The Sacrifice Of Jesus

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Transcript

[Audio starts late] Explaining Jesus Christ taking back what Satan, through the fall of Adam, possessed. That is, Satan became the god of this world. And we’re going to see in the fifth chapter, Jesus Christ, because of His sacrificial death on our behalf, standing at the right hand of the Father and being the only Person in the universe that had the right, the privilege, the authority to take back the title deed of the universe.

Let’s read about that. As I read to you the fifth chapter, and if you’d stand with me, I’m going to read the fifth chapter, and we’re going to sing the last verse of this chapter as our worship to the Lord tonight before I pray, or actually the twelfth verse. But you just listen as I read Revelation chapter 5 and savor the wonder of this chapter. And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals? And no one in Heaven or on the Earth or under the Earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it. So, I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and to read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the Earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

Now, when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the Earth. Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing! And every creature which is in Heaven and on the Earth and under the Earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever! Then the four living creatures said, Amen! And the 24 elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

Let’s worship Him by singing the words of the twelfth verse, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Remembering what we learned this morning, that this is prophetically looking at something that if you’re born again tonight, you’re going to be there, and you’re going to be attending this praise celebration around the throne as we celebrate the Lamb that was slain. [Hymn]

Let’s bow before our Lord. Thank You, O Father in Heaven, for the altogether perfect sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, the worthy Lamb. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for being next of kin to us, our Kinsman Redeemer. Thank You for taking upon Yourself the form of a servant, the likeness of human flesh. Thank You for humbling Yourself and becoming obedient even to that point of taking our frailty and our weakness, and clothing Yourself in the veil of Your fallen creatures. Thank You that You are not only next of kin, but You were willing and able to redeem us. You wanted to redeem us. You loved us so much that You came to die, and You gave your blood, Your life. You became sin for us. We admire the perfections of Your sacrifice tonight, and at this the Lord’s table, we want to admire it through worshiping You. And I pray that, in a very real sense, that You would meet with us tonight speaking to us through Your Word, opening our hearts to the wonder of Your perfect sacrifice. And Father, how I pray that when we celebrate the memorial feast of Your Son, the giving of thanks of communion, we pray that it will be with hearts that well up and overflow with thanks to You. As we track through these verses of Your blessed Word, You have promised that we would be blessed for reading it and hearing it, and that You would open our understanding. And for that we ask that as we understand Your Word, we will, in the greatest sense of our lives, admire Christ’s perfect sacrifice. We’ll thank You, worthy Lamb of God, Lord Jesus, Root of David. In Your precious name, Amen.

You may be seated, and as you’re seated, we’re going to look at the perfect sacrifice of Christ. And tonight, there’s just so much that it’s, I hope, just an appetizer that will make you want to go through and read this. But beginning actually with where we ended last time, this morning, we’re looking at the worthy Lord that receives glory and honor in verse 11. And then, with that setting from chapter 4, the camera, or our prophetic view, shifts to the throne. And you notice now as the camera zooms in that on the right hand of the Father sitting on the throne, there’s this scroll sitting there, and that’s what the whole fifth chapter is about, is this little scroll sitting on His right hand, and it’s very important. Let’s look at that. And I ask you, are you admiring the perfect sacrifice of Jesus tonight? Has the depth of His love and of His sacrifice so filled your soul that you are overflowing at the Lord’s Table tonight? That’s what we’re supposed to be. When we come to the Lord’s Table, we are supposed to be overflowing with joyful adoration because of what Jesus did when He took our place, when He died for us. You see, there’s a place of eternal calm, a place of unceasing tranquility. There is a place of perfect peace and of endless day, and that place is at the very center of the universe. It’s in the shadow of the throne of God. And to that location, John, the last living apostle, transports us from his prison on Patmos at its salt mines, and by the inspiration of God’s Spirit, he takes us to the very highest point, the pinnacle of the universe, and lets us gaze at a moment yet future when Jesus Christ receives from the Father the title deed and begins breaking those seals and taking back the control of this Earth that is reeling out of control toward destruction.

You know the calm; you’ve always heard that it’s calm at the eye of the storm. We didn’t experience that until 1989 when we lived in New England and went through our first hurricane. And I remember that hurricane swept up the coast, and we had so much warning for it. I’ve told many people the stores just emptied over-, not overnight, over-day. Just in about three hours, every store was empty. The only thing left was dog food and charcoal lighter. It was just gone, and everyone holed up in their houses to get ready for it to come up into the bay of Rhode Island and it came. And I remember hurricanes are not like tornadoes. Tornadoes, you’re asleep, and you hear the siren, you wake up, it’s there, it’s gone. Hurricanes, they come for hours, and it just gets, the speed of the wind goes up every hour. And it just, it starts out 40 miles an hour, and then 50, and then 60, and then 70, and then 80—these are sustained winds—90, 100, it just keeps going up. And the old trees in, here in our backyard, they go like this, and then they stop and they’re, they go like this, and they just start laying down. And I remember the kids wanted to see the hurricane, so I said, okay, I’ll take you outside. And we walked outside, and the first tree just slammed right in front of us, and we went right back inside. And Estelle, that’s the only thing she remembers about the hurricane, was that when Daddy took them outside, the tree fell right. And I decided to move my car. Wish I hadn’t; I would’ve had a new one, but I did move it, and it fell right where the car was. And it just went like that. But then the most unnerving thing happened. The old 160-year-old house we lived in was shaking, and every window was shaking, and the trees were all laying down in front of us, and all of a sudden the trees just came straight back up, and it just was calm, and there was no wind. And what had happened was the eye of the storm had come over our house, and we were in that window, that pool of perfect tranquility. The storm was all around us, but it wasn’t where we were. And we all went outside, and it’s real funny, the air is heavy, and it’s funny you’re inside of a cloud, and it’s quiet. And then of course went right by and blew over the rest of the trees.

