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Well, I appreciate you being here tonight.

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It's encouraging to realize that we probably have more people involved on Sunday night

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currently than we've had in the past.

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You say, well, they're not in the auditorium, and that's true.

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We have been trying some new things on Sunday night to see what we can do to use this time

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the most wisely.

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And we've decided that in addition to having a service, which we are tailoring more and

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more to be a Bible study, that we're going to try to do occasional electives to allow

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people to choose to come for four weeks or six weeks or eight weeks, whatever, for a

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specific purpose or study.

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And right now, downstairs, we have over 100 people who are involved in the study of how

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to communicate more effectively.

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Roger and Carol Lutz are leading that.

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In addition, we have an elective that I don't think is meeting tonight, but it's helping

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to equip teachers to do a better job.

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And beyond that, there are the build classes that have been meeting now for several weeks.

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So Sunday night is sort of in flux, and some of you have sensed that, and it makes some

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of us uneasy to sense, well, why isn't everybody in the auditorium?

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Well, times are changing, and we need to find the most effective way to use this period

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of our Sunday afternoons.

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So you bear with us as we do a little bit of experimenting and trying this and trying

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that so that we might know the mind of the Lord on that important question.

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Well, I invite you to open to the book of the Revelation with me to the fifth chapter.

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And you will notice that the chapter begins with the word and.

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There's a reason for that.

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It is a continuation of the last scene from chapter four, which we studied a couple of

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weeks ago.

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We see in chapter five the real reason for this majestic vision that John has of heaven.

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You remember he is on the Isle of Patmos and he hears a voice say to him, come up here.

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And he saw this door open in heaven and he was taken through that door.

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And he describes to us in these two chapters what he experienced there.

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And as we come to chapter five, we see a continuation of that heavenly vision and the sights and

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sounds around God's throne.

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This chapter we see introduced to us the center reason for these chapters being included in

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the book.

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And it is found in verse one, and I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne

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a scroll.

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You may want to mark that word because this scroll is really what this vision is all about.

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It's the reason for these chapters being in the book.

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And it lays out for us the whole rest of the book of the Revelation.

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And the man who sat on the throne had a scroll written inside and on the back sealed with

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seven seals.

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Now the events that take place in chapters four and five are in preparation for a period

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of time on the earth that we usually call the tribulation period.

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As we understand Bible prophecy, there is a seven year period that will close out this

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age in which we are living during which God will pour upon the earth the judgment which

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the earth dwellers, a term that we'll see here in the book of the Revelation, referring

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to people who have rejected God, who have no mind or use for heaven, they're called

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the earth dwellers.

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This book tells us about the judgment coming upon the earth dwellers during the tribulation

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period.

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It is a judgment that we will see is well deserved.

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In chapter four, we understand the scene to be in heaven.

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We see worship in chapter four which continues into chapter five.

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And there is an ominous sight and sound in chapter four.

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We see it in verse five and we didn't talk much about it last time but just notice again

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with me what it says there, from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.

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John does not tell us what these voices were saying.

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We may have a hint in what we study tonight and then again in a couple of more weeks.

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But from this awesome throne that John describes to us, which is out there in this sea of glass

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as he describes it, come lightnings and thunderings and voices which seem to suggest that they

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are portending terrible judgment that will come from that throne to those who dwell upon

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the earth.

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In chapter four, the throne itself is central but in chapter five, it is Jesus who is central

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to the vision.

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I don't think we can help but be impressed with the task that John had as he sought to

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communicate what he saw to you and to me.

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Think of the awe and the wonder that must have filled his heart in the first place and

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then the difficulty that he must have had in seeking to record what he saw.

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You say, well the Holy Spirit filled him and enabled him to write by the miracle of inspiration,

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that's true.

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And yet whenever God did that, he always used the personality and the vocabulary of the

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human author.

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And so undoubtedly John was grasping for metaphors and for words to try to describe this scene

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that is totally out of this world.

