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  HE PREVAILED TO OPEN THE BOOK
  by Fred Tomlinson
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Summary: This sermon delves into the book of Revelation, focusing on the
sovereignty of God amidst persecution. It highlights the awe-inspiring
vision of John on the Isle of Patmos, where he witnesses the opening of
a sealed book by the Lion of Judah, revealing God's ordained plan for
humanity. The sermon emphasizes the sacrificial lamb, symbolizing
Christ's redemptive work, and culminates in a depiction of heavenly
worship where an innumerable company praises God for His worthiness and
eternal reign.

Duration: 59:22 Topics: "God's Sovereignty", "Redemption and Worship"
Scripture References: Genesis 49:8, Isaiah 46:9, Revelation 5:5, Ephesians 1:11, Revelation 5:9, Revelation 14:3, Revelation 5:1

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon delves into the book of Revelation, focusing on the
sovereignty of God amidst persecution. It highlights the awe-inspiring
vision of John on the Isle of Patmos, where he witnesses the opening of
a sealed book by the Lion of Judah, revealing God's ordained plan for
humanity. The sermon emphasizes the sacrificial lamb, symbolizing
Christ's redemptive work, and culminates in a depiction of heavenly
worship where an innumerable company praises God for His worthiness and
eternal reign.

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CONTENT
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Well, it's good to be together again and we look to the Lord to speak to
our hearts. I'm looking back into the book of Revelation, if you'd like
to turn there with me. In the meeting last week we were looking into the
fourth chapter and for those who were here and for those of you who are
familiar with this section of scripture, you know that the prevailing
conditions at the time that this vision was given to John were that the
church was under heavy persecution and the apostle John was incarcerated
on the isle of Patmos.

All his colleagues, that is all the other apostles by this time had been
martyred for their faith in Jesus and I can't doubt in my own mind that
there on that island the apostle John, despite of all of the great
things that we can recall of his teaching, but surely he must have had
questions. At the end of the day we're all human beings and these were
terribly, terribly dangerous and troubling days and I think it would be
quite reasonable to believe that there would be questions whether they
were planted there by the enemy or whether they were just sort of his
mind trying to rationally think through the challenges that were taking
place. But it was in the midst of that kind of situation when God broke
in on the apostle John and we remember reading in chapter 4 how that he
saw a door and the door was opened and in some way that we can't explain
or even begin to comprehend he was somehow catapulted in his spirit into
the very presence of God, into heaven.

What an amazing thing that was. We made some reference last time to the
question, was his body still there on the isle of Patmos? What were the
precise conditions of his body immediately prior to this happening and
so on? We don't know the answers to any of those questions. We only know
what he has recorded here for us and as we are gathered today and as we
read over these scriptures and try to understand more fully just what
was going on at this time, what they all mean to us, I don't think any
of us can even begin to pretend that we have experienced anything that
really could realistically equate with what John is describing here as
he is there on the isle of Patmos.

I don't think there is any doubt about that. Whatever great things we
can share from our own personal stories of God visiting us and speaking
to us in sometimes some quite remarkable and wonderful ways, but this
was an outstanding event that took place and what John was exposed to
was something so outside of the realm of this world. It is astonishing
to even contemplate.

What we do have, by God's grace, is these words which are the words of
John who was an eyewitness. He was there. He was the man and we know
from reading right at the beginning of this book we call the Revelation
that this was a revelation of Jesus Christ we are told and it was given
to John for John but it was given to John in order that he could write
them down.

He was told write these things down and then from there on he was to
communicate the things which he had seen and heard which he had recorded
and they were to be dispatched off to the churches and praise God that
happened and how thankful we are today that through the passage of so
many years, centuries upon centuries and through all kinds of
challenging dramatic circumstances here we are today. We still live with
dramatic and strange circumstances but here we are. We've got this book
before us.

We've got them incorporated into the other writings which we know the
Apostle Paul calls the inspired God-breathed Word of God and we have it
here and we're blessed with that and of course we look to the Lord to
minister to us by his Holy Spirit and to help us to understand what
these things mean not merely what's recorded and what the recorded
information means in and of itself but we pray. I trust you do. I know
this is my prayer even coming before these scriptures during this week.

We come before God and we say Lord you need to reveal something to me.
You need to breathe again now. You need to breathe into my heart and
quicken these words so that I don't merely know and understand what is
being talked about here but I need to know Lord what this may mean to
me.

