The Jewish Final Solution to the World's Problem - Revelation, Part 14- The Worthiness of the Lamb

[0:00] of the message in the bulletin this morning is the worthiness of the Lamb. And it's interesting about that book, as we'll read shortly, that no one, absolutely no one, was worthy to open that book except the Lamb.

[0:26] And when I looked at it, I know Marv mentioned it, but I was very intrigued that this book was written on the front and the back.

[0:40] And I was just thinking whether Marv had thought about that. But as he was up here breaking the seals, I was just thinking, if you broke the seal and you read the front of it, if you turned it around and read the back before you broke the next seal.

[1:08] Just interesting. Please turn to the book of Revelation, chapter 5. And we'll be reading the whole chapter.

[1:24] 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.

[1:41] And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals.

[1:53] And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it.

[2:05] Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it.

[2:18] 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.

[2:38] 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.

[2:59] And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. When he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

[3:26] 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.

[3:50] You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God and they will reign upon the earth. Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders.

[4:10] 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.

[4:32] 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.

[4:55] And the four living creatures kept saying, Amen. And the elders fell down in worship. All I can say is, Wow.

[5:13] What a scene. I just cannot, It's a rather graphic description that is given here, but I still have real difficulty contemplating what John was seeing, despite the fact that it is rather vividly described.

[5:34] John, the beloved apostle, the brother of James, who together were sons of Zebedee, and John was likely the junior member of the twelve apostles chosen by Christ.

[5:51] He is the human penman of the gospel of John, the epistles of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and this present and final book of the Bible we are now considering called the Revelation.

[6:06] While it contains several different revelations, plural, its obvious intention is to focus on the one truly outstanding revelation, singular, and that is the disclosure of Jesus the Messiah.

[6:26] It's known as the apocalypse or the unveiling. And our present consideration of chapter 5 actually began with chapter 4, when John has a change of venue or location.

[6:44] He is on earth, as he writes, but is translated in the spirit, not body, to view scenes occurring in heaven. There is a break in the chapter division between 4 and 5, and if you will note, verse 11 contains, chapter 4 contains 11 verses, and then there is a chapter break and chapter 5 begins.

[7:12] But John did not make such a division because the break between 4 and 5 and all of the other chapter breaks in the Bible, Old Testament as well as New, all of them that you see, which there are, I think, 1,089 chapters if you add them all up, all of those chapter divisions are just 500 years old.

[7:39] That's all the longer they have been in the Bible. When these documents, the documents we refer to as the original autographs, that is, the actual, the actual paper, papyrus, or whatever it was that the original author wrote on, he did not write with chapters or with verses.

[8:02] It was just one continuous exposition like you write a letter. But for the sake of being able to identify texts and being able to readily find them, they were all given an address, if you will, a number with a chapter and a verse division.

[8:18] But it was not so, and as John wrote, this was just one continuous document. and that means there is an important continuity that should be maintained to gain maximum understanding.

[8:37] And we've told you in time past, and in fact, I think it is coming out in Christianity Clarified, volume 30, that will probably be issued next week, where we deal with the principles of understanding and interpreting the Bible.

[8:52] and in that particular volume, we talk about the chapter and verse divisions and when they were added and why they were added and who added them and so on. So you should always be aware that when you read your Bible, especially when you study it seriously, sometimes the worst thing you can do is stop reading at the end of a chapter.

[9:12] But that's also one of the more logical things to do. And then, if you're doing daily devotions, you pick up the next chapter tomorrow. But a lot of times, important continuity is lost because the whole scene is broken up.

[9:27] And that's precisely what we have here between chapters four and five. And let me ask you this. Is there any more, is there any grammatical conjunction that denotes continuity more than the word and?

[9:44] A-N-D. And John makes very profuse use of it, as we often do when we write our letters. In fact, if you will note, look at chapter four and the and.

[9:56] In the Greek, this is the word kai, K-A-I, but in the English it comes across as and. And all and means is that I've got more to say. I'm adding to what has been said.

[10:07] And as you look at chapter four and verse two, we read, I was in the spirit and behold, a throne was standing in heaven and one sitting on the throne.

[10:18] and he's not done. And verse four and, and verse five and, and verse six and, all of this is unfolding.

