Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.wartracebaptist.org/sermons/60683/revelation-5/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] And we read the Word of God, reading the entire chapter, it's only 14 verses in Revelation 5. The Word of God says, I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.

[0:13] And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals? And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it.

[0:24] Then I began to weep greatly, because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, Stop weeping. Behold, the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.

[0:39] And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders a lamb standing as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.

[0:50] And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each one holding a harp and a golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

[1:06] And they sang a new song saying, Worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priest to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.

[1:22] Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

[1:39] And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them, I heard saying, To him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.

[1:54] And the four living creatures kept saying amen, and the elders fell down and worshiped. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for giving us this day. Lord, we are so thankful to have the opportunity together, together, to open up our Bibles, to read your word.

[2:09] And Lord, we pray as we have read it now, that the truth would captivate our hearts and minds, that it would begin to transform us. Lord, that we would not focus so much on the circumstances around us, but we would focus on the Lord before us.

[2:21] And Lord, that you would be exalted, you'd be glorified, you'd be magnified, even as this passage shows you being. Lord, may that take place today in our presence. And Lord, we just ask that in all things, you would be exalted.

[2:34] And we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. If you remember, we've been making our way through the book of Revelation, and it's been some time, so I'll try to catch you up to where we were at.

[2:46] Or maybe you weren't able to be with us in all this. We do have these sermons on audio on the website. Brother Pruitt Marshall has done a fantastic job of keeping that one updated. And the video ones are now, since all this thing has taken place, is now also being put up.

[3:01] But you remember the book of Revelation. Many people read the book of Revelation, and they see it as a revelation of end times. And that is kind of partially true. Because when we read the Revelation, the book of Revelation, we are seeing kind of the laying out of end times, the latter days.

[3:18] We are seeing what is to be, what is to take place. But the book of Revelation is so much more than the revelation of end times. As a matter of fact, the title itself states it for it. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[3:31] So it is the revelation, not of things to come, but of he who always is. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ. And the book itself opens up with John in exile on the island of Patmos.

[3:42] And he sees the revelation of Jesus Christ. On the Lord's day, he was in the spirit. And he beholds the Son of God as he is, in all of his glory and splendor and majesty. And he receives a declaration of things that were, things that are, and things to come.

[3:56] That is a threefold revelation. Chapter 1 deals with the things that were, the things of the past. Chapters 2 and 3 deal with the things that are. That is the letter to the seven churches. And if you remember, when we made our way through chapters 2 and 3, we looked at the picture of the seven pictures, or the seven characteristics of a healthy church.

[4:14] That each one of those letters represented a characteristic of a healthy church. That the churches are to be, the church on earth, being present in the presence of he who is in heaven.

[4:25] That is the king or the Lord in heaven. And so we saw Revelation 1, 2, and 3. Revelation 3 and 4 is kind of this great divide, because in Revelation 4, no longer is John on the earth, looking at the church on the earth.

[4:39] As a matter of fact, in Revelation 4, it says that John says, I behold, I looked up to the heavens, and I saw a great door open. And he had an invitation, and he went into the courtroom of heaven. And Revelation 4 is all about the throne.

[4:51] He is in the throne room. If you remember, you may have to go back and read it. It's a short chapter. But really, Revelation 4 and 5 go together. And if I thought I had time, we would have put them together to look at them, but it would have taken us too long.

[5:04] In Revelation 4, he walks in, and he sees the throne. And he sees he who is on the throne. That is Elohim. That is God Almighty, right? That in the beginning, God, Elohim, created the heavens and the earth.

[5:16] Now that name of God is not the covenant God. That's not Yahweh. It is not the Jehovah God. It is not the Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, God. It is not this relational God.

[5:27] It is powerful God. It is Elohim. It is the great, mighty creator, sustainer, God on the throne. And he saw, he began to describe what it looked like around the throne.

[5:38] And he described these beasts, these magnificent beasts that were circling the throne. And what is amazing in Revelation 4, it is the same description that Daniel gives. It is the same description that Ezekiel gives.

[5:50] And it is the same description that Isaiah gives, each of them, as they look into the courtroom of heaven. So we have this kind of similarity all throughout Scripture, this consistency, if you will. And then he saw the 24 elders gathered around the throne, which we looked at was more than likely a picture of the church, gathered around the throne of God.

