Sing It! Rev, 5:6-10

Good morning. We'll be taking a look at this morning, as Brian read, from Revelation 5, verses 6-10. And as we continue to look here, because remember, this is the heavenly scene when we started in chapter 4, and we're continuing on now at chapter 5. This is the heavenly scene through the eyes of John, as John is writing and describing this. And we have here one more week. to look at John's description of this scene, unless the Lord comes before them.

And I remind you that as we're reading it, this isn't about someplace else. This is home. We're reading about home. So welcome home. This home that he's describing is with Christ our Savior, and this passage that we're focusing on this morning explicitly introduces and describes that. we're reading about the time when we will be not just in our position but in our condition as well with Christ the Lamb who was slain. So read with me as we go through this and study through this. Let's take a second look here at verse 6.

And I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders a Lamb standing as if slain. having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out into all the earth." Notice again, John is here telling us again that he saw, that is, he witnessed. One of fifty times that he says in Revelation, he saw or he looked. He's speaking as an eyewitness and he's giving us ongoing eyewitness testimony here.

He didn't just happen to see something. This isn't something like it frequently happens in a legal scene where you just sort of happen to see something. This is something he deliberately has been called to look at and to see and to write about for us. This isn't an accidental writing. This is an intentional writing. John has been commissioned to do this.

Now, somebody asked a question last week I think it's fascinating to ponder about. Since we're going to be there at that heavenly scene, Will we look over and see this guy John kind of puzzled in writing? I don't know. I don't know whether that's going to be the case. We do know this, that since John is indeed a saint, he's going to be there too, resurrected and glorified. So how you solve that little puzzle, I don't know. We'll let the Lord deal with that. But John describes a scene for us here, except for the revelation of Scripture, we would frankly not know about.

Now, the first thing we've got to look at, what is the being, or who is the being, rather, that he's beholding? The being who is drawing all of his attention, as we read this, and all the attention of those there in the heavenly throne room, is standing between the throne, which is surrounded by the four living creatures, and between the throne and the creatures, and the elders that are there in the heavenly scene. Verse 5 and now verse 6 refer to the 24 elders as simply being elders. We've gotten enough context previously to understand that these are representative of the resurrected and glorified church, the body of Christ in heaven.

But notice here, the four living creatures, although he mentions them, that's not the focus of attention. And the elders, even though those are mentioned too, that's really not the focus of attention. The focus of attention is getting shifted here, isn't it? We're seeing a change, and it's a big one. The focus of attention is not the elders, not the creatures, but a lamb. And the way he phrases it, a lamb standing, but as if slain.

This is a reference to Christ the Lamb, and it's drawing upon the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. The entire chapter is, of course, of value, but we're just going to take a look at a portion of it here. Isaiah 53, three through seven there. And one of the things that it zeroes in on, and we've got highlighted in the blue towards the end, is the Messiah. This whole chapter is about the Messiah, but the Messiah is coming as the suffering servant. And here he is described as a lamb that is led to slaughter.

Now, in the New Testament, outside of Revelation, there's only one book that describes Christ as the Lamb, and it happens twice. The first chapter, the Gospel of John, verses 26 and 29, John the Baptist proclaims in each place, Behold the Lamb of God, and he's pointing to Christ in each of those instances. Here in Revelation, Christ is referred to as the Lamb, but there are some differences, and we want to take a look at those differences. In each of the references in John chapter 1, John the Baptist is declaring Christ as the Lamb, but at that point of history, Christ had not yet been slain. You see, he's saying, here's Christ the Lamb, but he had not yet been slain. Can you imagine being in that position? Here he's saying, here's the Lamb of God, But this being slain had not taken place. So what's he pointing to? He's pointing to Christ's crucifixion yet to occur.

