Sunday School Lesson Review WORTHY IS THE LAMB Revelation 5:5-13 March 23, 2014 Secondary Subject: “… Live Like You Know It …” By Dr. D. W. Holmes Last week, we entertained a Lesson that was regarding “Peter’s Report.” This week, we have another Lesson; this one can be appropriately called, “John’s Report.” This Lesson is based on special revelation that God gave to John, the last of the Apostles, about the year 95 A.D. And although it is nearly a hundred years since Jesus had returned back to Glory, this particular revelation held an extremely important and timeless revelation about Jesus Christ. As the name of this Bible book implies, this is the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ; it is a written testimony of Jesus Christ, told by Himself, instigated by God, and recorded and by John, the Evangelist and last of all the apostles; all the rest of the apostles were, by that time, most likely, deceased. We know that Jesus began His ministry in 27 A.D., when He was baptized by John the Baptist. Here it is -- 95 A.D., almost 70 after that baptism, that John receives this Revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus has been back in Glory for years; and, at this time, the First Century Christian Churches are not doing very well. Many of the congregations are suffering some kind of either political or religious persecution; and the fact that Jesus was crucified was all the more reason for the Saints to believe that they, too, would suffer the same fate. Consider, too, that in those days, Christianity -- such as it was -- was considered an illegal religion. And anybody caught attempting to practice that religion would be in deep trouble with the political government or the Roman Catholic Church. There were several local congregations of Christians scattered sparsely throughout Europe; but, at that time, there was no strong, central management authority among the churches. There was very little, in terms of ecclesiastical or presbyterial leadership. The folks did pretty much what they thought they should do, on their own. They no longer had the guidance of those giants of the gospel -- like Paul and Peter. They all had, by that time, died. On top of that, the little churches were pretty much all going through some measure of persecution by the Roman government. Of course, the Roman Catholic Church had been coming on strong, too, during those years of 538 B.C., until at least A.D. 476, when the centralized government of the Caesars sort of crashed. But when the Papacy came into unrestricted power in 538 A.D. and took over the governance of Europe, the Christian Church found itself under a new and more rigid and stringent form of persecution. The Catholic Church, under tight-fisted rule of the Pope, became the major persecutor of the Christian Church and the local congregations spread throughout the Roman Empire. History could not ignore those terrific religious wars that rocked Europe until the onset of The Protestant Reformation in the early 1500s. But as for this Lesson, John, the lone surviving Apostle, was banished to the Island of Patmos, where his persecutors had hoped that he would have suffered a slow and agonizing death, finally to be devoured by the wild carnivores of that deserted island. But that death never came for John. It could not take place -- because God intervened for His divine purposes. God miraculously preserved the aged Apostle and used that exiled status as a private audience with John. God Himself masterminded the banning of John to that lonely island so that Jesus and John would be undisturbed by man or beast. The will of man was to do harm to John; but God had something far greater and much nobler in mind! God took that opportunity to reveal to John precious revelations and awesome mysteries that featured the all-times history of Jesus Christ past, present, and future! While John was on Patmos, his location was quite opportunistic for God’s purpose, in that there were seven local Christian congregations strategically located near enough to him, that he could get those special letters to them, from Jesus Christ and His Father! The Lesson this week appears to be a one-time pass-through in the Book of Revelation; so I am going to try very hard to keep that in mind as we go through this Lesson. It will be especially difficult for me because I will be tempted to take you into details where the Lesson planners did not intend for us to go. But it is very difficult to walk superficially through any part of The Book of Revelation, because of the involved nature of its content. Once upon a time, the Book of Revelation was a very difficult nook to decipher; but not anymore. Eschatology has made it much easier for us to correctly interpret and comprehend the Book that was once such an apprehending mystery. It is no longer such a dreaded subject. A systematic study in the Revelation, along with the blessings of The Holy Spirit has made The Book of Revelation a joy to read, teach, ponder, and review. But I must caution you, my friend, that it will be next to impossible to correctly comprehend The Book of Revelation if you have not mastered The Book of Daniel. Without the apocalyptic information contained in The Book of Daniel, most of what one might conclude in Revelation might be only guessing, speculation, or just plain ole making-up stuff! Yet, The Book of Revelation is so critical to our eternity, that we cannot afford to simply hit and miss about the messages contain in