Hello, and welcome to yet another edition of the Sabbath School Study Hour. We are so glad and privileged to be able to know that you have decided to join us to be able to study a very important lesson, in this particular case, in the book of Revelation, which is one of my all time favorite books that we can find in all of the Bible. Now if you've been joining us from week to week, this is already lesson number 4 and we're looking at "worthy is the lamb." Now, of all the books in the Bible, the book of Revelation is indeed one of my favorite and "worthy is the lamb" is indeed one of my favorite topics that we can find in this particular book. The book of Revelation is a book that is receiving more and more attention over the last years of earth's history as prophecies in the Bible, both in Jesus' prophecies as well as the book of Revelation itself tells us that Jesus is coming soon. And so, more and more people are giving attention to this particular book, and it was prophesied that that would take place.
And so we're glad that you're one of those people that you've joined us here today, not only here in Granite Bay church here in Sacramento, California but also across the country of the United States of America, as well as many other countries around the world. And so again, welcome. We're glad you're here with us. We do have a free offer that we want to be able to give to you so that not only can you study during the next hour as we spend this time together, but also that you can have this particular resource to be able to continue this very important study. And so today's special offer is entitled "the high cost of the cross.
" The high cost of the cross. And, of course, this is central to Jesus and his crucifixion. You can call it to 1866-788-3966. That's 1866-study-more. And you can find yourself with a free offer and that free book coming to you in the mail.
If you are more digitally astute and you would like to be able to find yourself with a digital copy on your phone, you can always text to 40544. Again, that's 40544 as you can see on the screen and you'll need to text the code "sh080," and we'll be happy to be able to give a digital copy to you. Our speaker today is going to be pastor jean ross and he's going to be teaching our lesson study. But before we invite him up, we want to pray that the Holy Spirit and God will teach us here today. I want you to join us in prayer.
Father in Heaven, we want to stop and we want to thank you this morning for this opportunity to be able to worship you, to be able to open up your Bible, to be able to look at this important book to give us understanding and spiritual discernment that we could never find without your presence. And so, father, we want to ask for that even now, be with our teacher, pastor jean as he teaches and give him clarity of mind. We pray these things in Jesus' Name, amen. Thank you, Pastor Ross. Thank you, Pastor Shawn, for introducing our lesson today.
As mentioned, we're looking at a very important book in the Bible. One of my favorites, the last book that you find in the new testament, the book of Revelation. There is so much information that we have to cover today and I'm going to do my best to get through the assigned portion for our study. As mentioned, we're on lesson number 4, and it's entitled "worthy is the lamb." I like the way one Bible teacher pointed out, he says, "in the midst of all of the beasts of Revelation, the central focus is the lamb." That of course is Jesus. We do have a Scripture reading, and I'm going to read it right out of our lesson quarterly.
You'll find it there on Sabbath afternoon Revelation 5:5 from the new king James version. "Do not weep. Behold, the lion of the tribe of judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose the seals there off." We're going to be talking about what the scroll is, we're going to be talking about the lion of the tribe of judah, and we'll find out more about this verse a little later in our study today. Sabbath afternoon, the second paragraph is sort of an introduction to what we will be looking at in this week. It says division of chapter 4 and 5 takes place in the heavenly throne room.
The question I want to ask and hopefully we'll answer from the Bible, where is the heavenly throne room? Bible will tell us. The scene of chapter 4 and 5 symbolically portrays God's control of history, and of the plan of salvation. Before the future is revealed, however, we are shown the centrality of Christ's high priestly ministry in heaven. Where is Christ's high priestly ministry taking place in heaven? In the sanctuary. So we'll find out more about that.
"His high priestly ministry in heaven to his sovereignty over the face of the earth and to the redemption of the human race, in such a way chapter 4 and 5 provide heaven's perspective of the meaning of future events recorded in the rest of the book of Revelation." So with that is a little bit of our introduction. I want to encourage you to take your Bibles and then open to our passage of study, Revelation 4. We're going to try and go verse by verse through. They're not long chapters, but we're going to see how far we can get through Revelation 4 and 5 depending upon how much time we have for our study. By way of an introduction, our first lesson dealt in Revelation chapter 1 with an introduction to the book of Revelation.
The last part of chapter 1 is a description of Jesus and Jesus is bringing to John these special messages found in the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 2 and 3 is Christ's message to the seven churches. Each of these seven churches represent different time periods of the Christian history starting in 31 ad going all the way through to the church of today, the church of laodicea. And you read about that in Revelation 3:14-22 is Christ's message to the church of laodicea. So just quickly as a summary of what we've looked at so far, the church of ephesus represents the Christian church from about 31 ad, that was the time of Christ ascension to heaven to about 100 ad.