Now, here what we read in this text is the Lamb has been slain. It's looking backwards, isn't it? See, John the Baptist was looking forward. Now, in this perspective, as with ours, he's looking back to this Lamb having been slain. John describes him as standing as if slain, and that is strange. He says as if, but you know, he's going to describe the Lamb 28 times, or reference the Lamb 28 times in this book of Revelation now, and this is the last time he uses as if. And I think part of what he's trying to convey is this Lamb has been slain, and yet now he's not. He's been resurrected. He doesn't remain slain. He has been slain. It's a past tense. Now, there's some other things to note here.

This is the first of 28 references in Revelation to Christ as A or Z Lamb. It's the most frequent name for Christ in the whole book. This is the first time we've seen it in this book, but from here on out we're going to see reference to Christ as the Lamb more often than any other title or name. There's a few others given, and we'll be looking at them. But the Lamb is the one that carries through all the way to the very last chapters.

Now, the one thing that's critical to get here, this isn't just a Lamb slain. This is the Lamb slain in our place, isn't it? He took the penalty upon Himself that was due us. This is the Lamb that was slain. Now, there's something even more wondrous here. We can't leave this yet. Is that okay? Good, because that's what we're not going to do.

Christ the Lamb is referred here to the Lamb as the Lamb, but something that doesn't show up in the Greek is there's a difference between the Lamb, behold the Lamb of God, in the book of John, and here. In the Gospel of John, Twice, Christ is referred to as the Lamb. And the Greek word there is Amnos, which is Lamb. But here in Revelation, every single instance, no exceptions, every single instance where Christ is called the Lamb, the word is Arneon, and it means Little Lamb. Isn't that something? Little Lamb.

And just to make sure we get the distinction there, Put a lamb up on the screen. Let me get this adjusted a little higher. Now, I put this up even though these are different breeds of sheep. That's the pictures I could get hold of here. This is a little lamb. It's a younger lamb and not fully developed. It's still not filled out. Smaller. Frequently, too, and I've been through this process, they go and they'll take the lambs and they'll cut the tails and they'll crop the ears and that kind of thing. So the little lambs haven't had that done yet.

This is an older lamb. And the measure that is typically used among sheep herders is if it's less than a year old, it's a lamb. But the word used particularly for Christ all through the book of Revelation is consistent. There are no exceptions. Every time. is he is the little lamb.

It's this reference. Isn't this amazing? We're about to read a series of chapters where the lamb opens up this book and here these tremendous cataclysms and judgments come upon the earth and it's by the working of a little lamb. Isn't that amazing? What a huge contrast. Now, it's amazing here, Christ is prominent And he's the one who opens the seals. He's the one who expresses wrath to those upon the earth.

He is described earlier, as we've seen, having the sword coming out of his mouth. And it's a different word for sword than what you see frequently in the New Testament. It's a barbarian sword, the five foot long sword. And so here you have, this is the lamb. This lamb has this sword coming out of his mouth.

Amazing contrast, amazing descriptions here. This lamb, this little lamb, will reign upon the earth for a thousand years. Here, this one who is worthy to open the seals, this one who is so majestic, is the little lamb, and it is this little lamb that will reign upon the earth for a thousand years, as master and judge over the millennium. all the way into eternity future, even into eternity future, he is called the Lamb, continued to be called the Lamb.

Then, there's a set of phrases in verse 6 there we need to take a look at. It says there, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Now, if everybody's seen a little lamb with seven horns, and seven eyes recently. We'll just go on to the next verse. Anybody seen that? Anybody? I guess we better take a look at it then.

A horn in the Jewish understanding of things represents power. The word horn or horns is used that way in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. You have, and should I believe have in your hand out there, something similar to this that goes and gives some explanation as to what the horns are all about. These horns are used frequently. We're going to see them again in the book of Revelation, and we're going to see them also as we take a look back into the book of Daniel in the weeks to come here. These horns, in each instance, are used as a symbol of power and something to take note of The horns that it's talking about are horns like you'd have on a ram or a goat or some creature of that kind. Here is a ram. This one happens to be grazing near Ephesus. So it's grazing very close to one of the seven cities that received this book. So this ram, as you take a look, it's got horns.