But that’s where we are when we’re in chapter 4 and 5. In chapters 1, 2, and 3, we see the struggling saints, and we see Jesus pointing at them with His laser-like eyes looking right into their lives. We see Him warning them, taking their pulse and saying, I’m not finding you pleasing in My sight. Repent, get ready, come back, do what I command you to do at first. In chapters 6 through 20, we just find the absolute destruction of the planet and the renewal, but there’s the eye of the storm in chapters 4 and 5, and that’s where we are right now. We are right in the calm between the two storms. The perfect peace that always exists when you’re in God’s presence.

Now, I’ve spent a long time studying the lives of martyrs and reading Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, and great missionary stories, and church history, and everything I get my hands on. There’s something amazing about people that have experienced and perpetually experience the presence of God. They live in the eye of the storm all the time; they live in that calmness with all of the struggle around them, but they seem to live in the calm. That’s what we see in chapters 4 and 5. And I think for us to fully understand what’s going on in this chapter, we need to look again at the sacrifice of what Jesus Christ did for us, and we need to remember what He did on the cross.

And I think that a great place to do that is in an old hymn that one great hymn writer, P. P. Bliss, wrote, and I want to read it to you. You just listen to these words. It’s called “Hallelujah! What a Savior!” And it’s his testimony of the sacrifice of Christ. And I want you, before I read the fifth chapter, verse by verse and we go through every part of it, I want you to again think about what we’re celebrating at the Lord’s Table tonight and what we’re here for. We’re here to admire to, with hearts overflowing, come before the Lord and to with our beings, again thank Him for His sacrifice. And if you’ve grown up in the church like I have, there was never a day, unless I was dying, that I haven’t been in church. Told the elders, I always went to church morning, noon, night, whenever the doors were open. That’s just how I was brought up. That’s how my parents and my, by the way, my sister and her husband are here. I haven’t even introduced them yet, but at the end of service you ought to go over there and see my twin sister, Sharon! But seeing her reminds me we were always in church. And you know what? When you go to church, and I’ve celebrated the Lord’s Table monthly for 42 years. I didn’t get to partake till I was saved, but before that time, I remember watching and listening, and I’ve heard 42 years of sermons on the cross. And you know what? Except for the grace of God, it can get old. And except for the renewing admiration of, again, remembering the perfections of His sacrifice, the Table we celebrate tonight can go right by you. And you know what? If you’re not looking for blessings, you won’t get any. Now see, there are those parts of the Church that believes there’s a sacramental effect of the Lord’s Table. We don’t believe there’s a sacramental effect. You know what? We believe that if you’re coming looking for Jesus Christ, and if you look for His blessing, and if you focus your heart on Him, and if you say, with my whole heart I seek You, you will be incredibly blessed at this Table. You’ll be blessed with strength and encouragement with renewal. You’ll be blessed with the Lord right down, the innermost beings, the springs of gratitude welling up within you. But if you come without remembering what He did, then it’s just going to be another thing going by that you don’t get affected by.

Listen to what P. P. Bliss said, “Man of Sorrows!” what a name for the Son of God, who came ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah! What a Savior! Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned He stood; sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah! What a Savior! Guilty, vile, helpless we; spotless Lamb of God was He; “Full atonement!” Can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior! Lifted up was He to die; “It is finished!” was His cry; now in Heaven exalted high. Hallelujah! What a Savior! When he comes, our glorious King, all of His ransomed home to bring, then anew this song we’ll sing: Hallelujah! What a Savior! Can you say that to Him tonight? Hallelujah! What a Savior! You want to say it with me, together? Let’s try it. Hallelujah! What a Savior! That’s what admiring the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ is all about. Before Him, acknowledging the greatness of His sacrifice.

As we look into the book of the Revelation, remember we see that it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. All of the Scriptures are now combined into one majestic picture of Jesus as the Lamb of God. He who the prophets in times past were looking for and foretelling; He who the priests were constantly portraying as they endlessly offered lambs, each one of which pointed to Jesus Christ; the One that John the Baptist pointed to who stood unknown in the midst of men. Jesus now is shown to be the very center of God’s plan for this last segment before Earth, as we know it, shall be no more. We are at the throne of the exalted One of the universe, where the Judge of all sits. And here He tells us how we can experience inexhaustible peace as we admire Christ’s sacrifice.

Verse 1, and let’s begin walking through it. There are only 14 verses, and quickly we will just try and mine some treasures out of each one. Verse 1—the key is the book—and I saw on the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll—a book, a rolled-up scroll—and inside and on the back it was written, sealed with seals. The book, the scroll, what is this? The Scriptures describe what we’re talking about, and I want to read to you a few verses. This is the official document that declares the climax of human history. This is the title deed, as some people would call it, of the universe. This is God’s timetable and plan for coming back into control that He allowed Satan to usurp in the fall of Adam. It says in Isaiah 42, and you don’t have to turn there; you can turn to another couple in a moment. But Isaiah 42, God says this: behold, the former things have come to pass, and the new things I declare; before they happen, I’ll tell you of them. That’s a part of this book. God has pre-written the future, not guessed, not hoped, not planned, and in hopes it turns out. God says, before events happen, Isaiah 42:9, before they spring forth, I tell you; I have them written down.

This is what Ezekiel said: I looked, and there was a hand stretched out to me; and a scroll was in it, Ezekiel 2:9. And then [He] spread it out before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, written on it were the lamentations and mourning and woe. It’s the same scroll, and Ezekiel got to see it, and he saw it as God prophetically showed him it being unrolled. And Ezekiel has a lot of prophetic material in it, and Ezekiel got to see this and he said, it’s full of woe lamentations and mourning. Why? Because all of God’s wrath against sin that He’s been withholding. Why did God incinerate Sodom and Gomorrah, but He lets Boston and San Francisco go on? Why did God destroy Chorazin, and Bethsaida, and Capernaum, and He lets all the godlessness of our world go on? Why? Because He’s holding back His wrath until the Tribulation time when He pours it out all at once.

