Revelation: Part 15

We know right away this is some kind of an unusual person, to have an everlasting throne. Not an ordinary man. It says, I will be his father, and he shall be my son. And I will not take my lovingkindness away from him as I took it from him who was before you.

That’s saul. But I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever. Now that’s when we learned that the Messiah had to come as a direct descendant of David. This was the prophecy.

And that’s why he is called in gen -or I should say now in Revelation 5, the root of David. From the tribe of judah, the root of David, has overcome so as to open the scrolls and the seven seals. So we know right away, we’re talking about Jesus. The one that was predicted.

The one that would come. I want you to see where all of this comes from. It’s deeply embedded. The Bible is unlike any other book.

Written by 40 different authors over an expanse of thousands of years from different places, different backgrounds. And yet what God wrote through these 40 men is like one book. Because the Holy Spirit inspired it all. It shows that it is the divinely, verbally-inspired Word of God.

All right. Now, so we learn that, hey, the one that’s gonna carry out what’s written in the scroll is the lion of judah. Now, in verse 6 he said that he’s the one that’s gonna do it, but when he looks to see the one that’s gonna take it, what does he see? And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures, and the elders, a Lamb standing, as if slain.

So much is said in those few words. First of all, he’s a Lamb that was slain, but he’s now standing. What does that tell us? He was dead, now he’s alive.

Next, he was slain. So as they look — as he looks at the throne, he sees a Lamb that’s got the marks and the scars of his death. These will be the everlasting badge of Jesus, to remind us what it cost to forgive us and bring us into heaven. When we see Jesus, he’s going to have some terrible scars.

And they will always be there. Even in his glorified body. And I’m glad. Because I never want to forget.

There’s a story that was told about, a true story, about a mother who rushed into a burning room to rescue her little baby daughter. And in so doing, in protecting her, she was badly burned, had horrible scars. And as the little girl grew up, she didn’t know anything about it. And she was embarrassed about those scars that her mother had on the side of her face and arm.

Until one day, and you know howyoung kids are, one day she came home from school and she was crying and she said that they keep making fun of your scars, and they’re embarrassing to me. She said, well, let me tell you how I got them. And she told her how she had rescued her, nearly losing her own life to get her out of the fire. From that time on, that little girl loved those scars.

Well, it’s gonna be much more than that when we see Jesus, isn’t it? Now he’s standing, and he’s standing between the 24 elders and the throne. And also with him are the four living creatures. Now last week we found out what I really believe those stand for.

What are the four living creatures? They’re the living gospels. The four accounts of the life of Jesus that are the living word that will always be there to show what Jesus did. And the 24 elders represent the Church in heaven.

The number 24 is the number always used with priesthood. It’s the Church now made what God promised he would make of them, the priests of God. And Jesus as the Lamb, is standing between God the father and with the witness of the four gospels, the saved human beings that are now in heaven. Why is it so careful to say he stood between?

Because he will alwaysbe our advocate. He will always be our high priest. That nothing -no charge can ever successfully be brought before the throne of God against any one who believes in him. It’s what the Bible says.

1 John 2. Look at it with me. My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. But if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

Now here’s a lawyer that’s never lost a case. And he doesn’t fleece you for defending you.

An advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. And he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. Now, what a verse because propitiation means to satisfy God’s justice by paying the penalty of his offended law. And that’s what he did.

So, God wants us to know, this is right after it says if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, after that -you know, if you confess your sin to God, and you just simply believe, you want to turn and walk with him again and you just believe that he has forgiven you, you’ll have peace. And if after you have confessed your sin, you don’t have peace, guess who’s not giving you peace? Satan.

He will accuse you as he accuses the brethren, you see. That’s why immediately after that, it reminds us, once you’ve confessed your sin and you’ve turned and believe and walk with God again, you don’t have to feel a guilt complex. If you have a guilt complex, that’s Satan giving it to you, not God. Because if you think God is still holding your sin against you, you can’t really have a strong faith.