And those horns, that's kind of the symbol here. These horns, by the way, are also the ones that were used to make the shofar, the Jewish trumpet. But just to give you an instance there. The horns of an animal like a male sheep, rams, they use them for defense and for attack. Both ways. So either way, they're a symbol of power. They can be used in a couple of ways. One, they can be used sometimes with sudden force. These rams will just go and hit somebody. And I have to tell you firsthand, they can do that.

In my younger years, we were neighbors to a fellow who had both sheep and cattle. And I'd go over and help this guy. His name was Mr. Lytle. Nice guy. Really, really great fellow. I'd go over and help Mr. Lytle. But the thing that was different, you know, we had some sheep at our place, but we didn't have a ram. Well, he did. And I found out. I found out by kissing the ground. Because this ram can come and what they do is they demonstrate their power. They see you, you know, showing your posterior and they think that that's a great target. And so, wham, you're on the ground, you know.

And so that's why, you know, they would look at these rams and they'd say, well, there's a symbol of power. The other thing that these rams can do, not just do a sudden hit, whomp, they can also sit there and push something. They'll get something weaker and push it out of the way. So that's why the people of that time, they would look at these rams and they would say, well, that's a symbol of power. This thing can hit something and knock it down. It can push something more continuously and move it around, shove it.

So either way, you've got a symbol, a picture of power. And that's why they would use this term horns. A horn of salvation, for example, is a term you'll see in scripture. And what that means is a liberator. It's an expression of power that liberates. Anyway, that's how the word is used. It can be used either in a good way or in a bad way.

We'll see examples of that as we go through this. Sometimes scripture uses that word horn and uses it with something that is bad and evil, and it also uses that word horn along with something good, as in this very example in front of us here. Now, there's something else here that kind of jumps out at us.

Most of you, just like the ram we've seen, most of you have seen animals and they've got two horns, right? What's this seven horn thing? That's kind of different. Why the seven horns? And seven eyes! Heavens sakes, it looks more like an arachnid. More like a spider, right? Well, here's the deal.

Seven is used in Scripture, and I'm not inclined to just go grabbing at symbols. If it isn't clear in Scripture or clear from the study of the culture outside, I'm not going to grab at symbols. And I'm not anxious to go say this is symbolic for that, all of a sudden make the text say what it doesn't say.

But this is something that's consistent from the very beginning of Scripture to the end. Seven is a number of totality and completeness. If you look up the number seven in a concordance, the book of Revelation is just full of it. This is a time of totality, a time of completion, and that's why. But here's where we come to that. Let's go back to the very beginning chapters of Genesis.

How many days? were set up as being in a week. Six days the Lord created, on the seventh day God rested. And the Jews in Exodus were told, looking back to that, and saying, for six days you'll work, and on the seventh you'll rest. Seven was a complete week.

It was a total period of time. Similar thing. You get into Leviticus chapter 26. It talks about the periods of time that the Jews would have. what for six years they could work the land, the seventh year what? They had to let it rest. That was a total time of completeness. Same thing with debts. You could accumulate a debt, but on that seventh year it was erased.

Seven was a picture of totality and completeness. So why this seven horns and seven eyes? If a horn stands for power, and seven is total and complete, what does that tell us about Christ the Lamb? His power is total and complete. Okay? Now it makes some kind of sense, doesn't it? If we just look at the horns and say seven, and we just kind of scratch our heads. But that's what it's saying. The Lamb is a being of total and complete power. The horns.

Now the eyes. What's the eyes? With the eyes we see and perceive and observe. And it is also used, that's how we gather information and know it, isn't it? So if I'm looking at this being and it has seven eyes, and seven is the number of totality and completeness, it means he sees everything, he knows everything.