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When we read these words, however, we want to read them literally and understand them

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that way but understand also that John is describing to us a vision that is highly symbolic.

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And we'll see that tonight in the way Jesus is described.

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Well the first thing that calls our attention to it in chapter five is the scroll in verse

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one.

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We've read the verse.

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King James' version uses the word book here but actually the word is biblion which means

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scroll.

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When it talks about a book, it's not talking about a book like this which is a codex type

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of book.

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It's talking about a scroll, pieces of parchment that were sewed together one after the other

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and then rolled up.

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In this case, the writer wrote what he did and rolled it up and sealed the scroll with

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seven seals.

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Jesus seems to describe the typical seal of that day which were blobs of wax dropped on

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the book, the scroll, and then impressed with a particular seal.

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This procedure assured the authenticity of the scroll and it also assured that it would

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not be tampered with until it was the right time.

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You see, what is going to be unveiled now to us is concealed up to this point.

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It's sealed up in this scroll but everything now that takes place through the end of the

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book comes out of that scroll and so the seals will be broken.

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The big question that comes to the mind of Bible students is what does this scroll represent?

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There are those who say it represents the new covenant that God has established in the

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blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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There are others who say it's the book of history that's going to be unfolded in the

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future.

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There are others who say it is a book of judgment.

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Well it certainly is based upon the new covenant and it is history that's going to be unfolded

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and there are judgments connected with it but I think that there may yet be a better explanation

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of what the scroll actually represents.

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This background information may help.

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It is said that when a family in the ancient world lost its property through some kind

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of misfortune, that property could not be permanently seized.

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The loss which the family sustained was written on a scroll and the conditions for the redemption

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or the buying back of that property were written on the outside of the scroll so that when

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a qualified redeemer came to rescue those who had lost everything, meeting the conditions

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on the scroll, what they had lost could then be returned to the original owners.

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With that background information in mind, perhaps you can understand that what this

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scroll likely represents is what I call the title deed to the earth.

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The title deed to the earth.

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This scroll seems to represent the ownership of the earth and the right to rule over the

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world.

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Let me ask you a question.

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To whom was this scroll, this right to rule let's say, originally given by God?

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To whom was it?

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I see some of you mouthing words but I can't hear it.

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But let me assume that someone is out there saying Adam because that would be an appropriate

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answer.

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In Genesis chapter 1, God granted to Adam the right to rule over the earth.

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The earth was Adam's kingdom.

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He was the sovereign of the world.

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But alas, something happened.

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Much more than misfortune, there was a fall into sin.

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Tragedy came to the human race when Adam and Eve fell into sin and disobedience from God.

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Satan was the perpetrator of that and it is Satan then who got the scroll, the right to

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rule.

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You say then, what is it doing in the hand of God at this point?

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Well it seems as though even though he got the right of rule by usurpation, he usurped

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it.

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God did not allow him to keep the scroll as though he were the final judge and king of

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the earth.

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He retains a certain authority to rule and thus he is called even by our Lord the prince

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of this world in the Gospel of John.

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And yet God did not grant to him the right to hang on to that scroll because in this

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vision it is God himself sitting on the throne who has the scroll in his possession.

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And so this scroll represents what was lost to humanity.

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The possessions as it were were written on the inside of it and on the outside of it

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the conditions for the kinsman redeemer to meet so that what was lost might be regained.

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It is the breaking of the seals upon the scroll that brings forth the judgments of God.

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We will begin looking at those next week and then take a bit of a break for the Christmas

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events that Paul talked about earlier.

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You will notice that as the seals on this scroll on the outside of it are opened, judgment

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begins to come upon the earth.

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And as I understand the seals, when the seventh seal is opened it leads to the next series

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of judgments which are called seven trumpets which then lead on to the final series of

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seven judgments called the seven bowls of judgment that are poured out from heaven upon

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the earth.

