Latest / THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together / A Vision of the Lamb, Part 2 (Revelation 55–8) John MacArthur

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A Vision of the Lamb, Part 2 (Revelation 55–8) John MacArthur · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

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  Speaker 1: Revelation chapter 5. This will be the second in our
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  Speaker 1: series in this chapter. And I've entitled this chapter, A
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  Speaker 1: Vision of the Lamb. A Vision of the Lamb. Filling
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  Speaker 1: in a little bit of background for you, Isaiah, the
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  Speaker 1: Old Testament prophet, was given the privilege of seeing ahead
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  Speaker 1: to the day when the curse on the earth would
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  Speaker 1: be reversed, when paradise would be restored, regained. And Isaiah said,
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  Speaker 1: the day will come, for example, when the desert will
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  Speaker 1: blossom like a rose. The day will come when the
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  Speaker 1: waste places of the earth will be like the.
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  Speaker 2: Gardens of paradise.
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  Speaker 1: The day will come when the wolf will dwell with
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  Speaker 1: the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the
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  Speaker 1: kid and the lion will eat straw like an ox.
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  Speaker 1: The day will come when children will play with snakes
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  Speaker 1: and they will not be hurt or destroyed by them.
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  Speaker 1: And Isaiah, in all of those terms, was describing a
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  Speaker 1: restored earth, an uncursed earth. Scripture goes on to say
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  Speaker 1: that human life will be long once again, and when
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  Speaker 1: someone dies at the age of 100, they will die
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  Speaker 1: as a baby. During that time to come when the
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  Speaker 1: curse is reversed, Satan will be chained, he will be bound,
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  Speaker 1: he will be out of the picture, and Righteousness and
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  Speaker 1: truth and peace will fill the earth and the glory
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  Speaker 1: of God will be everywhere. Christ will rule with a
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  Speaker 1: rod of iron and all the world will come and
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  Speaker 1: bow down and worship Him. Isaiah was talking about a
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  Speaker 1: time when the whole of creation is redeemed from the
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  Speaker 1: curse that came because of the fall. Now man has
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  Speaker 1: always dreamed about such a utopia. A perfect world, a
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  Speaker 1: perfect world of good, a perfect world of peace, a
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  Speaker 1: perfect world of love, a perfect world of justice, a
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  Speaker 1: harmless world, a harmless universe where fear is unnecessary and
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  Speaker 1: joy abounds. But no matter how he may dream of
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  Speaker 1: that kind of world, no matter how he may plan
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  Speaker 1: for it, no matter what human institutions he may invent
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  Speaker 1: or devise to attempt to achieve it, With all of
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  Speaker 1: his inventions, with all of his intentions, with all of
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  Speaker 1: his designs, with all of his efforts to cure human ills,
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  Speaker 1: the world just gets worse. Worse and worse and worse
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  Speaker 1: and worse. More polluted and more polluted and more polluted.
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  Speaker 1: And the question keeps looming, who can bring back Eden?
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  Speaker 1: Who can restore paradise? Who can reverse the curse? Who
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  Speaker 1: can bring us utopia? Well, the monumental chapter before us
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  Speaker 1: answers those queries. There's only one person who has the right,
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  Speaker 1: one person who has the power to take back the
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  Speaker 1: universe from sin and from Satan's usurping rebellion. That one
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  Speaker 1: person is the main character in this chapter. He is
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  Speaker 1: the central person in this incredible vision. Now chapter 5
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  Speaker 1: really picks up where chapter 4.
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  Speaker 2: Ended, at the throne of God in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: We noted back in verse 1 of chapter 4 that
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  Speaker 1: John was taken up to heaven. He was told to
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  Speaker 1: come up here, and immediately I was in the Spirit,
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  Speaker 1: he says, and behold, a throne was standing in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: He was taken instantaneously into the heaven of heavens, the
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  Speaker 1: abode of God where God's throne is. And the experience
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  Speaker 1: of being at the throne of God then began in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 4, and the same scenario extends into chapter 5.
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  Speaker 1: We are in the same location, in the same vision
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  Speaker 1: with John. The scene in chapter 5 is still the sky.
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  Speaker 1: The throne of God is still central. The cherubim are there,
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  Speaker 1: and the enthroned elders representing the raptured church are there.
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  Speaker 1: The ruby diamond blazing glory of God is shining out
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  Speaker 1: through an emerald rainbow and bouncing off a clear crystal
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  Speaker 1: platform on which the throne is set. From the very
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  Speaker 1: throne of God comes lightning and thunder flashing. We see
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  Speaker 1: in that scene the Holy Spirit shining in sevenfold glory,
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  Speaker 1: and everything around God, every being around God is offering
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  Speaker 1: Him worship. And so chapter 4 ends with this glorious
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  Speaker 1: scene of the throne of God and all of both
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  Speaker 1: redeemed and raptured men and the spirits of the saints
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  Speaker 1: and the angels as well worshiping God. Now as you
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  Speaker 1: come into chapter 5, some new action is introduced and
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  Speaker 1: a new central character.