There is nothing that escapes his attention. There is nothing that is outside of what he sees and understands. Okay? Does that make sense? So what we have here is we have Christ the Lamb, God's own sacrifice on our behalf, who is all-powerful, He's omnipotent, the term we use.

He is also all-seeing and all-knowing. He's omniscient. There's nothing that escapes His understanding and His sight. If you're thinking that something is happening in your life that is purely an accident and it came out of the blue and God must not know about this, no. He does know and He does understand and he does see it, and he is acting in power.

Now, John just told us in last week's passage that Christ the Little Lamb is uniquely qualified as the Messiah. He has all the earthly qualifications. He has all the heavenly qualifications. From what John has described of him, he is indeed deity, being all-powerful and all-knowing. He is fully man and yet fully God. He is uniquely qualified to open these seals that we're about to take a look at here in the weeks ahead. None other in heaven or on earth is qualified as He is. None.

Last week, remember, we took at Christ as the Lion of Judah. Now we see Him as the Lamb. Isn't that an interesting contrast? Let's take a closer look at that contrast. In verse 5, we see Jesus as the Lion, the Lion of Judah. Now, here in verse 6, we see Him as the Lamb. Look at the contrast there.

The Lion refers to His character at His second coming. Real different from a little lamb, isn't it? As a lamb, it refers to His character at the first coming. So what He's doing is He's looking ahead to the second coming, looking back to what has been accomplished by Christ the little lamb at His first coming. See that?

The lion speaks of his majesty, the lamb speaks of his meekness. The lion says he is sovereign, the lamb says he is a savior. As a lion he is judged, as a lamb he is judged. See the difference, the contrast? The lion speaks of the government of God, in power and majesty, the lamb speaks of the grace of God. As people read certain passages of scripture, they will say, God is a God of vengeance and anger. Why would I be interested in a God like that? Part of what's being said here is, it is the Lamb, the One who was meek, the One who expressed grace.

That One is the One who is opening the seals. That One is the One who is bringing these judgments upon the earth. His character is not being set aside as if this passage is vengeful and awful, and this passage over here is full of grace. They're being displayed side-by-side, verse-to-verse here even. Now, it's amazing to think here for a minute.

The little lamb, the root of David, the Lion of Judah, And what we've seen from the symbols here in verse 6, this omnipotent and omniscient being who is worthy to receive the scroll and break the seals and open it, this is the one with whom we've been identified. How about that?

We were identified with him in his death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seeding. That is the one with whom we've been identified. We're not reading about somebody that's just so far off and distant We can't have anything to do with Him. In sharp contrast, we've been identified with Him.

Isn't that amazing? Isn't that just phenomenal? Just amazing to ponder that. He is the One who is sharing His glory with us as we behold Him now. This is the One. You see, what we're seeing here this morning as we study this passage is not something foreign and alien to us. Instead, This is the one with whom we've been identified. This is the one, right now, with whom we have position. And then, and I hope it's today, we'll have not only position, but condition. Guaranteed. Our position and our condition with him will be the same. Think about it this way.

We have relatively few decades on this earth, don't we? sometimes less than that, sometimes a little more. My grandpa lived almost a hundred. That was pretty good. But the truth is, we don't really have that long here on planet Earth. Considering the ephemeral and shifting and uncertain nature of the things here on Earth, how much better to have a permanent and eternal seat with the Lamb, with this little Lamb?

How much better is that? around you this morning. Take a look around you. Take a look around. Those with whom you are now physically seated here in this room are now positionally seated with Christ in the heavenlies. See that? We're seated here physically. Positionally we're seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Us together. One day, and I hope it's soon, we'll be seated with one another when our position and our condition is the same, together with Christ. Those of the people that you're looking around in this room, we'll share that together with Christ.

Now, one of the things you may have noticed, it's kind of quirky that I am, you may have noticed is that I tend not to sit in one particular place here. Of course, part of the situation is I end up getting up for half the service anyway. But I tend to kind of bounce around The truth is, I don't particularly care which seat I sit in, because they're all nice, and I'm thankful that we have the facilities here. But how much more important that I'm seated there? How much more important that I have a seat there that I can count on and look to?

