Worship Before the Throne of God: Part 3

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Worship Before the Throne Of God: Part 4

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Praise God. So as we come to Revelation chapter 4, we've already looked at chapter 5, we've already looked at chapter 4, we'll continue this little series, worship before the throne of God, worship before the throne of God, and this includes these two chapters.
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We're going to look at just the first seven verses this morning and we're going to pick up the next
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Lord's Day, verse 8 to the end of the chapter, verse 14, we're going to roughly get through half of it with God's help.
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So if you're there in Revelation chapter 5, hear the word of the living
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God. I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.
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And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals.
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No one in heaven or in earth or the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it.
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Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it.
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And one of the elders said to me, stop weeping, behold, the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.
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And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders a lamb standing as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out and sent out in all the earth.
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And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne.
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And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each one holding a harp and a golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
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And they sang a new song saying, worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals.
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For you were slain and purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
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And you have made them to be a kingdom and priest to our
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God, and they will reign upon the earth. Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels, angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the number of them were midrids and midrids of 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.
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And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them,
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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.
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And the four living creatures kept saying, amen, and the elders fell down and worshipped.
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Praise God. Let's bow in prayer and ask our Lord to speak to us.
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Father, we thank you for this great text. Thank you for that word. When your word speaks, you speak.
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Lord, we pray, open our ears, unstop our deaf ears,
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Lord, that we may hear your voice. For you have spoken through your son in these last days.
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Father, I pray this morning that every one of us may see Jesus and him crucified and glorified as well.
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In his name we pray, amen and amen. Well, it's wonderful to see what is happening here in this great chapter.
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As we saw in chapter 4 of Revelation, John the apostle was called up into the presence of God and the
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Spirit on the Lord's day. And he was so called up, he saw things that was beyond language, the language of mere mortal men.
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There he saw the throne of God. Could you imagine trying to describe the throne of God? Well, he does in the best way he could.
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We saw that in Revelation chapter 4. And though the scene in chapter 5 is still in heaven, the theme changes.
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The theme changes from the worship of the Creator God to the worship of the
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Redeemer. And that's really the theme through chapter 5 here.
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Chapter 4 is focused on, first of all, God the
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Father. And then in chapter 5, the worship is focused on the second person of the Trinity who is the
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Lord Jesus Christ himself, our Redeemer. These two chapters provide us a glimpse of what will be going on in heaven before God pours out
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His judgments on planet earth. In Revelation chapter 6 through 18, we see those judgments being poured out.
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The vows, the bowls, and eventually the trumpets. Each seven, they come in sevens.
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And it's both our duty, I suppose, and our great privilege to worship the
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Creator God. Because all that we have, all that He's given, and His creative power comes from Him.
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And we recognize that, don't we? I like what James 1, 17 through 18 says.
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And actually in context, he's talking about the greatest gift, salvation. Because without salvation, without faith, without repentance, we cannot behold these things and see them even by the
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Spirit of God. God gives us His Spirit. And what a remarkable gift that is. That's the greatest gift there is, is salvation, eternal life through Jesus Christ.
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He is the unspeakable gift, Christ Himself. But as James says, every good and good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the
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Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. And then he says this, of His own will.
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Not our will, but of His own will. Of His will. Not of flesh, not of blood, but of God.
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What John says. Of His own will. He brought us forth by the word of truth, by this great word of truth.
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And that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. So we are
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His first fruits to offer up praise and worship and to live for Him and worship
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Him. Romans 11, 36 says, For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever and ever.
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So it's unto our Creator God that created us and formed us and made us for who we are to worship
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Him and to love Him, to adore Him. I cannot help but think, like the first Adam lost this ability as we looked at last week.
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It's like he threw that harp in the mud and he lost that ability to worship. And in the garden, then sin came in.
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But Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, 45, And so it is written, the first man
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Adam became a living being, but the last Adam became a life -giving spirit.
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The first man was of the earth, made of the dust, but the second man is the
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Lord from heaven. Isn't it wonderful to see that in the whole plan, in the scepter of salvation, you see sin fills the pages, but in the beginning there was no sin, and then at the end there's no sin.
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The book ends, there's absolutely no sin. But in between is all the history of sin, and God deals with this.
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God deals with this, and we find out how He does it in the pages of this wonderful book of truth.