It says in Daniel 12 verse 8, although I heard, I didn’t understand. Then I said, my lord, what shall be the end of all things? And he said, go your way, for the words are closed and sealed until the end. The scroll, the unrolling. The scroll before God’s throne represents Christ’s title deed to all the Father promised Him. Jesus, because of His sacrifice on the cross, the Father said to Him in Psalm 2 and verse 8, ask of Me, and I will give You the heathen nations for Your inheritance, I’ll give You the uttermost parts of the Earth for Thy possession. This is the title deed for the Heir of the universe, the One who has the right to take the Earth.

Now listen, in history, remember I told you this morning the first law of understanding this Book is who is it written to and what did it mean to the people that God wrote it to? And so, you have to think about if you were living in the first century, what would a scroll with seven seals on mean? Very clearly in the first century, it was a Roman will. And every Roman Empire will had seven seals, and every one of them could not be opened until the one who had written the will had died. And then it has seven seals to show how no one could look at it unless they broke all the seals. You couldn’t break one and take a peek and then seal it back. It was very much sealed to prevent anybody from unauthorized tampering and thus protected from tampering. Rolled up, it was sealed at every turn for seven times, and the seals were not to be broken until after the death. Jesus died; the seals will be broken.

Look at verse 2. And so, the strong angel is looking for someone to open this, and only Jesus is the Heir to the title deed of the universe. And so, He starts a search to see if anybody else is worthy. And the strong angel proclaims with a loud voice, who’s worthy, who can open the scroll and loose its seals? Did you know only Jesus is worthy? So, God again sweeps the planet, and He can find nobody. Look at verse 3, and no one in Heaven. There aren’t any saints up there that are good enough to stand beside Jesus and to undo the scroll. There’s nobody that has the level of Christ. No one under the Earth, on the Earth—that’s people alive, people that were dead—were able to open the scroll, or to look at it. They couldn’t even get near it.

You know what it says in Romans 3:10? It says, there’s no one righteous, not even one. No one on this sin-cursed Earth has ever been born sinless, except for One who did not have an earthly father, who was virgin-born. That’s why the virgin birth of Christ is so important. Every other human being that’s ever been born, man and woman, every single one of them have been born tainted by sin. A sinner by nature, they were born that way. By choice, as soon as you make your first choice, you choose to sin, and I choose to sin. And by God’s divine decree, He’s declared us all in sin. And so, we are threefold sinners: we are sinners by choice; we were born that way; and God declared us to be sinners, except for One. Jesus Christ. All of Adam’s race is fallen. No one is worthy. Among all the Pharaohs, the Caesars, the Khans, the generals, the dictators, and the emperors, they and all their subjects have failed to measure up to God’s standard. And all have proven it because they’ve all died and turned to dust because they’re subject to the curse, but One conquered death, and One never saw corruption: Jesus Christ.

So, verse 4 says that John, because all humanity has fallen short of God’s glory, I wept much, he says in verse 4, because no one was found that was worthy to open, to read the scroll, or to even look at it. And what he’s saying is, our redemption hangs totally on Jesus. There’s no other hope. We’re not looking for anybody else. We’re not hoping someone else will show up. We’re not hoping that, as Satan is engineering in our world, that there’s going to be some extraterrestrial source of information or intelligence that’s going to come from out there somewhere. Don’t you realize that’s what Satan is cooking up with all the UFO stuff? People, the movies and all the literature, that’s why science fiction literature is so dangerous. It’s part of Satan’s plan to get us, our culture, looking for help from somewhere other than God through engineering, through science, through discoveries, or some through extraterrestrial intelligence going to come and tell us how to get out of this mess we’re in. But John said there’s nobody in Heaven, on the Earth, under the Earth. That’s everything that there is. Nobody is worthy to control the universe. Our redemption hangs totally upon Jesus. We have no other hope.

Now look at verse 5 because this begins; the first 4 verses are our total unworthiness of humanity, the hopeless, helpless condition of all humanity, but starting in verse 5, we see the perfections of Jesus Christ. And I want to just share with you several, and you might want to write some of these down, and there’s room in your notes, and there’s a lot more we won’t cover in your notes. But I want to share with you the perfections of Jesus Christ, things that you can admire about Him as we come to this Table tonight. Number one, the identification of Jesus is perfect. He is perfectly identified in verse 5, and this is what it says in verse 5, but one of the elders said to me, do not weep. Behold—and here’s Christ’s perfect identification—the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David. Now, wait a minute. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah! Now, for just a second turn to the beginning of your Bibles. Look at Genesis 49:10. I want to show you how perfectly knit together God’s Word is. God said, and if anybody would’ve been reading their Bible back when they were rejoicing over King Saul, they would’ve known they were mistaken to have been excited about him as their king because King Saul in the Old Testament couldn’t be the king. He wasn’t supposed to be the king. Why? He’s from the wrong tribe. Look at Genesis 49:10; this is a prophetic utterance. As Jacob was speaking his last words, the Spirit of God spoke through him, and he prophesied the result of his son’s choices. And this is what he says in verse 10, the scepter—that’s the right to rule, the symbol of kingship—shall not depart from Judah. That was one of the 12 tribes. Remember there are 12 tribes? Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, he’s number 4. The fourth-born wasn’t the firstborn, but he, God providentially chose, sovereignly chose. And so, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes. So, the right to rule, the kingship, was going to be through the tribe of Judah, and One who is coming, who is greater than Judah and greater than all the kings, and He’s called Shiloh. It’s very interesting. Shiloh. Shiloh is the One who comes. And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. Binding his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choice vine. This is a prophetic imagery of what Jesus was going to do as the perfect coming King.