It's known as the apostolic church, the church led by the apostles. The church of smyrna represents a time period of about 100 to 313 ad. It was a time of severe persecution. It's known as the persecuted church. And by the way, with the church of smyrna, Jesus didn't have any words of condemnation for the church.
He encouraged them. It was a pure church. It was a church suffering persecution. The next is the church of pergamum represents the time period of 313 till about 538 ad. This is a compromising church, where Christianity was legalized and all kinds of pagan practices and beliefs crept into the church.
Then you have the church of thyatira representing the time period from 538 till 1563, a very long time period. That's known as the corrupt church, where the church is actually persecuting those who wanted to be faithful to God's commandments into the Bible. You have the church of sardis from about 1563 all the way up till 1740, and that is known as the church that is dead. They had a name that they believe the Bible, that they will hold into the reforms that the reformers are bringing but spiritually they were dead. Then the church of philadelphia presents a much brighter picture.
It's from 1743 to about 1844. And shortly thereafter, it's known as the church of brotherly love. And then that brings us to the present church, church of laodicea, representing a time period of about 1844 through to today. Unfortunately, if you read in Revelation chapter 3, it's a church of Lukewarmness. The good news, however, is that the church does not stay in a continually Lukewarm condition because there is a special revival that takes place, special outpouring of the Holy Spirit just before probation closes, just before Jesus comes.
So Revelation chapter 2 and 3 is an overview of Christian history starting with 31 ad all the way up till today. Now in Revelation chapter 4 and 5, John's envision is taken back to 31 ad. The description of Revelation 4 and 5 is really a picture of the heavenly throne room where Jesus is about to begin his high priestly ministry on our behalf. So with that as a little background, let's take a look at Revelation chapter 4, and we're going to start reading in verse 1. John says, "after these things I looked, and behold, a door was standing open in heaven.
" So after having things described him with reference to the earth, the condition of the churches during the Christian era, now his attention is drawn to heaven, he's going to describe things happening in heaven and it says there is a door that is open in heaven. Now based on the old testament, we'll read how that God said to Moses that he was to build a sanctuary and that the sanctuary that Moses was to build was to be patterned after a sanctuary that he was shown in heaven. So the earthly sanctuary is a type of the heavenly sanctuary. This door opening heaven as you'll find out later on in our study is really the door to the first compartment of the heavenly sanctuary. So the events described in chapter 4 and 5 are events that take place in the first compartment of the heavenly sanctuary and you'll see that as we work our way through this.
So the time period for this is 31 ad. In Hebrews 8:1-2, Paul is very clear. Now this is the main point of the things that we are saying. The apostle Paul says, "we have such a high priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, not man." So there is a sanctuary in heaven, Jesus after his death and resurrection ascends to heaven and he begins his work as our high priest. The last part of verse 1 says, "and the first voice which I heard was liken to a trumpet speaking with me, saying, 'come up here, and I will show you things that must take place after this.
'" So now envision, John taken to heaven, the scene 31 ad and God is beginning to reveal to John things that ought to take place after this. You remember in Revelation 1:12 and 13 where John in vision sees Jesus, this is just after the greeting, this is before we even get to the seven churches. John is seeing Jesus in vision and Jesus is described as wearing the high priest's robe, he's also described as standing amongst the seven branched candlestick. This is Revelation chapter 1. Now where would you find seven branched candlestick in the sanctuary? Would it be in the first compartment or would it be in the second compartment? It would have to be in the first compartment.
So the scenes described in Revelation 4 and 5 are really events that took place in the first compartment after the ascension of Jesus. Quick review of the sanctuary. There were three parts to the sanctuary, you had the outer courtyard area where the sacrifices were offered, then you go through the door, you're going to the first compartment of the sanctuary. And if you came in through the door on your right hand side, there is the table of showbread with these two stacks of bread, six loaves on each. And directly across from the table of showbread, what would you see? The seven branched lampstands or candlesticks.
And then right in front of you, if you come through the door, you would see the altar of incense. And then you'd see the veil. Now if you were the high priest, once a year, you're allowed on the day of atonement to actually go pass the altar of incense, open the veil, and step into the most holy place. And if you were the high priest, and on the day of atonement, you stepped into the most holy place, what article of furniture would you see? The ark of the covenant will be right there. There's only one article of furniture and that's the ark of the covenant in the most holy place.
