"THE WORTHY LAMB MADE US WORTHY"

MICHAEL F BLUME
SEPTEMBER 19, 1999 am

Reve 5:1-10  And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four [and] twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

The question was asked WHO IS WORTHY?

  1. Reve 5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
  2. Rev. 5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
  3. Reve 5:4  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
  4. Reve 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
The book of Revelation is a scary book to some people, and simply a mysterious book to others. Why would God gives us a book and tell us we would be blessed in reading it and hearing it if nobody would ever understand it? Why would God tell us we would be blessed when we read and understand it if we could not understand it? John was taken up into Heaven in the spirit and saw wonderful things there. Interestingly enough, Moses was also called up into Mount Sina. Then John saw seven lamps of fire by the throne. And the parallel continued.

But I like what we read about how John contrasted with Moses.

Exod 19:20  And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses [up] to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
God came down and then told Moses to come up.

But...

Reve 4:1-2  After this I looked, and, behold, a door [was] opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard [was] as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and [one] sat on the throne. .
God stayed right on His throne and called John higher than Moses could go. The Bible tells us that the New Testament is a better covenant than the one Moses received for Israel. So we read of all these wonderful things John saw.
  1. WHO IS WORTHY to open the book and loose the seals?
  2. NONE IS WORTHY to open the book and look thereon.
  3. SO I WEPT SINCE NONE ARE WORTHY to open the book and look thereon.
  4. BUT WAIT, THE LAMB IS WORTHY to open the book and loose the seals thereof!
The book had to be taken and opened by someone worthy.

The whole point was for someone to take the book and open it.

But then we read that the LAMB appears. They give the reason why the lamb was worthy. And then the word is out, and praise grows even greater!
Reve 5:11-14  And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, [be] unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four [and] twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.
But that is not all. NOBODY.

Until the Lamb appears, and He is WORTHY.

Notice it said the LION prevailed. The conqueror came to the world as an infant. BUT THEN THE LITTLE LAMB did something that only a LION could do. And we read of him in Revelation 1 standing as VICTOR.
Reve 1:16-18  And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
DON'T FEAR, JOHN. He fought a battle on the cross and in the very depths of Hell when none of us were worthy to even touch foot on glory pavement. AND HE WON!!!

And suddenly, when nobody in heaven, in the earth or under the earth was worthy to even touch foot inside this holiest of holies, we read this:

Reve 6:1  And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
JOHN IS TOLD TO COME AND SEE! AND HE SAW!!!! John was not WORTHY BEFOREHAND. We need to understand something and never forget it. Do you want to know what happened?

Jesus entered Heaven, took the book, and the power of God hit the angels and elders and beasts and they praised God to such an extent that we read:

Reve 5:14  And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four [and] twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.
We read a similar event happening in the Old Testament in the temple.
2Chr 5:7  And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy [place, even] under the wings of the cherubims:

2Chr 5:13-14  It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers [were] as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up [their] voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, [saying], For [he is] good; for his mercy [endureth] for ever: that [then] the house was filled with a cloud, [even] the house of the LORD; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.

When the Ark entered the temple, the people praised, the glory came down and the people fell on their faces
They could not STAND to minister.

The lamb was worthy because HE WAS SLAIN AND REDEEMED US WITH HIS BLOOD.

When you turn to Revelation 5, from now on, always remember, "Hey, this is the chapter that show Jesus having resurrected from the dead and going into Heaven, having conquered death and hell, in order to REDEEM US TO GOD." Like the Ark going in the temple and the praise occurring, followed by the people falling on their faces, JESUS IS THE GREAT ARK THAT ENTERED THE TRUE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN ITSELF. He is the ARK. Jesus was given to us AS A COVENANT. And look what else we read about in Isaiah.
Isai 49:9  That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that [are] in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures [shall be] in all high places.
After we read about the GREAT ARK, Jesus Christ, going into Heaven to redeem us, we then read:
Reve 7:9-12  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and [about] the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, [be] unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
There are all these people from every nation standing in that same place before the throne that was practically empty in Chapter 4. Then John is asked who they are? THEY CAME OUT OF GREAT TRIBULATION AND WASHED THEIR ROBES IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. We hear about the "great tribulation" coming upon the world and hear preachers talking about this verse and the end of the world. When did the blood of the lamb redeem us? When did He take our dirty robes and wash them white as snow by His blood?
Reve 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

Isai 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

1 Cor 6:11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

He is not going to wash my robes in His blood. When did He make us kings and priests?
Reve 1:5-6  ...Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
This is already true for us. Yes, Jesus spoke of a time of "great tribulation" in Matthew 24:21, but this passage in Revelation is speaking about something else -- the life of sin we were beneath.

He is the ARK that contained God's New Covenant.

And then we read:
Reve 7:16-17  [1]  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; [2] neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For [3] the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
HOLD THAT PAGE OPEN AND TURN AGAIN TO Isaiah 49.
Isai 49:9-10  That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that [are] in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures [shall be] in all high places. [1] They shall not hunger nor thirst; [2] neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: [3] for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
Verse 8 said He would be given as a COVENANT to the people so that He could say, "Come out and show yourselves, you who are in darkness." Sounds a lot like:
John 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
So he is the ARK OF THE COVENANT.

But He is also like the ARK of Noah.

In Noah's day, the flood covered the whole earth, and Noah was saved by being in the ark. By the time its all said and done, and the world is gone and everyone who ever lived has passed on to their destinies, the way God sees it, all the world died. So He is the ark. Oh? HE MADE ME WORTHY. If you're not saved, do you want to be WORTHY?