Back to chapter 5 of Revelation, real quickly with me. Verse 5, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David. Now this is interesting. He is called the Son of David, but He is also the source of David because He is from before David, and David derived his… Do you remember? The Pharisees got all balled up when they heard this? Jesus said to them, if David called the Him Son, how does he call Him Lord? And they got all, they couldn’t answer Jesus’ question because prophetically David said, my Lord said unto me, and then he talks about the Son of David. And he in one breath is talking about Christ as the Son of David and Christ as the Lord of David. And how can He be at both ends? If He’s the Son, how can he be the Root or a source of authority for David? And the scribes and Pharisees couldn’t understand it because they didn’t understand God. But right here it’s explained the identification of Christ is that He is not only the promised Shiloh; He is also the Root from which David derived his authority. And He’s also the Son of David, through which He got the legal kingly descent to rule over the Jews. And He, verse 5 says, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.

How did Jesus prevail? Now, you’re going to have to really, you’re a very sophisticated audience. I know you can go through this quick, okay? Turn back to Hebrews, and I want to show you something that maybe you’ve never tied together. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3. Remember that’s seven or so books back. But look at Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3 because I want to talk about Jesus in one sense tonight, or verse 2. I want to talk about Jesus as our perfect Kinsman Redeemer. And after I tell you this, I hope that the book of Ruth becomes one of your favorite books because the book of Ruth is one of the most powerful presentations of Jesus Christ as our perfect Kinsman Redeemer, and I’m going to explain that in just a second, and you can note a couple things in your Bible. But look at Hebrews chapter 1; it’s actually the middle of a sentence. I’ll start in verse 1. God, who at sundry times and in divers manner spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. Verse 2, hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son—listen—whom He hath appointed Heir of all things. Jesus Christ is the Heir to the universe. He is the One the Father promised to give as a love gift all of the born-again Christians. Did you know you and I are a love gift from the Father to the Son? And a lot of people struggle with worth, and significance, and self-image, and all that stuff. Don’t worry about all, getting the fancy shoes, and the hairdo, and the makeover, and the second lease on life, and the toys. You have something better to make you very excited. You and I, when we bow our knees to Christ and submit in our wills to His Lordship, we become a gift from God the Father to God the Son because He loves Jesus so much.

Remember what Jesus said? All that the Father hath what? Given Me. Shall what? Come to Me, John. 6. We get involved in all this, and sometimes we get all involved in the mechanics of the Gospel and worrying about what’s going to happen, and we don’t realize that it’s a lot bigger than us, that there’s something beyond down here going on. And John 6 says that up above us, God the Father is supernaturally working to prepare people’s hearts, to soften them, to convict them, to draw them, to woo them, to bring them as a love gift to the Son. Now, don’t get all messed up with that. Some people, they just spend their time studying it, and they never tell a soul about Jesus. Jesus never stopped giving the Gospel out. He was relentless: preaching to every creature He could the Gospel, but there was a great confidence. He said, all that the Father gives me will come to Me, and all who come to Me I’ll never cast out. He was the confident Soulwinner, and so should we be.

But He was also revealing to us that our worth that we have is derivative of the fact that we are a love gift from the Father to the Son, the Lord Jesus. I hope you realize you’re very special tonight. You are, once you come to Christ, and by the way, before you come to Christ. It says in Hebrews, look at the end of this chapter, I just thought of this. Verse 14 says, are not all the angels, Hebrews 1:14, ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? Did you know that you’re tagged? That the Spirit of God is watching over you, the spirits of God, the ministering spirits, the angels are watching over you?

Some people have told me, they said, I remember someone I just led to the Lord. They came to me and they said, I was in a terrible car accident. I should have died. And they said, now I know why I’m still alive. God wanted me to hear the Gospel. I said, bingo. You got it. You were ministered to by the angels, and they protected you so that you would hear the Gospel. God doesn’t lose any. Don’t be desperate. Be confident. Be driven by the love of Jesus Christ. The love of Christ constrains us to go into all the world, but don’t be desperate, and don’t ever think that you blew it and you didn’t tell someone so they aren’t going to Heaven. No, don’t think that you determined someone’s destiny. God does, and their choice does, but not us. We just are consumed by the love of Christ because He is the Heir of all things, and we’re a love gift to Him.

Turn back to the book of Ruth now, and I’m going to get us ready for communion. Ruth is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth. Okay? Look at Ruth, and we’re going to look at chapter 2, and I want to share with you real quickly the identification of Jesus as the perfect sacrifice because He is the Heir of all things. He became our Kinsman Redeemer. Jesus, as the Heir of all things, became our beloved Kinsman Redeemer who was willing to give His life to set us free from bondage and to restore our lost inheritance. Now, some of you aren’t very accustomed to the Old Testament, but the Old Testament is the huge wealth of background for the New Testament, and the Bible of the apostles and the Lord Jesus Christ was the Old Testament. And that, Jesus just took the disciples through the Old Testament and showed Himself. And Paul for two years was a prisoner in Rome; before he was released from prison, it says the last few verses of Acts 28, that he spent two full years from the Old Testament convincing people of Jesus Christ. You try and do that. Try and talk to a group people for two years from the Old Testament and show them Christ. We don’t see Him very often. We need to. Here He is, right here in Ruth. Look at verse 12; this is Boaz talking in Ruth 2:12. The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel. Listen to this: under whose wings you have come for refuge. The kinsman redeemer is someone that takes a helpless, hopeless situation and gets involved in it and brings the person under their wings.

Now, look across the page, or wherever it is in yours, at verse 20. Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, blessed be he—that’s Boaz—of the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead! And Naomi said to her, this man Boaz. Remember the story? Ruth and Orpah, the two daughters of Naomi, they were off in Moab and a far land, and there was famine in their own land. They shouldn’t have gone over there, but they did, and their husbands died. And then they come back and Orpah leaves, and Ruth and Naomi come back to Bethlehem. But they’re women, widows, and they have no one to take care of them. And so, what they do is they come looking for their kinsman redeemer, and so they find him right here. This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.