[10:31] Don't allow any of it to break or stop there. In fact, as you come down to the end of verse nine in chapter four, we get, and when the living creatures give glory and thanks to him that sits on the throne.

[10:46] And he goes on to describe this and the 24 elders. Then chapter five opens with, guess what? And, in other words, there is strict continuity not to be ignored.

[10:59] The scene continues to unfold. Don't stop reading. Just keep on reading. And, I saw in the right hand of him, and verse two, and, and verse three, and, and verse four.

[11:11] So this thing continues to unfold. So let's begin now by looking at the actual verses and see if we can put some more significance and meaning to them. We have a picture as described here in chapter five where John is in the spirit.

[11:33] That means he is, he is in a kind of trance. He is in a vision-oriented capacity where he is able to witness something of a supernatural nature and it is completely removed from ordinary human experiences.

[11:56] This scene that he is going to describe is a picture of a throne, however large you want to make it in your imagination, and the one seated on the throne, and I think this is extraordinary because it is so rare that you find a description like this anywhere in the Bible, and I am not sure that Revelation may not be the only place possibly Isaiah 6 where John's, or where Isaiah says in the year that King Uzziah died, I also saw the Lord high and lifted up and so on.

[12:34] So this, this vision that John is seeing is a description and a picture of none other than God the Father.

[12:47] Now, I immediately have a problem with that. And the reason I do is because God the Father and God the Son and God the Spirit are all spirit beings.

[13:02] That means they do not possess physical bodies. They do not have physical attributes. That which is spirit is immaterial.

[13:13] And the thing that is so unique about the spirit is that this spirit being which does not occupy time or space occupied a position in the Godhead, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and they were all spirit beings, no physicality involved.

[13:33] Christ in his eternal presence was ever with the Father and with the Spirit and he was without a body.

[13:48] He was a spirit being just like his Father and the Holy Spirit. And it was not until he came to earth as a babe and took upon himself the form of a human being, this is referred to as the incarnation.

[14:05] It is the enfleshment of deity. Jesus Christ always existed as the Son of God from eternity past.

[14:16] But he did not always exist as a human being from eternity past. That began in Bethlehem. God and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

[14:30] This is just an incredible concept of God becoming man and remaining God.

[14:41] And this is why he is referred to as the God man. Jesus is not half God and half man. He's fully God and fully man. You say you don't understand that.

[14:53] Well, of course you don't. Neither do I. We're human beings and we just can't get our brain wrapped around that. But that's what he is. He did not forfeit his deity when he became a human being but he willingly clothed it.

[15:07] He covered up his deity. And as we saw in the nine o'clock hour this morning when he took Peter and James and John into the Mount of Transfiguration with him and John says, we beheld his glory.

[15:23] The glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Full of grace and truth. And what Jesus did for the sake of Peter, James and John is he just pulled back the corner of his deity, of his humanity and allowed his deity to shine through.

[15:44] And it was an incredible dazzling experience. One that Peter, James and John would never forget. Now we've got God the Father and he has a hand.

[15:57] He has a right hand. Does God have hands? Well, yes and no. How can he have, if he doesn't have a hand, how is it that he has a hand here? This is what theologians refer to as an anthropomorphism.

[16:15] Just a big word. Anthropomorphism. The first part of the word is the word from which we get the word anthropology and it means man. And the morphism is the word from which we get the word morph or morph or morphe and it means shape.

[16:32] Shape. So it means an anthropomorphic person is one who has the shape of a man. and that is precisely how God is described a number of times.

[16:48] That his arm is not shortened that it cannot save. We are told the eyes of the Lord run to and fro on the earth. These are attributing human-like characteristics to the deity.

[17:02] But if he doesn't actually have those, why are they assigned to him? And the only answer that I can think of is, how else are these things to be communicated to us mere mortals?

[17:18] Because we cannot grasp or appreciate what true full spirituality is. We are physical beings locked into time and space. So God is told, is talked about as having palms of his hands.

[17:35] We are engraved in the palms of his hands. So it is attributing to the deity human-like characteristics for the sake of comprehension and communication.

[17:48] Otherwise, we don't have a frame of reference at all. And the same thing is true regarding God's emotions. God does not have human emotions.