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  Speaker 2: Is introduced as well.
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  Speaker 1: As you come into chapter 5, God Himself begins to
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  Speaker 1: stir and to move because He's starting now to judge
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  Speaker 1: the earth and the universe.
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  Speaker 2: He's starting now to act against sin.
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  Speaker 1: So in chapter 5, John is still at the throne
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  Speaker 1: in his vision, but God begins to act. And the
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  Speaker 1: first thing He does is noted in verse 1. I
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  Speaker 1: saw in the right hand of Him who sat on
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  Speaker 1: the throne, that is God, a scroll written inside and
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  Speaker 1: on the back, sealed up with seven seals. In the
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  Speaker 1: upturned palm of God, we see this little scroll. This
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  Speaker 1: is the title deed to the universe. God has it.
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  Speaker 1: It is rightfully His. It is the official document that
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  Speaker 1: grants the created universe to God by ownership. Now the
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  Speaker 1: contents of this scroll are all sealed inside of it,
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  Speaker 1: and a summary of it is written on the outside.
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  Speaker 1: The contents of the scroll will be known to us
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  Speaker 1: as we begin in chapter 6, where the Lamb breaks
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  Speaker 1: one of the seven seals and then another of the
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  Speaker 1: seven until all seven are broken and the scroll is
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  Speaker 1: fully unrolled, describing not the why of the universe belonging
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  Speaker 1: to God, but how He will take it back. Most
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  Speaker 1: of those kinds of Official documents sealed like that, title
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  Speaker 1: deeds sealed like that, had inside a description of why
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  Speaker 1: the person designated possessed whatever the property was.
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  Speaker 2: This scroll doesn't have the why, it has the how.
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  Speaker 1: And when it's unrolled, it doesn't tell us why God
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  Speaker 1: owns it, it tells us how He is going to
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  Speaker 1: take it over. It is a moot point about why
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  Speaker 1: He owns it since He made it.
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  Speaker 2: He is God.
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  Speaker 1: And so as the little scroll sits, as it were,
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  Speaker 1: on the upturned palm of God, it contains the judgments
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  Speaker 1: by which God will in a very short time take
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  Speaker 1: possession of His created universe and restore it to a
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  Speaker 1: condition of paradise. These then are the judgments that will
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  Speaker 1: unfold from the scroll that begin in chapter 6 and
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  Speaker 1: run all the way through chapter 19 of Revelations. Now
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  Speaker 1: the question that comes is this, God has the scroll
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  Speaker 1: in His hand, but who is worthy to enact it?
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  Speaker 1: Who is the executor of this document? Who is going
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  Speaker 1: to pull it off? We noted the first point then
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  Speaker 1: in this text is the search for the worthy one,
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  Speaker 1: the search for the worthy one. Verse 2, And I
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  Speaker 1: saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who
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  Speaker 1: is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?
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  Speaker 1: And no one in heaven or on earth or under
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  Speaker 1: the earth was able to open the scroll or to
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  Speaker 1: look into it. And I began to weep greatly because
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  Speaker 1: no one was found worthy to open the scroll or
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  Speaker 1: to look into it. John is weeping because he wanted
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  Speaker 1: to see the world He wanted to see the world
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  Speaker 1: rid of evil and sin. He wanted to see the
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  Speaker 1: kingdom of God come. He wanted to see guilt and
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  Speaker 1: sin and shame done away with. He wanted to see
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  Speaker 1: Satan bound. He wanted to see Israel saved. He wanted
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  Speaker 1: to see Christ exalted. He wanted all of those things
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  Speaker 1: that had been promised. But no one came forward.
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  Speaker 2: And so he wept.
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  Speaker 1: But his weeping, as we noted last time, was needless.
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  Speaker 1: Because in verse 5 we read this, And one of
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  Speaker 1: the elders said to me, Stop weeping. Your tears are unnecessary.
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  Speaker 1: Behold the lion that is from the tribe of Judah.
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  Speaker 1: The root of David has overcome so as to open
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  Speaker 1: the scroll and its seven doors. We move then from
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  Speaker 1: the search for the worthy one to the selection of
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  Speaker 1: the worthy one. John knew that Jerusalem had been destroyed
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  Speaker 1: in 70 A.D. This is at least 25 years later.
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  Speaker 1: John knew that Judaism had killed the Messiah. John knew
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  Speaker 1: that Jews had been massacred and scattered. John knew that
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  Speaker 1: the new young church was being severely persecuted. John knew
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  Speaker 1: that there was no king to defend them on earth
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  Speaker 1: or to redeem Israel, and.
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  Speaker 2: So he wept.
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  Speaker 1: Everything seemed to be going badly. Was there no one
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  Speaker 1: to change this? Was there no one to take the
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  Speaker 1: scroll and break its seals and take back the universe?
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  Speaker 2: And so one of the elders tells him to stop weeping. Why? Behold.
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  Speaker 2: What does that mean? Look.
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  Speaker 1: He calls his attention to an emerging person on the scene.