And then, of course, he would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant. So what's described in Revelation chapter 4 and 5 is not the most holy place scene, rather it is the first compartment or the holy place where you have the seven burning lamps of fire as well as the altar of incense, and the table of showbread. The table of showbread represents God's throne in the first compartment of the heavenly sanctuary. The ark of the covenant represents God's throne in the second compartment of the heavenly sanctuary. So just put that in the back of your mind and we'll see that as we read through Revelation 4 and 5.
Okay, looking now at verse 2. "Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne." Now this is the description of God The Father seated upon his throne in heaven. Very similar to what Isaiah the prophet saw when he envisioned, you read about this Isaiah 6:1, "in the year that king uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up…" notice the last part of this, "the train of his robe filled the temple." So where is God's throne? Must be in heaven, but where in heaven? In the temple, okay? Even in the old testament, Isaiah sees the Lord seated upon his throne, he is in the temple. And the question that we find in Revelation 4 answered is, it's God The Father seen in that first compartment of the sanctuary. Later on in Revelation, we find him in the second compartment.
Verse 3 says, "and he that sat up on the throne…" this is a reference to God The Father, "was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance." Stones in the book of Revelation are used to describe brilliant colors. A jasper stone has a greenish blue color, a sardius stone has a reddish color. So John as he sees the glory shining forth from God seated upon the throne, he uses these stones to describe these brilliant colors. The last part of verse 3 says, "and there was a rainbow about the throne, in the appearance like an emerald." Now this rainbow is very special. What do rainbows represent in the Bible? When did we first read about a rainbow? Way back in the time after the flood, you remember Noah after he came out of the ark, he offered sacrifices, and there was a rainbow in the cloud.
And that was a symbol of God's mercy. We read in Genesis chapter 9 talking about after the flood. "And God says, 'I will set the sign of the covenant which I make between you and me, and every living creature with you for perpetual generations. I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and the earth." Then it says going on a little bit further, "the rainbow shall be in the cloud and I will look on it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature, that it will not flood the earth again, the whole earth." Now does God need a continual reminder that he can flood the earth again? Does he see the rainbow and say, "oh, I almost forgot. I made a covenant with Noah.
" No. The purpose of the rainbow is for us to look at the rainbow and remember that God is merciful. So the rainbow is a sign of God's mercy. And now I love this thought. By the way, before I get there, Psalms 106, one more verse, verse 1 says, "praise the Lord! Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.
" You'll find that phrase repeated again and again in the Psalms, God's mercy endures forever. The rainbow is a symbol of God's mercy. Every time God looks down on us as his children, he's looking at us through the rainbow. He's looking at us through his mercy and that's so encouraging for us to know. Moving on with verse 4.
It says, "around the throne, there were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting." Now when I teach this class in afcoe, and we do Revelation chapter 4 and 5, I like to have a whiteboard on stage and I will begin to very roughly draw some of the things that's portrayed here in Revelation 4. And I'd begin by drawing what looks like some glorious throne and light shining forth from the throne that's God The Father seated upon the throne. And then we will have around the throne, little thrones, 24 of these thrones surrounding the big throne with a light shining forth, there is a rainbow around about the throne, and then you'll have seven burning lamps of fire. We'll get to that in just a few moments in front of the throne. To kind of give us a little bit of a visual picture of what John is seeing here in vision.
God The Father on the throne, the rainbow about the throne, the throne is made up of four living creatures, we'll get to that later. And then the 24 elders, the question is, who are these 24 elders that are seated on throne surrounding God's throne? Well, there are two suggestions as to the identity of who the 24 elders are. And I'm going to give you both and I'll tell you which one I like, okay? The first is that the 24 elders are those who were resurrected at Christ's resurrection and were taken to heaven with Jesus when he ascended, and that's interesting, but there's another identity of who these people could be. The 24 elders could also be the representatives of the unfallen worlds. The same group that you read about in the book of job where it says, there was a gathering of The Sons of God and satan came representing earth.
And God said, "where do you come from?" "From the earth walking up and down upon it." And God said, "have you considered my servant job?" And you know the rest of the story. So are the 24 elders, those who are resurrected at Christ resurrection and taken to heaven or could they be the representatives of the unfallen worlds? Well, there are different verses and I'm just going to give it a highlight of it, just Matthew 27:51 talks about those who were resurrected at the time of Christ's resurrection. And said, "then, behold, the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, the rocks were split, and the graves were opened. And many of the bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the graves after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
" Now when it says the holy city, it's not talking about Jerusalem in heaven, it's talking about Jerusalem here on the earth. So that would be the description of those who were resurrected at the time of Christ's resurrection. Ephesians 4:8 talking about the ascension of Jesus has this to say. "Therefore he says, 'when he ascended on high…" this is 31 ad, "he, Jesus, led captivity captive, and gave gifts onto men.'" So when Jesus ascended to heaven, he brought with them those who were resurrected at the time of his resurrection. They were held captive by the grave, but they were resurrected, they are the first fruits of the resurrection and they went with Jesus to heaven.