[18:01] But we are told in Scripture, Old Testament, and in New, that God displays human-like emotions. and so whatever the divine equivalent is to human pathos in feeling and emotion and grief and elation and all the rest, whatever that is, God has it equally except it is his in his deity as opposed to ours in our humanity.

[18:32] Otherwise, there's no way that we can communicate or understand it all. So I see this as a gracious condescension on the part of God, whereby he is willing to lower himself to using terminology that we can understand simply so that we can get some handle on this.

[18:50] And here, this isn't merely in his hand, but it is in his right hand. And throughout Scripture, it is the right hand that is spoken of as the hand of prominence and power.

[19:06] And for most of us who are right handed, we know that to be the case. I can do a whole lot of things with my right hand. And if I ask my left hand to do the same thing, it says, you've got to be kidding.

[19:22] You can't do that. So some people you know are ambidextrous. They can do things equally with both hands, but I'm not one of those people. And most of us are right handed, so that is the hand of our strength.

[19:34] If you're going to arm wrestle somebody, you're going to use your best arm. You'll use your right arm, because that's where the strength lies. And that's indicative in scripture.

[19:45] And here, it is in the right hand of him who sat on the throne. This is God the Father. What in the world does he look like?

[19:58] I have no idea. I do know that Jesus said, he that has seen me, has seen the Father, because he is of the same character, quality, essence, and nature, and makeup as the Father.

[20:19] He is one with the Father. I cannot imagine what this is like. And all we are told is that this is one sitting on the throne. And we know that it is the Father, because of the relationship that is going to develop here in chapter 5 between the Father and the Son.

[20:37] So let's read on. Saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book, which we told you ought to be translated a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.

[20:59] And I saw a strong angel. I wonder why that designation is used. I can't imagine a weak angel. Can you? But this apparently is an extraordinary angel.

[21:12] This is not just your run-of-the-mill angels. Now there are archangels, there are cherubim, there are seraphim. This is the only one that is described as a strong angel. So this angel obviously had some character, some quality that ordinary angels did not have.

[21:29] And we do know that there was rank. God created angels with rank and position. And that's why there are cherubim and seraphim and archangels like Michael and Gabriel.

[21:42] They have their order of beings because that's the way God created them. So this strong angel is proclaiming with a loud voice. And this proclaiming is the word from which we get the word, well, that wouldn't mean anything to you in the Greek, but it has the idea of a solemn kind of an official proclamation.

[22:07] This is like an order that comes from the top. And it isn't just a saying or an expression, but it is a proclamation with a loud voice.

[22:18] voice. And he asks the question, who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals? The drama is really beginning to build.

[22:34] And John is describing, writing down what he is seeing. And this angel is asking the question, and one gets the impression that the angel is saying, whoever can open this book, this scroll, come forward and do so.

[22:54] And nobody moves. There's no action. And one wonders if everybody is looking around waiting and wondering for somebody to come forward, but there's no response.

[23:07] words. And as a result, John, being very upset about it, begins to weep. Now this isn't just a little tear trickling down his cheek.

[23:20] He is sobbing. He is crying profusely. And the reason he is, is because nobody is coming forth to open the scroll.

[23:33] And my question is, so what? Who cares? I mean, really, what's so important about this scroll? What's on it? Well, apparently, it's very important.

[23:48] And John sees the importance of it. And I would suspect that merely the fact of this one sitting on the throne, who has the scroll, that, in and of itself, assigns incredible importance to it.

[24:07] Just because of who it is that is handing the scroll. That, in and of itself, makes it really important.

[24:19] And we're going to see exactly how important it is, because John apparently understands, how he understands, we're not told, but he apparently gets the picture that the opening and the revealing of the contents of this scroll is really quite vital.

[24:39] No one appears. All of personhood is polled. Every living member is appealed to. And, quite simply, no opening of the scroll simply means that the contents remain sealed.

[24:56] nobody knows what's in it. No opening means no disclosure and no warning. And, I can see the silence must have been deafening.

[25:09] This angel is asking, won't someone who is qualified, capable, eligible, come and open this scroll? and nobody responds.