this great book of Christin history and prophecy. As I have mentioned on several occasions, The Book of The Revelation tells us what’s going to take place in “the end times,” and The Book of Daniel tells us when those things and events are going to take place. Most of the people who have a problem with The Book of Revelation are having troubles with it because they’re trying to comprehend it without the benefit of what was written first about it in The Book of Daniel. So, here we are this week, looking at a once-in-a-long-time lesson about a tremendously critical lesson and event that so many Sunday School classes might take too lightly. Most unfortunately, most of our schools will most likely tread very lightly upon this Lesson, focusing superficially upon exclaiming “Jesus -- The Worthy Lamb!” Of course, this is a very important part of the Lesson; but that is only part of the major thrust of the Lesson. I hope that our students will get around to discovering the weightier matters of the lesson, such as the total exaltation and coronation of Jesus (in Heaven), almost 2,000 years after His resurrection from The Dead. I hope our students don’t miss the part about “how” and “why” Jesus was concluded to be “worthy,” or how He became “The Lamb.” I hope that our students don’t miss the opportunity to learn how Jesus became “worthy” to do what! And I hope that our students don’t miss, perhaps, the most salient part of this lesson -- the capturing of The Book -- The Book of Life! I hope that the students don’t miss the part about how The Book of Life became to be “The Lamb’s Book of Life!” I hope that the students get around to learning why John cried and cried when he saw that no one was worthy to break open the seals and open The Book! Of course, Eschatology reveals to us the interesting point that The Lamb’s Book of Life will not be opened until 1,000 years after The Rapture -- when Sin’s drama is finally brought to its complete end! I believe that most students forget -- or don’t know -- that The Book Of Life cannot be opened until all Seven Seals have been broken open! Then -- and only then -- will the Book’s content be revealed! But right now, absolutely no one -- except The Father -- knows what’s in The Book. Jesus doesn’t know what’s in The Book. The angels of Heaven don’t know! And even The Holy Spirit doesn’t know what’s written in The Lamb’s Book of Life! We are not going to get into any detail, at this time, about The Seven Seals; that’s another great subject for another time. But I will just mention that the Lesson that we have right now before us takes place in Heaven, just before Jesus begins to break open the Seven Seals, sequentially. As we take on this Lesson, Jesus has already broken open the first three Seals; we are now awaiting the breaking of The Fourth Seal, which sets off The Great Tribulation! So, it is critically important for you to understand that, in Heaven, when the events of this lesson takes place, millions -- perhaps billions and billions -- of angels have been summoned to The Throne Room of God’s Temple in Heaven! The Father God wants the entire Heavenly Universe to be there to witness the promotion, coronation, and exaltation of Jesus! It is a huge event -- bigger than anything that the heavenly hosts had ever witnessed! Jesus was about to be given a (null) (empty) kingdom, along with some other grand gifts, powers, possessions, and prerogatives that He never had before! But before He can take full possession of His Kingdom or seize those other grand trophies of His competence, Jesus must first bring The Sin Problem to its consummate close, once and for all! And He must do it in such a dramatic -- and even brutal and violent manner-- so that Sin will never, never, ever, ever rise again! You see, my friend, Jesus did not put Sin out of business on the Cross. No! On The Cross, Jesus paid the Penalty of Sin (for us), substituting Himself for u! But that was not the end of Sin! In fact, Jesus paid The Heaven-required Penalty of Sin for us; but we still have to deal with The Consequences of Sin. And Jesus still has to deal with the fact, existence, and impact of Sin, still alive and resident in the DNA of Man and Nature! The Grace that God granted man, under The Provisions of The Law, plus what Jesus did on Calvary for us have sort of blunted the full effects of Sin. But on The Cross, Jesus alone felt the full weight, burden, and pain of Sin -- and He even tasted Death for us! Yet, Sin was not finished! Jesus had finished the “penalty” part of His soteriological mission, but Sin itself had not been abolished from either Man nor Nature! As human being, we don’t even know the whole story of Sin. In fact, what we do not know about Sin is so much more than the little bit that we think we know about it! But God The Heavenly Father knows that if Heaven is to be restored to its former glory, if the Earth is to be restored to its first glory, then Sin Itself must be systematically dealt with, from its very stubborn core; it must be gutted out, until it no longer exists -- either in fact or in memory! God -- and God alone -- knows the full story of Sin. But Jesus knows the full gamut of its agony, pain, suffering, and hell! We know neither. Unless Sin Itself is brought to God’s final Judgment and given the sentence of its eternal demolition, God will always suffer the accusations of Satan, and we will always suffer the consequences of its existence. That’s the reason John cried and cried. There, on