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And so if you look at it that way, that seventh seal really is the source of all of the rest

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of the book of the revelation until Jesus Christ comes again to reclaim the earth.

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Let's move ahead to the next point in our message tonight, the search.

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Because in verse 2 we read, I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is

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worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?

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And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to

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look at it.

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

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it.

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And so we have this scroll which is the title deed to the earth on which is represented

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all that man lost due to the fall.

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Who has the authority to take the scroll and to reclaim the earth for God and for humanity?

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That person has to be qualified.

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There has to be someone who is worthy to take that scroll on behalf of God and man and to

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reclaim what was lost in the fall.

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The question is who is worthy?

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And a search is made, a search is made of heaven and of earth.

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It says the search was made in heaven, the abode of God.

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A search was made in the earth, the abode of the living and under the earth, which suggests

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to us the abode of those who are lost.

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And nowhere is there found someone who is worthy to open the scroll.

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Someone says, well what about Abraham?

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The great progenitor of the race of Israel, the one who was given the promise of the seed.

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Well the fact is that Abraham, as great as he was in faith and though he was called the

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friend of God, was a sinner and is therefore unworthy to stand before God's throne and

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to take the scroll.

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Then someone says, what about Moses, surely Moses who went to the mountaintop and received

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from God the Ten Commandments, surely Moses could take the scroll?

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The answer is that Moses himself was a law breaker.

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He received the law but he transgressed the very law that he received from God.

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He is not worthy.

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Well someone says, what about a great king, perhaps David, the greatest of Israel's kings,

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perhaps David could come before God and receive the right to rule, but not so.

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David was a man with blood on his hands, he is a man unworthy.

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Well someone says, if there is no human being who is worthy, perhaps there is some person

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in heaven like Gabriel or Michael, the archangels, who could perhaps take that scroll from God

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and give man the right to rule again on the earth.

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Of course Gabriel and Michael are not kinsmen, redeemers, they are not human beings, they

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are angelic creatures, they are not related to us in that sense and therefore are not

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qualified to serve as the redeemer of what man has lost.

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Whoever this is must himself be man.

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John's response of this search is uncontrollable weeping.

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It's a very strong term, John just burst into tears that he cannot stop.

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Is there no future for the earth?

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Is there no future for God's creation?

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What about the promises that God has made to Israel, are all of those for naught?

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Dr. W.A.

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Criswell, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas for many years, wrote these

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words.

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John's tears represent the tears of all God's people through all the centuries.

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They are the tears of Adam and Eve as they view the still form of their dead son Abel

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and sense the awful consequences of their disbelief and disobedience.

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They are the tears of the children of Israel in bondage as they cried to God for deliverance

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from their affliction and slavery.

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They are the sobs and tears wrung from the heart and soul of God's people as they have

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stood beside the graves of loved ones and experienced the indescribable heartaches and

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disappointments of life.

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Such is the curse that sin has laid upon God's beautiful creation.

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No wonder John wept so fervently.

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If no redeemer could be found to remove the curse, it meant that God's creation was forever

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consigned to remain in the hands of Satan.

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That brings us to the third point in the outline, the Savior.

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Because it says in verse 5, one of the elders said to me, do not weep.

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Now let's remind ourselves that around this throne there are 24 elders.

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You acknowledged last week that there are probably a dozen different explanations of

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who these elders are, but it seems to me the best explanation is that they represent the

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church in its raptured, glorified priesthood.

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And it says that one of these elders said to John, do not weep any longer.

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Stop crying John, behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed

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to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.

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And I looked and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and

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in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns

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and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

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Then he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

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And so there is found one who is worthy, one who is said to have prevailed.

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That's a great word because it's the same word used in chapters 2 and 3 that we studied,

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overcome.

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The overcomers, what it says here is that there is one who has overcome, one who has

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prevailed, one who has overcome sin, one who has overcome death, one who has overcome the

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grave, one who has overcome Satan and all of the powers of darkness.