[6:08] And he's looking at God Almighty, this powerful God. And in the same scene, now we have shifting into chapter 5, is no longer focusing on the throne, we'll be focusing on the Lamb.

[6:20] So Revelation 5, I need to tell you this before we get into it too much. It is my interpretation from biblical study. And if you're of different interpretation, that's okay.

[6:30] There are big rocks in theology, right? There are big rocks when we fill our cup of what we believe about God. You have to put the big stones in first, right?

[6:41] Big stones mean these things can't be changed. There are big stones in that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He was born the perfect birth. It was of the Virgin Mary, that He lived a sinless life, that He died a substitutionary death.

[6:53] He died for you and I, that He was literally dead. He was buried in the grave for three days. On the third day, He rose again, and He lives victoriously forevermore. He physically is alive. That's a big rock. We put that one in our cup of theology, what we believe about God first.

[7:06] That we are saved by faith through grace alone is not in words lest any man should boast. Boom, put that in the cup. Because there's nothing you can do to earn your salvation. That's a big one all throughout Scripture. Then we fill up our cup of what we believe about God.

[7:18] That's what theology is, by the way. With the little stones. And some of those, we don't necessarily always have to agree on. There are great Bible scholars who are in disagreement about the end times, how things will happen.

[7:29] That's eschatology. Now, when I tell you the things that I believe, if you don't believe, don't get mad and walk out on me. We can sit down and have a great conversation. We can have a probably three-hour conversation in which my wife would look at me and go, are you done talking about that yet?

[7:43] Can we just not just, because it's great talk. I love talking about Scripture. I love talking about it. But according to my theology and eschatology, the church is raptured after Revelation 3.

[7:55] The church is no longer present. The reason we see this is because the church is in heaven in Revelation 4 and 5. And then, I hate to say this, but all craziness breaks loose on earth in Revelation 6.

[8:07] Because when the church is removed, so is the presence of Christ, and therefore the wrath of God and judgment. Now, it is not just based on those simple things. It would take me a long time to go throughout the book of 1 Thessalonians, throughout the book of Daniel, and all these different things where we could work that out.

[8:21] But that is my interpretation, that we are in heaven. You need to understand that. We are, I believe, in the rapture of the church. That word rapture is in 1 Thessalonians 5.

[8:31] By the way, somebody says rapture is not in the Bible. Yes, it is. It is there. It is just in a translation of that word, but it is absolutely there, where we are called to be with him. That is the rapture, I believe, in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church.

[8:45] The tribulation is about to come. But we are now in Revelation 5, gathered around the throne in heaven, and I want you to see in Revelation 5, Behold the lion.

[8:57] Behold the lion. You remember that John the Baptist, when he was baptizing in the River Jordan, and he was there around the vicinity of Jerusalem, and Jesus came to be baptized by him.

[9:08] If you remember that John the Baptist gave this great testimony, Behold the lamb, which takes away the sin of the world. This is a very particular testimony, and it is actually very clear. He did not say Jesus was the lamb who takes away the sins, plural.

[9:20] Sins are our actions, those things we do wrong. He says he takes away the sin, singular, that is our nature, our sin nature, that which makes us do the things wrong. He says, Behold the lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

[9:33] And if you remember, after John the Baptist's testimony, some of John's followers began to follow the lamb, and they walked after the lamb, who is Jesus Christ. So now, when we get into glory, we are beholding the lion.

[9:46] We're no longer beholding the lamb, even though we'll use the word lamb in just a minute. As a matter of fact, it gets used repeatedly. But I want you to understand that this is not the lamb who is walking in meekness and humility upon the face of the earth.

[9:57] This is not the lamb that is walking in all of these clothed strings. This is the lion who is the lamb. It isn't really a play on words. It is intentional. Because when we hear lion, we expect this mane and power and authority and growling and teeth and all these things of the lion.

[10:15] And then we look, and that lion is actually a lamb. And the word lamb there means little lamb. It's like this little baby lamb, right? One that came, though he does not look like it, has so much authority and so much power and so much prestige, and he is in that rightful place.

[10:31] So in Revelation 5, we're in the throne room of heaven. We're looking at God on the throne. And then all of a sudden, our focus is going to shift, and we're going to behold the lion. And we're going to be seeing Jesus in all of his splendor.

[10:45] And to see him in his splendor is not as if John would have saw him in the flesh, right? It's totally different. This is John, the apostle, who walked with Jesus in the flesh.