[25:24] Until. And, I am satisfied that the pause was for effect. The pause was to establish the fact that out of all humanity, on earth, under the earth, and in the heavens, out of all humanity, and all angelic beings, no one is stepping up to the task, because no one is revealed as worthy.

[25:52] The pause, the silence, must have been deafening. Everyone is waiting, and nobody's coming forth. The effect is created.

[26:04] it is down to the last ditch thing. And then, read the text.

[26:16] One of the elders said to me, this is one of the 24 elders, whom I have still been unable to identify, 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.

[26:41] And John, of course, is probably wondering, where is he? Because so far, he has not surfaced. And I saw, between the throne, with the four living creatures that were described in an earlier chapter, in chapter three, chapter four, these living creatures, and by the way, if you've got a translation, and I think the King James, I'm not sure, the King James might say the four beasts.

[27:08] Don't ever think of these as beasts, because when we use the English word beast, we think of something kind of grotesque and ugly and malformed or beast-like or whatever.

[27:21] These are specially created creatures. They are living creatures, creatures, and it isn't justified at all to call them beasts and give them a negative kind of sounding.

[27:35] In fact, they may be quite beautiful in their appearance. The lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome.

[27:50] This is a designation that is given to Christ, and he is established as the lion of the tribe of Judah. And by the way, he appeared on earth originally as a lamb.

[28:04] That was his first coming. But when he returns to the earth, he will not return as a lamb. He will return as a conquering lion. And it is the work that he accomplished as a lamb that will provide him with the right to return as a lion.

[28:23] And that's exactly what's going to happen. This is of the root of David, and this of course adds an essence of Jewishness to the whole thing. Jesus is out of the tribe of Judah.

[28:34] That is the fourth-born son of Jacob. And this is the royal line. And out of the twelve sons, there is one royal line, and that's the line of Judah.

[28:46] There is one priestly line, and that's the line of Levi. And Christ is both from the tribe of Levi, or from the tribe of Judah, Judah, and he gains his priestly character from Melchizedek rather than from Levi, which makes him prophet, priest, and king, and the only one to occupy all three offices.

[29:08] We are told that this one, who is from the root of David, the lion of the tribe of Judah, has overcome. That means he has prevailed.

[29:19] When did he do that? And what did he do to prevail? And the answer is simple. He died on the cross, and he rose again from the dead, and that's how he prevailed.

[29:31] That's how he overcame. That's how he conquered. He overcame the power of sin and of death. And, because he did, he is the only one who is able, who has the authority, who is qualified, who is eligible, legally, morally, and every other way, to open these seals.

[29:56] And what these seals are going to reveal, one by one, as they are opened, deals with the remaining contents of the book of the Revelation.

[30:07] Because each of these seals is going to reveal something more of the book as we move on through. And the opening of the seals is the unfolding of the book. And it will be quite stunning, I can promise you this.

[30:23] What is the secret contained in the seven sealed scroll? And why is it so important the contents of this be open and that John is weeping profusely because it is not being open?

[30:38] And the answer is quite simple. Because only in learning what the contents will reveal can any adequate preparation be taken to combat it or to comply with it.

[30:55] This is going to be the opening of what is going to transpire. And only in knowing what is coming can you make adequate preparation for it. This is one reason that the Bible gives us so much information about so many things.

[31:11] It's so that we can have safeguards as to what's coming. So we can take corrective action or preventive action. The whole Bible from Genesis through Revelation is a disclosure of the plan and program of God.

[31:26] And the more of it we absorb, the more we learn what it means to live in this world, what the world is really like, and what's coming, so that we can prepare. We can make adjustments.

[31:39] We can compensate. We can anticipate. And when you don't know, you're just completely in the dark, you're just running blind. And God does not want his people to be running blind.

[31:50] This is precisely why he has been pleased to reveal what he has, so that we can have an inside track. And that is provided by his grace.

[32:01] And we ought to be extremely thankful that he has. So, we look at this and we think in terms of these seven seals containing secrets.

[32:15] Well, are these secrets? Yes and no. They're secrets as long as the book is sealed, as long as the scroll is sealed, they remain a secret.

[32:28] But once the seal is broken, a little bit of the secret is revealed, and you break another seal, and more is revealed, and break another seal, and more is revealed.