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There is one who has prevailed.

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And he is identified first with the name the lion of the tribe of Judah.

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A lion is a fierce and ferocious beast, but a lion is acknowledged in most cultures as

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being the king.

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Beyond that, in the apocalyptic literature of that day, that is in other non-scriptural

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prophetic kinds of books that people were writing, the figure of a lion was used for

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the Messiah.

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They described the Messiah coming as a lion who would destroy Rome and free the Jewish

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nation from its bondage to Rome.

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And so when the readers of that day would hear this name, the lion of the tribe of Judah,

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even from their own contemporary literature, they would immediately understand that it's

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the Messiah who is in view.

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A lion is the king, the royal animal.

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And here the lion is from the tribe of Judah, making it very clear that this one who stands

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there before the throne is a descendant of that tribe of Israel.

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And then he is called, secondly, the root of David.

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The root of David.

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David, by the way, was from what tribe?

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Judah.

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The Lord Jesus Christ, it clearly states in Matthew chapter 1 is the heir of David and

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therefore has the right to reign as king.

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Messiah is called the root of David in Isaiah 11.1.

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And Jesus himself uses this term in Revelation 22 verse 16 when he says, I am the root and

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offspring of David.

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So as we think about the identity of this one who takes the scroll, we see it very clearly

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portrayed that this is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.

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But that brings us now to the vision of this one who stands there before the throne.

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We've seen so far titles.

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He's called a lion and a root.

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But now he is seen as a lamb.

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He says, behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the

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midst of the elders representing you and me there before the throne of God after we've

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been glorified and were with Christ.

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He says, there in the midst of all of this stood a lamb.

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This word for lamb is a special Greek word that means a pet lamb, a loved lamb, a small

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lamb.

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How many of you have ever had a lamb for a pet?

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They're wonderful little creatures most of the time.

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And they are easy to love.

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John says, I saw a lamb there, a pet lamb.

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That is one who gave the appearance of being greatly beloved.

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This particular word is used 29 times in the New Testament.

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And 28 of them are in the book of the Revelation.

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So you can see immediately that this is a special name that's being introduced to us.

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And all of the times it's used in Revelation except once it's used in Jesus.

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It is used once, however, of the antithesis of Jesus.

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And that is the Antichrist.

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For in chapter 13 when he comes out of the sea with his, his personage is described as

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like a lamb.

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Now indeed he is not a well-beloved pet lamb.

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He is a fierce beast as his actions and character further show.

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But he first gives the appearance of being like the Messiah, like a lamb well-beloved.

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But this lamb is no ordinary lamb.

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You notice that the lamb stands there as though it had been slain.

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This probably means that it bears marks on it, marks of sacrifice.

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The word slain means to be sacrificed with violence.

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Literally it means with its throat cut.

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And of course that's how lambs were slain on the altar of Israel.

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Their blood was shed as an atonement for the sins of the people.

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And now we see a lamb as it were standing before the throne of God with marks of violent

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death still upon it.

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Literally the marks refer to the marks in the hands and the feet which the Lord Jesus

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apparently will bear throughout all of eternity.

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The glorified body with which he was raised from the dead had those marks.

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Thomas was invited to feel them.

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And when he saw those marks he fell down before Jesus and cried out, my Lord and my God.

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Those marks will apparently be visible for all of eternity as a perpetual and eternal

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reminder to you and to me of the sacrifice of this lamb that we might be there with him

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in that place of glory.

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Now it's interesting that he sees the lamb standing before the throne.

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Jesus is often pictured in the New Testament as seated at the right hand of God.

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A picture showing that his work is finished seated.

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He is seated there in the place of power.

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His work having been accomplished upon the earth but now he is standing before the throne.

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Why is that?

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Well he is standing to work again.

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He is standing to resume work that is yet unfinished, not the work of redemption, that's

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finished.

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But now the work of judgment must be undertaken.

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And so he stands before the throne of God with respect to this unfinished aspect of

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his ministry.