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  Speaker 2: Look.
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  Speaker 1: Look.
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  Speaker 2: The lion. Look, the root of David.
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  Speaker 1: No elder could redeem the universe. No angel could redeem
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  Speaker 1: the universe. But here is one who can.
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  Speaker 2: Look.
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  Speaker 1: And he points to the lion that is from the
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  Speaker 1: tribe of Judah. If you know anything about the Old Testament,
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  Speaker 1: you know that that is a title for the Messiah.
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  Speaker 1: That is a messianic title. It's taken out of Genesis 49,
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  Speaker 1: 8 through 10, one of the earliest titles for Messiah.
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  Speaker 1: The Messiah would come, and the Messiah would be a lion.
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  Speaker 1: Genesis 49, 8 says, Judah, your brothers shall praise you.
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  Speaker 1: Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies.
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  Speaker 1: Your father's son shall bow down to you. Judah is
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  Speaker 1: a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, you have
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  Speaker 1: gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion.
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  Speaker 1: And as a lion, who dares rouse him up? The
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  Speaker 1: scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff
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  Speaker 1: from between his feet until Shiloh comes.
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  Speaker 2: And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
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  Speaker 1: Judah is a lion, and Judah will produce a lion
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  Speaker 1: who will have the scepter and who will bring about
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  Speaker 1: the rule that shall cause all the nations to bow down.
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  Speaker 1: The Messiah then became known as the lion that would
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  Speaker 1: come from the tribe of Judah. Lion because of his fierceness,
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  Speaker 1: lion because he would come in strength and destruction and devastation.
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  Speaker 1: It speaks of the Messiah as a strong, powerful, menacing, destructive,
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  Speaker 1: and deadly personality. In fact, the Jews, even in the
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  Speaker 1: time of Jesus, expected their Messiah to be a lion.
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  Speaker 1: That's why it was so very hard for them to
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  Speaker 1: understand Jesus Christ. They expected the lion to come, menacing
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  Speaker 1: and destructive, and destroy the Romans. and destroy the Greeks,
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  Speaker 1: and destroy the pagans. And that in part is why
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  Speaker 1: they killed Jesus, because He was not lion-like. There was
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  Speaker 1: nothing fierce about Him. There was nothing devastating, menacing, and
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  Speaker 1: destructive about Him. Quite the opposite. He insisted on going
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  Speaker 1: about healing everyone. And He insisted on not doing anything
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  Speaker 1: that would show any kind of political or military power.
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  Speaker 1: Their Messiah would be a lion, and their Messiah would
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  Speaker 1: rip and tear and destroy the enemies. What they didn't
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  Speaker 1: realize was He was a lion. Indeed, He was a lion,
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  Speaker 1: but His lion-like judgment still waits for the right day.
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  Speaker 1: It is yet to come. But the Messiah was to
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  Speaker 1: be a lion from the tribe of Judah. You know
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  Speaker 1: as well as I do that the genealogy of the
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  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ comes through the tribe of Judah. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: Christ was born, as it were, from between the feet
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  Speaker 1: of Judah. From that tribe He came forth. He is
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  Speaker 1: that lion, but His lion-like work awaits the moment anticipated
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  Speaker 1: here in Revelation 5. He is also called, in verse 5,
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  Speaker 1: the Root of David. That is another messianic title. The
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  Speaker 1: Old Testament very clearly indicated that the Messiah would be
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  Speaker 1: a son of David, that He would be an offspring
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  Speaker 1: of David, that His life would come from David.
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  Speaker 2: It says in Isaiah 11.
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  Speaker 1: 1, Then a shoot or a root will spring from
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  Speaker 1: the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots
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  Speaker 1: will bear fruit, and the Spirit of the Lord will
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  Speaker 1: rest on him. And it talks about him. With righteousness
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  Speaker 1: he will judge the poor. He will strike the earth
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  Speaker 1: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath
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  Speaker 1: of his lips he will slay the wicked. And righteousness
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  Speaker 1: will be the belt about his loins, and faithfulness the
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  Speaker 1: belt about his waist. And it tells us what I
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  Speaker 1: told you earlier about His kingdom. The wolf will dwell
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  Speaker 1: with the lamb. The leopard will lie with the kid.
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  Speaker 1: The calf, the young lion, the fatling together. A little
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  Speaker 1: boy will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze.
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  Speaker 1: Their young will lie down together. The lion will eat
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  Speaker 1: straw like an ox. The nursing child will play by
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  Speaker 1: the hole of the cobra. And the weaned child put
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  Speaker 1: his hand in the viper's den. They will not hurt
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  Speaker 1: or destroy in all.
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  Speaker 2: My holy mountain.
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  Speaker 1: For the earth will be full of the knowledge of
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  Speaker 1: the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
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  Speaker 2: That's talking about His kingdom. He'll come.
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  Speaker 1: He'll be a shoot out of David, and he will
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  Speaker 1: have the Spirit of the Lord on him, and he
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  Speaker 1: will be righteous, and he will be just, and he
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  Speaker 1: will strike the earth.