[10:56] And I want you to see four things from this behold the lion. Number one, I want you to see an open invitation. An open invitation. This all begins with this great open invitation. He says, I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

[11:08] Now, who is him who sat on the throne? That's Elohim. That's God Almighty, right? This is the one that is on the throne in Revelation 4. So you have to keep all this in mind. Who's giving the invitation? What is the invitation?

[11:20] This is an open invitation. I saw in the right hand. Now, all throughout Scripture, and even throughout history, and even in my house, you understand that. The right hand is a place of authority.

[11:32] It's a place of power. It is a place, you say, well, that makes no sense. Well, throughout Scripture, it matters. These things are important. The right hand is always seen as the place of authority, the place of power. When you have God, the all-powerful one, holding something in his right hand, that something cannot be in a more powerful, secure place, right?

[11:51] He is in the right hand, or that book is in the right hand of God on his throne. It is in his place of power. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. He is at the place of power of the Father.

[12:03] So we see here, I saw in the right hand, the place of authority and the place of power, of him who set on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. Again, we can go through a lot of understanding, and we can split a lot of hairs of what this book is.

[12:19] Some say that this is the book of man's fall and redemption. Some say that this is the book of the history of mankind. But clearly, we understand that this book is, if nothing else, now this is a very simple interpretation, this book is, if nothing else, is the record of things to take place in Revelation 6 and following.

[12:37] Because it's when this book is opened up that these things begin to take place. We see the seven bows and the seven harps and seven horses. We see all the judgments of God. So, if nothing else, now we don't really know what it is.

[12:47] We can't really, we can go stir crazy trying to figure out what it is. But we know that if nothing else, it is at least this. It is a record of the soon coming history of mankind.

[13:01] Revelation 6 and following. It is the recorded events of what is going to transpire in God's judgment, ultimate redemption, and his also restoration of his authority on this earth with all of mankind.

[13:16] Now, people who have a humanistic viewpoint, that is, people who do not know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, people who do not even believe in God, people who are either agnostic, not believing in anything, or atheistic, not believing, believing rather that God does not exist.

[13:32] These people have such a worldview that the world revolves around mankind. And if you have a worldview that the world revolves around mankind, you cannot have a good worldview. Because mankind is in this great degrading state of existence.

[13:45] Man does really good at destroying man. I don't know if you figured that out yet or not. Man is not getting better. Rather, man is going farther down the pike. Man tends to turn inward on one another.

[13:59] And man will eventually destroy themselves. And if we look at history and we're trying to figure out what man is like, what is the end result of mankind, then it would be very despairing if we had nothing else to look to.

[14:13] But what we find our hope in and what we find our comfort in believers in is that the history or the future events of mankind, God, friend, listen to me, is already recorded and completely sealed in a book that is in the right hand of him who is on the throne.

[14:27] God is ultimately in charge. He knows what is going to happen. He is not taken off guard. He is not taken by surprise. The future of man is already recorded.

[14:38] It says in a book, in a scroll, and it is rolled up and it is sealed with seven seals. What is a seven? Seven is a number of completeness or perfection or power, right? That means it is completely sealed up.

[14:49] I mean, let's just go ahead and say this. I believe in a God. It is so powerful. And maybe you have a hard time believing in this. But I believe in a God. It is so powerful that he already knows what is the end result of all of history, that he has already written down what is yet to be, and he has already sealed it up.

[15:06] And what we see in Revelation is man finally getting to see what God has already recorded. Because before the foundations of the earth were laid, he had already written names in the Lamb's book of life. That blows my mind.

[15:16] I mean, it just makes me go, wow, that's amazing, right? My name was recorded before the foundations of the earth were laid, let alone before I was even born. That is so amazing that God, before he created anything, had already wrote the whole story.

[15:29] He had already recorded the whole thing. He had already put it all out there. He had already written everything out, and he had already recorded it. And then he sealed it up because man does not have the ability to decide or to dictate his own future.

[15:41] Understand that, right? God has already recorded it, and it's in his hand. Here's the invitation. And then a strong angel came up, he says, in verse 2.

[15:51] And I saw a strong angel. Now, angels are people, or not people, are creatures of authority and strength anyway. It's not some little cherubim flying around with a halo around his head. These things are strong, right?

[16:02] They're strong created beings. So when one in Scripture is referred to as a strong angel, it must be very strong. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals.