But notice the wording here, it says Jesus led captivity captive. So when Jesus ascended to heaven, where were those who are resurrected? Were they waiting for Jesus in heaven or were they following behind Jesus? They must be following behind Jesus, right? Revelation chapter 4 describes the 24 elders in heaven waiting for Jesus to come. Jesus does not appear until Revelation 5, which is an interesting point. Well, what about the elders, the 24 elders representing those unfallen worlds? Well, of course, job 1:6 says, "now there was a day when The Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord." Satan was there as well. Hebrews 1:1 and 2 tells us that God created the worlds, and he uses the plural form for worlds.
In other words, our world is not the only inhabited planet in God's vast universe, but he has other worlds of unfallen beings. And then we read in Isaiah 24:23. This is back in the old testament that the elders are referenced even back before the resurrection of Jesus. Isaiah 24:23 says, "the Lord of hosts will reign," and it says, "before his elders, gloriously." So it's interesting to note that we have a reference to the elders all the way back in Isaiah 24, which is an interesting thought. "the Lord will reign in Mount Zion, Jerusalem before his elders, gloriously.
" So the suggestion is that these 24 elders would represent those unfallen worlds and they are there in heaven waiting for Jesus to ascend. Here is a statement that you find in the book, Desire of Ages. In Desire of Ages, this chapter in particular page 831 is a parallel of Revelation chapter 4 and 5. And you'll notice number of language and symbols in Desire of Ages that you also find in Revelation 4. I'm just going to read you a paragraph.
It says, "as he ascended," speaking of Jesus, "he led the way, and the multitude of captives set free at his resurrection followed." Well, it's just the verse we read in Ephesians. Then she describes what's happening in heaven. She says, "there is the throne, and around it the rainbow of promise." We just read that in Revelation chapter 4. "There are the cherubim and the seraphim." Those are the four living creatures, we haven't gotten to that yet. "The commanders of the heavenly host," then she says, "The Sons of God, the representatives of the unfallen worlds, they are assembled.
" So if you follow the order that we have in Revelation 4, God The Father seated upon the throne, the rainbow about the throne, then the 24 elders, she does not use the word 24 elders but she uses the phrase, the representatives of the unfallen worlds, they're all there waiting for Jesus as Christ is ascending from the earth after his resurrection. Then she goes on to say something about The Sons of God. She says, "the heavenly council before whom lucifer had accused God and his son, the representatives of those sinless realms over which satan had thought to establish his dominion, all are there to welcome the redeemer." So if you put Desire of Ages along with Revelation chapter 4 and what we've seen elsewhere in the Bible, it would indicate that these 24 elders, they are there in heaven waiting for Jesus as he ascends, those who were resurrected at the time of Christ's resurrection, they are following on behind and Jesus is coming to heaven. Now the 24 elders, the representatives of these unfallen worlds, the last part of verse 4 says they are clothed with white, they have crowns upon their heads, it's a symbol of royalty and Kingship. They are the representatives of these unfallen worlds.
Now, of course, white represents purity, they have never sinned. Moving on then with verse 5, "and from the throne, they proceeded lightnings, and thunderings, and voices." And the next part of the verse says, "seven lamps of fire were burning," where? It says in the temple, but where? "Before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God." So if you can picture God The Father seated upon the throne with the rainbow, the 24 elders, what's right in front of the throne according to verse 5? Seven burning lamps of fire. Well, where do you find seven burning lamps of fire in the earthly sanctuary, in the holy or the most holy place? In the first compartment, the holy place. So where is God The Father being described here in Revelation chapter 4? He is in the first compartment. And what article of furniture is right across from the seven branched candlestick? The table of showbread.
Thus the table of showbread in its context would represent God's throne in this scenario. God The Father seated upon his throne in the first compartment. It's interesting in chapter 4, you have a reference to the seven burning lamps of fire, you also have a reference to the altar of incense, but it doesn't say anything about the table of showbread because here it calls the table of showbread in essence, God's throne, you're seated upon his throne before him are the seven burning lamps of fire. Now it says these seven burning lamps of fire are the seven spirits of God. You might wonder, wait a minute, isn't there just one Holy Spirit? Oh, yes, there is.