[32:39] And when you get down to the seventh seal, guess what the seventh seal does? It introduces seven judgments.

[32:55] Well, what are the seals? The seals are all judgments. The seals, each one of these seven seals is going to provide an additional judgment upon on the earth from the almighty.

[33:13] And once the seventh seal is opened, lest we think, glad that's over with, that's the end of the judgments. No, it isn't.

[33:25] Because the seventh seal being broken introduces the seven trumpets. trumpets. Well, what are the trumpets?

[33:36] These are ram's horns, big, long, curled ram's horns that they would blow. Woo! And they would blow that, and it would be heard all throughout the valley. Those are seven trumpets.

[33:49] And each of the trumpets contains, you guessed it, another judgment. Seven more judgments.

[34:00] And when you go through the seven trumpets, and you blow, or you hear the seventh trumpet sound, glad that's over with.

[34:12] No, it isn't. The seventh trumpet introduces seven bowls. Vials they are referred to.

[34:24] Bowls, or vials containing the wrath of God. This is as bad as it gets.

[34:38] All of these things, all of these judgments have been stored up in the warehouse of the Almighty waiting for the right time to be poured out upon a sinful, unbelieving, wayward world.

[34:57] And they are all going to transpire within a period of seven years. That's referred to as the time of Jacob's trouble.

[35:12] Jacob is the original name for Israel. This is going to be the time of Israel's trouble. Israel as a nation and the Jew as individuals are going to be smack dab in the middle of this whole thing.

[35:28] This is going to be a worldwide holocaust. And it will be the Jewish people who will be the focus of it.

[35:41] And the chief prosecutor and persecutor will be the Antichrist. And he will service as we move on through the revelation.

[35:52] It is really going to be something. Verse 6 And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders a lamb.

[36:06] Now the lamb and the lion of the tribe of Judah are one and the same. As the lamb he was slain. But he isn't slain anymore. He is resurrected.

[36:17] Having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God. Now that's a little bit confusing. But when you allow the scriptures to interpret the scriptures it's amazing how good a job they do.

[36:31] And we don't have to guess at what this is. All you have to do is compare this with chapter three and verse one. And when it says that this lamb has seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God and they are going to be dispatched to different sections of the world.

[36:50] It means that he has these horns and eyes at his disposal. The horns represent power. They do all throughout the Old Testament and into the New.

[37:01] It is a horn that is a symbol of power. And I'm thinking in terms of an animal horn. And the ancient Hebrews used that as an expression of might and energy and power.

[37:18] power. And they would think in terms of the horn of an animal. And if you want to grab a hold of something that is really rather substantial, grab the horn of a bull.

[37:35] and you will find it to be very substantial. I can promise you that. Or an ox. Or a rhino.

[37:46] Or any other kind of a wild beast. They have incredible power residing in those horns and the way they use them or throw their head.

[37:57] There is energy there that you cannot imagine. And this is one reason that the ancient Hebrews used the term horn to describe raw energy and power.

[38:09] Only here, of course, it's going to be assigned to an individual. In the Old Testament, in the book of Daniel, and in Ezekiel as well, we'll see surfacing a phrase called little horn.

[38:20] What does that mean? That too is very significant. It's a horn that is not fully matured. And it has significance of its own. So this expression is going to be used, Old and New Testament, to depict raw energy and power.

[38:37] It is a horn and seven eyes. The word seven occurs repeatedly throughout the Revelation. That is the number of deity. That is God's special number.

[38:49] And he began establishing it with the seven day creation week. So you find it all throughout the Bible, and it appears numerous times right here in the Revelation. Seven, seven, seven, seven.

[39:02] time and time again. And the seven eyes refers to, it is symbolic of the thoroughness of knowledge.

[39:14] Seven being the number of completeness or perfection, and the eyes are those which see and evaluate and understand. So the horn represents absolute power, and the eyes represent absolute knowledge and information.

[39:32] and this is what is going to be utilized on behalf of the Almighty. When it says that he has them, it means he has them at his disposal.

[39:43] It doesn't mean that he is some kind of a grotesque creature with all of these eyes and horns sticking out of them. It means that he possesses these seven horns and seven eyes.