Because if you think -for instance, I had a friend in seminary, dallas theological seminary, and we were friends from almost day one. Until in my third year, I borrowed some money from him and I said, gib, I’ll be able to pay you back I believe in two months. Two months came and I didn’t have the money. Well, the first couple of weeks I felt strange around him.

After three or four more weeks, I started planning my day so I wouldn’t run into him.

And finally, he bushwhacked me. He saw me sneaking off and he came out from around the corner and grabbed me and shook me and said, what’s the matter with you? I said it’s about that money. He laughed and he said, I thought that was it.

He said, look, I knew if you had it, you’d pay me. I’m not worried about that. I’m not upset with you. As far as I’m concerned, you don’t owe me anything.

Fellowship was restored. Do you know how many times we do that with God? And that’s why he puts in here, Jesus Christ has not only died for your sins, but for the sins of the whole world. He died for those who will never believe in him.

But he is our advocate constantly before the father. And when we get out of -you know, you can’t get out of relationship. The moment you accept Christ, you’re saved, period. That’s our relationship eternally.

You can get out of fellowship. If you stay out there, you’ll go to the divine woodshed. And I’ve spent a little time there and I tell you, you don’t want to go there.

But he will discipline you in love. You know, in the New Testament, it never says that God punishes a believer. Not once. Punishment’s getting even for something you’ve offended someone by.

Discipline is forward-looking. It’s always for the purpose of training you to walk with God in the future. And so that’s why he -you know, you just cannot believe God if you think he’s holding something against you. You can’t.

So you have to clear the decks for action by believing God, confess your sin, trust him, depend on the Holy Spirit, and move forward. Get up off the canvas and get back in the fight. Amnos. Which means a little pet Lamb.

And this is meant to throw us back to another Jewish custom. I’m running out of time. This is meant to throw us back to another Jewish custom. Do you know that the Israelites were commanded before the Passover, and this is primarily they passed -and they did this when they were in the wilderness with the tabernacle, but they still practiced it when they had the temple.

They were commanded to select the best of the flock as an offering for the Passover. A little Lamb. And then they were to take this little Lamb into their home for at least a week. And the children and the family were to treat it and love it like a pet.

And then it was offered as a sacrifice for sin. It would be hard to do, wouldn’t it? Well, that’s why this word is used. You see, Jesus is God’s treasured pet.

He took heaven’s best and sent him to diefor you and me. And so the little amnos as though slain is standing before the throne and between the throne and those he saved. With the witness of his whole earthly life, the four gospels, living before him. He had seven horns and seven eyes.

Now, the seven eyes are described by which are the seven spirits of God, but that does not describe the seven horns. Because horn is used as a symbol inthe Bible of power. Seven is the number of perfect, completion. So what is this saying?

This little treasured Lamb that was slain now has omnipotence. And the seven eyes, the seven spirits of God, shows both his omniscience, he knows all things, and his omnipresence. He’s in all places at one time. So it shows what’s really true.

Jesus is the unique person of the universe. Jesus is both man and God eternally united in one person. Undiminished deity and perfect humanity, united in one person. He’s unique.

There’s no one else like him in all the universe. He’s not like the father and the spirit because he is also a man. He’s not exactly like us because he’s also the God who created the world. How awesome.

While Jesus walked on this earth every breath he took was a sacrifice. Because every breath he took, every moment he lived here he had to voluntarily refuse to use his divine powers. Had he once used his own divine powers, he would have disqualified himself as the Son of Man. That’s why he says over and over and over again in the Gospel of John, I do nothing of myself.

The father who dwells in me does the works. And that’s why he said, when he was about to depart this earth, he said, he who believes, or literally, he who keeps on believing in me, the works that I have done shall he do also. And greater works than these shall he do, because I go to the father to send the same Holy Spirit to dwell in all of you that dwelt in me. What Jesus did, he did as a man depending on the Holy Spirit, just as you and I have the Holy Spirit in each of us who believe and can depend on him moment by moment to work in us what he wants.

To overcome our weaknesses. To overcome our habits. To overcome our quirksand our -you know, all the things that psychologists try to get rid of.

