crack him? Did he have
open heart surgery? That's a whole different story. We and our worship service this
morning will hear of Sovereign Grace and our section of hymn
will be on the other side. Here is Sovereign Grace sung
to the tune of the Doxology. ? In this place to hear a free
and sovereign praise ? ? O may our God this very hour ? ? Send
forth His grace and mighty power ? ? Tis true, we are but worms
of clay ? We will pray and we will praise
Him for His grace. We'll send Christ down to take
our place. How His Son has come to proclaim
the glories of the Son. Let His praises now ascend! And when the times shall come
to part, Then let us be of good heart, And wheresoever be our
place, I'm going to read the first ten
verses and take my text from verse And I saw in the right hand of
him that sat on the throne, that's the lamp of God, a book written
within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a
strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to
open the book and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in
heaven nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to
open the book, neither to look therein. And I wept much, because
no man was found worthy to open and read the book, neither to
look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto
me, Weep not. Behold, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose
the seven And I beheld him low in the midst
of the throne, and the four beasts in the midst of the elders stood
a lamb, as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven
eyes, from which other seven spirits of God sent forth unto
all the earth. And he came, and he took the
book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four
and twenty elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of
them harps and golden vials of odors, which were the prayers
of the saints, and they sung a new song, saying, Thou art
worthy to take the book, to open the seals thereof, for Thou hast
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.
Let's pray. We are thankful for this word.
It's a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path, the entrance of
which is understanding to the simple. We are thankful for the Holy
Spirit, who is our guide, who takes the things of Christ, of
whom this book speaks, and shows them unto us. We are thankful
that you have in your grace and mercy given us faith because
of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, given us faith to understand
and to appreciate and to rejoice in this work, knowing full well
that it was indeed a sealed book to us and even to the world until
Jesus Christ came. We thank you, Father, for grace
and mercy for ruined and wretched sinners who are without hope
and without help in this world. who in and of themselves cannot
move one inch closer to thee. But in your grace and mercy you
set your son to die in their womb instead, to take their sin
upon himself, to be punished for their sin,
and to die in their stead to satisfy your law and justice.
So what so? So perfect is sacrifice. that
you'll remember their sins no more. Full forgiveness. And then, wonder of wonders,
you made him to be unto them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. And all for your glory, and the
praise and the glory of your grace, for it was free, it was
unmerited, and it was eternal. We pray, Lord, for those who
are sick and going through trials, those who've lost loved ones.
We're thankful for the recovery of those who've been hurt and
feeling better. We ask, Lord, your blessing upon
them. Fix their hearts and minds upon Christ. Help us this hour to worship
you. Truly, you're worthy. Help us now, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Completing Thee,
O Blessed Thou. Completing Thee, Lord of mine. Take, dear Lord, all the fruits
of thine. that I am now complete in Thee. He justifies your wasted lot
and sanctifies salvation wrought. Thy blood and pardon poured for
me, Thy glory found Complete in Thee, no more shall
sin thy praise and honor bear within! Thy voice shall be a
tempered theme, when all is to sin! Complete in Thee! and glorified that You shall
be. Complete in Thee, each portion
of life, and everything to be in Thine. Since now I was, or
will be, I am so more complete in Thee. Yah'shua, Yah'shua,
Yah'shua... I am. Father, again we come in the
name of Jesus Christ, our majestic and glorious Savior. and with Him predicated all things
that pertain to goodness and life. We know that we are betters to
all men who preach the gospel. And we owe you an eternal debt
of thanksgiving and praise for what you've done for us. But
we owe you nothing legally because the Lord has settled and satisfied
the law and justice for us. As we return to Thee, that which
You give us, let us do so with thanksgiving and joy in our hearts,
we pray in Christ's name. Amen. So, I'd like your attention back
to Revelation Chapter 5. This book is not a book about
prophecies and such. It's not to be used to compare
with the newspapers and magazines of the day or the radio broadcast
or TV broadcast of the day trying to figure out what's happening
in this world. I'm thankful for the fact that
I don't know what's happening in this world. often confused
about what I do see and what I do hear. But I know this, behind
it all, in control of it all, and according to the purpose
of it all, God Almighty is ruling and reigning in this world. And
the violence of things that take place that make us shudder are
ultimately for the glory of God and for the good of His people.