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  Speaker 2: With the rod of his mouth. Every Jew expected that.
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  Speaker 1: They expected that when the root of David came, he
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  Speaker 1: would come with force. He would come with a rod.
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  Speaker 1: He would come in destruction. He would come in devastation.
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  Speaker 1: He would come and he would force the wicked of
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  Speaker 1: the earth to succumb to his authority. He would judge sinners.
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  Speaker 1: He would be from the royal blood of David. He
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  Speaker 1: would be out of the Davidic line.
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  Speaker 2: And indeed he was.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord Jesus Christ came from the line of David
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  Speaker 1: both as to His father and as to His mother.
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  Speaker 1: Joseph was in the line of David and so was Mary.
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  Speaker 1: The genealogies that are given in the gospel record point
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  Speaker 1: that out. The genealogy of His father in Matthew and
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  Speaker 1: of His mother in Mark point out very clearly that
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ was born of the lineage of David. He
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  Speaker 1: was a righteous branch, a righteous root from David. Jesse,
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  Speaker 1: the father of David, David's line. In the end of Revelation,
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  Speaker 1: chapter 22, verse 16, Jesus Himself says, I am the
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  Speaker 1: root and the offspring of David. But because the prophecy
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  Speaker 1: in Isaiah was associated so much with destruction and so
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  Speaker 1: much with judgment and so much with devastation and then
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  Speaker 1: the setting up of His kingdom where all of those
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  Speaker 1: things would take place that I read to you about
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  Speaker 1: how the animal kingdom would all of a sudden be
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  Speaker 1: friendly to each other and all of those things would
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  Speaker 1: change because they saw the Messiah coming in judgment and
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  Speaker 1: setting up this kind of very visible, tangible kingdom. And
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  Speaker 1: Jesus didn't do that. They didn't accept Him as their Messiah. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: momentarily they did. Momentarily in Matthew 21, 9, on what
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  Speaker 1: we call Palm Sunday, they said,' Hosanna to the Son
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  Speaker 1: of David!
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  Speaker 2: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
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  Speaker 1: But by the end of that week they had seen
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  Speaker 1: Him crucified, not as a victor, but what appeared to
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  Speaker 1: them to be a victim.' They had seen Him go
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  Speaker 1: through a mock trial and never assert any of His power.
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  Speaker 1: They saw Him played with and toyed with by the
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  Speaker 1: Romans as well as by the Herods.
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  Speaker 2: And they knew, at least in their own minds.
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  Speaker 1: That this doesn't fulfill our anticipation of what the offspring
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  Speaker 1: of David is going to do.
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  Speaker 2: This is no king.
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  Speaker 1: This is no shoot out of the royal line.
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  Speaker 2: This is no blue blood.
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  Speaker 1: Why doesn't he take his authority and set up his
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  Speaker 1: kingdom as it's described? He wasn't like a king, and
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  Speaker 1: because he didn't act like a king, they killed him.
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  Speaker 1: Because he didn't act like a lion, they killed him.
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  Speaker 1: But now, John sees him step forth again. The elder
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  Speaker 1: says to him, look, the lion that is from the
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  Speaker 1: tribe of Judah, the root of David, You see him?
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  Speaker 2: Now he's moving forth.
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  Speaker 1: Now he's going to act like a lion, and now
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  Speaker 1: he's going to act like a king, like a monarch.
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  Speaker 1: He's going to come in fury. He's going to come ferocious, devastating, destructive.
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  Speaker 1: He's going to come in furious judgment against the nations
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  Speaker 1: of the world and establish his rightful throne. The elder says,
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  Speaker 1: He has overcome so as to open the scroll and
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  Speaker 1: its seven seals. This is none other than Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: He is the rightful king from David's loins, both through
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  Speaker 1: Mary and Joseph, Joseph being his adopted father also in
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  Speaker 1: the line of David. He is the fierce lion with
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  Speaker 1: the power to destroy, the power to devastate. He had
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  Speaker 1: told people when he first came that he could have
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  Speaker 1: done it if he had wanted to even then. He said,
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  Speaker 1: if I wanted to, I could call for a legion
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  Speaker 1: of angels to come to my rescue. But there was
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  Speaker 1: something to be done first. There was this whole matter
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  Speaker 1: of overcoming sin, overcoming Satan, overcoming demons, overcoming death, overcoming
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  Speaker 1: hell that had to take place. As Jesus moved toward
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  Speaker 1: the cross in John 12, 31, He said, Now judgment
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  Speaker 1: is upon this world.
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  Speaker 2: Now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.
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  Speaker 1: He knew when He went to the cross that He
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  Speaker 1: was starting what He would finish someday in the future.
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  Speaker 1: In John chapter 14 and verse 30, I will not
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  Speaker 1: speak much more with you, He said, for the ruler
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  Speaker 1: of the world is coming, but he has nothing on me.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going into combat with Satan, and I will win.