[39:54] They are at his disposal and available for his use as he dispatches them however he will. And that's going to be the basis for the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

[40:07] And he came. That is this lamb standing who is the same as the lion of the tribe of Judah. He came and he took out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne as much as saying, I'll take that father.

[40:30] Thank you. Can you imagine an exchange like that? I can't. But it must have been something along that line. When he had taken the throne, when he had taken the book or the scroll, upon his doing that, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders, just like on cue, fell down before the lamb and having each one a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

[41:09] This incense represents a collection of saints prayers. I do not know how many saints or over what period of time. They are just representative of the prayers of saints.

[41:22] And by the way, if these are going to be tribulation saints, I can imagine that they're going to be pretty fervent prayers, because these people are going to be praying for their lives and running for their lives, and they're going to have a lot to pray for.

[41:36] You know, that phrase that is so often uttered without even thinking too much about it, it's going to come into real play during the tribulation. Give us this day our daily bread.

[41:50] not too many people today pray that seriously. You just go to the grocery store and you buy the bread you want. It isn't going to be that simple during this tribulation period.

[42:05] Food and water that is fit to drink is going to be at a premium, and people's gold and silver will be virtually worthless because you won't be able to eat it.

[42:17] the coin of the realm is going to be food and drinkable water. It will give new meaning to that, give us this day our daily bread. They fall down before the land, having each one a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

[42:41] And they sang a new song, that is a song that apparently had never been sung before, not up until this time. And songwriters have made much of this, and there's been some beautiful music that have been written using the words in this particular chapter and verse.

[43:00] Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to break its seals. And why is he worthy? He is worthy because thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with thy blood men, beings from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

[43:30] This is what everything is all about. This is as bottom line as it gets. This is where everything is moving.

[43:41] happening. This is where everything that is happening now and has been happening from Genesis 3 is headed. It is this time of affected redemption when all the redeemed will be gathered together.

[43:59] And the implication is that when the word was put out and when all of heaven and humanity was pulled, looking for someone who could open the scroll, nobody was found until this one came forth.

[44:19] And I am satisfied that the reason there is the pause there is for the effect, is to just demonstrate to those who were there and to those who were reading it like we are reading it now, that absolutely no one was in a position of eligibility, morally, or any other way, to be able to do that.

[44:41] And he withheld his presence and his person in order to fully establish that point. No one. And then forth he came to make the point.

[44:57] And it must have been absolutely stunning. And do you know what this is? In reality, this is merely one more confirmation salvation regarding the exclusivity of life and salvation provided through Jesus Christ and him alone.

[45:16] We pointed out to you in time past that this is one of the major sticking points that the world at large has against Christianity. The trouble with you Christians is you think that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation.

[45:32] Well, there are a lot of good people and there are a lot of good faiths and there are a lot of good beliefs and your way isn't the only way. I don't know if you've heard that or not, but I certainly have as a pastor.

[45:45] And I expect to be hearing it more. And my only retort is, yes, we do believe that Jesus Christ and Christ alone is the way, the truth, and the life.

[45:57] And when he said, no one came unto the Father but by him, we take him at face value and he either told the truth or he is a deceiver and he is not worthy of being believed.

[46:10] And besides, this whole concept of salvation being available through Jesus Christ exclusively is not our idea. We didn't think this up.

[46:22] This is what God said. And if you don't like it, you'll just have to take it up with him because he's the one that made it very clear. It is the Father who sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

[46:36] And he didn't send anyone else. He didn't send two Saviors. He just sent one. And you know, rather than arrogant man, ungrateful man, having the audacity to criticize God for just providing one way, he ought to be bowled over with gratitude that God was pleased to provide one way because he didn't owe it to humanity.

[47:08] God was not obligated to provide redemption for man. God is obligated only to dispense justice upon man, which is in keeping with his character and his nature.

[47:24] But God in his love and grace and mercy decided to provide a way back. He didn't owe us that.

[47:35] He chose to do so out of his magnanimous spirit, out of that love and grace that went forth, that was so poured out upon this world that he went to the extent of giving his only begotten son.

[47:51] Can God possibly be faulted for having done that? you are worthy to take the scroll to break its seals.