[16:13] Here's the invitation. Look at this picture. God is on the throne in heaven, holding the recorded history of mankind, which is already sealed. And the invitation is, whoever wants to be the one in charge of man's future, come get it.

[16:28] Think about that. If you want to be the one who opens the seals, if you want to be the one that when the seal is open, the events take place, because that's what happens in Scripture, right? The first seal is broken, this happens. The second seal is broken, this happens.

[16:39] The third seal is broken, this happens. Right? So if you want to be the one who is in charge of when the future events take place, come and get it.

[16:49] It's an open invitation. Who is worthy? But here's the only kicker. You have to go get it out of the right hand of Elohim on his throne. There's a lot of people throughout history who say they want to dictate the future of mankind.

[17:05] But all man knows, I'm not just walking up to that throne and getting it, because that leads us to the second thing. An open invitation leads to a humble realization. A humble realization.

[17:15] Think about this just for a minute. I have this and you can have it. Here is the history of man recorded. You can be in charge of when it happens, how it happens. You can be in charge of when the seals are broken.

[17:26] It is the future events of all mankind, and I have it for whoever wants to take it. And he's extending this invitation throughout all of eternity, eternity past and eternity present there. And look at here, it says, And no one, verse 3, And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it.

[17:46] No one. No one. Here's the humble. Here's the humble realization. No one is worthy. Now look at the people.

[17:57] No one in heaven. That is the church, right? The redeemed. Think of those who are there. If the church has been raptured by this point, I mean, all of the church is there. But even think of the past saints of the church.

[18:07] I mean, Paul is there. Paul's like, I'm not going to go get it out of his hand. Moses is there. Moses is like, nope, I'm not going to go do it. David, a man after God's own heart, is there. David's like, not me. I know me, right?

[18:18] I'm not going to go get that out of the hand of Elohim on the throne. Abraham is there. He's like, I'm not going to do it. Enoch, who walked with God and was not, is there. He's like, I'm not going to go do it.

[18:28] I've walked with that God. I know that God. I'm not getting that out of his right hand. Elijah, Elisha, all these people, all the great heroes of the faith are there, right? Everybody that you can think of, the best believers you've ever known, the people you think are the model Christians are there.

[18:42] And in heaven, it is silent. I'm not doing it. Paul is there. Peter is there. You know, John is there. And everybody's like, nope, not doing that. And this is no one in heaven or on earth.

[18:54] So there's not even anyone alive at that time who is worthy. And then it says, and under the earth. That is, the people have already died. What we find is that no one who is living, no one who is in heaven, and no one who is in the abyss is worthy to go get the book out of his hand.

[19:07] That is a humble realization. God is giving an open invitation. Whoever wants to get it, come get it. But the realization is, no one can.

[19:19] Which means that our hope is not found even in the best believers that we know. Our hope is not found in the strongest Christians that we know. Our hope is not found, friend, listen to me. Our hope is not found and rooted in Paul, Peter, James, and John.

[19:29] It is not found in any of the patriarchs of the Old Testament. Our hope is not founded upon David and Moses and Abraham. And one of the things that I found about Scripture, Scripture is full of messed up man, right?

[19:41] Scripture is full of people who fail. Scripture is full of people who make mistakes. Scripture is full of people who are unworthy to go get anything out of the right hand of Elohim sitting on the throne.

[19:53] Why? Because I am holy, therefore you should be holy. And God will not be in the presence of sin. And the reason Scripture is full of that is because Scripture is also full of an invitation to us. It's saying it's not about you.

[20:04] It's not about what man can do. It's not about the power, the worthiness of man. It is this humble realization that we understand we are not worthy to go get that out of his hand.

[20:15] And this leads us to a brokenness because you see what happens in John. It says, then I began to weep greatly. By the way, if you ever want to record this down, here is a literal recording of someone crying in heaven.

[20:27] He's weeping, not only in heaven, he's weeping in the courtroom of heaven. He's in the presence of God on the throne. And he's weeping, right? And the wording here is he's weeping uncontrollably. Warren Wiersbe says it's those great salty tears of sorrow going down his cheek.

[20:42] And it's just broken because he realizes no one is worthy to get this out of his hand. The future of man is recorded and sealed and set, and it's right there in the book.

[20:52] But no one can get it. We're not going to know what happens. He says, then I began to weep because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it. It is this humble realization when we understand and when we realize that no one is worthy to take it out of the hand of him who sits on the throne.