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That is the work of judgment.

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Now he is seen with seven horns and seven eyes.

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This presents to our minds a rather weird picture of him.

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But remember now John is seeing things symbolically.

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He's telling us literally what he saw but this is symbolic in its meaning.

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So what do these seven horns stand for?

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Well the horn stands for strength and seven horns for perfect strength.

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Though he has been slain, he stands there with absolute omnipotence.

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He is not weak.

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He has all power given to him.

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All authority is his to save and to judge.

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Seven eyes, which John says are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth,

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which is similar language to what we saw earlier in the book, which seems to represent to us

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the perfect understanding, the perfect knowledge of this lamb that was slain.

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That he has absolute awareness of everything because of the perfect filling of the Holy

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Spirit that he enjoys.

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He stands there in his omnipotence and his omniscience to bring righteous judgment and

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to reclaim for humanity what was lost in the fall of Adam and Eve and to bring God's judgment

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upon sin.

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And so he takes the scroll in his hand and he holds it.

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This is a dramatic moment.

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There is silence in all of heaven as John stops his weeping.

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And all of the eyes of heaven are focused upon this lamb who stands there and he reaches

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to the throne of God in one dramatic moment and he takes that scroll in his own hand.

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He is worthy to do that.

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He is now going to exercise his judgment.

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No longer will he serve as the gracious intercessor for the people of the earth.

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No longer may they look upon him as the friend, but they must now realize that he takes this

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scroll to bring judgment upon sinners.

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Well the action will continue as we go on to chapter 6, but notice that there now erupts

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in heaven tremendous sounds described as a song.

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Indeed there are three songs that are here.

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It says, now when he had taken the scroll the four living creatures and the twenty-four

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elders fell down before the lamb.

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So here is the first action now.

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Thus the lamb has taken the scroll in his hand, those nearest to him, these four living

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creatures that are around the throne of God described to us in the fourth chapter.

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Along with the twenty-four elders, and again I say representing us before the throne of

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God.

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We all fall down before the lamb, each of us having a harp, a lyre, a simple stringed

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instrument, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints it says.

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Here we have redeemed man, the twenty-four elders, and God's creation in the four living

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creatures joining together in praising the lamb.

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And they sing what is said to be a new song.

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It does not mean that it's new in time, but it means it's new in kind.

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Here's a new kind of song.

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It is a song that is one of redemption.

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The old song given to us in chapter four is about creation.

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Notice that.

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It says in verse eleven, you are worthy to receive glory, honor, and power for you created

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all things.

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That is one wonderful theme.

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And we still sing about that today, but now there is a new kind of song that is sung in

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heaven and it deals with redemption, not creation.

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You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals.

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For you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue

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and people and nation and have made us kings and priests to our God.

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And we shall reign on the earth.

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All classes and groups of people are the recipients of the blessings of redemption.

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Out of every tribe and tongue and nation and people, there have been those redeemed and

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brought to the scene before the throne of God.

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And they worship and praise the lamb who has won the victory through his cross.

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They give worship to Jesus who is entitled to take the scroll, to open its seals, and

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to execute judgment upon the earth, and to unfold history's consummation in his returning

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to the earth terrain.

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These people say, you are worthy.

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He is deserving.

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You were slain.

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The tense of the verb there means in one dramatic act you were slain, obviously referring to

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the cross.

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Let's never get tired of singing of the cross, of the blood of Christ, of his sacrifice for

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us.

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That is going to be the song of heaven for all of eternity.

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We will look back to that moment on the hill of Calvary when the lamb was slain.

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They say you have redeemed us with your blood, the price of redemption, the price that the

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kinsman redeemer had to pay in order to take that scroll on behalf of humanity.

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Here we see the church acting as a priesthood.

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That's going to be our blessed privilege for all of eternity.

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There's worship of Christ, but there is also in some sense intercession here.