Remember, Numbers in Revelation are very significant and they are symbolic. What are the seven spirits of God represent? There are seven attributes of the Holy Spirit that we find described in the Bible. And here they are. Isaiah 11:2 says, and you can count them, "the Spirit of the Lord," that's one, "shall rest upon him," speaking of Jesus, "the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of counsel, the Spirit of might, the Spirit of knowledge, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord." Seven attributes of the Holy Spirit described as the seven burning lamps of fire there before the throne. All right, verse 6.
It says, "before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal." Glass back in Bible times is much more valuable than it is today. The shimmering expanse before the throne is described as a sea of glass. And by the way, the redeemed in Revelation 15 are described as standing upon the sea of glass before God, singing song of Moses and the lamb. It says, "in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, there were these four living creatures that were full of eyes in the front and in the back." Now what are these four living creatures? Well, Revelation 4:7 says the first was like unto a lion. Now when you look at the faces of the four living creatures, the lion, the ox, the man, the flying eagle, they parallel or they describe, you might say, four phases of Christ's ministry.
A lion in Bible prophecy is often associated with royalty, and Kingship, and power. Before Jesus came to this earth, he was the King of the universe, he gave back the scepter of the universe into his father's hand, and he came to this earth, so the lion can represent Christ prior to the incarnation. When Jesus came to this earth, he came to bear our burdens to die in our place. The second living creature has a face like unto an ox or a calf. An ox was a sacrificial animal.
It was also a burden bearing animal. And with reference specifically to Jesus, we read in Isaiah 53, "surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed.
" So Jesus came not as a conquering king the first time, but he came to bear our burdens, to die in our places and sacrifices him. That's symbolized by the ox or the calf, which is the face of the second creature. And then verse 7 tells us the third living creature has a face like unto a man. Well, after Jesus rose from the dead in 31 ad, he ascended to heaven and that's really what Revelation 4 and 5 is all about. And Jesus in heaven is ministering as our high priest.
He's described as our older brother, he understands, knows what it's like to be human because he was here, he lived on the earth, he went through the experiences that we must go through. Hebrews tells us, then in Hebrews 4:14, "seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus The Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." So there is Jesus in heaven, he is still our older brother. Humanity glorified and folded in the bosom of God.
Jesus represents us before The Father. Thus the third living creature is described as having the face of a man. The fourth living creature in Revelation 4:7. It said to have the face of a flying eagle. A flying eagle in the Bible is often associated with conquest, and victory, and judgment.
There are several references to this. Isaiah 40:31 talks about the deliverance of God's people, and says, "they shall mount up with the wings of eagles." And in Jeremiah 49:22, it says, "behold, he shall come upon you like a flying eagle." Speaking about judgment that comes upon the wicked. So there's fourth living creature that has a face like unto an eagle can represent Jesus when he comes back as king of Kings and Lord of Lords to execute judgment upon the wicked. So in the four living creatures, we can in essence see four phases of Christ's ministry and his plan of redemption for our salvation. Now verse 8 says, Revelation 4:8, "the four living creatures, each had six wings, there were full of eyes all around.
.." Eyes in Bible prophecy represent intelligence and wisdom. These four living creatures are aware of what's happening on the earth, they're aware of what God is doing in man's salvation. One of the interesting thought about these four living creatures that are surrounding God's throne. The first is a face like a lion, and then you have the calf or an ox, then you have a man, then you have an eagle. God gave strict instructions to Moses, you read about this in Numbers chapter 2 as to how the camp of Israel was to pitch.
There were the 12 tribes of Israel and then the tribe of levi. The sanctuary was to be in the center of the camp, the levites, they were to pitch their camp or their tents around the sanctuary. And then, there were the 12 tribes each divided up three on each side, so three to the east, the south, the west, and the north. Of the three tribes on each side of the sanctuary, there was a leading tribe, the main tribe of those three. Each of the tribes would have pitched their camp with the emblem or the sign facing towards the sanctuary.
Now it's very interesting to note that the first tribe that pitch tent on the eastern side of the sanctuary, the leading tribe was the tribe of judah. What do you suppose was the emblem that was facing towards the sanctuary representing the tribe of judah? What was the first face on... The first living creature described in Revelation chapter 4? A lion. Interesting. The leading tribe on the south that pitched their camp and the emblem facing towards the sanctuary was the tribe of reuben.
What do you suppose was the symbol of the tribe of reuben? An ox or a calf, the second living creature. And then if you go to the other side, which would be the west side of the sanctuary, the leading tribe there was ephraim. And what do you suppose was the emblem of ephraim? A man. And to the north, the leading tribe there was the tribe of dan, and what was on their emblem? An eagle. Isn't it interesting that looking down from heaven, you see the sanctuary, God's shekinah glory in the most holy place a symbol of his throne and surrounding the camp, you got the sign of the lion, the calf, the man, the eagle, almost a parallel or a miniature of what's been described in Revelation chapter 4, God's heavenly throne room.