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Now, what man lost, our Redeemer restored. And this is what
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Revelation actually comes to, it's a consummation. The greater theme in the Scriptures is really the redeeming love through our
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Lord Jesus Christ. In one word, we can really describe what salvation is, what it is all about, and it's the story of redemption.
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Redemption is the key word that God buys us back, buys us back through the blood, through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
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And we see that all focused on the cross, as God the Father pours out
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His wrath upon His Son, and Jesus becomes that sin offering for us, and He washes us and cleanses us.
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You know it's wonderful, the hymn puts it, I think we're going to sing it today, near the cross, but in the cross of Christ, I glory, towering over the wrecks of time, all the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime.
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Jesus Christ Himself crucified, buried, resurrected, glorified, and one day coming as coming
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King. And I'm telling you, that's what it's all about, in the entirety of the plan and the scope of God.
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So in chapter 5, the Apostle John turns his gaze to the throne of God, but there are two points
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I'd like to bring out today, in verse 1 -4, we're going to look at, very briefly, the search for the worthy one, the search for the worthy one.
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And this will take place in heaven, and John has a precursor of it, he sees it by the
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Spirit of God, there's a search for the worthy one, and then in verses 5 -7, there is the selection of the worthy one.
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So we will look at the search for the worthy one, and the selection of the worthy one.
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Let's begin with the search. There's a great search in heaven for the worthy one. Verse 1, the
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Apostle says this by the Spirit of God, 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.
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That's very important. A scroll written inside and on the back.
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A lot of writing. Sealed with seven seals. What the
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Apostle John continues to reveal, what is observed is He was permitted by God.
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God chose Him, chose these certain men, holy men of God, moved by the Spirit of God, gave us, and they wrote by the
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Spirit, the inspiration of God, the passage, the books of the Bible, but here
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John has the glorious privilege, and is permitted to look into heaven, and to see the very throne of God itself, and he relates what he saw at the throne, but avoids the use of God's name.
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You notice he never mentions God's name. Now I think this is significant, and there's a reason for this.
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He does not mention God's name. Now why is this so? As I was studying this, a
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Jewish scholar by the name of Simon Keistemaker says, and I read quite a bit of his, and he's a
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Messianic Jew, and he's a scholar, and he said this, quote, For a Jew, mentioning the name of God was forbidden, especially in connection with God's dwelling place,
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His throne. And he goes on to say this, So John writes about one sitting on the heavenly throne, and his right hand, which symbolizes divine power and authority.
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End quote. That is so true. Usually a Jewish person that understood the holy name of Yahweh, God, when they came to it, they would just drop everything they were doing, and just fall down and worship.
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That's how the name of God was so sacred to them.
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It's sad because nowadays you see people blaspheming the name of God. You get on social media, you see
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OMG, that's basically blaspheming God's name. God's name is blasphemed time and time again.
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I even approached a boss years ago, and I said, You know, you're blaspheming God's name.
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Why don't you use a false God? I think that would be far better than blaspheming the true living
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God, the name of the true living God. He actually took me up on it. Every time he would stomp and get mad,
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I said, Use Buddha's name. He said, Oh Buddha, oh Buddha. I said, That's good. I would hope and pray that he did it for God, just not for me.
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But anyway, God's name was sacred.
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But it is interesting in this wonderful chapter that we never see God's name being used.
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But there's worship that's taking place, and it's very obvious who is being worshipped on the throne.
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Now, there's questions that naturally arise here, and let me give some questions. And I think that's a good start in this introduction as we look at this chapter.
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What does this scroll represent? What does this scroll represent? Why is it sealed up?
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Why is this scroll sealed up? And why is it written on the front and on the back?
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That's a good question there. Why is it written on the front and the back? Another question is,
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Who can be found to open the scroll? Who can be found to open the scroll? Well, the Bible tells us and we'll see that.
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And what is required in order to open the scroll? I think that's a great question there.
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What is required? What kind of qualifications is to be met to open such a scroll that God the
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Father holds in His right hand? Now, chapter 4 is we began focusing on our attention upon the throne of God as we saw.
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We see this constantly. The throne, the throne, the throne. Now in chapter 5, there seems to be a drawing attention to the scroll.
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The scroll. That's the attention. That's our focus in chapter 5.
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So in God the Father's right hand, the apostle John saw a scroll. And what more profound way of picturing
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God's ultimate sovereignty over all of history.