I don't try to understand that. This book is the revelation,
or the revealing, or the apocalypse. That's where the word revelation
comes from. The apocalypse of the Lord Jesus Christ is revelation. And to read this book with an
eye on Jesus Christ is to read this book correctly. To read
it with an eye on events and circumstance and things that
are going on in this world is to read it erroneously. In this passage I've just read,
you have the Lord Jesus Christ and the vision that John received
on the Isle of Pines revealed in two characters. He's revealed
as the Lamb upon the throne. He's revealed as the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. And he's revealed as the Lion
of the tribe of Judah. It speaks of a sealed book, a
book that is sealed. Many people think that has to
do with the eternal counsels of God and providence and things
like that. It does not. This book is sealed
today to all but those whom God has chosen from the foundation
of the world, who have saved by His grace and taught in the
gospel. This book is sealed, and the
only way this book He's the key of knowledge. He
was the one who spoke to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
And after taking them to the Psalms and to the books of Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them the things of this
scripture concerning himself. He says, and then he opened their
eyes that they might understand the scriptures. You may be able to quote them,
you may spend years in theological seminary studying them, but you'll
never know what they mean until you see that every word of this
book from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 is about a single person and
what he's done for his people. And that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's this book that is sealed with seven seals and only Jesus
Christ can open it. Paul called it, in the first
epistle he wrote, the mystery concealed for the ages. And today,
it's the same. The only one who can break these
seven seals and open this book is the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. This entire book is the revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's a divine treatise on
the unqualified victory of our omnipotent Lord over every enemy
and the glorious exaltation of his church with him. This is
his story. This is the final chapter for
us. So if you're worried about the future, you shouldn't be
if you're a child of God, because you know the end of the story.
And this book is set up in seven visions. that John received on
the Isle of Patmos, and each vision represents a particular
aspect of things going on in the church, in the world, during
the Gospel Age, which started when Jesus Christ came, and will
end when He returns. And how the Lord controls all
these things in these churches. This was actually written to
seven visible churches. Seven churches in Asia Minor.
Philadelphia, thy tyrants, and so on. And these seven churches
received this book. And they didn't look to some
future date. They thought Christ is coming today. He's going to
show up today. It was an imminent return. And
that's the language of Scripture. Don't look for some seven year
period. Don't look for some 1,000 years of tribulation, a millennium
of tribulation. That interpretation in chapter
20 is thousands of years, not a thousand years. But here in this book he's presented
as the Lamb slain and is worthy to be praised because he has
not endeavored to redeem or made redemption possible, but he has
redeemed us. That means he has bought us off
the slave market of sin removed us from the slave market of sin,
possessed us, and will never return us to the slave market
of sin. That word, redemption, that's
what it means, to buy off the slave market. Now picture that
in the book of Hosea. When Hosea went, his poor wife
had been put on the slave market, and he bought her back, because
he said he loved her. She was a prostitute, a whore,
and he loved her. That's us, you see. We're not
bright, shiny creatures. We're all prostitutes and whores
by nature. And wonder is a wonder, Jesus
Christ loved us as his bride. What a wonder that is. But it's
about Christ and his church being victorious in this world. There is no place in this great
book where the church is caused to fear the outcome, because
the outcome has been settled from all eternity. Though religion
seems to delight in the supposed weakness and presumed pacifism
of Jesus Christ, the scriptures speak of the one who cannot fail,
of whose kingdom there is no end. And this passage surpasses
the ability of poetry and prose to describe its subject, rhyme
and reason are rendered mute and inoperative before the excellency
of the one here declared. Can it be that there is a man
to whom such accolades are ascribed? Surely such a magnified one must
have some done something absolutely wonderful. and wondrous, and
he did. Jesus Christ saved his people
from their sin. All of them. All of them. In verse 5, it says this, and
one of the elders said, Weep not, behold the Lamb of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book,
and to loose the seven seals thereof." In the Old Testament,
when the term lion is employed in reference to Jesus Christ,
the word can be rendered in one of two ways. It can be rendered
male or female when it speaks of a lion. It's Satan himself,
it's called the roaring line, going about who may desire, going
about to desire. Well, 78 year old lips, don't
fail me now. Going about to devour whomever
he desires. And that speaks of his power.
I know preachers like to say, we'll run the devil out of town.
Let me tell you something about him. He's handled people like
you for 6,000 years. You ain't got a chance against
him. He knows your business. And you know what he'll do? He'll
make you feel like you're righteous enough to go to heaven on your
own. He'll not make you drunk or make you sign pentagrams on
the wall. Or go out in the woods and slaughter
a goat and do a dance. He will make you feel as if you
merit salvation. So you won't look to Jesus Christ.