the lonely Island of Patmos, John’s soul was troubled and his spirit made made heavy with grief over the fact that nobody seemed to qualify to receive The Book from The Father’s right hand. John knew, somehow, that The Book contained some information that was critical to the eternal salvation of Man, Nature, Heaven, and Earth! John did not know the content of The Book that The Father God held in His right hand; no! But based on evidence that had already been presented to him, John knew that God had a plan to save Mankind, even from himself! And whatever that plan would be, it was written in that Book, sealed with seven locks! Those seven locks -- or seals -- indicate God’s definite intention that absolutely no one gets even a peep into that Book, to find out what The Father (alone) foreknew! Not only was the story of Sin in that Book; but the story of salvation is also in that Book! I am in that Book. You are in that Book. We are in that Book! Collectively and individually, we all are in that Book! All of our thoughts, words, deeds, actions, emotions, and motives are in that Book! It is The Book of Life. Every person born in the universe is in that Book. Every person who ever lived or who died, are in that book! Everything created by the machinations or man or the ingenuity of his times are in that Book! Everybody who will be eventually saved or lost is in that Book! That’s why it is called, The Book of Life. Everything that transpired in the dispensation of life here on Earth is in that Book! God’s secret Plan of Salvation is in that Book. There is another reason why it is called, The Book of Life. If God blots out your (my) name from out of The Book of Life, there is no way that we will be able to enter into Eternal Life! Please take a look at Revelation 20: verse 12, verse 15; and Revelation 21:27 This is another reason why God requires faith. It takes faith to live testimonially of eternal life. As Saints and Christians, it is important that we obtain and maintain the faith that our names of written in The Lamb’s Book of Life. We must guard against deluding or fooling ourselves. We cannot afford to just live any kind of Godless, sinful, carnal life and still expect that our name is (still) written in The Lamb’s Book of Life. We might be in for the shock of our eternity! We must live in and by the unshakable faith that our name is written in The Lamb’s Book of Life. My personal objective in this life is to live so that my confidence is unshakable, that my name is written in The Book of Life. We should make it a private platform of our personal commitment to see to it that our name is written in The Book. And because this is our faith, we must daily make sure that we do nothing to cause God to blot out our name; say nothing that would cause God to blot out our name. Go no place that would cause God to blot out our name. Think no thought that would cause God to blot out our name. Entertain no private motives that would cause God to blot out our name from The Book of Life! We, as Saints and Christians ought to live like we absolutely know for sure that our name is written in The Book of Life. Worship like we know that our name is there! Love like we know that our name is there! Behave like we know that our name is there! Testify like we know that our name is there! Whatever we do for God and Man, let’s make sure that we do it with the full faith and confidence that our name is written in The Book. My friend, if we walk in the Light, as Jesus is in the Light, when we won’t have to worry about our name being blotted out! The fact that we are talking about The Book of Life, implies that every person born into this life is given a measure of favor and grace; and their name is written in The Book of Life. But we can get into eternal trouble when we turn out to be rebellious and insubordinate to God! When we continue to ignore His nudging, His quiet counsel, His message, and His instructions; when we stubbornly refuse to submit to God and His word, this is when we are in danger of God blotting out our name from The Bok of Life! Everybody whose name is not written in The Book of Life, or whose name has been blotted out, cannot and will not enter into eternal life! That’s why John cried and cried! If no one was able or worthy to open the Seals, then The Book of Life would remain forever closed; and eternal salvation would be impossible to obtain! John cried because he knew that The Book of Life was -- and is -- powerfully related to the judgment of Man, the salvation of Man, the exoneration of God and His Kingdom from Satan’s lies, the resolution of God’s biggest problem, and the eternal disposition of Sin! Before we move on into the next dimension of our Lesson, I want to remind you -- most seriously -- that there are some people who are, indeed, in trouble with God -- and they are far from being able to claim Eternal Life. Those are the people whose name have not been written in The Lamb’s Book of Life. Some people’s name will be blotted out -- because they started out with Jesus, and then they turned and went into the direction of another way of life. If you deliberately and resolutely turn away from God, from Jesus, and become resistant to The Holy Spirit, it is possible that the Lord will blot out your name from the Book -- and you are assured to not enter into Heaven or Eternal Life! Beware, my friend, that the person who never accepted The Lord Jesus as his personal Savior in this life, might not have his