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Think of this. All of history could be found in this picture of a scroll resting in God the
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Father's right hand. Now however strong evil becomes in our day, however fierce the satanic evil powers assail
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God's people on this earth and it's happening, history still is resting in the hands of our sovereign
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God. We can say that because right here as God the Father holds in His right hand this scroll.
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I submit to you that everything that He's holding is the history of all of mankind.
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He is the sovereign God. Now this is powerful because in God's right hand which is symbolic of His power and authority and to translate the contents of this scroll into action, by the way, we see that there is only one as we will see in heaven that is qualified, that is worthy to take this sacred scroll from God the
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Father's right hand. Think of that. And then by breaking the seven seals
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He opens it thus unleashing all of His wrath and fury and the judgments upon planet earth.
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This is incredible. This scroll, and to understand really what's taking place we have to understand like the questions
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I brought forth about this scroll. So let's look about the scroll first.
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The scroll. This scroll is so full of words as the scripture says. I saw in the right hand of Him, God the
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Father who sat on the throne a book, a scroll written inside and on the back sealed up with seven seals.
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Inside as well as outside all the writings. Now it doesn't say what language.
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I would probably guess maybe Hebrew. I don't know. But it was something that John I don't know if he could actually as scripture doesn't necessarily say he can find out what is said.
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But he knows there's a lot of writing there. Now there is an Old Testament passage that kind of gives us a little glance into this scroll.
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Go with me to Ezekiel. And you know the scriptures interpret the scriptures.
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And that helps us to understand the context of what is taking place here.
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Now in Ezekiel chapter 2 the prophet Ezekiel and by the way chapter 2 is pretty much a summation, a chapter on the call of this prophet.
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This whole chapter which is only ten verses speaks of the prophet's call.
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You can read this whole chapter in your devotional time. But God basically is sending them out to the children of Israel to God's people.
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They are obstinate. They are stubborn. And God says whether they listen to you or not they are a rebellious house.
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Okay, they are rebellious people. The house represents the family. All these people.
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And he says do not fear them. Don't fear their words. There's going to be thorns and thistles.
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In other words there's going to be pain. They're going to lash back at you. They're going to bite at you like scorpions.
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He says do not fear them. Do not fear their words. Do not be dismayed. And God basically says they're a rebellious house.
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Notice with me in verse 8. Now you son of man. God specifically is speaking to Ezekiel.
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Listen to what I'm speaking to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house.
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That's interesting isn't it? Because he's telling the prophet don't you be rebellious. He's a holy man of God but you know that shows you our hearts.
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Even the prophet's heart had a tendency to be rebellious. And you know what
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Scripture says about rebellion. Rebellion is the sin of witchcraft. It's satanic.
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And he tells the prophet that. Then what he says open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.
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Devour it in other words. Meditate. I think Ben gave a good devotion on that. Meditate on it.
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In a spiritual sense what he's saying by receiving the message from God Almighty so that it becomes an inward passion.
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He must devour it inwardly. It must be part of us. It must be part of Ezekiel.
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It must be inside him. Not on the outside. It's got to be inside him. And that's what he's saying.
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He said I'm going to give you something here and you eat it. And in verse 9 he says
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Then I looked and behold a hand was extended to me and lo a scroll.
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Here it is. A scroll was in it. And this he says is when he spread it out before me it was written on the front and the back just like what
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John saw. On the front and on the back and then he says this and written on it were lamentations mourning and woe.
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Now what does that tell us? The scrolls are normally written on one side only normally.
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But this scroll in heaven has so many words. It's on the front and the back and actually these words are met as a message of judgment.
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It speaks of judgment that was so full because of mankind's sin and God's people's sin that all this space was filled up with their sins.
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That's basically what it's saying. And basically it has within it the sufferings and the sorrow that sin has brought recorded here.
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Now that kind of gives us an insight of what John says and sees about the scroll in heaven.
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It's interesting. Lamentations, mourning and woe. It's so filled up with man's sin.
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The scrolls varied in length and to accommodate the needs of the writer.
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And like I said, usually it's just one side that was filled but sometimes it was lengthy.
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A real scroll when the apostles would write on it the size of Paul's letter for instance to the
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Romans was very lengthy. And actually in comparison to his letter to Philemon Philemon filled the scrolls from 11 and a half feet to one foot respectively basically.
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It just depends. Romans would be more like almost 12 feet long. Philemon would be maybe one foot.