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  Speaker 1: In the 16th chapter of John and the 11th verse,
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  Speaker 1: The Spirit convicts of judgment because the ruler of this
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  Speaker 1: world has been judged.
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  Speaker 2: That anticipates the cross.
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  Speaker 1: The first thing Christ had to do before He conquered
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  Speaker 1: the nations of the world, before He came as a
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  Speaker 1: fierce lion, as a reigning king, was to go into
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  Speaker 1: mortal combat with the usurper, Satan. Because it was He,
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  Speaker 1: according to Hebrews 2, that held the power of death,
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  Speaker 1: which keeps all humanity in bondage all their life long.
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  Speaker 2: It was He who had usurped the rule in the world.
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  Speaker 1: It was He who has been running rampant with His
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  Speaker 1: demons over the earth.
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  Speaker 2: But in His death and resurrection, He conquered Satan.
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  Speaker 1: He gave the fatal blow that Genesis 3.15 says would
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: be the blow to the serpent's head. And there the
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: sentence was passed, and there the overcoming was done, and
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: there the One who held you captive to death all
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: your life long.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: The One who owned you, as it were, and who
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: would own you forever in hell, had His power broken.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: There judgment was set on Him, and victory over sin
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: and Satan and demons and death and hell was won.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: And He had to do that first. He had to
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: win salvation. He had to deal a death blow to
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: Satan and demons. He had to conquer death itself. The
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: elder says, this lion that is from the tribe of Judah,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: the root of David, has overcome. He has overcome. Colossians
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: puts it in a marvelous way. He delivered us from
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: of His beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: forgiveness of sins. God used Christ to overcome. And John
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: has already known the word overcome. He used it numerous times,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: didn't He, in the letters to the churches as He
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: was inspired to write those seven letters in chapters 2
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: and 3. We are the overcomers because Christ overcame and
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: we overcome in Him. We then become the recipients of
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: His overcoming. In Colossians chapter 2 verse 13,' And you
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: were dead in your transgressions, and the uncircumcision of your
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: flesh He made you alive together with Him. When He overcame,
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: you overcame, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: and which was hostile to us, and has taken it
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.'
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: a public display of them, having.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: Triumphed over them through Him. Who are they? Demons.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: He triumphed over all of the demons and Satan himself.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: He conquered them at the cross. He conquered sin. He
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: delivered us into His own kingdom. And so it is
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: essential for us to understand that He couldn't be the
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: Lion of Judgment and He couldn't be the King of
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: Glory until He had first been the Lamb of Now,
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: by now, John knows the overcomer. By the way, the
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: verb overcome, nikao, from which we get Nike, to overcome,
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: to be the victor.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: By now, John knows who he's looking for, and.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: He's not disappointed when he turns to look. Verse 6,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: And I saw between the throne with the four living
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: creatures and the elders that A lamb standing as if slain,
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: The elder who speaks to him says, look.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: And he looks at this amazing scene with a ruby
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: diamond glow coming off God through an emerald rainbow bouncing
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: off a crystal platform intermingled with flashing thunders and cracking lightning.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Through the magnificent four living creatures described in Ezekiel chapter
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: 1 as like.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: Spinning wheels of light.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: Through the 24 thrones upon which are seated the 24 elders,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: and in the amazing glory and blazing splendor and majesty
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: of this scene, his eyes are drawn.
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: In between all of this, he says, he sees a lamb.
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: A lamb. He probably was looking for what? A lion.
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: Or maybe a king.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: But in the midst of the saints enthroned and the
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: glorious cherubim and the mingled glory of God's presence, someone moves.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: To the throne. Is it a lion?
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: No.
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: It's a lamb.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: It's not just the word for lamb. It's the word
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: for a little lamb. It's the diminutive form, arneos. Not arnon,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: but arneos, which means a pet lamb, a little lamb.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: That's very fitting, by the way. Do you remember your
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: Old Testament history about the Passover?
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: The Jew who.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Was the head of the house had the task during
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: Passover to select a lamb. It had to be a
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: lamb offered as sacrifice to God. It had to be
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: a spotless lamb without a blemish. It had to be
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: the perfect lamb, the best lamb. And before they sacrificed
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: the lamb, they had to bring it into the house.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: And do you remember how long they had to keep it?