What is it that you Lord today are speaking into my heart and what
response are you calling for from my heart and so as we continue on here
I've got this question at the back of my mind which I've just mentioned
and that is what does this mean to me today? What is God saying to me
through this? We don't want merely some kind of academic analysis of the
text. I'm not saying that's without value but there's something beyond
that and that is that wonderful experience when God makes something live
to us and makes it personal and so on. One of the factors which I
believe we're all compelled to take away from these readings is the
undeniable fact of God's absolute sovereignty, the sovereignty of God
and to John I believe as he is exposed to this sovereign almighty God
must have been just a staggering experience.

I don't know what words to use really but it was clearly just a
breathtaking vision of God. He'd had great experiences walking with
Jesus and listening to Jesus and fellowshipping with him and just being
loved by Jesus and there had been all of the events at the close of his
life, the cross and the resurrection and the days together after the
resurrection. All of this was staggering in and of itself but this was
on another level altogether for him as he is transported into the very
presence of the Lord God almighty as he is referred to here as the King
of Kings.

We saw in that fourth chapter, let me just reread the last verse of the
chapter where the elders are reaching out to him who sits on the throne
and worship him as it says in verse 10, him who lives forever and ever
and they will cast their crowns before the throne saying worthy are you
our Lord and our God to receive glory and honour and power for you
created all things and because of your will they existed and were
created. Perhaps I should just, if I could just pull to one side a
moment and just say I'm reading from the New American Standard Version.
Someone contacted me just immediately before this meeting who's watching
these messages on the internet and said could you please tell us which
translation you're using.

So there you are. But in that verse of scripture we are learning that
this one who is seated in the midst of this throne which is set in
heaven is the Lord God almighty and specifically he is being referred to
here as the creator, the creator of the universe or the universes. All
that is created was created by him and in thinking of his sovereignty
we're reminding ourselves that he presides over everything.

He is presiding over everything today, over everything. We hear talk
these days about a one world government. Well the true one world
government is centred around the throne which is set in heaven and the
king who sits on that throne is the king of kings and he's presiding
over everything no matter how things appear.

This is the truth and this is the kind of message that is being brought
to John. There's the information, there's the observation, but the
message that I believe God wants John to return back to earth with is a
clear, clear understanding that God is sovereign. God is in control and
I do believe that that's a message that God wants to impress on my heart
in a fresh way and on your heart also and may the Lord enable us to
listen to what this God is saying to us through his word and to actually
build our lives on the reality of this great truth that God is
completely sovereign.

Now then, thinking of John, if he, having seen these things and heard
these things that we've read of in chapter 4, were to be somehow
transported back to his incarcerated circumstances on the Isle of
Patmos, he would go back with these staggering images etched into his
memory and he would recall just the awesomeness of everything which he
had seen and this powerful, enthroned, sovereign, creator God. This in
and of itself would be material for some spectacular dreams I should
think. It would be certainly material which he would be able to write
about and which he would be able to communicate to others and send it to
the saints on the mainland.

But perhaps if that was the extent of it, the very experience itself
would raise perhaps an even bigger question than any questions he had
before because on the one hand he's dealing with these precious saints
of God, these believers in Jesus who are being persecuted in the most
outrageous manner and yet the God they're worshipping is sitting in this
place of peace and glory. This all-powerful, all-creating God. The
question would be, well, why doesn't he interfere with the situation and
change the circumstances? It had become obvious that he's capable of
doing this.

So the question would be, well, why? Why not? But the fact of the matter
is, as we reach the 11th verse in chapter 4, we have not reached the end
of the vision. I remind you that in the original risings there were no
chapter divisions or verse numbers and so on. The translators at some
stage way back have sought to help us by dividing the writings up into
these convenient chapters.

But I think sometimes we have to keep that in mind, that there is a
chapter division that's taking place. With that in mind, I'd like to
read the next chapter to you. Shall we go? I'm in chapter 5 and John
speaking again, of course.

I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book written
inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong
angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and
break its seals? And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was
able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly,
because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it.

And one of the elders said to me, stop weeping. Behold, the lion is from
the tribe of Judah, the root of David. He has overcome so as to open the
book and its seven seals.