name written in The Book! When we get into the core of our Lesson, we will discover that John is emotionally overcome because, apparently, he recognizes the enormity of the situation in which no one is able or qualified to break open the Seals of The Book. Because -- if the Book of Life is forever Sealed, then our souls are forever Lost! THE SETUP The Lesson this week is launched from the center point of Eschatology and the Christian Hope. By this Lesson, we may be well-motivated to bolster our faith in our relationship with Jesus Christ. This Lesson challenges us to live with a frame of mind and mindset of unfailing assurance that our Faith is well-founded, and that our hope of eternal life, in Jesus Christ, is secure! While it might not appear to be so at first glance, this Lesson is really about our faith, and how we are called upon to hold on tenaciously to that faith, until our faith is, at last, redeemed and rewarded! Yes, worthy is The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of sinners; and Worthy is The Lamb, humble enough to be sacrificial; royal enough to be king! A long, long, long time ago, before there was a world, before there was a universe, before there was any people, sky, or angels, God wrote a book. Before there was any kind of history, God wrote a History book. Before there was even any evidence of life external of God Himself, God wrote The Book of Life. But He wrote it as a diary, not with a pen of some sort in His Hand, but with the genius of His all-seeing Eye! And He recorded it against the background of His omniscience! His pristine gaze pierced through blankets of innocent Blackness, and sanctified a million mornings yet unborn! Mother Earth laughed with untamed joy Before she learned to weep over her children Born in innocence lost before the day was done! Shattered and now unsheltered, the man of might and power, He who would be called father knew not the mother And spoiled the generations of Godless seed, Born in Sin, shaped in Iniquity, Lost outside of Eden, Waiting, with tenuous hope, for redemption! The beauty of this Lesson ranks high, especially when we consider how God “wrote” history, long before there was anything known as history. The awesome and mysterious foreknowledge of God is seen most clearly, here, as He did with David in Psalms 139:16. God saw everything before there was anything! And He simply wrote that down! God saw everything that would happen, as it would happen, even long before it did happen! And He simply wrote that down! The reason that God could give Adam and Even such explicit directions and warn them of impending sin is because God had already seen it happen! And He simply wrote it down! God saw creation long before any creation was created; and He simply wrote that down, too! From the first man that would be created to the last man to die in all the universe, God saw it all, long before it happened. And He simply wrote it down! From man’s first sin to The Lord’s last act of redemption, God The Father saw it all. And He simply wrote it down! As people were born in the Earth, God entered their names -- such as He would give them -- upon the pages of His “Book.” And those who would eventually submit to God and follow His ways and leading, God simply wrote that down. And those born in this world and who would choose to rebel against God and His ways, God wrote that down, too. But when certain people deliberately and knowingly and consciously chose to disown the ownership of God and spur His rule, God simply wrote that down, too. But when they fully and rebelliously made it known to God, by their life’s choice, that they choose to refuse God’s Plan and Gift of Salvation, God simply blots out their name from The Book of Life! And they cannot be saved! Everything that happened in the life of people -- as individuals, as families, as nations, as governments, and as in every form or human interaction, God simply writes it down. It is in that way and sense that God “pre-recorded” history, throughout all history, just as history unfolded, in real time. From the first person on Earth to the last person on Earth, from the very first act of anybody, everybody, and all peoples and things, God has simply pre-recorded it all! Even when He Himself was involved in the affairs of people, God simply pre-recorded it, just as it occurred, never allowing His impressive and perfect foreknowledge to manipulate the choices of people. God saw the rise of Sin in the Earth; He saw the cataclysmic damage that Sin delivered to the family of Man. God saw the entire role that Satan-Lucifer would place in the corruption of Mankind. God wrote it all down, just as it happened, without Himself taking part in it, to affect man’s choices, one way or the other! To counter the effects of Sin, God put in His Plan of Salvation; and He watched how Man would respond to it, by his own choice. All the people who would be saved, God wrote it down; and all the people who would be lost, He wrote that down, too. God simply, thoroughly, and perfectly pre-recorded all life, as it unfolded, in real time! God has already recorded the final and eternal outcome of everybody and everything! And then He bounded it all in His Book, and sealed it with Seven Seals or locks! But that’s not all! Not only does God have a full and complete history on each and every person in that Book, God has a complete history and profile on each and every nation and national leader in the entire world and universe. But