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: Four days. Four days that little tender lamb lived with
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: the family. Four days they snuggled and cuddled the lamb.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: Four days it became the pet of the children.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: And then it was violently slain.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: And God was sending them a message through that symbolism
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: that the one who is the ultimate lamb will be
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: one who is precious. And the slaying of that lamb
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: will be a sacrifice. It would have been no sacrifice
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: particularly to bring in a strange lamb and slay it,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: but one that had become a pet. John looked and
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: he saw a little pet lamb, not a lion, but
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: a lamb. But the lamb is the lion. There are
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: just a few references to Jesus as the Lamb in
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: the other books of the Bible. I won't belabor it,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: but if you go back to Isaiah 53, you will
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: find there that Jesus is described as a Lamb before
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: His shearers. There we see the Messiah, the Lord, as
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: the sacrificial Lamb. You'll find the Messiah, the Lord Jesus,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: described as a Lamb in Jeremiah 1119. But apart from
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: those two Old Testament texts, there are no specific references
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: to Christ as a Lamb, though every Lamb slain in
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: the Old Testament ceremonial economy pointed toward Christ. When you
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: come into the New Testament, there are only about four
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: occasions prior to the book of Revelation where He is
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: specifically called a Lamb. In John 1, behold the Lamb
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: of God that takes away the sin of the world
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: being one of them. another in John 1, the same chapter,
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: another in Acts 8.32, and then a more familiar one
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: in 1 Peter 1.19, those words that tell us that
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: He is a Lamb without blemish and without spot. But
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: this term, Lamb, then, is only used concerning Christ about
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: six times throughout Scripture until you get to Revelation.
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: In the book of Revelation alone, it is used 28 times.
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: 28 times.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: It's really a very key title for the Son of
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: God in this letter. Now this is not just any lamb.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: but you'll notice this lamb is standing. That's very important.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: What that means is it's on its feet.
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: It's alive. It's moving.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: Here he sees Christ in the figure of a lamb
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: on His feet and moving.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: But also a lamb standing as if slain.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: The lamb is bearing the scars from death wounds. The
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: deadly wounds on the lamb are still visible, but the
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: lamb is alive. The powers of earth and hell had
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: come together to kill the lamb by God's determined counsel.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: They killed Him in His last great conflict on earth,
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: but He is alive. He is standing, and He still
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: bears the scars of His death. You remember how even
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: after His resurrection, Jesus showed them the nail prints in
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: His hands and feet and His side? The Lamb had
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: death wounds, but the Lamb was alive. And you might
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: ask the question in your mind immediately, now wait a minute,
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: you mean to tell me this lamb is going to
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: come out and enter into another battle with Satan? I
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: mean he's going to come out as a lamb against
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: a dragon? I wouldn't pit a pet lamb against a dragon,
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: would you? And Satan is described in chapter 12 as
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: a dragon. You mean this lamb is going to come
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: out against demon locusts and filthy, foul, hellish demon frogs
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: and millions of world soldiers armed to the teeth to
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: fight against him.
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: This little pet lamb? Is the lamb up to it?
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: Didn't he lose last time? Won't he maybe lose again?
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: But such thinking is wrong. I've already told you He
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: didn't lose last time He won. The ruler of this
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: world has been judged. The kingdom of darkness has had
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: its power broken. The dominion of sin is shattered. The
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: kingdom of darkness has been invaded, and millions of souls
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: have been taken captive into the kingdom of light. What
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: He did on the cross cost Him His life, but
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: He didn't lose. He disarmed the principalities and the powers.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: He descended into hell, as it were, and pronounced His
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: triumph over them, says Peter.
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: No, He didn't lose. He won.
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: And He'll win again. He'll win again. The first time
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: He came as a lamb, He died, but He redeemed us.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: He redeemed us by paying a price today. that was
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: necessary because Peter says we could never have been redeemed
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: by silver or gold, but only with the precious blood
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: He came and He won. He defeated death. He defeated Satan.
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: He defeated demons. He defeated sin. He defeated hell.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: The lamb is up to the task because the lamb
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: is a lion. and the lamb is the king of kings.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: It is his death as a lamb that now qualifies
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: him to be a lion and a monarch. He stands
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: and he stands alive and he moves now toward the
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: final conflict. Looking back at verse 6 again, It describes
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: this lamb in quite interesting terms. This, remember, is in
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: a vision, almost indescribable, but it says He had seven
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits or
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: the sevenfold Spirit of God sent out into all the earth.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: Now what does this mean?
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: Animals had horns, and in the animal kingdom a horn
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: always represented power because that's what animals used them for,
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: to exert their power in combat. Animals who have horns
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: use those horns to inflict wounds on their enemies. And
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: so a horn became the symbol of power in the
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: animal world. Very often you find it so in the Scripture.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: Seven horns simply means seven being the number of perfection, completion,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: that he was perfect power. He was the sovereign, almighty,
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: all-powerful warrior. He was coming as a little pet lamb,
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: but a very unusual one with seven horns. That is
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: having perfect power, sovereignty, might. And then it says he
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: had seven eyes. Again, seven being the number of perfection
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: or completion. This speaks of knowledge, understanding, omniscience.
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: He could see and comprehend everything.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: He knows exactly what's going on, He knows exactly what
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: to do, and He has the preeminent power to do it.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: In fact, those eyes are described as the sevenfold Spirit
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: of God sent out into all the earth. That most
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: interesting description is repeated now for the third time. We
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: saw it in chapter 1 verse 4, chapter 4 verse 5.
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit three times now has been defined as.
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: A sevenfold Spirit.
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: And I don't want to go back over all of
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: the detail we've covered at each time, but just simply
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: to say it refers to the fullness of the Spirit.