And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the
elders, a lamb standing as it had been slain, having seven horns and
seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the
earth. And he came and took the book out of the hand of him who sat on
the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures
and the 24 elders fell down before the throne, each one holding a harp
and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

And they sang a new song saying, worthy are you to take the book and to
break the seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your
blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have
made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign
upon the earth. And I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around
the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of
them was myriads and myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a
loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and
riches and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing.

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 I heard saying, to him
who sits on the throne and to the lamb be blessing and honour and glory
and dominion and power. And the four living creatures kept saying, Amen,
and the elders fell down and worshipped. Glory be to God.

What a magnificent section of Scripture. I said to Sheila earlier this
week as I was reading through this section and anticipating possibly
speaking about it today, I said, you know there are some passages of
Scripture which I feel compelled to speak about by the Lord, I believe,
and yet as I come to them they're somehow intimidating, meaning by that
I feel as though I've never climbed a hill in my life and I'm being
responsible to climb Mount Everest which is in front of me. In other
words I'm looking at something which is so enormous and we say, and this
was my prayer, where do we start here? I said before I started the last
chapter last week, it was not my intention to try and deal with every
specific in the chapter because that would just take a lot longer than
the time allocated for these meetings.

And that's certainly true when I come to this chapter here because these
verses I've just read to you are so replete with information which we,
in which we know there is so much meaning and significance and depth and
we feel like paupers coming before the Lord with the desire to bring his
word and to expound it and share it with others. Amen. When we started
chapter four, we hadn't gone very far before we were looking at the
throne.

Do you remember? He saw the throne which was standing beyond the opened
door in heaven. As we start with chapter five here, of course
everything's still in place, the throne's still there, there's one
sitting in the midst of the throne, but the focus of attention quickly
moves to that which the one who is sitting upon the throne is holding, a
scroll or a book in today's language and understanding. And it's in his
right hand, this almighty, sovereign God is holding this book in his
right hand.

And we always know when we find a reference to the right hand, I'm left
handed as it happens, but when we find references to the right hand in
scripture it always carries with it the idea of power. It's the strong
hand. And this is in the strong hand of God here.

You know, there was a Bible commentator who lived a long time ago now
and he was from the Plymouth, or he was influenced greatly by the
Plymouth Brethren movement or fellowships, which happens to be the
background I come from. And I remember that he recorded on one occasion,
he said, with this book, he was referring to the book of Revelation,
with this book when we find ourselves facing a section that is symbolic
and it's dealing with symbols, we never need to guess what they mean. He
said, because always there is the referent somewhere in the body of
scripture.

Isn't it very interesting? And I invite you to keep that in your mind as
you're reading here. It may mean that you have to do a lot of reading to
find these things, but we don't have to make things up. And we live as a
time today when there's so many men who are this sort of, they feel
they've got the edge on the interpretation of end time prophecies.

And sometimes some of the things that we've heard them say, or we've
seen them write, are the creations of the human mind and saying, well,
this is what this means. And they come up with, and I could think of
some right now, but we won't go there. But what we want to know, we want
to know, well, what does the Bible say? Is what this man, I'm quoting,
said true? And I believe it absolutely is.

God wasn't just making things up here and using different ideas that
somehow came to his mind in some way. But this is his word. This is the
word of God.

With that in mind, I'm going to turn back. I'm coming back here, of
course, but I'm turning back into the book of Ezekiel. And there's quite
a bit of reading to be done here, which I'm not going to do, but you can
think about that.

But right at the beginning of the book of Ezekiel, in the second
chapter, where God is called Ezekiel, I just want to read two and a half
verses perhaps, or perhaps three, which will be the last three chapters
of, excuse me, the last three verses of chapter 2. Verse 8. Now you, son
of man, listen to what I am speaking to you. Do not be rebellious like
that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving to you.

Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me, and lo, a scroll
was in it. That's incredibly familiar to us, isn't it now? When he
spread it out before me, it was written on the front and on the back. Do
you remember we read that too, didn't we, about the scroll? And if
you're familiar with the Scriptures, you'll know also that when God gave
the commandments in stone to Moses, we're told that they were written on
the back and on the front.

And written on it were lamentations, mourning, and woe. So that's what
we learn from that reference. And I think that there are obviously are
sections of the text which we have to say, well, I don't think, I know
that there are these references I've just mentioned too about being
written on the inside and on the outside, back and on the front.

I can find those three that I've referred to, one in Revelation, in
Ezekiel, and then in Exodus. What does that mean then? And I don't know
any verse of Scripture that helps me with an answer to that. And of
course, it's at times like this when we say, well, I think it might mean
such and such.