Now, there’s three things that you need to be a kinsman redeemer. Okay? Think about this because I’m going to show them to you in this chapter. In fact, chapter 4, look at verse 4. I’ll just show them to you in the text. Ruth 4:4, and I thought to inform you, Boaz says, buy it back—that’s the inheritance—in the presence of the inhabitants of the elders of my people. If you’ll redeem it, redeem it; if you’ll not redeem it, then let me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it. Here’s the first qualification you have to have to be a kinsman redeemer. I am next to you. So, you have to be next of kin to redeem someone. So, number one, you have to be next of kin, Boaz said, and God had said in His Word.

Look at verse 5. You also have to be able. Boaz said, on the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi. You and I are like Ruth and Naomi. We are helpless and hopeless. We have lost our inheritance, and we’re in bondage, and we have to find a Kinsman Redeemer to get us out, who is next of kin to us, and who’s able to buy us.

But there’s one more key; look at verse 6. And the close relative said, I can’t redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. This guy, the first one, wasn’t willing. You had to have all three things. You had to be next of kin, you had to be able, and you had to be what? Willing. And this man wasn’t willing, so he gave up his inheritance to Boaz. And you know the good story, Boaz marries Ruth, and we have the great-grandfather of King David coming into the scene. But a kinsman redeemer has to be three things: next of kin, willing, and able. Listen, Jesus Christ, and that’s the theme.

Back to Revelation 5, and you can stay there. You don’t have to go anywhere else tonight. Just go back to Revelation 5. Jesus Christ, when He walked up to the throne in verse 5 of chapter 5, the elder said, don’t weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed. What does that mean? He has become the perfect Redeemer. What is a redeemer? A redeemer is someone who is a kinsman, who is able, and who is willing to buy you when you’re in trouble. Jesus Christ, He became one of us by taking human flesh. So what? So what? He becomes our close relative. Secondly, Jesus Christ loves us, and He is willing to lay down His life for His sheep, so He’s the willing Redeemer. Thirdly, Jesus paid the price of our sin with His own body and blood, so He is abundantly able. What does it say? He’s able to save us to the uttermost. He bought all of our liabilities, all of our sins to the end of our lives. Jesus Christ prevailed. How? He became flesh. He loved us so much, and He loosed us with His own body and blood given for us. Jesus is the perfect Heir.

What happens? Verse 6, and here’s the second perfection we should admire. The first one is the perfect identification of Jesus. The second is the perfect location of Jesus. If you and I have someone we want to admire that’s going to take care of our eternal needs, they ought to be in the right place or else they’re not going to be able to do any good. Look at Revelation 5:6. It says, and I looked, and behold, what? In the midst of the throne. Where is our perfect Lord Jesus located? Jesus is located in Heaven, and that’s where He is right now. Secondly, He’s in the midst of the throne room of God, and He stands before the throne with all authority. He’s in the right location for us.

But John continues with His description. It says He’s in Heaven in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, and He stands as a Lamb as though it had been slain—listen to this—having seven horns. You know what that means? He has perfect power. Horns stand for power. Seven is a perfection of power. What do we call perfection of power? Omnipotence. Seven horns means Jesus is omnipotent. Secondly, it says that He not only has these seven horns, but He has seven eyes. What do eyes speak of? Knowledge. What does seven speak of? Totality. So, what does Jesus have? The totality of knowledge. What do you call that? Omniscience. Thirdly, it says, and before Him are the seven Spirits which are sent, the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the Earth. What is the seven, fullness of the Spirit of God speak of? The fact that God is everywhere present. He is, what do we call it? Omnipresent.

So, what does the Lamb of God, this description symbolically conveying spiritual truth say? Since seven is the number of perfection, Jesus has perfect power, He’s omnipotent. Jesus has perfect wisdom, He’s omniscient. Jesus has perfect presence, He is everywhere present, He’s omnipresent. All three are attributes of God. And so, Jesus standing in the right place as the right Person is identified to be the Lamb of God. Not a great angel, not Satan’s brother as the Mormons say, not a great created creature like Jehovah’s Witnesses say, not a noble man like the liberals say, not a great prophet like the Muslims say; Jesus is identified to have all the attributes of deity. He is God the Son: omnipresent, omniscient, and the One who has all power to accomplish our redemption, omnipotent.

Let’s continue with the third wonderful truth in verse 7. Verse 5 tells us that He is perfectly identified as the One who is our redeemer. Secondly, He’s perfectly positioned. He’s at the throne as God with all authority and power. Thirdly, in verse 7, He has the perfect action. The action of Jesus is perfect. He takes the title deed. And it says in verse 7, then He came and He took the scroll out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne. Aren’t you glad that Jesus stepped to the plate for us? And He stepped up and He said, I’ll take that, for I have paid the price as the perfect Kinsman Redeemer. I’m the Heir of all things.

Fourthly, look at verse 8, the perfect reception of Jesus. I love this, especially for those of us who are declining in health, right? And sometimes you can’t do as much as you used to do. Look at verse 8, now when He had taken the scroll—so Jesus takes the scroll—the four living creatures, the 24 elders fell down before Him, and each had a harp. That’s where the sitting on the clouds with harp stuff comes from; it’s really silly. This is not what they’re doing. They’re not sitting playing harps on clouds, but that’s where it comes from. And golden bowls full of incense—but here’s the key; look at the end of verse 8—which are the prayers of the saints. Did you know you can have a ministry of just praying? I shouldn’t say just; you can have a ministry and I can have a ministry of prayer. And that’s why right now, whenever I look at that blank wall right there, where the light is shining, I always think of the Prayer Corps in there. I think probably one of the greatest reasons why God is blessing every avenue of this fellowship is that there are so many people, 100-150 people, that pray on their faces before the Lord seeking Him to be glorified in His work to go forward in the Prayer Corps. God loves to answer prayer. God loves to be moved to respond to our prayers. Our prayers are important. God keeps them. I met someone tonight, and I said, I’m going to talk about you tonight because you pray so much. You got a lot of stuff in your bowl.