most of all, God has some hidden or specially preserved archives of information that He has collected on the glory and competence of His Son, Jesus. God has a profile on Jesus that the world knows nothing about, at this time. Yet, God intends to reveal these formerly-covered mysteries of Jesus -- of all that Jesus has been throughout all the ages! That’s part of the mystery of the Christ! And it is part of the Revelation that God is going to reveal to the entire universe, to the world, to the universe, and to heavenly hosts, as the Seals are broken open! And what a glorious revelation we will all witness about Jesus, when The Book of Life is finally and officially opened, after the Seals have been unlatched! With such delicate and composite information packed into that book, concerning each and every person in the entire universe, I believe you can now understand why God would take such dramatic measures to protect that information with seven seals. So, after Jesus is resurrected from the Dead, He spends some 40 more days here on Earth, trying to pull together the complement of His scattered Jews and Israelites, for special instruction, revelation, and empowerment. But the national leaders failed to show up and cooperate with the Lord! After the 40 days, Jesus ascended to Heaven, and on the 10th day, the 50th after His resurrection, Jesus sent back His Personal Spirit, The Holy Ghost! Back up in heaven, Jesus would go through some other post-Earth processes, in preparation for His several, new roles that He would assume in Heaven, including returning to His Own Seat on the Right Hand of God The Father, and serving as High Priest in the Post-Calvary Temple of Heaven. Nearly 2,000 years after returning to Glory -- specifically, in the year A.D. 1798 -- God calls a special Heavenly Convocation, and summoned billions of Heavenly hosts to be in attendance. Jesus would be promoted, coronated, given an (empty) kingdom (that He would populate later on), along with some other grand trophies pertinent to His accomplishments. The Father had one more major job that had to be done -- and that was to bring The Sin Problem to a final close! The job would involve carrying out the mandates of The Book of Life and conducting the Court of Divine Justice, out of the Judicial Code of The Book of Life! But before anyone would look into the content of The Book itself, those seven strong Seals must first be broken open! This would touch off a series of never-before-seen-events, leading up to the end of the world and the Day of Judgment! But The Seals would first have to be broken! Who would do that? Who, among the Heavenlies, or among the people of Earth, or among the Dead, would be qualified to do that? A search for such a qualified person was conducted. God The Father convened the Heavenly Grand Assembly, right there in the Heavenly Courtroom! The greatly lavish, colorful, and thoroughly impressive entourage of Glory marched in, the Court Crier bellowed out his judicial announcement the Great Court of Heaven was duly in Session; and The Father -- The Ancient of Days -- took His seat upon the Judicial Bench. The court was set. And the Father sat, ready for judgment and coronation. He had a great Book in His right hand! And all the hosts of Heaven wondered about that Book in the right hand of The Father! That is actually where our Lesson begins. But… When we come to the local lesson, we will discover that in the year A.D. 95, Jesus calls a one-on-one meeting with John The Evangelist out there on the Island of Patmos. Jesus wants to comfort John, as well as His struggling churches spread throughout Asia Minor. Jesus introduces Himself to John in a manner in which John had not known or heard before. Jesus offers to give His “testimony,” for the benefit of those seven churches to whom He will address and dictate the seven letters. John is caught up “in the spirit on The Lord’s Day” -- a Sabbath Day. John was immersed in such a highly spiritual setting that he was invited by the Lord Jesus to “come up here…” It appears as if the door to the Heavenly Temple was left open, and so John was given spiritual access to The Temple-Throne Room of God! He was given a tour of The Throne Room; he was introduced to The Holy Spirit, and to The Father’s Holy Presence upon His throne! Over time, the scenes changed in the same Throne Room. On this occasion, as we have already pointed out, a great convocation has been called… And that, my friend, is where our Lesson begins. Revelation 5:5 When our lesson opens, we discover that John has been spiritually escorted into the throne room of Heaven. John is emotionally involved in the intensity of the activities going on. It was almost as if John was an actual, literal participant in the event. It must have been tremendously powerful for John to see such a large number of the heavenly congregation and to hear the sounds of their speech, language, songs, and music. Caught up in the emotion of the moment -- but yet, beyond the effect of pure emotion, John was moved by the fact that when the search for a qualified person to come and take the Book from the right hand of the Father, no one appeared to be qualified to do so. And that affected John greatly, for reasons already discussed. At that time, The Father was looking for someone qualified to loose Seals and reveal the contents of The Book. It appears that God Himself wanted to testify about the global integrity of His Son, The Lamb. And the Seven Seals would reveal