I'm taking away from this fact that I'm finding that there's a focus on
the fact that everything, everything that needs to be said is said. And
there's no, it's not like some Bibles you can get hold of, which you've
interleaved. So you've got some blank pages, you know, so that you can
write what you're finding.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but God's not leaving,
in this book that he's holding in his hand, there's no blank pages or
blank spaces where you can write your notes in it and add something. In
other words, what God has said, he's said, and he said absolutely all
that needs to be said, and that's it. It's complete in itself and so on.

I think that that's what's going on here and so on. Now then, just
moving away from the text again for just a few moments, I want you to
turn to the book of Jeremiah. Would you go there with me? And in chapter
32, Jeremiah 32.

We've limited on time, so let me just tell you that the time, the events
that are taking place at this moment where we're going to be reading,
it's just previous to the fall of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is going to be
taken by Nebuchadnezzar, and Jeremiah is a prophet at this particular
point in time, and the people, God's people are going to be carried away
from their homeland, and they're going to be carried away into Babylon.
And God has told Jeremiah, this is part of his prophetic word to the
people, that God was going to do this because of their rebelliousness
and their sin.

God was going to allow them to be taken away from their homeland, and he
was going to take them away for 70 years. And at the end of 70 years, he
would allow them to be brought back again and restore the land to them.
So that's what's going on at this point in time.

I'm in chapter 32, and I hope you haven't forgotten kind of why we're
here, but I think it'll come back to you in a moment. And Jeremiah said,
and I should tell you that Jeremiah's in prison at this point in time,
as a man of God, with the word of God, he's in prison. And Jeremiah
said, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, behold, Hanumel, the son
of Shalom, your uncle is coming to you, saying, buy for yourself my
field, which is at Anathrof, for you have the right of redemption to buy
it.

Then Hanumel, my uncle's son, came to me in the court of the guard,
according to the word of the Lord, and said to me, buy my field, please,
which is at Anathrof, which is in the land of Benjamin, for you have the
right of possession, and the redemption is yours. Buy it for yourself.
Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

See, the Lord had spoken to him privately. Now, lo and behold, his
cousin has come to him and making this offer to him. Jeremiah's in
prison.

Jeremiah knows that shortly Nebuchadnezzar's coming, and they're going
to be all carried away into Babylon. But nevertheless, his cousin is
saying, you want to buy this piece of land? I mean, this is a great
deal. Like, why would you want to buy a piece of land when the whole
land's going to be taken over by enemies for the next 70 years, and
where will you be by then? But he said, but I know the Lord spoke to me
and told me that this was to happen, so he agreed to buy it.

And I bought the field, which was at Anathrof, from Hanumel, my uncle's
son. And I weighed out the silver, 17 shekels of silver, and I signed
and sealed the deed, note that, and called in witnesses, and weighed out
the silver on the scales. Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the
sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy, and I
gave the deed of purchase to Baruch, and so on.

We could just keep reading to the end of the and it continues on, and so
on. I think I'll just tell you how this winds up. You can read all the
detail here if you wish.

But the fact of the matter is, perhaps I can just break into this a bit
further down. I'll read in verse 42, way down. For thus says the Lord,
just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going
to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.

Fields will be bought in this land of which you say it is desolation
without man or beast. It is given unto the hand of the Chaldeans. Men
will buy fields for money, and sign and seal deeds, and call in
witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the
cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of
the lowland, and the cities of the Negev.

For I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord. Do you see this?
What God had said to Jeremiah, on the one hand, didn't seem to make any
sense at all. Why did a man who's in prison need to put money out to buy
a piece of land when shortly after his release he would feel the whole
land is going to be taken over by the Nebuchadnezzar and the
Babylonians? But he did it because sovereign God had a plan for it.

And he bought it even though the cousin was probably just taking
advantage of his uncle at the time. But God was using that situation.
And so it would be in the years ahead, God likewise promising that this
will come to an end, and you will come back to the land, and then the
land will be worth a lot of money, and people will want to buy it.

And so there would be someone, we don't know who, but there would be
someone in that later stage who would find the deed, having been told
where it was hidden or concealed, that was made out on that earlier
occasion, those 70 odd years earlier. And he would be able to say, I am
the heir of Jeremiah. I have the right to break the seals on that deed
and then take possession of that piece of property because it was
theirs, and so on.