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But here we're not told necessarily the extent of the heavenly scroll but the volume of the writing of both sides may suggest to us a scroll that is of considerable length.
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And as I mentioned it's the sins of mankind so filled up the scroll.
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God the Father I don't know, probably sealed it up with the seven seals.
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We know it's sealed so He had to seal it up. Suggesting the profound nature of Revelation that it contained and as God will unleash all this on planet
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Earth. Now it also may represent the book of the prophecies.
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I was looking into this. It could represent the book of the prophecies that God instructed
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Daniel to seal until the end times. In Daniel 12 verses 4 through 9.
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The perfect number of the seals is seven. That seven is always a number that God uses.
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May also hint at the absolute sacredness of the scroll. Now the seals inform us that while this plan has been settled in the eternal councils of God it has been concealed and as we read only one who is authorized to break the seals.
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To open it. To read it. And to execute it. Only one.
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Only one. God's wrath is about to be unleashed. And actually we are getting closer and closer to this.
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The wrath of God. We're getting closer for this. You don't hear I can assure you most sad to say in this day of apostasy people are not preaching about the wrath of God.
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They want to preach to tickling ears. Ears tickle people's ears. Beloved, I like what
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Raven Neal says. I'm not commissioned to scratch them ears. Matter of fact Paul says preach the word.
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He says preach sound doctrine. And I'm going to preach what's sound and the doctrine of God.
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The whole council of God. And that includes God's wrath. That includes God's hell. That includes all that is summarized and told to us in these scriptures.
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And I need to help God's men, just not me, but God's men needs to be faithful in preaching this.
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As hard as it is. But these are hard sayings. But we need to hear it. God's wrath is about to be unleashed.
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And the period of God's grace and long suffering will come to an end. And John saw this.
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John saw this. And God's wrath will be poured out. Now, he sees God the
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Father and the scroll in his right hand. And he sees in verse 2, a strong angel.
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Some commentators believe that this possibly could be Michael possibly
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Gabriel. It's an archangel, no doubt. But it's a strong angel. A very powerful angel.
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And as you well know, angels have enough power. One stands in the sun itself. And they have incredible power to unleash on this earth.
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And God uses these angels. They're messengers. They're God's servants. And God's on his throne.
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And they are serving him. Doing his duty. And whatever he bids.
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But the strong angel is proclaiming with a loud voice. Notice that.
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Verse 2, I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice. And he gives with a question, a loud voice.
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And it echoes through heaven. Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?
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Who is worthy? What a question. No one, verse 3, no one in heaven.
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No one in heaven. Think of that. And on earth. On the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll in order to even look at it.
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This mighty angel of God spoke out in a loud voice that everyone throughout creation and heaven itself and probably hell heard him.
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Who is worthy to open this scroll and to loose its seals? This unnamed angel asking who is the one that basically has the sufficient authority.
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Who is worthy? The worthiness to open the scroll, to break its seals and to unleash the judgments of God upon planet earth.
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Terrifying judgments. God's wrath. The emphasis on this term worthy is a very important word.
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Actually that's where we get our word worth -ship. Worth -ship.
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Only he is worth the worship. Worth -ship.
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That's the Anglo -Saxon word of it and is significant for the apocalypse. It is used exclusively of God and Jesus Christ.
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For Jesus is God. Now verse 11 in chapter 4
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You are worthy O Lord. Verse 9 of chapter 5.
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You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals. Verse 12. Worthy is the lamb who was slain.
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Worthy. Only God's worthy. Only Christ is worthy. Again Christ's maker says this.
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Quote. The adjective does not moan the able ability that refers to the strength and skill whereas the worthiness relates to the qualification for the purpose of fulfilling a task.
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End quote. Now think of this. And as I was studying this, I'm thinking this is such a heavy message but it's such an important message.
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That all of creation, no one could be found with the qualifications to open this scroll and to break its seals and to discover that no angel no created being in heaven in earth or even under the earth as it says, no human being, no creature, no spirit, no one can be can open the holy sacred scroll that contains all the fiery judgments of God himself.
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Almighty God. And then look at what happens in verse 4. And because of this,
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John said so I wept much. He began to weep.
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I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it.
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Now let me ask the question this. And the words are right. Let me ask this question.
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Why does John weep? And I think this is important. John's weeping for a reason.
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What's that reason? John is weeping because it's reflecting a wrenching sorrow within him.
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This is the apostle. And the sorrow that God's future kingdom his future kingdom and the final judgment appears to be indefinitely postponed.