Very interesting. By the way, if you want all the references for that, you can look in Numbers 2:3, 10, 18, 25. We'll give you which camp was to pitch camp where, and how it related to the sanctuary in the middle. The last part of verse 8 says, "and they did not rest day or night, saying, 'holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, who is, who was, and who is to come!'" How many times the four living creatures say holy? Three. One for The Father, one for The Son, one for the Holy Spirit.
All right, because God created all things. Verse 9, "whenever the four living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits upon the throne, who lives forever and ever..." So now as the four living creatures begin to praise God. Then it says in verse 10, "the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits upon the throne and they worship as well he who lives forever and ever, and they cast their crowns before the throne, saying..." We're going to see what they say here in just a minute, but here you have a picture of the four living creatures as they witness God's dealing with mankind, they begin to worship The Father. In response, the 24 elders, they bow down, they also begin to worship. Verse 11 says, "for you are worthy, o Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for you have created all things.
" God is worthy to be worshipped because he is the creator. He has made all things. The first angel's message says, "fear God, give him glory, worship him who made the heavens, the earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water." So we worship The Father because he made all things. Now did The Father create all things by himself or did he work through his son? He worked through his son. Jesus is worthy of worship.
Was the Holy Spirit involved in creation as well? Yes. Genesis 1 says, the Spirit of God hovered upon the face of the water. So God is worthy of worship just because he made us, and then secondly because he saved us and we get to that in Revelation chapter 5. So much here. Okay, so God is worthy of worship because he made all things.
Now, there is something I want you to notice. If you have your Bibles, we're going to go on now in chapter 5 in our last little bit that we have left, but there is something interesting to note. Look in Revelation chapter 1 and look at verse 4. Revelation 1:4. We're going to look at verse 4 and 5.
Verse 4 and 5 of Revelation chapter 1 introduces the Godhead in the same format that we find in Revelation 4 and 5. Revelation 1:4 and 5 introduces the Godhead in the same order as we find in Revelation 4 and 5. I just found this last night. I was really excited about it, so I'm still pretty excited about this. But notice, if you look in Revelation 1:4, it says, "John, to the seven churches which are in asia, grace to you and peace from him who is, who was and who is to come.
.." Now who is that? The one who is, who was, and who is to come? Well, it's a name used for Jesus, but it's also name used for God The Father. Jesus is eternal, The Father is eternal. Now we know specifically in verse 4 of Revelation chapter 1, this is a reference of God The Father because you'll see in verse 5, it talks about Jesus. So in verse 4 of Revelation chapter 1, the greeting, the focus is on God The Father, that's the first part of the verse, grace to you, and peace from him who is, who was, and who is to come, that's The Father, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne, who's that? Who's the seven spirits before his throne? That's the Holy Spirit. Remember the number seven symbolic represents perfection and completion.
So what's brought to view in verse 4 is God The Father, and the Holy Spirit, but Jesus is not referenced in verse 4. But when you get to verse 5, we're still in Revelation chapter 1, verse 5 says, "and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, the ruler over the Kings of the earth. To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood." Jesus is introduced in verse 5 and what attributes of Jesus are highlighted the fact that he washed us from our sins in his own blood, Jesus, his atoning sacrifice is highlighted. Now typically in the Bible, when you read about The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit, it's usually in that order. First The Father, then The Son, then the Holy Spirit, go baptize in the name of The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.
But in Revelation 1:4 and 5, it is The Father, we skip The Son, we go to the Spirit and then we come back to talk about The Son. When you get to Revelation chapter 4, the focus in Revelation chapter 4 is God The Father seated upon his throne, you got the seven burning lamps of fire before the throne, but Jesus is not there. But now when you get to chapter 5, suddenly the focus is on Jesus. You notice the parallel, and it's unique just to this situation in the book of Revelation. Usually, whenever the Godhead is spoken of, it's The Father, son, and Holy Spirit, but purposely it's changed around just a little bit to highlight the importance of the sacrifice of Jesus, and the lamb amongst all of these various powers of end time, how did the lamb rules and he's supreme and will overcome.
Okay. Well, that's just a side note. Let's take a look in Revelation 5:1, we're going to have to move through this fairly quickly. "And I saw in the right hand of him who sat upon the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals." Who is the one seated upon the throne according to Revelation 4? God The Father. So God The Father has something in his hand.