Well, the Holy Spirit’s been here long before they were. But it’s the one who consistently, instead of depending on your own human strength, depends upon the Holy Spirit that keeps growing and growing until God can do great things through him when he depends on the Holy Spirit. You know, I wish I always depended on the Holy Spirit during the day as I do when I’m up here. I don’t always.

I hit my toe and…

Suddenly I’m the old tugboat captain again. O Lord, I’m sorry. I confess. In verse 7, and he came and he took out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

Who is that? It’s God the father. And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb having each one a harp and a golden bowl, full of the incense, which are the prayers of the saints. You see, all of this is the -these are the things of priests.

The bowl of incense, prayers, intercession. And they sang a new song, saying, worthy art thou to take the book, or the scroll, and to break its seals, for thou was slain and did purchase for God with thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And thou has made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God and they will reign upon the earth. Why?

Because these scrolls are about to be opened. And he says, and I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the numbers 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. And every created thing which is in the 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. And the four living creatures kept saying, amen.

And the 24 elders fell down and worshiped. That’s what we’re gonna do. This is the choir that cannot be numbered. And I would remind you that in Revelation 9, he speaks of an army from the east that measures 200 million.

So God can count up to 200 million.

But he says this must be much more numerous because there are too many to be numbered. You know what that tells me? There are gonna be a lot more people in heaven than we ever dreamed. Because of the grace of God.

And because even some we didn’t know believed in Jesus as their Savior and accepted the gift of pardon that he died to give them, and we didn’t know it. Maybe they didn’t live to understand the riches of living for Christ here on earth. Maybe they won’t have many rewards, but I do believe there are gonna be more there than we think there are gonna be. And that makes me happy.

All right. So, heaven’s court has spoken. The little treasured pet Lamb that was slain, is now the lion of judah. And he now has taken in his hand the scroll with seven seals.

What does that mean? Well, you see, that scroll with the seven seals contains everything from chapter 6 all the way to the rest of the end of this book. Because, you see, the first chapter after this is chapter 6. It says, these are the seal judgments.

In other words, he opens each seal and with each seal, and unrolls the scroll, there is a new judgment. The seventh seal contains the seven trumpet judgments, and the sevengolden vial judgments. So it’s all in the book. It’s all in the scroll.

And that’s why it had to only be taken by one who was worthy to do such a thing. Glory be to the Lamb that was slain. Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. That’s what John the baptist said when he first saw him.

And I believe that it is so important for us to realize the Greek word there is not like the Old Testament word, kippur, which meant atonement. When the animals were offered for our sin, they atoned, kippur, for them, which means to cover. In other words, it just covered sin out of God’s sight, the animal sacrifices. Until the Lamb of God came, and the Greek word does not mean to cover.

It means to take out and remove. He removed sin as a barrier between man and God. The one thing that stands between man and God today is that it would beso foolish not to accept the gift of pardon that Jesus Christ died to give him and simply invited him to come into his life and make it what he wants it to be. You can’t do it.

But you can ask him to do it. He’ll do it. If you’ve never done that, do it as I close in prayer. Father, I thank you, in Jesus’ name, for this look into heaven to see what will soon be the scene in heaven.

Lord, we pray for anyone here who’s never received the gift of pardon that Jesus died to pay for. May that one right now just say thank you, Jesus, for dying for me. I don’t understand it all, but right now I receive the gift of pardon that you died to give me. I can’t change my life, but I want you to change me.

Come into my life. Give me new desires as you promised you would. And enable me to claim your power to be different. In Jesus’ name, amen.

If you have the guts to be a real revolutionary, come forward right now and accept Jesus Christ as your real revolutionary. And he’ll make a revolutionary that will change lives.

As I prepared for this week’s program, I was again struck by the speed with which events are moving into the scenario the prophets predicted for the end times. I believe we’re there. People on the street are talking about what all of these things mean. Folks that wouldn’t darken the door of a Church or pick up a Bible are now very curious.

This may be our greatest opportunity, maybe even our last opportunity, to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ before we’re silenced by political correctness. The message that God has given me is more important now than it’s ever been, for the Church and for the nation.