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: It goes back again to Isaiah chapter 11. That same chapter.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: In which the Messiah is called the root of David,
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: in which He is going to come in severe punishing judgment,
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: in which He will set up a kingdom where the
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: lion will buy down with the lamb and all the
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: rest of those things. That same chapter also describes the
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: sevenfold ministry of the Spirit.
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: All seven describe the
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: fullness of the Spirit. Zechariah 4.2 discusses the fullness of
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit in His power. And so here again,
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: this fullness of the Holy Spirit is mentioned, this time
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: with reference to knowledge for judgment. The fullness of the
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: Spirit in chapter 1 verse 4 was in relation to
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: grace and peace. The fullness of the Spirit in chapter
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: 4 verse 5 was the fullness of the Spirit enacting judgment.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: But here His fullness is the fullness of omniscience as
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: He searches the earth for the criminals to be judged.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: So the Lamb comes forth, standing, which means the Lamb
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: is alive, bearing the wounds.
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: Of its death.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: Having ultimate power, complete omniscience by virtue of the fullness
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit sent out into all the earth
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: to assess and to identify who is to receive the judgment.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: It's quite an interesting note about the Holy Spirit, isn't it?
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: Because when Jesus went away in John 14, 15, and 16,
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: He said, I'm going to send another Comforter, didn't He?
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: And I think we often assume that the Holy Spirit
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: is nothing but a comforter, nothing but an encourager, nothing
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: but a helper.
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: Not so.
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: First of all, in John 16 it tells us that
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: He is a convictor. He will convict the world of sin.
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: Now it tells us that He is really an executioner,
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: that the Holy Spirit is going to be searching the
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: world to identify the people to be destroyed. to assess
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: the situation so that the Lamb can move out in judgment.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: And then verse 7 says, and this is monumental, and
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: He came and He took the scroll out of the
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: He is the Lamb.
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: Is the final monumental act in this heavenly scene. This
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: is the thing that's been building since chapter 4 verse 1,
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: since John arrived there in his vision.
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: This is the.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: Great culminating act of human history. This is going to
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: bring human history to its end. The goal of redemption
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: is about to be reached. Paradise is about to be regained.
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: Eden is about to be restored. The Lamb comes and
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: takes the scroll out of the.
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: Hand of God.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: This monumental moment is also described by Daniel. in Daniel
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: chapter 7 and verse 13.
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: Daniel was having a vision.
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: He said,' I kept looking in the night visions, and behold,
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: man was coming.' And He came up to the Ancient
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: of Days. Here He sees the second member of the Trinity,
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: one like the Son of Man, coming up to God,
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: the Ancient of Days. And He was presented before Him.
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: And to Him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom.
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: Here is the same scenario. It just doesn't talk about
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: the little scroll. But it says, here comes the Son
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: of Man, here comes the Lamb, and He comes up
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: to the throne of God. and was given to him dominion, glory,
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: and a kingdom. How extensive that all the peoples, nations,
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: and men of every language might serve him. His dominion
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. Daniel
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: saw the same scenario minus the little scroll as the
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: Lamb comes to take back the cursed universe. That then
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: brings us to the third element in this marvelous chapter.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: We have seen the search for the worthy one. We
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: have seen the selection of the worthy one. Verses 8
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: through the end of the chapter give us the song
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: of the worthy one. The song of The appearance of
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: the Lamb as He moves to take the scroll to
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: redeem the universe and man causes praise to break out
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: from everywhere, all over the universe. The praise begins to
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: unfold in an escalating, ascending crescendo of worship as the
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: oratorio of redemption climaxes. In fact, in this scene, all
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: intelligent creation finally gets involved in the joyful praise.
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: There were two majestic doxologies.
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: In chapter 4, and now there are three more added
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: in chapter 5 to make a total of five great
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: doxologies of praise to God and the Lamb because of
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: the coming redemption. The paean of praise that begins to
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: unfold here toward the Lamb, rolls on accumulating more momentum
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: until the song of adoration is in the mouth of
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: every living creature.
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: In the universe.
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: At least tonight we can see how the song begins.
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: Verse 8, and when He had taken the scroll, I
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: mean it's instantaneous, the four living creatures and the twenty-four
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: elders fell down before the Lamb. The first thing is
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: spontaneous worship. When He had taken the scroll, that is
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: the monumental act that ignites the joy. Why? Because it
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: means now it's going to happen, the end of sin,
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: the end of Satan, what happened on the cross in
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: terms of His sentence will now be executed. The glory
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: of Christ will come. The kingdom will come. Israel will
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: be saved. The church will be honored and exalted. We
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: will reign with Him. The curse will be reversed. And
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: all of that pent-up anticipation that has been contained within
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: the redeemed and the angels for millennia bursts out. And
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: the four living ones who are the cherubim And the
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: 24 elders who are the representatives of the redeemed church
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: fall down before the Lamb. It's kind of interesting because
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: in chapter 4 it says the 24 elders fall down
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: before the Lord who sits on the throne and will
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: worship Him. They had been down once and now they're
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: up and now they're down again. And interestingly enough and importantly,
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: they ascribe the very same worship to Christ in chapter
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: 5 that they gave to God in chapter 4. Don't
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: let anybody suggest to you that Jesus Christ is not God.