And so in the same way, I believe that what we're reading about in
chapter 5 of Revelation, this book which is in the hand of the Almighty
God, is really a title deed, and it's sealed, and it's sealed with seven
seals. And I believe that that book is the deed of human destiny. I
believe that it contained the summation of all things that ordained and
written by God the Father, and those things would be up to and including
the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and indeed, I believe, the renewal
of the cosmos.

I believe that book contained the Father's strategy for all that would
lie ahead out into what we would call eternity, and it would deal with
redemption, it would deal with the final judgment of evil, and it would
all be listed out there in that book. I won't ask you to turn just
quickly. I'm in Isaiah chapter 46, and I read there, For I am God, and
there is no other.

I am God, and there is no one like me, declaring the end from the
beginning, from the ancient times, things which have not been done,
saying, My purpose will be established. I will accomplish my good
pleasure. This is the God that was revealing himself to John on the Isle
of Patmos.

He is God, and he's sovereign, and he doesn't see the future just
because he's able to look down through the corridor of time and see how
things will happen, but he's the sovereign God who has ordained these
very things, and they're recorded in this book. Do you remember, perhaps
I should just say, first of all, in this book, I believe, were included
the particulars of the inheritance of the people of God. Paul writes to
the Ephesians, Ephesians 1 11, and he says, In him also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who
works all things according to the counsel of his will.

Amen. This document that we're looking at here, I believe, deals with
every twister and every turn in history in advance. It's all there.

This is our God. He's sovereign, and he's ordained these things, and
this document was sealed. It says with seven seals.

We were talking about numbers just before the meeting over the
lunchtime, and number seven, which we discover from just watching it as
it appears in many different contexts through the Bible, it clearly
carries with it the idea of perfection or of completeness. So here, when
I read this here, I'm reading that this document which has been written
by God the Father and has been sealed by God is sealed perfectly. It's
perfectly and completely sealed.

It is totally sealed. The question that comes up in the passage is this.
Let me just, we're looking at chapter five of Revelation.

Where shall I decide to read here? So, we haven't gone very far down the
chapter, I'm just realizing. I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a
loud voice. This is verse two.

Who is worthy? Who has the authority, this is? Who has the authority to
open the seals? Who's the executor here? Who is worthy to open the book
and to break the seals? And no one in heaven or on earth or under the
earth was able to open the book or look into it. And John says, I began
to weep. And in the Greek language, the idea is that he began to weep
profusely.

This was not just like tears just begin to well up in his eyes. In other
words, if no one can open this document that belongs to God, where God
is going to inform us and show us things which must, or if you like, let
me rephrase that, the reason for everything and the purpose for
everything. What a dreadful thing.

And he's weeping and breaking his heart. And then one of the elders
speaks up in verse five and he says, stop weeping. Strong language.

Stop weeping, he said. Behold, the lion is from the tribe of Judah, the
root of David, and he has overcome so as to open the book and its seals.
Glory to God.

How wonderful this is here when we read this here. The fact of the
matter is, without this document being opened, the Father's plan, the
Father's purpose, the Father's justice and the blessing of God for
mankind, it appears, could not come to pass. It would remain forever
sealed.

It would not happen. No part of God's great plan would be possible
without the book's seals being broken and the possibility of the things
that God intended being available to be outworked. It takes my mind back
to another scripture.

It says, without the shedding of blood, there's no remission for sins.
And also we know that the scripture teaches very, very plainly that this
wasn't merely the blood of bulls and of goats or animals' blood. The
blood which would pay the price for God's great purpose and plan to come
into effect would have to be pure blood.

I've talked about this on many earlier occasions, but it was a man who,
by his disobedience, opened the door for sin and for death to become
realities for human beings. And in the mind of God, that situation could
only be reversed by another man, another man closing that door, and he
would close the door by the shedding of his own blood. And as a result,
he would open the door, unlock the book, if you like.

He'd open the door to life and blessing and inheritance for men and
women and the complete judgment of all that has been evil through the
ages and so on. The lion of the tribe of Judah. I'll just turn back into
the Old Testament for just one reference here, because as we read that,
that takes us all the way back to the book of Genesis.

You needn't turn there. I need to be quick here. Chapter 49 of Genesis
reads like this.

This, of course, is the reading out of the prophecy concerning the sons.
Let me see where I am. Let me just read.