That's what his job is. He's a good preacher. He's called
a minister of righteousness. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11,
the term lion when employed to Christ, countenance of royalty and beauty
that does not belong to the lioness. But the lioness exhibits characteristics
of care and cunning and ferocity that do not belong to the male. The male lion's mane particularly
is seen to display majesty and might and greatness. Over the
years if you look at the costumes that kings and queens made, they
liked to put a great furry collar around the costumes because they
wanted to look like a lion because it had a regal and majestic look
and they wanted to appear fierce. The male lion's place in the
pride is owner, protector, and sovereign. He is the king
of birds, beasts they say. The lioness is the hunter, full
of wit and cunning and lethal skill. She's the one who feeds
the pride by her cunning craft and is herself powerful and beautiful.
She raises her young with affection. She is the teacher. Though no
description or picture can fully declare the majesty of Jesus
Christ, the lion, both male and female, set forth several attributes
of our Lord very well. The use of such terms not only
fitly describe our Lord, they also are a source of comfort
and assurance to his sheep. When the believer thinks of being
kept and protected and defended and cared for, the knowledge
that the Lion of the tribe of Judah is the one doing it affords
him great comfort and consolation. And when the presentation of
Christ is defined by the attributes of the lion or the lioness, the
important thing to know is the context in which the terminology
is used. In fact, that applies to every
scripture. Text without context is pretext. It's that simple. In what context is Christ described
in the scripture? In those places, in the words
such as our text, the text of our lesson, the lion is seen
in the capacity of the sovereign. Whether in revelation or in salvation,
in worthiness or in fierceness, he is the lion. Our text particularly
refers to him in the prophetic description of Judah, the lion
of the tribe of Judah. Jacob spoke of Judah in Genesis
chapter 49 when he told what was going to happen to his 12
sons and the 12 tribes. Our text particularly refers
to the prophetic description of Judah spoken by Jacob under
the inspiration of God in Genesis 49. You want to turn there with
me? In Genesis chapter 49, in verse 8 it says, Judah, thou
art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Our Lord said the same
thing in Isaiah 45, to him shall every knee bow. Repeated in Philippians
chapter 2, every knee bow and every tongue confess that he
is Lord to the glory of the Father. Thy hand shall be in the neck
of thine enemies, Got him in a chokehold. I understand how
effective a chokehold is. You tell you put a fella out
of business real quick. That's what it means. He's enemies?
Got him in a chokehold. Got him by the throat. Thy father's
children shall bow down before thee. Everybody's going to bow
down before him. Judah is a lion's whelp from
the prey. My son, thou art gonad, he stooped
down, he couched as a lion, as an old lion, Who shall rise him
up? Judah, an important character
in scripture. In Genesis 43 and Genesis 44,
he's the surety for his brother. He says, if I don't bring him
back, you can take me. What is a surety? A surety is
someone who assumes the death of another. It's not a cosine. It's a complete assumption of
the day. Steve became surety for me on car loan. The bank
can never come to me even though it's my car. And I'm driving. The bank can never come to me
for payment of that loan. He's my surety. Now if he's cosigned,
they can get you one of us. But he was surety. That means
he takes it as soon as my day. Judah is surety for his brother
Benjamin when he's held, supposedly held captivity by Joseph. Twice
he said, I'll be surety for the land. I'll be surety. Judah is surety. That's a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our surety from the foundation
of the Word. He's in David's line as King
of Judah. He's the line of the tribe of
Judah, the seed of David. When you see words like the seed
of David in the Old Testament, and especially as it's spoken
of in the New Testament, it talks about worship. If you look at
the prophets in the days of idolatry of Israel, they over and over
again said these people don't worship God like David did. David
worshipped God with a blood sacrifice. David worshipped God for who
he was. These people worshipped idols. He's in the line of David. He
said in the gospels that he takes the throne of David. That means
he's king of Israel. What Israel? True Israel, the
church of the living God. All that is Israel is not Israel,
and Isaac shall I see be called. Why do you say something like
that? Isaac? Because Isaac was supernaturally
born. Abraham and Sarah were past the
childbearing age, it says in Romans chapter 4, but he believed
God and he was able to perform what he was promised and God
delivered Isaac. That's why Ishmael was cast out, because he was
born of the flesh. In fact, Galatians 4 says it's
a chaotic allegory of those two. Judah, the line of the tribe
of Judah, the seed of David. Judah speaks of a unique one-of-a-kind
priesthood. All priesthood in the Old Testament
came from one tribe, Levi. Levi was the tribe of the priesthood.
You couldn't be a priest unless you come from the tribe of Levi.