By the way, which hand? The right hand. What does the right hand represent? Power, deliverance, strength, that's what the right hand means. Also, standing on the right side represents favor or approval. So God The Father is seen holding something in his right hand, it is a scroll. Now back in Bible times, a papyrus scroll typically was 30 feet in length roughly.
And they scribed it right on the inside of the scroll. And when he was done, he'd roll it up, often put a seal upon it if it was something special that only one person or a particular person had the authority to open. Sometimes, if the scribe was writing and additional information was given, and he ran out of room on the inside of the scroll, he would turn it over and he started riding on the back of the scroll. In this case, the scroll in the hand of The Father sealed with seven seals is written on the inside and on the back. But nobody can open the scroll, it's sealed with seven seals.
Then it goes on. Now before I get to all of that, so much talk about here. How many books of record do we know about exist in heaven? Or here's a verse in Luke 10:19 and 20, Jesus said to his disciples, do not rejoice, and I'm paraphrasing that you don't have power over the unclean spirits. But now quoting, "nevertheless do not rejoice over this, that the Spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice…" what are they to rejoice about? "That your names are written," where? "That your names are written in heaven." So there is a book that has the names of those who believe in God in heaven. We're going to find out what that book is in just a minute.
But in addition to this book, there is another book that also has the names or at least the deeds of those who have rebelled against God. Sometimes, it's called the book of sin or the book of inequity. You don't want to be in the book of inequity. Then there's a third book that you want to be a part of, it's called the book of remembrance. And those are the good deeds that have been done, the acts of mercy that have been shown.
Revelation 22 says that everyone gets rewarded according to their deeds. So even though the righteous are going to be in heaven because their names have been in the lamb's book of life, they're still rewarded based upon what is recorded in the book of remembrance, kind of interesting. So at least we have those books that we know of spoken of in the Bible. And these books are involved in judgment. All right, well, let's keep going, Revelation way to be finish up.
Revelation chapter 5 and that was verse... Was that verse 2? "Then a strong angel..." Let's start in verse 2. It says, "then a strong angel proclaimed with a loud voice, 'who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals there off?'" Verse 3 says, "no one in heaven, no one on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll to look at it." Meaning, to read it. Now you might think that's interesting. Aren't there angels in heaven that excel in strength? But they couldn't open the seals.
Where was the scroll? Who was holding the scroll? Would you think God The Father could open the scroll? But it says no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was found worthy to open the scroll. Opening the scroll is not because of the lack of strength or position, but rather it has to do with something that someone does that gives them the right to open the book. And only one person has the right to open the book. And by the way, that book gets named after him. We call it the lamb's book of life, all right? Now look at the next one, verse 4.
It says, "and I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and to read the scroll and to look upon it." John realized something very important about this book that if no one is found worthy to read the book, it would have bad results for people, maybe didn't fully understand the ramifications of that, but he realized somebody needs to open the book. This is pretty important. Verse 5 says, "but one of the elders said unto me, 'do not weep. Behold, the lion of the tribe of judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose the seven seals there off.'" So who is worthy to open the scroll? Jesus is. Now I want you to notice Jesus described in verse 5 as the lion of the tribe of judah.
He has earned the right to open the scroll. Verse 6, "and I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb..." So John just hears in vision, don't cry, everything's going to be okay, the lion has prevailed to open the scroll. And John turns to see the lion and who does he see? He sees the lamb. You see, when Jesus was hanging upon the cross, as the lamb, he was also the King. And through his sacrifice, through his death on calvary that he becomes the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and he is able to redeem those who put their faith in him.
So Jesus is the lamb that is able to open the scroll. Verse 6, "I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes..." Again, horns represent rulership or Kingship, eyes represent the seven spirits of God or the seven attributes of the Holy Spirit. And then it says, "which of the seven spirits went out into all the earth?" Verse 7, "then he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne." This is Jesus now, 31 ad, he is ascended to heaven. Jesus comes and takes the scroll from his father's hand, and he begins to open the seals. Now, by the way, before we get into the rest of the verse there, what are the seals represent in the scroll? The scroll I believe is the lamb's book of life, he's the only one worthy to open the scroll.
The seals would represent different events that would occur during the Christian era that would ultimately result in Jesus being able to redeem people from the earth. By the way, the seventh seal is silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. You read about in Revelation chapter 8 the first few verses. Why is there silence in heaven about the space of half an hour? Because Jesus and all the angels have come down to the earth at the second coming to gather his people. So the opening of the seals record different events that lead right up to the second coming of Jesus.