I'll just go straight to verse 8 of chapter 49, which says, Judah, your
brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the neck of your
enemies. Your father's son shall bow down to you.

Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey of my son you have gone up. He
couches, he lies down as a lion, as a lion who dares rouse him up.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from
between his feet until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience
of the peoples. And there is no question in our minds at all that while
there was an application of this to Judah himself, there's a prophetic
feature here in this passage, which very clearly, even back here in the
49th chapter of Genesis, is looking forward to that moment when Shiloh,
Shiloh is a translation of which means peacemaker, until the peacemaker
comes.

And who is the peacemaker? He will be of the tribe of Judah. And there's
this reference to the lion, Shiloh the lion and so on. And this takes my
mind back to my early days in Sunday school when we used to sing, for
the lion of Judah shall break every chain and give us the victory again
and again.

Amen. And so when we're reading this message here that this one, says
the elder, who is able to open these seals and cause this to become a
reality, is the lion of Judah. And also he's of the root of David, King
David, the link back into the Old Testament.

He would be a descendant of David's line, great King David. But it
doesn't just say he will be a descendant of David, it says he's of the
root of David. He's saying not only as this one who will be able to open
this book, come from the line of David, he's really saying David's of
him.

He's one who precedes David. He's greater than King David. He is the
one.

And at this point in time, in this unfolding revelation, I'm sure that
John now from his weeping and his heart broken here, is suddenly
transformed because now this elder has given him hope, he's given him
cause for hope. There is someone. He is called the lion of the tribe of
Judah.

He's of the root of David. He's capable of opening the seals. And we
read this here.

Then one of the elders came to him and said this, and then verse 6 of
our chapter, it says, I saw between the throne with the four living
creatures and the elders a lamb standing as if it had been slain. A lamb
standing as if it had been slain. What's David looking for? Clearly by
his own words all around this section, he's seeing things which are just
way out, they're sort of outside of the dimension.

Who are these living creatures, for example, and so on. So when he hears
this one, this lion of the tribe of Judah, I think it would be quite
rational for him to think he's going to see this great, this king of
beasts, the lion. When he looks, he sees a blood-covered lamb as if it
had been slain, it says here.

The Greek word, if it was translated more accurately for us, it would be
the word which Charles Wesley uses in one of his hymns. It would be the
word slaughtered. The slaughtered lamb.

In other words, John, who in the midst of all this trauma and all of
this going on here and what he's hearing and the implications and so
forth and so on and so on, he's looking for some mighty superpower
that's going to be able to resolve this situation. And when he looks, he
sees a lamb and even the word lamb is in the diminutive. In other words,
it's Mr North, I remember he used to talk about my pet lamb.

It's a young lamb, a young lamb covered in blood as though it had been
slaughtered. The word is so graphic that it was no normal lamb of
course. It was unique, this lamb.

It had seven horns. We're back to the number seven. Clearly the horns
speak of its power, its strength.

This lamb has perfect power. It's been slaughtered, but it has perfect
power and perfect strength. It has seven eyes.

This lamb has perfect eyesight. His seven spirits have gone into all the
earth and his eyes see everything. Everything is exposed before him with
whom we have to do.

He sees everything. And of course, this takes our mind again as we try
to deal with all these challenging statements. It reminds me of Genesis
22.

Abraham is going with Isaac up the mountain where he's to offer his son.
And the son says, Father, we've got wood, we've got fire, but where's
the lamb to be offered? And the father answers quite prophetically, no
question. He says, Son, God will provide himself the lamb.

We say, wow. And then of course we race back in the other direction and
we hear John the Baptist pointing to a man. He says, behold, the lamb of
God that takes away the sin of the world.

Amen. And I love the word here of the elder. He says, he has prevailed
to open the seals.

He's prevailed. What a wonderful word. And of course that, once again,
it has our mind thinking of the events of Calvary and all that were part
and parcel of that, not merely his physical suffering and the physical
blood that was spilled, but being dealt with by his fathers and judged
by his father on our behalf, separated from his father.

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And there's something
happening that is not written down because it can't be written down in
our language as he standing as me, as you, as the sinner is dealt with
and judged. But on our behalf, he vicariously gives himself to that
death to save us. And the Lion of Judah breaks every chain and gives us
the victory again and again.