seven secrets about he Lamb. And the Father wanted the Universe to know about that! God wanted the universe to know about His Lamb! While John is weeping over the situation, one of the (24) Elders moves close to John to comfort him. The Elder told John that they had located a person who qualified to receive The Book and to loose the Seals. Now, this person identified as an “elder” is qualified to comfort John and to explain what is taking place, because the Elder is oriented to the history of Israel. In fact, this Elder is part of the Israelites. He is one of the 24 persons -- human beings -- whom Jesus brought back to Glory with Him when He rose from the Dead. That’s the reason the Elder could speak to John with such clarity on th subject. The Elder announced to John that they ahd found someone qualified; and that He is known as The Lion of The Tribe of Judah and the Seed or son of David. That was greatly comforting to John, because He knew about that Personality. John was a close intimate of Jesus; and surely such a description must have registered with John. And certainly, John would agree that Jesus, The reputed Lion of The Tribe of Judah was, most likely, the very best choice! This verse teaches us that for every occasion where God is called upon , Jesus is still the best one to represent God, in in our body, our life, or in our world. Revelation 5:6 Remember that John found himself in the midst of a great big crowd. But as the elder directed his attention, John looked and saw the figure of a personality that resembled a slain lamb. This figure stood in the middle of the throne room. He was surrounded by the 24 elders and the four spiritual elements representing The Holy Spirit. To John, the four spiritual elements defied convenient description. John had a difficult time describing the four elements; he had never seen anything comparable to anything like that before; so he simply called them “beasts.” But they represent the complement of God known as The Holy Spirit. So, the Father was there; the Son was there; and The Holy Spirit was there! This was a peculiar lamb: it had seven horns and seven eyes. The horns represent the fact that because of His worthiness -- having completed the assignment of Calvary -- The Lord Jesus was given seven horns, representing consummate and complete power and authority over the universe, earth, man, and angels! And the seven eyes represent that Jesus had been given His own Seven Spirit that would stand before Him and do whatever Jesus needed them to do! These are the same angel spirit that are equal to the seven spirit that stand before God The Father. These seven angel spirits that are assigned to serve the will of Jesus, are the same angel spirits that are called, the “angels of the church.” These are the angels that would deliver Jesus’s messages to the Seven Churches. And so, now you can see why I shared with you some time ago that these “angel” of the churches are not the pastors of the churches. Angels are angels; these are spirit angels assigned to the will of the Lord. The seven eyes represent that the Lord sees everything. They see through everything and everybody. The seven spirits assigned to Jesus are equal to the seven spirits assigned to God The Father. And Jesus, in fact, was The Slain Lamb. Heaven had not forgotten about that Jesus had done on Calvary! He was worthy to possess the Book and be revealed to the Universe. And notice that the Bible is very clear about who and what the seven spirits are. That’s the reason that I say that Bible teachers don’t need to make up stuff about certain things in the Bible. Just allow the Bible to interpret itself. Revelation 5:7 Now, let’s be clear about this Lamb personality. We may be sure that this “lamb” is none other than Jesus Christ. When John sees him, in this verse, it is the resurrected Jesus who steps up to The Father and receives the Book out of the right hand of The Father -- the one sitting on the throne. It is Jesus; but to John, Jesus appears as a lamb, to highlight His character and His humility, accentuating His worthiness to be what God has called Him to be. By such characters, already, the Father is starting to reveal some inner and deep qualities and competencies of Jesus. Revelation 5:8 This verse is important, especially in setting up the transition in the function of The Lord. At the moment that Jesus was declared worthy and at that time that He stepped forward to take The Book scroll from the right hand of The Father, He immediately took on a higher role and function. From that moment that Jesus took the Book from the Father’s hand and into His hand, the Book became known as, “The Lamb’s Book of Life.” The Book now belongs to The Lamb. It belongs to Jesus. God The Father has stepped aside and given over all the power and authority to Jesus, because He is worthy! And it is because of this transfer of universal power and authority that the 24 Elders and the so-called Living Creatures bowed down before Jesus! They gave Him the reverence and the honor that they should give to the one who has been declared Worthy! With regard to those 24 Elders, it is important to realize that these persons are representatives of the human race, to whom Jesus had given special grace and access to heaven. As such representatives, the 24 were given golden bowls full of burning incense. To the common person, incense is just a good-smelling item; but in this event and application in Heaven, incense carried the prayers (of