[21:09] But the scene is about to shift. Things are about to change because I don't know about you where you've been in your life, but I know about me and my my spiritual walk and my Christian walk.

[21:19] I had to come to the realization that I was not worthy before I could get to this third thing. And that is the worthy identification, the one who is worthy. So we had the open invitation, the humble realization, and now the worthy identification.

[21:32] That is the one who is worthy. I love this. And one of the elders, verse 5, and one of the elders. Now, let's just stop right here. If the elders, the 24 elders gathered around the throne, or are, and I'm not saying that it emphatically is written in stone.

[21:46] I'm not saying that. I'm just saying my interpretation is that this is who they are. And again, if your interpretation is different, that's okay. But if they are the church, a representative of the church, then what we have here is a representative of the church proclaiming Jesus in heaven, which is cool, right?

[22:01] Because that's the church's business. We are to be those people who proclaim Jesus Christ. So one of the elders, not one of the created beings, not one of the cherubim, not one of these angelic beings, one of the elders said to me, stop weeping.

[22:12] Quit crying. Stop with the brokenness. Why? Behold the lion. Look, he's here. And what's amazing, he's right there in the midst of them. He says, stop weeping.

[22:23] Behold the lion that is from the tribe of Judah. The root of David has overcome so as to open the book on seven seals. Now, all of a sudden, we begin to see his worthiness. This is an identification of the one who is worthy.

[22:33] The first thing we notice is that he is of the right lineage because David's family had a promise connected to it, right? That one from the family of David would reign and rule everlasting and from everlasting to everlasting.

[22:45] He is of the right lineage. He is a lion from the tribe of Judah of the root of David. He's not just of Judah. He's also of the root of David. He's not only the right clan. He's of the right people. He has the right lineage.

[22:56] He has the right namesake. But he also has the right victory. He says he has overcome so as to open the book of the seven seals. And look at verse 6. And I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and the elders a lamb standing.

[23:10] What it literally means is in the midst. This picture is so good here. I can't remember which commentary said this, but it's so good that it would be really unwise for me to bypass this, that Jesus had been right there in the middle of it all and he had not seen him yet.

[23:24] Think of this. It says he's in the midst. Chapter 4 is all about the throne. Chapter 5, we begin to see the lion who is the lamb. And what he says is, I looked and he's right there.

[23:37] He says, what happened is John here in heaven got caught up in all the splendor and all the glory and he got caught up in all the beauty and the magnificence of it. And he got looking around. He saw the elders and the created beings and he saw the throne. He saw he who was sitting on the throne.

[23:48] He could tell you the colors around the throne, but he missed the lamb. He missed the lion. He didn't see Jesus sitting there. And so many times we get caught up in things that Jesus is right in the middle of it and we miss it.

[24:01] We fail to see him, right? Until someone points him out, he says, then I looked. He was looking with intentionality and I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders and the lamb standing as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out to all the earth.

[24:15] You say, well, that's a wild picture. Because not only is he of the right family, he's of the right tribe, he's of the right people, he has the right lineage. What we see is he's also a lamb. He is a lion who is a lamb as if slain, which now begins to point to his death and resurrection, standing, because the word standing is to stand firm once forever.

[24:32] And he has these seven horns. Well, there's this wonderful picture. We see these pictures all throughout the book of Revelations, which are types. And it shouldn't be something that kind of causes us to go, man, that's weird stuff.

[24:42] Because the seven horns, again, representative of complete power, right? Absolute power. Number seven is completeness or absoluteness. Horns are a sign of authority and power. So he is the lamb, a little lamb who was slain and now is standing alive, who has complete power.

[24:57] And he has the seven eyes, which are the seven spirits, the seven spirits of God that go out throughout the whole earth. What this is, is his omniscience. He is all-powerful and all-knowing lamb that was once slain and is now standing.

[25:10] He is worthy. He is worthy. He's not only of the right family, he's not only of the right lineage, he's also one of the right victory. He was slain, he's alive, he's all-powerful, he's all-knowing, he's all-seeing in his presence.

[25:23] And then the scripture says, There was no hesitation, no reservation. What is he says? And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

[25:36] There he is. There's the one that is worthy. This is what the book of Revelation is all about, a revelation of Jesus Christ. He is worthy. He is worthy of what? What is that book? It is the future destiny of all mankind.