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Because no one had the sufficient authority as of the moment, he thought, to open the scroll because if the scroll think of this, if the scroll remained sealed up and God's plan of salvation would not be executed, there would be no consummation.
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In other words, there's no ending here. It's almost like you go into a storybook and you read this great story and it's cut off.
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There's no consummation. And this is what seems to be taking place here. It's like John is weeping and says, where's the consummation?
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Where's the ending? The apostle is busting out into tears because of the questions arise such as this.
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Does this mean that all of the wrongs of the earth and all of its wickedness will not be dealt with?
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That's a good question, isn't it? Will not God vindicate? Does this mean that the righteous, the righteous people, the martyrs of the earth will never be vindicated for the blood?
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And all the bloodshed and the martyrs and all of God's people being persecuted for Jesus' sake?
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And that the wicked would go unpunished? You know, see, think of that. This is very significant.
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And a reason why he weeps. John understood that if God's purposes fail, then all of life is meaningless.
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Right here. It's like, why go on? There's a reason that the apostle was weeping.
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So, if no one can open the scroll, none of God's purposes will come to pass.
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It's a sad truth, but think of this. The sad truth is without Jesus Christ, there will be only weeping.
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Only weeping. Only weeping. But you know something?
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There's something wonderful that happens in verse 5. Notice this.
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Don't you love this? It's almost like buts. One of the elders said to me, stop weeping.
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Behold, the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.
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There's one in heaven that stands. And he's worthy. He is worthy.
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I love that. It's almost like, but God. But Jesus. He intervenes.
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There's one that we have hope. And the selection of this one is worthy, by the way.
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He is worthy, and he is about to step forward. Don't you love this?
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Verse 3, but one of the elders said to me, I'm sorry, verse 5.
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One of the elders said, stop weeping. Behold, the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Judah, the root of David, he has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.
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Jesus Christ himself will carry out God's final purposes on earth.
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Jesus Christ himself will vindicate. He will vindicate.
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And he's the one that's right. He is the righteous one. No one else on heaven, and no one else on earth, and no one under the earth is qualified to do this.
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Only Christ. Only Jesus. I love this because in verses 5 through 7,
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John uses Old Testament language here. What's the Old Testament language? It's very obvious.
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The lion of the tribe of Judah. Let's look at that first. The lion of the tribe of Judah is an echo of Jacob's words in Genesis.
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The patriarch blessed, as you well know the story, he blessed the sons, the twelve sons before he died, and he singled out
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Judah. He singled out Judah, and this was the spirit of God, folks.
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This was God's spirit speaking to him. As the tribe from which the ruler should come forth, and Jacob said to Judah, you are a lion cub,
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O Judah. The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until comes
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Shiloh, whom it becomes, the obedience to the nations is his.
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The nations will be his. That's a prophecy of Jesus. And he didn't realize it at the time, but way back in Genesis, he prophesied way in the future, way ahead of the consummation of everything.
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The whole life and the ministry of Jesus, but also the end and the consummation of everything.
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And also, John also calls Jesus the root of David. The root of David.
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That's significant. That's another messianic title. He goes back to the prophets saying that the
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Messiah will come from the stump of Jesse. And this root or branch of David will rule all the peoples of the earth.
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Who's he speaking of? None other than the Lord Jesus Christ. All these prophecies and the
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Old Testament comes to a fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Jesus represents royalty, kingship.
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And for these are the messianic titles that attest of his royal status.
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The lion of the tribe of Judah. The root. The offspring.
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The root of David. It's beautiful. And as a descendant of David, Jesus is human.
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As the Messiah, he's divine. So none other than he is very man, a very man, very
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God, a very God. And he is alone worthy because of his role.
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He fulfilled the prophet, priest, and king. He's able because of his divinity.
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He is God -man and he is the one and the only one that's qualified here.
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And as God's ultimate anointed one, Jesus alone possessed the authority, as you well know, the authority that is necessary for this great task to take the scroll from God the
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Father and to open and to break its seals. He alone, Jesus Christ, overcame
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Satan. He overcame sin. He overcame death. We do not have to fear none of those things because of Jesus Christ.
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He's our peace. So he could implement God's purposes for the future that is within this holy scroll.
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This scroll's an amazing thing, but Jesus himself is the only one that's qualified to take this scroll from God the
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Father's right hand. Only Christ can carry out God's final purposes on earth.