And that is of value. That is of value. That's of eternal value. And that's our focus here this morning. Let's take a look at verse 7. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Short little verse, right? It's a big verse, though. It's really big. Let's take a look at why. You see, this isn't the first time the scripture records that our Lord Jesus Christ took a book.

In Luke 4, 16-21, it describes an instance, and this happened in Christ's hometown of Nazareth. It reads like this. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and he opened the book and found the place where it was written. And this is what he read to the people there.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recover his sight to the blind, and set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." And then it records in verse 20, "...and he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down, and the eyes of all the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

Now, when Christ read that book there, as recorded in Luke 4, He stopped in the middle of verse 2. How about that? Stop in the middle of the verse? Stop in the middle of the sentence even. Verse 2, that was from Isaiah 61. Because up to that point he was reading about his first coming. He stopped because up to there it was describing his first coming. And notice when he got through reading that all the eyes of the people there were fixed on him. Now we're reading about the second time where he gets a book and all the eyes are fixed on him as well. Only guess what? It's about his second coming. If you read Isaiah 61 verse 2, what you find out is that the next line in that verse is, "...and the day of vengeance of our God."

He didn't read that. Why? Because that wasn't fulfilled yet. But it is about to be fulfilled now as we read it. You see the difference there? Now, the thing that we want to look at is Christ didn't read that one phrase because the time had not yet come.

And what we're pointing out this morning is now the time has come, folks. We're seeing not something that's just sort of an accidental happening, but it's a pivotal time, a pivotal time in the history of God's workings with man. You see, it's not just the passing of some ordinary book from one person to another. It's the Father's declaration. And that's kind of the first half of the idea of verse 7. It's the Father's declaration that now is the time.

This is a time, by the way, that has been anticipated, at least by earthly measure, for thousands of years. We read about last week the Lion of Judah. That prophecy was given at the end of... and it was given looking ahead almost 4,000 years to our time and however long it takes after this.

Looking way ahead. Now we've got this time here. This second coming instance is about to be taking place. And as he is describing it here, it is taking place. See, what has happened here, as we read this, is the end time clock. Ever see a clock that just ticks a minute at a time? The end time clock. just hit that special minute, that appointed time. It just went, tick, and now's the time.

And so the Father is handing off this scroll. The timing of this is not accidental or random or just chosen out of thin air. This is the Father's timing. It's purposeful that He is handing this off. The Millennial reign of Christ and the transition into that is about to take place. It is going to include, and this is why the appeal to the Lamb is important, it's going to include an appeal to mankind, even in the midst of this coming tribulation period. It's going to include an appeal to mankind for salvation, even in the midst of horrible judgments. This is God's little Lamb, and He's going to make the appeal while there's still time.

While there's still just a little bit of time left. Now, but it's not just a matter of the timing of the Father, as important as that is. The Father knows the right time. The Father knows the right time for the church dispensation to end. He knows the right time to bring us home. He knows the right time to set up this transition period into the millennium.

But it's not just about the one sitting on the throne. It's also about the Lamb. It's about Christ the Savior. As we've taken a look before, we know that He is worthy and qualified and He has the right character so He can receive the scroll. Remember last week when we looked at it? To receive the scroll required certain qualifications. Christ the Lamb was the singular and only one qualified to take the scroll.

He was the one who was slain from the foundation of the world and none other. He was promised from the day man first chose to take the path separate from what God had laid out. He was the one foretold in generations past. He was the one who descended through Abraham, through Judah, through David. He was the one. He was the one who fulfilled every prophecy at its first coming. Every one. No exceptions. He was God's appointed sacrifice for us.