Hebrews chapter 7 says Jesus Christ was a priest from the
tribe of Judah. The only one. A priest after the order of Melchizedek
had said. John is told to wipe away his
tears because the line of the tribe of Judah, the one that
Jacob spoke of, the one that Moses wrote of, undertook the
task and has won the day. He has opened the book and opened
the seals thereof. The mysteries hid for ages will
soon be revealed because the line has prevailed to open the
perfectly sealed book. Back in our text, back in Genesis
49, It says, Judah is a lion's whelp from the prey. Thy son, thou art gone up, he
stooped down. He couched as a lion, as an old
lion. And who shall rouse him up? Here
our Lord is described as both a young lion and an old lion. This of course speaks of the
eternality of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was the Ancient of
Days and became the Infinite Days. Specifically, this description
of Christ has to do with his accomplishments. He is first
revealed as a lion's whelp or a young lion, vital, strong,
having the dew of his youth and being at the peak of his prowess.
As such, he's a mighty predator. Having destroyed his prey, he
goes up ascends to a high place to rest satisfied and content. Blessed Lion of the tribe of
Judah has prevailed. His enemy, the enemy of his people,
has suffered a great head wound. Well, that was the promise in
Genesis 15. The seed of woman shall bruise the serpent's head,
and the serpent shall bruise his heel. His efforts to destroy
the people of God have been met and thwarted by the sovereign
Lion. The proof of this truth is that the lion sits in a place
of majesty. Majesty, he has ascended even
to the right hand of the majesty on high, ever ready to make intercession
for his people. The lion is further here described
as stooped down in the past tense. The verb stooped is in the past
tense. It means that his stooping has already been done and is
a completed act. It speaks of the context of the
lion's welp upon the neck of his prey, having finished the
act of slaying the prey before he went to his place of rest.
This, of course, pictures our Lord condescending, coming down
from heaven, laying aside his glorious robes, and taking upon
him the form of a man in the fashion of flesh, stooping to
finish the work that he has before him, condescending down to this
world, and then ascending to the high place. Here the young
lion after he has done his work, goes to a high place to rest.
There's also an illusion that the lion's wealth is in the place
of rest because he's destroyed the prey. He's destroyed the
prey. Our Lord did that. He destroyed
the prey. He was victorious because he
was obedient unto death, and God is highly exalted to him,
giving him a name above every name, the name of Jesus, every
name shall bow. And every tongue confess that
he's Lord of the glory of the Father. Read Hebrews chapter
1. Listen to the language described.
This is the Lord Jesus Christ. And it begins by talking about
the Old Testament. past times unto the fathers by
the prophets. So we had prophets of old, Jeremiah,
Isaiah, Zechariah, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, all these were prophets
and they spoke for God. That's not how it is today. There
are no prophets today. I know preachers say I'm a prophet,
you're a liar. You ain't no prophet. Preachers
are just men God has raised up to open their mouth and repeat
what God has said, and they'll be off the scene pretty soon.
They're maggots like everybody else. But now happen these last days,
spoken to us by his son. You notice the word his, it's
an italic supposedly added by the translators for our understanding,
but it weakens the translation actually, spoken to us. by son, or actually it reads
in son. Over in Zephaniah chapter 3,
our Lord said he's going to turn his people to a pure language.
A pure language. He confounded the language at
Babylon. Now he says I'm going to turn
them to a single language. What is the language of God?
The language of God is Jesus Christ. What does He mean? In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God, as in these days spoken of in His
Son. He's the man, He's the message, and He's the means. He has appointed
Jesus Christ heir of everything. What does that mean? Look at
yourself. Look at your neighbor. we live in. That glorious string
that runs across the street. Look at the trees. Hear the birds. They're His. You're His. Do with as He sees fit. Heir
of all things. And it was by Jesus Christ that
God made the worlds. The world we live in and that
world out yonder that no telescope can reach the end of. who beamed the brightness of
His glory, that is, the outshining, the effulgence of God, the outshining
of God. Over in Psalms it said, out of
Zion our God has shined, the shining God. He's called the
Son of Righteousness, arising with healing in His wings. The
shining God. You wanna know what God looks
like? Jesus Christ is what we know of God. In Him will the
fullness of the Godhead bodily be the brightness of His glory. What is God's glory? Everything
is done for the praise of the glory of God's grace. The express
image of His person. The express image of an invisible
God. That's what He's called in Colossians
1, the image of the invisible God. And upholding all things
by the word of His power. Everything held in place. Everything consists and is glued
together by Jesus Christ. Now it says when. So here we
enter into a concept of time. First it's a description of the
person. Now what time is it? When? When what? When he had. Past tense. by himself, with nobody else's
help, purged our sins. What does that mean? He put our
sins away. The Roman Catholic Church has
something called purgatory. It doesn't exist in reality,
but it makes a lot of money for the church because people pay
to get their friends out of purgatory because they sin too much while
they're here on earth. This is purgatory where sins
were purged on the cross of Calvary. He purged our sins. What did
he do after he purged our sins? Like that lion, young wilt coming
from the prey, he rises up and he sits down. He sat down on
the right hand of the majesty on high. He sat down. He sat down. Why? Because he
had nothing left to do. rest on the seventh day after
creation because there was nothing left to do. It's done. Why did Christ rest and enter
into his eternal rest at the right hand of the Father? Because
there's nothing left to do. He's finished salvation. He has
redeemed. This Jesus who's trying to do
something, who wants you to do something, is not the God of
heaven. Not. He sat down on the right
hand of the Father. That's what this is talking about
back in Genesis 49. That's exactly what he's talking
about. He's prevailed over the world.