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That's basically what it says here. Only Jesus Christ himself is qualified to fulfill the purposes of God the
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Father. And only he is worthy to be able to open the scroll after and then breaking its seven seals and unleashing the judgments of Almighty God upon this planet.
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Eagerly, then John turns his head to see this lion, the King of glory, the
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Lord of hosts, the Lord of the armies. The apostle is not prepared for what he sees, expecting to see a kingly lion.
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And then the apostle sees something else totally different. Look at verse 6. Now, it's almost like he's told from this elder, and the elder is not named, from one of the elders, stop weeping, behold the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome.
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So as to open the book and seven seals. But notice in verse 6, I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders a lamb.
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Now he sees a lamb standing. Oh, he's not lying down. He's standing.
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He's standing as if slain. Having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
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Now this is really amazing, isn't it? A lamb. You know, I could not help but think myself and my grandchildren, we love the chronicles of Narnia.
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C .S. Lewis really wrote some great material for children. It's actually for children and for those that are childlike adults like me that loves to see it.
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But, as you well know, there's a great lion in that picture, Aslan.
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Aslan rules with majesty and roars with triumph. And I love it when he comes on the scene and the robe, what is it?
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The witch, the robe, and the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. I'll get it right in a few minutes.
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But anyway, in that wonderful story, he comes forward and there's a lion. There's majesty.
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The lion represents majesty. And he does so because he submits, and as you well know in the story, this lion eventually,
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Aslan, has to submit to being put to death by the evil characters controlled by the white witch.
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And she summons to him. They make an agreement that he has to go and die.
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But at last, the kingdom of Narnia is freed from its bondage to the winter. And springtime of the world arrives.
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And it is a beautiful use of these symbols. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. As the lion of Judah, Jesus will rule the world in righteousness with a rod of iron.
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See, he rules the world. That's what Scripture says. Psalm 2 says, Though the nations rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing, the kings of the earth take counsel together against the
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Lord and against his anointed. And yet God says, I have set my son on my holy hill of Zion.
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He will rule. He will rule in majesty and with a rod of iron.
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So Zion there is symbolic for Jerusalem. And in it Jesus, King of kings, Lord of lords, will reign forever and ever with a rod of iron.
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Dash the nations to pieces, by the way. Think of that. Nations will be dashed to pieces. So that's a lion in majesty.
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A lion of Judah as our Lord Jesus Christ reigns. And if anyone is weak and falter and helpless or hopeless, he or she will find an all compassionate
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Savior full of grace and truth, pity and mercy, ready to save to the uttermost because the lion is also a lamb.
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He's a lamb. What did John say? John the
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Baptist, Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Behold the lamb.
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He's a lamb, but he's a lion. Revealed by the Holy Spirit there.
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So according to John's vision here, this lamb has seven horns. Now, as we looked at, we saw this.
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Horns in Scripture speak of power. There's symbolism here. We don't need to get caught up literal here, but they're symbolic.
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The seven is the number of fullness that the lamb of God has fulfilled the power on the basis of his death.
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Jesus has declared after his resurrection in Matthew 28 18, all power is given to me in heaven and in earth.
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That's all power. Jesus has all power. The seven eyes speak of the full and complete wisdom and discernment.
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That's symbolic that Jesus has all wisdom and he has all discernment.
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The lion is symbolic of course as we looked at is Jesus at his second coming, coming in majesty and power and glory with all the holy angels judging the world in righteousness.
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So here the lamb is symbolic of sacrifice. He's slain.
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This speaks of his crucifixion. Now, that's another great important word isn't it?
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The word slain. You know that word means to cut up, to mutilate, to sacrifice.
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It's bloody. It's gory. It's awful.
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It speaks of a very violent, bloody sacrifice. It describes the gory crucifixion of the
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Lord Jesus Christ on Mount Calvary's cross. Thorns pierced his skull.
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A whip, cat of nine tails lacerated his back. Fist bruised his face.
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Isaiah speaks that he was so marred up that he, it was not like the appearance of a man.
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Nails gorged, or should I say gouged through his hands and feet.
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Spears tore his side. Blood and water came out. Jesus took the sufferings.
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That was physical but far more than that. He took the spiritual suffering of the wrath of Almighty God that when he became sin.
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Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price to purchase his church, which is his elect. And as the sheep led to the slaughter, a lamb was slain.