Okay, now let’s go down to verse 9, and we’ll get real practical here because what we hear is, the finishing off of this chapter, verse 9, we sing about the plan of Jesus and the perfections of His plan. Verse 9 says, and they sang a new song. After these redeemed ones, representing us, and we will be there, see what happens, they break out into a song, look at the elements of this song, and this is, I think, a good test to see if a song meets God’s criteria.

By the way, we should be careful. I was telling my children in our little Bible time, I said, have you noticed that there are more and more songs that you can hear the whole song and never hear the name of the Father, Son, or the Spirit in mention? It just talks about Him, He. At least it calls Him, Him, instead of the Great Being, which is the next step. But have you noticed that in Christian songs? Do you know why those are called crossover songs? They’re so vague. They never mention Jesus, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the Lord, or anything else. They’re so vague that those “Christian,” in quotes, artists can market them under secular labels and under sacred labels. And so, they can sing the same song on a rock station for secular people that have no idea what they’re talking about and think it’s talking about some romantic deal as we envision the Lord Jesus Christ. That is offensive to God because there’s one name which is offensive to the world, and it’s the name, which is above all names, the Lord Jesus Christ. And our modern artists for commercial purposes are having crossover songs that you can sing them as well to godless as to godly. And godly think of Jesus, and the godless think of some great admiring person.

What’s the content when God writes the music? Verse 9, they sang a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll. That’s worshiping Jesus. That’s an element of a good song; it should cause us to worship Jesus. Secondly, to open its seals. That’s the authority of Jesus. All hail the power of Jesus’ name. His authority should be a part of our music. For you are slain. The substitutionary death of Jesus should be a part of true worship songs. Fourthly, You have redeemed us to God by Your blood. The redemption of Jesus, His blood, His sacrifice should be a part of worship. Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. The Gospel is a Gospel of outreach of the Gospel to every soul, and the Gospel should be a part of good worship songs. And have made us kings and priests to our God. Ministering for Jesus should be a part. And we shall reign on the Earth. Our hope in Jesus. So, when God gets to write songs, He writes about worship, and authority, and the substitutionary death of Jesus, and Jesus’ redemption, Jesus’ good news, His ministry, and hope. If you want to be sure you’re singing that new song God wants to put in your heart, check the content. Make sure the Lord’s mentioned.

Look at verse 11 because not only should we sing about the plan of Jesus to admire His perfections of His sacrifices, but secondly, we should sing about His character. And look at verse 11, what it says, then I looked, and I heard the voice of the angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000—that’s hundreds of millions—and thousands of thousands—that’s millions. And they were saying with a loud voice seven elements of Christ perfections. Let me just point out each one. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, number one, to receive power. You know what that’s saying? He came the first time in weakness; He came the first time as a weak and helpless baby. Herod tried to murder Him. Now He’s omnipotent. With all power in Heaven and Earth. Secondly, and riches. He who became poor for us, He who laid aside all the treasures of Heaven to walk this Earth as an itinerant Prophet, supported by gifts, He now holds the ownership of all the universe’s riches. He owns all things. Thirdly, wisdom. He who was mocked, and scoffed, and derided, and accused of everything evil His enemies could think of, now He stands as the wisdom of God. He’s a source of true wisdom. Strength. He was weary, He was thirsty, He was tired in His first coming. He is the rock now. He’s the fountain of the living water. He’s the source of all power and of an indestructible life. Strength. He’s the mighty Lion of Judah. And honor. He didn’t even have a place to lay His head back then, but now countless myriads of eternal beings focus their adoration and their worship on Him, and countless saints raise their voices in song. The universe glistens and radiates His glory. Honor. He shall be honored, and every knee will bow before Him. And glory. Briefly, while He was here on Earth, He pulled back to His flesh on the Transfiguration Mount, but now He shines with the brightness of the sun in all of its strength. And all glory and honor are His, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess He is Lord of all. He is the highest of Heaven adored. And blessing. He is the blessing which produces real joy.

Number one, we should sing about His plan. Number two, we should sing about His perfections. Number three, look at verse 13, we should sing about the possessions of Jesus. Every creature which is in Heaven and on the Earth and under the Earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying this. This is what Jesus possesses, verse 13, blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever! And I like how it ends. This is great. Finally, you know what he says the fourth thing in verse 14? Not only should we sing about Jesus Christ’s plan of salvation, and the perfections of His character, and the possessions, He possesses all things. But look at verse 14, and the four creatures said, what? Amen! We should just agree and worship Jesus, just agree. He has it all. He’s worthy of it all. And so, the 24 elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

I wonder this evening, do you admire the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ? Do you admire the worthy Lamb that was slain? Do you give Him from your heart and from your lips and from your innermost fountain of your being glory, and majesty, and dominion, and power, and honor, and glory, and blessings? Do you give all to Him?

Are you admiring the perfect sacrifice of Jesus tonight? Has the depth of His love and sacrifice filled your soul so full it is overflowing?

There is a place of eternal calm, unceasing tranquility, perfect peace, endless day…  That place is the center of the universe, the throne of God…  To that location John transports us from Patmos’ salt mines to heavens highest point…

In 1989 a hurricane swept through New England, for hour after hour the winds increased until trees were snapping. Then it happened, the calm at the eye of the storm. A perfect pool of quiet between the storms.