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: He is given the same worship in heaven as God
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: is given. And it is worship only for God. In
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: Revelation 10, John fell down before an angel and the
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: angel said, get up, worship God. And if they are
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: worshiping Christ the Lamb here, then they are worshiping God,
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: for it is He alone that heaven adores and worships
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: in this way. After His resurrection, after having borne sin
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: on the cross and accomplished redemption, Jesus Christ was exalted
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: to the right hand of God.
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: He received the glory He had before the world began.
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: He received back the fullness of unveiled divine glory and
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: majesty which was veiled during the incarnation. Paul says,' God
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: and authority and power and dominion and every name that
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: is named, not only in this age but also in
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: the age to come. And He put all things in
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: all things.
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: Ephesians 1, 20 to 22.
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: God exalted Him, and so there He has been in
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: an exalted position in glory.' But now he begins to move,
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: to begin his work of reigning in his universe. And
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: until this moment comes, the Lord is not fully glorified.
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: He is not fully reigning and ruling. Back in Psalm 2,
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  Speaker 1: the promise came. I have installed my king, verse 6,
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  Speaker 1: upon Zion, my holy mountain. Ask of Me, He says,
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  Speaker 1: and I will give you, that is My Son, the
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  Speaker 1: nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth
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  Speaker 1: as your possession, and you will break them with a
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  Speaker 1: rod of iron and shatter them like earthenware. God is saying,
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  Speaker 1: there's going to be a day when I give My
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: Son His throne. And then he warns, worship the Lord
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  Speaker 1: with reverence, rejoice with trembling, do homage to the Son,
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  Speaker 1: lest He become angry and you perish in the way,
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  Speaker 1: for His wrath may.
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  Speaker 2: Soon be kindled.
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  Speaker 1: You better be ready when my Son takes His rightful place.
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: You better be ready when my Son steps out to
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: rule and to judge. Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse writing a
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: number of years ago in Revelation said this, there are
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: four things out of place in the universe.
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  Speaker 2: The church is out of place. She ought to be
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: Israel is out of place. She should be in the
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: land that has been sworn to her and possess every
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: part of it. The devil is out of place. He
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  Speaker 1: ought to be in the lake of fire, but he's
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: still roaming free. And Christ is.
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  Speaker 2: Out of place.
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: He should be through with intercession and seated on His throne,
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: reigning instead of upon His Father's throne, interceding. So here
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: in the vision, we begin to see all of these
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: things that are out of place being put in the
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: rightful place. The church is in heaven. Israel is about
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: to be given back her kingdom and her land.
• 47:47
  Speaker 2: And salvation.
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: The devil to be bound and cast into the lake
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: of fire, and Christ is about to reign.
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  Speaker 2: They knew this. They knew it.
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: And so it says in verse 8, that after He
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: 24 elders fell down before the Lamb.
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  Speaker 2: And that initiates immense worship.
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: We're going to describe that worship next Sunday night. It
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: is thrilling, but you'll have to wait till then to
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: enjoy it. Father, we thank You again tonight for this
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: hour we've spent in Your Word, and we're so grateful,
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: so grateful words fail us for this glimpse of future glory.
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: Sometimes we wonder if anything's ever going to change. Sometimes
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: we may be even drawn into the argument of the
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: scoffers of whom Peter spoke when he said, they say,
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: where is the sign of His coming?
• 49:00
  Speaker 2: For all things continue as they were from the beginning.
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: Sometimes it seems as though the heavens are never going
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: to split with your coming. Sometimes it seems as though
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: evil will always prosper. Sometimes it seems as if Christ
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: will never get his due, his honor. Sometimes we wonder
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: if He'll always be interceding and never reigning. And maybe
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: we have wondered why so much is out of place,
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: why the church whose citizenship is in heaven has to
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: be here, why Israel, who was promised a land, doesn't
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: have it, why the devil who is a usurper, is
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: allowed to reign on the earth.
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  Speaker 2: And why Christ, who is the King, waits.
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  Speaker 1: But Lord, we know the moment is coming, and we
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: will rejoice in anticipation of it, even as all of
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: heaven rejoices, in that anticipation of the day in which
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: You come, the day in which the Lamb takes the scroll.
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: and takes back the universe. To that end, do we
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: pray and say with John the Apostle, even so come
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus.
• 50:18
  Speaker 2: Amen. You've been listening to John MacArthur, Bible teacher with Grace2U.
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: For free access to all of John's lessons and a
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: listing of study Bibles and books available for sale, visit
• 50:32
  Speaker 2: Grace2U' s website at gty.org. John MacArthur and Grace TU reserve
• 50:38
  Speaker 2: all copyright protection under applicable law. Our copyright policy is
• 50:43
  Speaker 2: available at gty.org, and it includes instructions for and limitations
• 50:48
  Speaker 2: on duplicating this digital file.