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A lamb was slain. This is, this is really the focus here. You know, the elder, it's not named, said, well, there is a lion and he's a lion from the tribe of Judah.
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There is the root of David. He's overcome. But this lamb as in between the throne with four living creatures, in other words, there's praise going on here.
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And the elders, a lamb standing if slain having seven horns, seven eyes, or the seven spirits of God.
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The slain lamb that took the price. He's standing. Having been killed.
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And what does that mean by standing? I really believe this. That means he's resurrected. He stands.
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He's resurrected in all power and glory. He stands in the innermost circle, in the center.
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And he is standing before the throne of God. In verse 7,
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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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Now I'm going to stop there and give some application. But because and the rest of this, if you will see in verse 8 through the end of the chapter, there's a climax of worship that's just absolutely unparalleled to anything you find in the word of God.
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This is just incredible. It escalates. And the worship continues to grow louder and more glorious.
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And then everybody, with the angels, these living creatures, the elders, everything and all of earth, heaven begins to praise the
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Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father. Well, what are the applications I'd like to give here?
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We talked about the one who was only qualified to take the scroll. Let me turn that question on us.
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What qualifies us for heaven? Well, none other than Jesus Christ himself because none of us are qualified.
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All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I think there's another verse that comes to my mind.
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There's none righteous. No, not one. Not one of us.
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None of us is righteous. And by the way, as you well know, our righteousness is filthy rags before a holy
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God. And only the righteous one, Jesus Christ, is qualified before a perfect holy
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God. Only Jesus Christ, the anointed one, kept God's perfect law and that brings in his active obedience.
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Then you have the passive obedience but Jesus Christ fulfilled the law of God to every jot and to every tittle from the heart and the mind.
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Folks, we can't do that for just a few minutes. Even being redeemed, as much as we try, we fail in some way because our besetting sins.
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But Jesus, in his entire life, has qualified before God.
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He fulfills the law of God. And what's so wonderful about it is as we believe on Christ in faith, not...
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I like what R .C. Sproul, he was answering a question and we'll just bring this in the message here, that this is before he went home to be with the
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Lord and before he died. And he said he was disturbed on social media that they were saying that only the teaching and the doctrine of justification by faith can save you.
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And he was very... He said, what? No. He said, we're not... The reformers were not saying that.
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In that teaching, in the doctrine of the teaching of justification by faith alone,
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Christ is the only Savior. It's not the teaching that saves. It is Christ that saves.
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And that's what we need to hear. You know, it's not... People get caught up in doctrine and doctrine went to the point where they worship the doctrine and not the
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Jesus. See, the doctrine teaches us about Jesus. The doctrine of justification by faith teaches that it is
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Christ alone that saves. Spurgeon said that. He said, even your faith, in a sense, doesn't save you.
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It is Christ that saves. Yes, the faith is an instrument to lay a hold of Christ.
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And God gives us that faith to lay a hold of Him. But it's Christ who saves us.
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Oh, that people would get this. Even in the churches that Jesus and Jesus alone saves.
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Well, only the Lamb of God qualifies us before a Holy God to enter into Heaven. Amen? I'm telling you.
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Outside of Jesus, there's no Heaven. Outside of Jesus, there's no eternal life.
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Outside of Jesus, there's nothing. Jesus is everything. He's the way, the truth, the life.
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And when Jesus said that, He was saying, I am the absolute truth. And He even said in John 10, any other way is thieves and robbers.
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But I'm the door. Jesus says, I am that door. He says, I am the resurrection and I am the life.
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I am the good shepherd. And basically, when He says, I am, He says, I am that I am.
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I am He. Oh, that we may turn our eyes upon Jesus and repent and believe the
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Gospel. That's the message, isn't it? That's our message. I love Isaiah 61 10, don't you?
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It says this, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in the
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God in my God. And for He has clothed me.
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He's clothed us. He's clothed me with the garments of salvation.
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And then He says this, and He has covered me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
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There's the analogy there of the bride and the bridegroom, and yet He takes
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His bride and He dresses us in the righteousness of Jesus Christ that qualifies us to enter in to heaven's portals before a holy
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God. I don't think there's anything more glorious than that. By my faith alone, this happens.
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And that faith is given by God to those who He has ordained and elected before the foundation of the world.
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And guess what? Like a lot of people Calvin even brought this to attention.
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He says, how do you know that you're elected? It's because the answer is you believe in God.