• Rev. 4-5 are a calm between two storms, the perfect peace which always exists in God”s presence
• Rev. 1-3 show the struggling saints
• Rev. 6-20 shows the end of earth

To admire the sacrifice of Jesus we need t remember what He did for us. PP Bliss well reminds us in his hymn, “Hallelujah What a Savior”.

‘Man of sorrows!’ what a name
For the Son of God who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood,
Seal’d my pardon with His blood;
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Guilty vile, and helpless we,
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement! can it be?
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die,
‘It is finished,’ was His cry;
Now in heav’n exalted high,
Hallelujah, What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew this song we’ll sing,
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

As we look into the book of Revelation remember we see that it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  All the Bible is now combined into one majestic picture of the Lamb of God.  He who the prophets foretold, the priest portrayed, and John the Baptist pointed to who stood unknown in the midst of men – is now shown to be the center of the plan of God for this last segment of time before time shall be no more.

We are at the Throne of Judgment for the Universe. On the Throne is the JUDGE of all.

How can I experience His inexaustible peace, His eternal calm in the presence of the Ancient of Days, seated on the Judgment Throne of the Universe? What will happened to me because of all my failures and sins?

Finding peace at the judgment of God by recognizing my unworthiness and guilt before His holy Throne, and recognizing by bowing and worshiping, the utter worthiness of the lamb as my substitute.

Chapter 5 is in two parts:

1.  v. 1-5 The unworthiness of mankind

2.  v. 6-14 The worthiness of lamb

Our Desperation:

The utter unworthiness of mankind (v. 1-4)

v. 1 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.  The Book – what is it?  Official document that declares the climax of human history.

• Isaiah 42:9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
• Ezekiel 2:9-10 Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it.10 Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.
• Dan. 12:8-9 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?”9 And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
• This scroll before God’s Throne represents Christ’s “title deed” to all that the Father promised Him. Jesus  because of His sacrifice on the cross. “Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen [nations] for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession” (Ps. 2:8).
• It is the deed for the Heir, the One who has the right to take the earth. In New Testament times Roman law required that a will had to be sealed seven times, to protect it from tampering. As you rolled it up, you sealed it every turn or so for seven times. The seals were not to be broken until after the person whose will it was had died.

Only Jesus is heir to the title deed of the universe!

v. 2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?”

Jesus alone is worthy to be our redeemer.

v. 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.

• Rom. 3:10 none righteous
• All of Adam’s race is fallen. No one is worthy among all the Pharoahs, Caesars, Khans, generals, dictators and emperors. They and all their subjects have failed to measure up to God’s standard…  All die and turn to dust…

All of humanity falls short of God’s glory.

v. 4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.

our Redemption hangs totally upon Jesus, we have no other hope!

His Perfection:

Admiring the perfect sacrifice of Jesus v. 5-7

1.      The identification of Jesus is perfect: he triumphed over sin, death and the devil!

v. 5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

• Lion – Genesis 49:9-10 Judah is a lion’s whelp;  From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him? 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
• Root of David – Isaiah 11:1-10, Isaiah 61:1
• Overcome – it is finished!  Cross, Jn. 19:30
• Jesus Christ is the “Heir of all things” (Heb. 1:2). He is our beloved “Kinsman-Redeemer” who was willing to give His life to set us free from bondage and to restore our lost inheritance
• Leviticus 25:23-46  25 ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.

In Ruth 1:1-4:22 we find the Kinsman Redeemer had to be: Related closely to the one in need, willing to take the responsibility to redeem and able to pay the price of redemption. Only Jesus meets all the qualifications:

• Jesus became one of us taking human flesh, so He is our close Kinsman Redeemer.
• Jesus loves us and is willing to lay down His life for us, so He is our willing Redeemer.
• Jesus paid the price of our sin with His own body and blood, so He is our  Abundantly Able Redeemer.

2.      The  location of Jesus is perfect: he is perfectly positioned

6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

• Jesus is in Heaven as our Mediator.
• Jesus is in the midst of the Throne room of God.
• Jesus stands bfore the Throne omnipotent ‘all authority’.
• John continues his description of the scene around the throne: “the seven Spirits of God” (v. 6). That does not teach that there are seven Holy Spirits. Rather there is one sevenfold Spirit, described in Isaiah 11:2 as (1) the Spirit of the Lord, (2) the spirit of wisdom, (3) the spirit of understanding, (4) the spirit of counsel, (5) the spirit of strength, (6) the spirit of knowledge, and (7) the spirit of the fear of the Lord.
• The description of the Lamb (Rev. 5:6), if produced literally by an artist, would provide a grotesque picture; but when understood symbolically, conveys spiritual truth. Since seven is the number of perfection,
• Jesus is omnipotent. That means He has perfect power (seven horns),
• Jesus is omniscient. That means He has perfect wisdom (seven eyes),
• Jesus is omnipresent. That means He is perfectly present (seven Spirits in all the earth).
• All three are attributes of God. So, the Lamb is identified as God the Son, Christ Jesus!

Jesus is the The wounded Lamb (v. 6-8). He was promised as the perfect lamb.

• In revelation Jesus is called a lamb (little pet lamb, not big sheep) no less than 28 times!
• In Genesis 22;8, 13  a ram was substituted for Isaac, a picture of Christ giving His life for the individual (see Gal. 2:20).
• At Passover, the lamb was slain for each family (Ex. 12:3).
• Isaiah states that Jesus died for the nation of Israel (Isa. 53:8; see alsoJohn 11:49-52).
• He was pointed out as the perfect Lamb:
• John affirms that the Lamb died for the whole world! (John 1:29)
• Peter said 1 Peter 1:18-19 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
• The more you meditate on the power and scope of Christ’s work on the cross, the more humbled and worshipful you become.