He sits at the majesty on high in his right hand. And back there,
the lion is further presented as And the lion of the tribe of
Judah is here described as couched. Couched, this word means to lie
down. To lie down. But not in the general
application of rest. The word carries over the sense
of violence and pictures the lion as being low to the ground.
Finished the work, but he's crouched. You got a cat, you know what
that looks like. That cat crouched down. to attack. The Apostle was tense
and ready to pounce on anyone who would challenge him, to spring
to the defense of his pride. This teaches that Christ and
his gospel are not to be trifled with. He's the lion, the conquering
lion, the fierce and mighty undefeated warrior, proved in battle and
enthroned in glory. Don't mess with his truth. Final reference in Genesis 49
is the lion is an old lion. He is the ancient of days. He's
been forever because he's God Almighty. And his rest is so
secure that none can cause him to arise and none can stir him
up in the sense of agitation. You can't bother God. And you
can't join your hands together in a circle and pray real hard
and get him to do something. He's resting. He's not pacing
to and fro, wondering about the safety of his pride. He's not
stirred by the cries of feeble creatures. These things point
to the eternality of Christ, but more to the absoluteness
of the work he's accomplished. All his enemies have been defeated.
They move in a chronological, continual, and purposeful progression
to take their appointed place as the footstool of the old lion. Christ, the conquering Lord,
the Lord The Lion of the Tribe of Judas shall reign till all
his enemies be made his footstool, saith the Word of God. And in
the context of Revelation 5, our Lord, the Lion of the Tribe
of Judas revealed in the capacity of a successful Savior. He's
worthy, you see, because he hath redeemed us by his blood out
of every kindred, nation, tongue, and people, and that's all in
the past tense, and he's made us made us, past tense, kings
and priests unto our God, and we shall reign on the earth."
Who's running this earth? The churches! They just don't
know it. They just don't know it. I saw
one blurb the other day that this lady, for lack of a better
word, preacher in, I think it was the Lutheran church, said
the rainbow was a symbol. The rainbow over Noah's ark was
a symbol of LGBTQ. I mean, she said that in a poor
way. And I thought, yeah, it is. You see, eight people were
in that ark, chosen of God. All of them sinners, chosen of
God. They survived. The rest of the cotton-picking
world was destroyed. And the rainbow tells us they'll
never destroy the earth again. That's what happened. That's
what happened. Our Lord is successful. We don't
worship someone who's trying to get people to do something.
We worship the lion of the tribe of Judah who has prevailed. His worthiness to open the book
of Lucid Silvero is declared to be because he, as the lamb,
was slain and redeemed us. This connection to the line of
the Savior and his people is the heart of the teaching of
the blessed description back over in Isaiah chapter 31 and
verse 4. It says, for thus hath the Lord
spoken to me, like as a lion, and the young lion roaring on
his prey. When a multitude of shepherds
is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their
voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them. So shall the
Lord of Hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion and to heal their
love. Our Lord is depicted as the young
lion, the lion's web roaring after he's killed his prey, stands
with his giant paw on the neck Though many shepherds, villagers
come out to sea, though they may shout in hopes of making
the lion afraid and thereby leave his prey, they dare not approach
for the sake of their own lives. The lion is not afraid, nor will
he be humiliated by losing what he has won. So those who would
think to take from the lion of the tribe of Judah the glory
that is due him alone for salvation of the elect, or imply that he
has not secured all for whom he bought, will find themselves
facing the fierceness of the lion one day. Everyone for whom
this lion died has been redeemed. And don't go trying to scare
him off and say, no, this one ain't redeemed. Everybody for
whom he died is saved. And I take it up again. No man
takes my life from me. I have this commandment of my
father. All that the father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven to
do my own father's will. And this is my father's will
which is in me. Of all that he has given me, I should lose nothing. I raise it up again. Lion of the tribe of Judah, the seed of David, he shall prevail.