He was the one who was fully God and fully man. And he was the singular one, the only one who could take that scroll and open it. So that's kind of the other half of that verse. It's not just the one giving and the right timing, but it's the one receiving in his qualifications and his character and his unique worthiness to receive the scroll.

The two have to come together. Now we're reading about a very pivotal moment in history. Someday, I hope that you and I will be able to watch it together if we put our trust in the Lord. If indeed we've done so, we will watch this very scene together. You and I. Let's take a look at verses 8 and 9.

Verse 8 starts, When he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, 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, and we'll pause there, not read into the new song. First we see the four living creatures, and then we see the elders, and notice what their response is not. They don't say, well, there goes another one of those books being passed. You know, they don't say that.

This is something unique, and their response is to be overwhelmed with this. But that's not all. No, they respond by falling on their faces before the Lamb. They recognize, first of all, the significance of this moment, that this is a pivotal moment in the workings of God with man. They recognize the incomparable worth and matchless glory of the Lamb. That is what, or rather who, they are responding to.

Some of the words and phrases and verses in 8 and 9 come straight out of the Old Testament and New Testament passages. So it isn't like John just invented these and threw those out there, or that these people just, you know, sang them. The truth is that this talk in Scripture about the harp, the prayers, the incense, those are all things that have come up before. You've got some of these on your handout, or rather more on your handout that are on the overhead here. But notice these words and phrases have shown up before in scripture.

Psalm 33, 1 through 3, particularly in verse 3, sing with him a new song. Play skillfully with a shout of joy. Psalm 144, 9, I will sing a new song to you, O God, upon a harp of ten strings. Psalm 141-2, may my prayer be counted as incense before you.

In Luke 1, 8-10, this is where Zechariah is preparing to perform his priestly duties. And it says there, according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by law to enter the temple of the Lord and to burn incense, and the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. So scripture is not just suddenly showing something to you here. This is something that has been anticipated. These symbols, these words have been anticipated for thousands of years. Now it's taking place.

A harp is a little different in those days than what we might become accustomed to. A harp typically had about 7 to 12 strings and a lot of times there's reference and scripture to ten strings. Josephus, a historian of the time during that first century, said that the ones used in the temple were ten-string harps. Anyway, it says that these elders had these harps. Notice where the prayers of the saints are. Now, if you've ever thought that your praying is just something that, alright, I say it, but I don't know what happens to those things.

See where they are here? It says that they're held in golden bowls. Not just any bowls, but golden bowls. A medal of value. And where are they? They are in the throne room of God before the Father and before the Lamb. I think that should give us some assurance as believers. When we pray, the Lord values those, and those prayers are in His presence. They are not something that are Alright, let's just say this and I'm not sure what's happening. Instead, no. They are in the presence of the Lord. The Lord values those and they are there in His throne room. And here is what the four living creatures and the heavenly elders sing. This is their new song.

Let's take a look at it. Worthy are you to take the book and to break its 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 priest to our God and they will reign upon the earth." Now let's notice something here.

The lamb, and it is the little lamb, is being declared worthy to open the seals. So they didn't just hand it off and the lamb takes it and that's it. No, it is necessary that there be a recognition that the lamb is worthy. There are witnesses to declare the worthiness of the land to receive the scroll. Remember, we studied last week, both the Romans and the Jews had laws and traditions that included a scroll with seven seals. So that those who were reading this, whether Jew or Gentile, would understand that there's great significance to the scroll being passed off. So what's being said here isn't just, hey, it's time to sing, guys. It is a song and declaration of the Lamb's worthiness. The Lamb is indeed worthy to receive the scroll and to open its seals and to open it and to see its contents. So these heavenly beings are witnesses to His worthiness.

You see that? And, something else to take a look at, you and I will be there. You and I will be having the opportunity here. We will be doing this very thing. We will be witnesses to His worthiness. Isn't that neat? As we acknowledge His worthiness here, by recognizing that He is the Lamb, the Savior, we will be thereby qualified, because of our faith in Him, to acknowledge and declare His worthiness there. Do you see that? If we're willing to declare His worthiness here, then we're qualified to declare His worthiness there.