[25:49] And he is the one who is in charge of it all. What do we see here in Revelation 5? The revelation that Jesus is the one who is in control of the future of all mankind. Right? He's going to be the one who's opening the seals.

[26:01] He's going to be the one that dictates when these judgments come. He's going to be the one who dictates the history of mankind. Friend, I want you to understand this. You have more than a Savior who hung on a cross and was buried in a tomb and rose on the third day.

[26:13] You have a Savior who loves you, redeems you, calls you to himself, reconciles you. You'll see this in a minute. It makes you a priest to the Lord, his God, and is also the one that is in control of the destiny of all mankind.

[26:24] That's the Savior you have. He is not just someone who came in meekness and humility. He is the one who now reigns in the place of authority. And he is also the one who has the authority and is worthy to be the one in charge of the history of future events for all mankind.

[26:39] And he holds it in his hand. He goes and takes that scroll. He'll begin to open up those seals. He is the one in charge of it all because through him all things were created. For him all things were created. And to him all things have been created.

[26:51] He is the one of complete authority. So what does that do? Fourth and finally, that leads us to this thing of a widening, his widening exaltation. His widening exaltation.

[27:03] We could take a long time looking at the picture of the lamb here, but we will begin to do that throughout the book of Revelations. But what we see is our only response to this, his widening exaltation.

[27:14] He goes and takes the book, verse 8. And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 24 elders, what is that? That's the people that were right around the throne, right? So we begin with the inner circle, those who were gathered around the throne, the four living creatures and the 24 elders.

[27:29] As soon as he took the book, they fell down before the lamb. They're not before the throne. They fell down before the lamb, right? Because he is God. That's what the seven horns and the seven eyes mean. He is God. He is the lamb. They fell down before the lamb, each one holding a harp, that is an instrument of praise, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

[27:46] So that is a declaration of praise. And they sing a new song. By the way, Scripture is full of songs. That's why we hide these songs in our heart. I know it's uncomfortable for us, but the Bible says that we sing a new song. It's actually declared in the book of Psalms to sing a new song to the Lord your God, to praise his name, to proclaim him, to worship his name with newness, and not to get caught in the rut of things.

[28:06] It is okay for us to do it without words every now and then. I was sitting there singing, and I know I'm completely squirrel chasing here, being mindful of so many brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world who don't have books or songs or lyrics, and yet they praise him.

[28:18] And we see this. Why? Because he's there. He's present now. Those in the inner circle, the four living creatures, 24 elders, fell on their face, and they sang a new song saying, Worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

[28:34] That is his redemption of us, right? And you have made them. Look at this. This is us. If he's purchased us, you have made them to be a kingdom and a priest to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. You don't have the right to choose if you're going to be that.

[28:46] That's what he makes you, right? Because he's worth it. So praise, exaltation, it starts with those closest to him, those around the throne, which means if you want to be the first to praise him, you need to be the closest to him.

[28:58] The reason that this is why church is so important, because when you come together as a corporate body of believers, I mean, let's just be honest. Some of us have had the privilege to walk closer to Jesus this week than others have.

[29:10] Some of us have had many distractions. Some well-founded, some not-founded. Some of us have had many hindrances. Some of us have had many shortcomings. Some of us have had things that pull us away from Jesus. But when you come into the building, that there is someone who's been walking real close to Jesus all week.

[29:24] More than likely, in any group, somebody has been hanging out with Jesus in this inner circle, if you will, the Peter, James, and John, or the four living creatures and 24 elders there around the throne. So as soon as the first chord on the piano is struck, all of a sudden they begin to praise, and they begin to worship, and they begin to sing, and they begin to, when they come here in their fellowship, and praise is easier for them because they're closer to him.

[29:45] You say, well, that's kind of hard, right? That's kind of harsh. But that's also why we need to gather together as a corporate body, because as soon as they began to praise, now all of a sudden others begin to praise, because we're looking at this widening, ever-increasing exaltation.

[29:59] The inner circle, those around the throne praise. And then look, verse 11, Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, and saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing.

[30:19] What is this? Now not only are those gathered around the throne praising, now all of heaven is praising. Myriads and myriads and thousands of thousands of elders. That's more than the representative of the church.

[30:31] That's the church, my friends. Now everyone in heaven is praising. It's this picture of coming together. Some of you come in here with a little spiritual excitement, spiritual fervor, and you can't wait to worship. And you've made me feel out of place a little bit, but you're in that circle.