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And we must know what the Scripture says about what does it mean to believe. But that word believe is everything.
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Jesus said that, believe in me. Believe, believe in me and me and me. It's all in Christ, in Christ alone.
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And then we repent. We turn from our sins. Even that is a gift, because we don't have the ability to repent.
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We tell people God has commanded them to repent, but only God. God commands it, but He also gives the gift to whom
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He so desires. But we don't know who those are, but we are to tell everybody, right?
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Because we don't know who the elect are. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent and believe.
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Repent and believe. That's the message. And then at the end, Revelation 22, 17,
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And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him who hears say, Come. And let him who thirsts come.
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Whoever desires, let him take of the water of life freely. That echoes back to Isaiah 51 1.
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Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you have no money. Come and buy and eat.
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Yes, come and buy wine and milk without money and without price. Well, it cost
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God, didn't it? It cost God a great, great sum.
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It cost Him His Son. Oh, I tell you, when I think of these things, this should give us more desire to worship
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Him and less desire to sin. Less desire to do our own thing.
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Less desire to live for self. Less desire, because we see how awful and rotten and terrible sin is before God.
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It cost Him Jesus. It cost Him His blood. And that's what we've been purchased by.
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Isn't that wonderful? Well, a very quick second application because my time's running out.
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God's people, this is, we have a living hope. We have a living hope in Jesus Christ.
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All the hope is in Jesus. We have a glorious future, don't we? In Jesus and in Jesus alone.
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You and I have this great hope. And in the reverse, without Jesus, there's nothing.
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There's nothing. There's no hope. He is all in all. That's why Paul said this. He said
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He's all in all. With Christ, all things are ours, Paul said. He even says, you're heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
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In other words, what He has purchased for us becomes ours. It's marvelous.
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It's glorious. And isn't this salvation? There's nothing in you
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I can do to earn it. There's nothing that you and I can deserve it. We don't deserve it.
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We can't earn it. Jesus has paid for it in full. When He says, it is finished.
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Paid for in full. That's the greatest news. That's the good news.
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That's the gospel. So you and I are His and we belong to Him. And actually, if you look at it closely, it speaks of the inheritance.
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A lot of folks think of the inheritance in heaven. And it does speak of that, but really if you look at it very close in scripture, that you and I are the inheritance of Jesus.
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We are His inheritance. He brings many sons into glory.
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In other words, in each and every elect, that none will be lost. They will come.
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They will believe. They will repent. And when we all think at one time, and one day at that great day of the feast of the marriage supper of the
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Lamb, all will be there and Jesus will serve us. Isn't this glorious?
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And then all those and all those that will be praising God forever and ever, not one is lost and each and every one and Jesus will look and this is the gift that the
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Father has given Him. That we are His gift. We are
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His workmanship crafted to be like Him. We are in His, we are
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His inheritance. And that's what He will glory in. And then we will shout and praise
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God forever and ever. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory.
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And we're going to look at that, Lord willing, next week as we see it. Worthy are you to take the book, to break its seals.
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You were slain and purchased for God with your blood.
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You purchased, I'm sorry, you purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
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Now isn't that much to give God all glory for?
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It's everything. I'm telling you. That is our eternal existence and this is the reason why we live, move, and have our being to glorify
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Him. Amen and amen. Praise the Lamb for sinners slain. Father, we thank
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You for this day and the very breath within our body. Thank You for Your Word, Lord. And we just scratch the surface of all the glories that will be in heaven, that's in heaven even now,
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Lord, that we join in worshiping the church triumphant. Right now we are on earth the church militant, but one day the church will triumph and we will worship before Your throne.
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Sing that new song. You are worthy to take the scroll to open its seals for You were slain the
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Lamb of God before the foundation of the world because You have redeemed us to God and by Your blood out of every tribe and every tongue and people and nation.
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Lord, You've made us kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on earth forever and ever all because of this glorious sacrifice.
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Jesus, You laid down Your life. Lord, You laid down Your life. You were slain.
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You took the wrath. You took our wrath. Lord, this should give us cause to hate sin and love the
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Savior. Lord, help us. We fell so much in this.
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So, Lord, I pray, give us the strength and give us the power to persevere to the end and then we can hear those words from Your lips.
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Lord Jesus, well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord, prepared for You before the foundation of the world.
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Lord, help us to love You more and give You glory and we ask these things in Jesus' name.