Well, if nobody is worthy to open the seals, well, what hope is there for us if there's no second coming, if there's no resurrection from the dead. No wonder, John weeps 'cause nobody's found worthy to open the book. And the elder says, John, don't weep, Jesus has prevailed, he will open the book, he will come, he will redeem us, he'll come as the lion, as king of Kings and Lord of Lords. So when Jesus steps forward and takes the scroll out of his father's hand, what happens next? Look at verse 8. "Now when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
" Now, wait a minute, where is the altar of incense in the heavenly sanctuary, in the first compartment or the second? First compartment. You got the seven branched candlesticks, you got the altar of incense, you got the 24 elders. The events described here in chapter 4 and 5 are not taking place in the most holy place. That's not until Revelation chapter 11, the sounding of the seventh trumpet that we have events describing the most holy place. This is all taking place when Jesus ascended to heaven the first time, it's in the first compartment of the heavenly sanctuary.
And what did they say? Verse 9, "they sang a new song, 'you are worthy to take the scroll to open its seals, for you were slain, and you have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.'" Now before I talk about what exactly they sing, notice it says they sing a new song. How many new songs are sung in Revelation? There are two. A new song is sung by the redeemed, the 144,000, and there is a new song sung here by the four living creatures and the 24 elders. Why is it new? Because Christ has just sacrificed, he has provided the sacrifice for man salvation. Now some have asked, why do the 24 elders say.
.. This is verse 9. It says you have redeemed us. Were the four living creatures ever in need of redemption? And then it goes on to say, out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. Did the four living creatures come from every tribe, nation, kindred, tongue, and people? No, they were angels, they were in heaven.
They didn't come from the earth. What does it mean then you have redeemed us. And look at verse 10. Verse 10 says, "and have made us Kings and priests to our God. And we shall reign on the earth.
" Do the four living creatures reign on the earth? Do the 24 elders reign on the earth? Who gets to reign on the earth? Jesus said, "the meek shall inherit the," what? "The earth." Revelation chapter 20 says, "and I saw thrones, those who have gotten the victory of the beast, they live and reign with Christ for thousand years." Now, just so that you understand if your Bible has a little marginal reference, you'll notice right before it says in verse 9, and have redeemed us, you have a little marginal reference. If you cross reference that, it'll say them instead of us. You see, this portion of the book of Revelation translated from the textus receptus, and you have the King James, the new king James that come originally from the textus receptus, which is the Greek manuscript used for the King James, new king James, very trustworthy manuscript. But this particular portion of that manuscript, some believe was not available to erasmus when he wrote the textus receptus, so he defaulted back to the latin vulgate. The latin vulgate uses the word us instead of them.
But all other manuscript finds that we have of the book of Revelation and there are many out there, used the word them, and then it makes a whole lot of sense. Let me read it that way. Looking now in verse 9, the four living creatures, 24 elders say, "you are worthy to take the scroll to open its seals, for you were slain, and have redeemed them to God by your blood out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and have made them Kings and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth." Well, that makes perfect sense. Are you with me? Jesus has earned the right to save us. Verse 11 says, "then I looked, and I heard the voice like many waters around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders, and the number of them ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying, 'worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, glory and blessing!'" Did you count those blessings mentioned there? We have a sevenfold blessing, you can see it there.
To receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, blessing, perfect blessings given to the lamb because he has been victorious, he has overcome. And then, of course, when these four living creatures and the 24 elders say these things, then all of those in heaven join in in singing praise and adoration to God, and you can read about that in verse 13 and 14. And that brings us to the end of our chapters. Lot of information to try to cover in just a short period of time. So much, it seems like we just touched the tips of the mountains, we haven't had a chance to really dig deep.
But hopefully you'll continue to study even more on your own, such an important book, so much important information. Now we do have a free offer. I'd like to make available to those who are joining us online and also for our friends watching this across the country, a book entitled "the high cost of the cross." And if you'd like to receive this, the number to call is 866-788-3966 and you can ask for offer 156 and we'll be happy to send it to you. Or if you like, you can text the code "sh080" to the number 50544, and we'll be happy to send you a digital version of the book, "the high cost of the cross," just a very inspiring and important read. And again, we want to thank you for joining us.
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" She was there faithfully, every Wednesday until we decided, you know... She wanted to be baptized also. She saw it coming around. The choice was made. On October 4, 2014, my wife and I were baptized in the water at the same time.
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You come to Christ, your sins are washed away, you become a new creature. It's a land of beginning again, and how many of you wish you can restart. "For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, in as much as you do it to one of the least of these, My brethren, you did it to Me."