I can't spend so long on the second point I'm thinking of here, but let
me just quickly say that not only am I taking away from this passage,
the sovereignty of God and the way this has been working out in these
things we've been looking at here, but it certainly reminds us of just
the inclusiveness of the work of the cross. I'm thinking of yet another
passage from the Old Testament, which I won't be able to describe just
now, but some of you will recall it when I mention one small phrase,
where a full price was paid for a piece of property. And we're able to
say that when Christ, when this Lion of Judah, this root of David, when
he prevailed on the cross, he paid the full price.

He paid the full price and it was paid not with silver and gold, but
with the precious blood of Christ as the Apostle Peter. And consequently
he is, as we sing sometimes, the worthy one. He's the worthy one.

He's the qualified one. He's the qualified executor who's able to break
the seals and make all this that's recorded and ordained by God to
become a reality in human history. Amen.

And the breaking of those seals clearly define facts concerning human
history. We could read on in following chapters to confirm that beyond
any doubt. But also it has an eternal aspect.

It has to do with that which lies beyond this world and has an eternal
impact there, which we can't pause to think about just now and so on.
And there's a third thing which I'll use to draw this presentation to a
close with, and that is this unforgettable sight that John was exposed
to. These things having now taken place, the book seals are all broken
and the body of people, this enormous innumerable company of people
break forth into worship.

Amen. And that worship, I could read in verse 9, we read there already,
I won't re-read it. It presents to us, I think, the epitome of spiritual
worship.

There can be nothing higher than this that we can think of if we come
with the question, well, what does spiritual worship look like? I
remember Jesus saying to the woman at the well, the Father's seeking
those who will worship him in spirit and in truth. And we say, well,
what does that look like? How will that work? We can turn to no better
place in the whole of the Bible, and certainly no better place can be
found in the churches anywhere, but to turn our attention to this
heavenly order. And we watch and listen as this innumerable company move
together in holy spiritual worship.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah for this. And there was no flesh there, you know,
in this fleshly sense.

There was no superstar musician involved. There was no worship leader.
There were no hymn books.

There were no prayers with well-worn clichés. They just repeatedly, the
elders, representative of the entire church, we find them repeatedly
falling down on their faces and saying, worthy are you. Oh Lord, worthy
is the lamb that was slain.

Their entire focus was not on themselves, not on anything, not on their
skills to do this right. They're just overcome. This is awesome in the
truest sense, as they fall before him and just say, you're worthy, Lord.

You're worthy. What a privilege that the church is called into the
blessing which becomes ours, the inheritance which becomes ours through
the redeeming death of Christ, which was ordained by God the Father
before time was. You know, today, so much, this is not a criticism, it's
an observation.

So much in the church is so much in our songs even. So much in our
prayers is about ourselves. It's all about me, we say.

I've even heard the preachers, but it's the folly of preachers who say,
if you were the only one alive, God's love is such that he would have
died just for you. But God knew that would never be. God knew that would
never be because he chose a great company.

The wonder of it all is that he included me in that company. The wonder
of it is that he chose us. Amen.

And they sang a song, it says, we could read in chapter 14 of
Revelation, they sung a song that no man could learn. In other words,
this expression of worship, this song that came from their hearts, it
wasn't something learned, it wasn't something mimicked or copied from
another. It's something that just sprang spontaneously out of their own
hearts.

And it sprang spontaneously, why? Because of the revelation of what they
were exposed to. And there was nothing in the whole world that was more
appropriate in that moment than to fall on their faces and say, Lord,
you, you are worthy. You are the worthy one.

You know, it makes me want to say, Lord, please forgive us when we
mumble and lisp some words of praise. Someone did write some words, and
I'm closing with these, that came to my heart as I was putting these
thoughts together this morning. I wish we were in a situation where we
could sing it out.

But that's not for today. Crown him with many crowns. The Lamb upon his
throne.

Hark how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own. Awake my soul
and sing of him who died for thee. Oh, and hail him as the matchless
king through all eternity.

Crown him the Lord of love. Behold his hands and side. Rich wounds yet
visible above, in beauty glorified.

No angel in the sky can fully bear the sight, but downward bends his
burning eye at mysteries so bright. Crown him the Lord of years, the
potentate of time, creator of the rolling spears, ineffably sublime. All
hail, Redeemer, hail, for thou hast died for me.

Thy praise shall never, never fail throughout eternity. Amen.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/gbVrQpPA-_s.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/fred-tomlinson/he-prevailed-to-open-the-book/
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