[30:44] You walked in with Jesus, and you're all up in Jesus' business, and all of a sudden praise starts, and you begin to worship. Some of us had somebody else who walked in with us. It wasn't Jesus, as Tony Evans says, the devil rode in on some people's back, right?

[30:57] Well, understand that. With all this pain, and grief, and sorrow, and anger, and bitterness, and so we come in, and it takes a little bit longer to shake him off. But those people who start praising instantly begin to move the others to get a little excited too.

[31:08] And now all of a sudden it begins to widen, and it begins to increase. And now all of heaven is praising and proclaiming, but it doesn't stop there. Look, we're looking at this widening exaltation. Verse 13, I heard saying, Who does that?

[31:26] That's all creation, by the way. That's not only people in heaven. That's the people that are on earth at this time. That's the people that are lost and gone to an eternity, separated under the earth, in the sea. This is all creation.

[31:37] Because every tongue will confess, and every knee will bow. This is everything. All of creation. And they say, To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and dominion forever and ever.

[31:51] I want you to notice that this exaltation, this praise, goes from the inner circle, to all of heaven, to all of creation. But the further it gets away from Jesus, the less specific a praise it is.

[32:03] Because those who are lost give this general praise. He is worthy. He is worthy. For those who are in the inner circle say, He's worthy because He was slain, He purchased and redeemed me, and He made me something. The others just say, He's worthy.

[32:14] I'm not purchased. I'm not redeemed. That's the lost, right? That last one. It is this widening exaltation. Because He is worthy, His praise will begin to ring out and go out. And I want you to know, all creation will praise Him.

[32:26] Verse 14, And the four living creatures kept saying, Amen. Let it be. Let it be. Nothing wrong with an amen every now and then, right? I know some of you are hesitant to give me amens because you're afraid I'll keep going.

[32:38] We're on time constraint. This service, don't come to second service. You amen me too much, and we may keep going. But you don't want to amen me too much. But look, when this praise started, they just kept saying, Amen, Amen, Amen.

[32:50] If you want to ever listen to great preaching, ask them lockers. I know I point you to him all the time. I was listening to one of his. There's a podcast called Just Good Preaching with an N.

[33:02] Not a G on the N though. Just Good Preaching. And it's got some of the best preachers from all of history on there. And there's one, I was listening to one of SM Lockers the other day and he was talking about the worthiness of Christ. And the more he preached, the more people amened.

[33:15] And the more people amened, the more he preached. And I hadn't made it through the whole message yet, but he got carried away a little bit there. And it was good. It was good. Why? Because the saints were just, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen.

[33:26] And that's what's going on in heaven. They just say, let it be, let it be, let it be. He is worthy. And the elders, that's the church, fell down and worshiped.

[33:38] This is a revelation of Jesus Christ. He's the one in control of all the history of mankind. What's our response to that? We fall down and worship. We worship.

[33:49] And we say, Amen. He is worthy. What a beautiful picture. What a beautiful picture of the lion, which really is the lamb. Friend, my hope here is that you have beheld the lion who is in charge of it all.

[34:05] And he's going to carry it all to be. Everything else we see in Revelation is flowing from his hands, right? Like it or not, it comes from his hands. He has the book.

[34:17] You say, well, that's not fair. He shouldn't pronounce that judgment. He shouldn't do that. He died for everybody that is suffering that judgment. It comes forth from his hands. Not the God who cannot, who cannot relate, but the lamb who did relate.

[34:33] It comes from his hands. And he is worthy. We're going to pray. We're going to pray. We're going to sing. We're going to have a song. After that song, I haven't had a chance to talk to her, but Miss Sarah is going to come up here and share something with you guys.

[34:45] We may go just a little bit over time, but it's okay. So let me pray really quick, and then I'll let Miss Tricia and Miss Lynn come, and then we'll sing a song and then Miss Sarah can come. Lord, we thank you so much for this day.

[34:56] Lord, as we read this scripture, all we can say is, Amen. You are worthy. May we constantly behold the lion who is worthy, understanding that all things which come against us come first from your hand, and you are worthy, O Lord.

[35:11] You are worthy. We give you the praise, and we give you the place. We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

[35:49] Amen.

[36:19] Amen.

[37:18] Amen. Amen.

[37:49] Amen. Thank you.