sinners) before the throne of God’s grace. And it implied that the sweet aroma of God’s grace can overcome the stench of sin. So, in Heaven, God had an arrangement that past-human being were authorized to receive the prayers and pray for present human beings. Keep in mind, too, that at that time, the churches -- not just the seven of Asia Minor -- were undergoing severe stresses and persecution. And certainly, those Saints were praying about their situation. John now knows for sure that the Lord pays attention to the prayers of the saints. Revelation 5:9 In this verse, the 24 Elders sang. They sung a new song. And the lyrics of that sone are the words of this verse. Please feel free to learn those words. The elders sung a new song; it was new to the angels. Normally, angels would do the singing. But not this time. This time, the song sung was not one that the angels could sing. They could not sing that song, because it was not part of their experience. But the sentiment of the song was the part of the living experience of The 24 Elders. And by the way -- the term, Elders is certainly not a heavenly term. There are not “elders” as part of the heavenly or angelic corps. The term, “elders,” represents an earthly order of people. They are the only post-human persons now present in heaven! This verse teach us that, as Saints and Christians who sing, we should sing songs that worship and praise God. We are to sing songs that are relevant to our spiritual experience with Jesus Christ and the grace of God. And we ought to be pure in our singing -- those who sing the songs of Zion must not split their spiritual and emotional loyalty, in order to split songs with the world or our carnality. Our song, our soul, and our spirit ought to be solely dedicated and committed to the pure worship and praise of Jesus -- and Him only, and not elements of the world, its worldliness, nor our own carnality. Revelation 5:10 This verse is a continuation of “The Worthy Song.” And so, because of what Jesus did, as the slain lamb, the people of God may now look forward to a new life of supreme happiness, justice, and holiness. And what Jesus had done made it possible for us to become kings and priests unto God, here on the earth. That song represented the hope of the 24 elders, that one day they will actually be kings and priests of God, on the earth -- because at the time, they’re up there in heaven. But because of what Jesus did, as The Slain Lamb, they look forward to the new heaven and the new earth, where righteousness and holiness will prevail forever, when the earth has been completely gutted, purified from sin, and flourishing in the beauty of holiness. Revelation 5:11 In this verse, it seems as though the “worthy song” is catching - on! Before long, it looks like the angels and the entire heavenly and angelic hosts wanted to sing that song, as well. They wanted to join in the overcoming experience of the Saints. They wanted to join in and sing “The Worthy Song,” too! After all, Jesus was one of us as a man, and He was one of them as an angel! Revelation 5:12 By this time, all heaven appears to be joining in the chorus of the song. By now, it was no longer the song of the 24 elders; no! All the heavenly hosts want to join in the song. And in this verse, they include a portion of stanza that sort of tells what Jesus is now worthy to receive; these were attributes and gifts that He didn’t have before certainly not to the same degree: He is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Revelation 5:13 Now, in this verse, the same song continues; but the celebrative jubilation is extended to God the Father, as well as to The Son, Jesus. But in their singing, they did not call or identify Jesus by name; nor did they use any proper name for God in the song. They referred to Jesus as, “The Lamb.” And they referred to The Father as, “The One Who Sat on the Throne!” But that was good enough for Heaven; because everybody knew who was who! In this verse, John makes a very interesting statement: John said that he heard every creature in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth (meaning in the grave), and in the sea. He said that they also sang. This is some element of hyperbole, a form of literary exaggeration, aimed at making a specific point. Certainly, that did not literally happen just the way he said it. John is trying to make the point and impression that the singing, by that time, had become so loud and so joyous and so full of the variety of joyful sounds, that it seems as though all heaven and earth and everything in it were singing “The Worthy Song” to the Lord Jesus, The Lamb, and to The Father who sat upon The Throne, draped in a holy nebulae of unapproachable Light! Yes, John’s statement is purposeful for effect and his intent. But in all actuality, it is highly unlikely that any human person on earth knew anything about that event taking place at that time. That was a spiritual and personal experience of John out there on the Isle of Patmos. But no one on earth -- let alone in the grave and in the sea -- heard what John heard and experienced “in the spirit, on The Lord’s Day!” Revelation 5:14 With all that singing going on, The Four Living Creatures -- representatives of The Holy Spirit -- must have enjoyed it; they said, “Amen!” And the 24 elders bowed down and worshipped God and The Lamb!
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 13:01:26 +0000
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