Now, let's take a look at the things that are said of the Lamb. He, the Lamb, is worthy to break the seals and to open the scroll because when He was slain, He did pay the penalty that was due us. Not only are we qualified because of our faith and His having paid that penalty, but He is qualified now to open the book because He was slain on our behalf. That's point one. We read that in Psalm 53, verse 7.

The Lamb that was slain took our iniquities upon Him. The next, we are purchased for God with blood from men and from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. It wasn't just that we were bought out of slavery from sin. It wasn't just that we were bought out and set free. We were also purchased.

1 Corinthians 6.20 and 7.23 give this message. You are not your own. You are bought with a price. It's important to take a look at that because We have not just been freed from sin, but we've also been freed to not just something, but someone. We have been purchased, we have been bought for the Lord. And notice, from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, this includes people from all over the globe. Some years back, Nancy and I got to listen to a fellow, he was from Africa, and his nickname was Gus. Somebody asked him, would you please pronounce your name in African? And he said it and nobody could repeat it. So I won't try. But he said, just call me Gus, that'll work. And it was sort of close.

Gus had been living in a tribe in Central Africa that was cut off except for very incidental contact from the rest of the world. And Gus said, he told us, he said, when I was a boy. I was a juvenile delinquent. He said I was the black sheep of the family and the black sheep of the tribe. And he said when I would do something bad, they believed that there were evil spirits that inhabited me and they had to drive out the evil spirits. So they would take pepper water and hold me down and force pepper water up my nose. And he said it didn't do any good. He said I was just as bad. One day, Gus He said, God, if you're there, I don't even know if there is a God. And nobody had told him about a God other than the God that lived in the tree and the rocks and the, you know, the river.

He said, God, if you're there, please show yourself to me. And not long thereafter, Gus's best friend, I'd assume another juvenile delinquent, but who knows? Gus's best friend said, hey, you know, in a nearby village, I hear there's a guy that tells people about God. And Gus said, tell me more about it. And the guy said, no, I don't want to talk about it. But Gus insisted, and he went over to his neighboring village, and he came to know this lamb that we read about here as a Savior.

And to me, that's just one of, I'm sure, countless stories that could be told. It isn't just people here in a civilized society, but from every tribe and language and people and nation, the Lord is going to to be drawing people, and they are purchased by the blood of this little lamb.

It's a deliberate purchase. Next is, you've made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God. And one place where we've seen that already in Revelation is chapter 1, verse 6. It witnesses to this very thing. You see, we were not just purchased, but we were made to be somebody that we weren't before. We are a new creature, and one aspect of that is that we now, as believers, are a holy priesthood, a kingdom.

The last statement there, they will reign upon the earth, and we'll be reading about that, unless the Lord comes first. Revelation 20, verse 6, talks about that. We will reign with the Lord upon the earth. Not as human beings here living on planet Earth, but as heavenly beings who come here with Christ in glorified bodies.

So as we look at this, this is a declaration that is not only a declaration of the Lamb's worthiness, it gives the Gospel. This declaration gives basically a summary of what the Bible is about. And this declaration also tells us what our future is. Isn't that a neat declaration in a few short words? And they sing this declaration to the Lamb. Let's pray. Lord, what an incredible thing that you're doing.

And yet, Lord, this is not just a situation that's for somebody else. It's not just an, I hope so, where that would be nice. But Lord, we are reading about, if we put our trust in you, we're reading about a certain future. We're reading about the very thing that we will see and be involved in first hand.

Lord, how glorious that is. And we just pray as each day goes on, Lord, until we go home to be with you. That we would look to that time. And Lord, that we would look to that as home. Because we're indeed just visiting here. But that's forever. And with you is forever. And that's real. And we thank you for that. And we thank you that in faith and trust that we can live there even now. And we just pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.