3.      The action of Jesus is perfect: Jesus takes the title deed as the exalted Lord of glory 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

4.      The reception of Jesus is perfect: Jesus hears and keeps all our prayers.

8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Prayers are vital to God

Our response: How do we admire the perfect sacrifice of Jesus? By admiring Jesus as The worthy Lamb (v. 9-14)

1^st – Sing about the plan of Jesus

9 And they sang a new song, saying:

• “You are worthy to take the scroll,  worship Jesus
• And to open its seals;  authority of Jesus
• For You were slain, substitutionary death of Jesus
• And have redeemed us to God by Your blood,  Redemption of Jesus
• Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, Gospel of Jesus
• 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God;  Ministry for Jesus
• And we shall reign on the earth.” Hope in Jesus

Want to be sure you are singing that new song God wants to put in your heart? Check the content closely. Beware of the new “crossover” songs in modern music. They only talk about the Lord they never name Him. Beware of songs that don’t name the name that is above every name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!

As the Perfect Sacrifice Jesus  received (5:11-12)

2^nd – Sing about the perfections of Jesus

v. 11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain

To receive power and riches and wisdom,

And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

Think of Jesus

1. “To receive power” He came the first time as a weak and helpless baby, herod tried to murder Him. Now He is OMNIPOTENT! power—all power in heaven and earth

2. “and riches” He became poor for us, laying aside all the treasures of heaven to alk this earth an an itinerant prophet supported by gifts! Now He holds the ownership of all the Universe! riches—He owns all things

3. “ and wisdom,” He was mocked, scoffed, derided and accused of everything evil His enemies could think of. Now He stands as the Wisdom of God ! wisdom—He is the source of true wisdom

4. “And strength” He was weary, thirsty and tired in His 1st coming. He is the Rock now, and the Fountain of the Water of Life and the source of the power of an indestructible life! strength—He is the Lion of Judah, mighty

5. “ and honor” Not even a place to lay His head back then, but now countless myriads of eternal beings focus their adoration and worship on Him, countless saints raise their voices in song, the Universe glistens and radiates His glory. honor –He shall be honored and every knee shall bow

6. “ and glory”. Briefly He pulled back His flesh on the Transfiguartion mount, but now He shines with the Brightness of the Sun in its strength. All glory and honor are His. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confss that He is Lord of ALL! glory—He is the Highest of Heaven Adored

7. “ and blessing!” blessing—He is that which produces real joy

3rd – sing about the possessions of Jesus

v. 13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:

“Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

Finally, just agree and worship Jesus v. 14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!”

And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

What’s the rest of the story?

• Wrathful Lamb  Revelation 6:16 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
• Worshipped Lamb Revelation 7:17  “for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
• Warring Lamb  Revelation 17:14  “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
• Wedding of the Lamb  =  God with us  Revelation 19:9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

John also seems to suggest in Revelation that the “heavenly sanctuary” follows the pattern of the earthly tabernacle and temple (see Heb. 9:23). The parallels are as follows:

Look with me now as we see the Lamb of God in six stations as He brings to completion God’s plan of the ages.

Let’s meet the Lamb in Revelation

The Lamb walking in the midst 1:11-18.

With his Royal splendor  Revelation 1:13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.

• A royal garment down to the foot
• A golden girdle of splendor

With his Purity and ancient wisdom  Revelation 1:14  His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire;

• Head and hairs white like wool, as snow-purity
• Eyes as flames of fire=omniscient gaze

With his Power displayed, v.15-16.

• Feet as brass=strength with Deity shining out
• Voice as many waters=strength and majesty as waterfalls roar
• Countenance as the sun=Deity shining out

With his Purpose defined, v.18.

• “Liveth”=self-existence
• “And was dead”=crucified
• “Alive forevermore”=eternal existence
• “Keys of hell and death”=body and spirits control

The Lamb waiting at the door 3:14-22

The call, v.20.

• “Stand at the door” = therefore He is outside
• “And knock” = no entrance without assent
• “Hear and open” = response with reception
• “Sup with Him” = communion

The Lamb worthy of praise 4:11-5:14.

The reason, 4:11-5:10.

• Creator “Thou hast created”
• Purpose of all “for Thy pleasure”
• Slain for man’s sin
• Heir to the universe

The rights received, 5:11-12; (Strauss, p.150-151)

• Power—all power in heaven and earth
• Riches—He owns all things
• Wisdom—He is the source of true wisdom
• Strength—He is the Lion of Judah, mighty
• Honor –He shall be honored and every knee shall bow
• Glory—He is the Highest of Heaven Adored
• Blessing—He is that which produces real joy

The response, 5:13-14.

• All creatures praise Him—the whole universe
• The four beasts worship Him

The Lamb warring against sinful men 19:11-20:15.

Tribulation war, 19:11-20:6

• He commands the armies of Heaven.
• His clothing is that of vestures dipped in blood.
• He is called the Word of God.
• He conquers the kings of the earth and chains Satan.

The final post-millennial war, 20:7-15.

• Satan is loosed.
• The millennial last generation follow his deception.
• They are destroyed.
• Judgment and then eternity, v.15.

The Lamb welcoming the redeemed 22:1-21.

The throne, v.1.

• The source of the water of life.
• The seat of the father and Lamb

The tree, v.2.

• By the river
• Bringing healing

The triumph, v.3.

• No more curse
• Unhindered service to Him.

The testimony, v.4-22.

• Seeing the Lord
• He is the Light
• Revealed to those who keep His sayings
• Let all who are athirst come

This day, my friend, the Lamb of God walks in the midst of His churches.  He waits and watches to see if we are willing to open the door to Him that He may commune with us.  He alone is worthy and all must and shall bow before Him in praise to that name above every name.  He shall be the Lion, the warrior, and in flaming power rain the vengence of God upon the nations who shun His appeals to turn and trust.  And, soon dear friend, He the Lord of Glory, the Little Pet Lamb slain for the sin of the whole world shall welcome each and every redeemed one to dwell in Him forever.  Do you know Him today?  Oh, let us see the Lamb today.