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Because there are golden bowls full of incense said to be the prayers of the saints.

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Now, whose prayers are these?

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What are these prayers and who prayed them?

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Who are the saints?

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Well, like most other passages in Revelation, you're not going to find one answer to these

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questions.

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But it seems to me that the prayers of the saints mentioned here are the prayers of those

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00:35:48,580 --> 00:35:58,120
people still living on the earth, those who are saved after the church has been raptured.

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00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:01,760
And we'll talk about them in another chapter or two.

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That these saints upon the earth are praying to God.

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And what are they praying?

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00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:08,920
Lord, your kingdom come.

405
00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:13,920
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.

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They are praying out and we shall see this.

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00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:23,680
Lord, bring judgment upon our persecutors and our killers.

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00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:29,680
And there is some sense in which those gathered around the throne bring these prayers of the

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saints still upon the earth before the throne.

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And so the first song that we see is by the four living creatures and the 24 elders.

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And then we see in verses 11 and 12 another song.

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It's by the angels this time.

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John says, I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living

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creatures and the elders.

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And the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands sang with a loud

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voice.

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By the way, you will see many times in the book of Revelation a loud voice.

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Whether it's angels or people singing or whatever, there's a lot of noise in the book

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of Revelation.

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And here the noise, the beautiful speaking of all of these creatures, redeemed creatures

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and angelic creatures.

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And with a loud voice together this large mass says, worthy is the lamb who was slain

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to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.

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Notice the sevenfold praise given to the lamb.

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Those of us who enjoy Handel's Messiah recognize that he received part of his text from this

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verse.

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And every creature says, which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and such as

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00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:11,200
are in the sea and all that are in them, I heard saying, blessing and honor and glory

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and power be to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb forever and ever.

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00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:22,360
And so we come to the third of the songs.

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00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:24,720
There is this mass choir.

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00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:30,520
If you've ever enjoyed the Billy Graham Choir, you just wait until you hear this.

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00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:36,440
You wait until you hear the angels of heaven that cannot even be numbered join with the

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00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:45,200
redeemed around the throne of God and sing the praises of the lamb.

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00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:53,440
Every living creature in the universe ultimately joins in the chorus.

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00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:58,760
And blessing and honor and glory and power is spoken to God.

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00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:02,640
This is probably seen in anticipation.

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00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:09,400
It may not occur chronologically right at this moment, but ultimately the point is all

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00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:17,840
of creation sharing in the work of Christ's redemption will join in the praise.

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00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:23,600
The one exception will be those who are lost and outside of Christ.

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They will be excluded from all of this and consigned to a fate that is called a second

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death.

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There is a final amen given in verse 14.

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The four living creatures said, amen.

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

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And so as we come to the close now of this scene in heaven, the stage is set.

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Heaven is ready.

448
00:39:56,720 --> 00:40:01,160
The drama is about to unfold.

449
00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:06,200
Events are going to come upon the earth which will consummate in the return of the Lord

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00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:16,400
Jesus Christ, this lamb, to claim his right to rule and the right of redeemed humanity

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00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:22,800
to rule the earth as was God's intention from the beginning.

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We can only wonder, at least for now, the glory and the wonder of the scene in heaven.

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But one day we will have the joy of participating in it and experiencing what John is describing

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here.

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For you see, if you're saved tonight, if you're one of God's children, I believe that we're

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00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:51,640
here in this scene represented by these twenty-four elders and the words that we see and the actions

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that take place, we, by the grace of God, will participate in.

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So when we sing, oh that will be glory for me.

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It's not just going to be glory when we get to heaven after death.

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I mean, that's going to be wonderful in itself.

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But the real glory comes when we are caught up to be with Christ and return to the throne

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of God with him and the events begin to unfold that we see in these two chapters and the

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chapters following.

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Well there is, again, a chorus in our hymnal that is based upon these words that we have

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studied tonight.

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It's number 180 and here it says, worthy is the lamb that was slain.