[48:03] And the reason you are is because you were slain and dispurchased for God. This is the son having accomplished this task for the father.

[48:18] And 1 Corinthians 15 talks about when he submits all of the kingdoms to his father than he himself will be part of that.

[48:29] And that's the burden of 1 Corinthians 15 and here he's talking about the very same thing. This was the son who was dispatched on this particular special mission at the request of the father.

[48:44] And this is why Jesus constantly said all the time that he was here, I do only those things that please him. I came not to serve myself but to please the one who sent me.

[48:58] The son ever came to be at the expense and the behest of the father and whatever the father's wishes were. He subordinated himself being an equal member of the triune Godhead.

[49:11] He subordinated himself to the will of the father. And the father is going to honor him for that. We read in Philippians that because Christ submitted himself as a man and was made likeness of man and went to the cross, even the cross, even the death of the cross, God has highly exalted him because of what he did.

[49:43] With thy blood, that is, with Christ's substitutionary death, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and thou hast made them to be a kingdom of priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.

[50:00] This is the kingdom truth. This is not reigning in heaven. This is reigning upon planet earth. And 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, myriads, and thousands of thousands.

[50:28] How many people are we talking about here? I would suggest that it is an unpronounceable number. And they are saying with a loud voice, worthy is the land that was slain, or deserving, or entitled is the land that was slain, to receive power, and this power is the word exousia, from which we get the word executive, and it means he has the right.

[51:04] To receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing, 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, this is as inclusive as it can be, I heard them saying, to him, who sits on the throne, that's the father, and to the lamb, who took the scroll from the father, this is the son, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and dominion, forever, and ever, and the four living creatures, kept saying, Amen, and the elders fell down, and worshipped.

[51:53] chapter 6 opens, let's not disturb the continuity, we have to, I have to, because we'll have to wait till next week, but now, in chapter 6, we're going to open the first seal, and what this is going to portray, is the famous four horse horsemen of the apocalypse, four different colored horses, each one signifying a different thing, and each one being indicative of a different judgment that is coming on the earth.

[52:41] Boy, this is really, really something, and I am, I am dismayed that even in this day, 2,000 years after this has been written, even in this day, there are believers who say, I never get into the revelation, that's too mysterious, it's so full of symbols, you can't begin to understand what it is saying.

[53:08] I tell you, I could not dispute that more soundly. When we get through with this book, you're going to know what those things mean, and I'm not talking about opinions, they're not worth anything.

[53:23] We are going to let the Bible interpret itself and tell us what these symbols mean. Then you've got something that you can put in the bank, and it's going to be really, really something.

[53:36] Would you pray with me? Once again, Father, we've talked about a lot of things that we lack adequate understanding for, and we readily admit that, but we know that we have enough understanding to be responsible on the basis of what we've heard.

[53:58] And the cry of our heart as we develop these themes moving through this incredible book will be that our hearts and minds will be eager to obey whatever is revealed to us by way of action that we should engage in, whatever that is set forth, that should be something that we ought to embrace in our hearts and minds and tuck away there for future use.

[54:26] We just want to be pliable and responsive to whatever it is that you are pleased to reveal as we move through this book. We see it as the capstone of the revelation of scripture, and that in and of itself certainly makes it important.

[54:42] And with this being the only book in the Bible that you have provided with an attendant blessing for those who read it, we believe that that in and itself gives it special meaning.

[55:01] And we want to be able to garner the truth that is here so that we can prepare ourselves and that so we might be in a position of intelligence to warn and equip others as well.

[55:14] Most of all, we thank you for this marvelous person who is herein described as the Lamb of God and the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

[55:26] We are so grateful for that role he fulfilled when he first came as the sacrificial Lamb. We understand he is coming again as a conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah.

[55:42] thank you that you've been pleased to reveal these things. We want open hearts and minds that we may be obedient to what is revealed. And to that end we'll thank you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[55:55] Amen. Amen. Next week I'll do my best to try to carve out some extra time for questions and answers. If you have anything that you would like addressed, feel free to write it out, drop it in the offering box, and I'll do my best to answer your questions next week.

[56:12] Lord bless you and you are dismissed. And to keep finished. Bye-bye.