Will you please turn to the book of Revelation, Chapter 5? Revelation Chapter 5. We will read the whole chapter.
And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back, close sealed with seven seals.
And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
And no one in the heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look thereon.
And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look thereon:
and one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not; behold, the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book and the seven seals thereof.
And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though 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 He took it out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne.
And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
And they sing a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with Thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,
and madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon the earth.
And I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels round about the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
saying with a great voice, Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
And every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things in them, heard I saying, Unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and ever.
And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshipped.
Shall we pray?
Thou art worthy, O Lamb of God. Thou alone art worthy, because Thou hast taken that book to open it. Oh, how we worship Thee, because Thou art the Victor of Calvary. It is because of Thee that we are redeemed. It is because of Thee that all things are reconciled to the fullness of God.
So, Lord, as we gather here this morning, we do come before Thee with a worshipping spirit. We worship Thee. May Thy name be highly exalted in the midst of the congregation. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Again, our theme is pressing on to fullness, and my assignment is the book of Revelation.
The book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It reveals to us the fullness of Christ in various relationships.
Yesterday morning, we shared together on that Patmos vision, the vision of the Son of Man in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. It tells us of the fullness of Christ in relation to His church. The fullness of Christ is for the church.
It is the will of God that the revelation of His fullness will become the vocation of the church. The voice of the Spirit is, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.” And what the Spirit says to the churches is that we may be filled with the fullness of Christ.
Now, this morning we would like to see the fullness of Christ in relation to the world.
The scene has changed. In the first chapter, we find John on the island of Patmos. On the Lord’s Day, he was in the Spirit, and he heard a voice behind him. He turned around, and he saw that vision there.
But now, in Chapter 4 of the book of Revelation, he heard a voice saying, “Come up hither.” He became in the Spirit, and he saw an opened heaven. In that heaven, he saw a scene.
We believe that Chapter 4 is the scene of the glory of the Creator. Our God is the Creator. He created all things, and in that chapter you find the glory of the Creator.
This chapter is very quickly followed by Chapter 5, and we believe Chapter 5 is the glory of the Redeemer.
The first question we would like to ask is this: What is creation for? Scientists ask the question, “What is creation?” But we ask the question, “What is creation for?” They want to know what, but we want to know why.
Why are all these things created? Why are the things in heaven, on earth, in the sea, and underneath the earth created? Why are we created? Why are the angels created? Why are all things created?
We believe that all things do not exist for themselves. They exist for a reason, and we would like to know the reason why.
Here in Chapter 4, these twenty-four elders—the elders of the universe—knew why, and they told us. In Chapter 4, verse 11, they are worshipping God the Creator:
Thou art worthy, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they were, and were created.
In other words, God created all things, and He created all things for His will—or, as some versions say, for His pleasure. There is the pleasure of God; there is the will of God. It is according to the good pleasure of His will that He created all things.
Nothing is created outside the will of God. There is a will that controls creation, that tells us why all things are created. Now, of course, the next question we would like to ask is: What is that will?
If all things are created for that will, then what is that will? For this, we have to go to Colossians—to the area that our brother has specialized in.
Colossians Chapter 1. In Colossians Chapter 1, we will read from verse 15:
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
for in Him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through Him, and unto Him.
And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
And He is the head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.
Now, what is the will of God in creation? The will of God in creation is that His beloved Son may have the first place in all things.
God created all things for His Son. God created all things to give all things as His gift to His Son—that His Son might be glorified, that His Son might have the first place in all things, that all things may glorify His beloved Son.
Now, brothers and sisters, this is the why of creation. All things are created for the Son. You and I are created for the Son. That is the reason for creation.
But when God created all things, He created all things in His Son. When the translators translated the Bible, they found it very difficult to say that all things were created in Him, because how can all things be created in Him? So they used the words “by Him.”
But actually, we find “by Him” later on. All things were created in Him, by Him, and for Him. In other words, He was the Designer, the Architect. He designed all things. He was the Builder, the Contractor. He built all things. And He was the Owner, the Master, the Lord of all things.
When all things were created, they were created by our Lord Jesus designing them. In designing all things, He manifested His wisdom and, to a certain degree, His character.
He was the One who actually created all things. By Him all things were created, and that demonstrated His power and His authority. He created all things by His word. He spoke the word, and it was done. What power! What authority!
After all things were created, they were His. They were His property, His inheritance. He was the Owner of all things.
And, dear brothers and sisters, I do believe that when all things were first created, there was harmony. In other words, in the beginning, when all things were created, they really reflected the glory of the Son.
We remember in Job 38 that when God laid the foundation of the earth, the morning stars sang, and the sons of God shouted for joy. In other words, there was harmony there.
When God created all things, all things were in one. They gave glory to God, and they manifested the glory of the Son. It was just a beautiful, harmonious scene. All things were created according to God’s will, and God’s will was done in the beginning.
But at a certain point in time, something happened. That will of God was challenged.
An archangel, the brilliant star Lucifer, had pride enter into his heart. He became ambitious. He wanted to put all things under him. He wanted to rule over all things. In other words, he wanted to take the place of the Son.
This we can see in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. We do not have time to go into them, but you can read them. There you find this archangel, whom God had put in a very high position. He was created with beauty and gifts, and God gave him dominion to rule.
Yet he was not satisfied to reflect and give glory to the Son of God. He wanted to take the place of God’s Son.
But our God is a jealous God. He will not allow anyone to challenge His will. He will not allow anyone to challenge His beloved Son. That is the reason we find this archangel was cast out of heaven, and he turned himself into Satan, the adversary of God.
When he rebelled against God, he took one-third of the angelic host with him into rebellion. The dominion that was under him entered into corruption and ruin.
Evidently, this universe of ours was at one time given to him to rule for God’s Son. That is the reason we find our universe entered into ruin, corruption, aimlessness, purposelessness, and disintegration. There was the scene in the beginning of the book of Genesis.
But thank God, He did not give up His will. We find that God began to work. As our brother mentioned yesterday, the Spirit of God hovered over the deep. The whole earth was covered with water.
The Spirit of God hovered over the deep, and with His word He repaired this ruined earth in six days to make the earth habitable. On the sixth day, He created man.
Thank God, He created man in His own image. There is a reason for that. He created man in His own image, and He gave dominion to man over the fowls of the sky, over the beasts of the field, and over the fishes of the sea.
He gave them a commission—the commission of subduing all things.
Now, brothers and sisters, here we find a kingdom. God created man with a specific reason, and that reason is related to His will. In other words, man was created for God’s will.
This will is that God wanted to use man as His vassal and instrument to subdue all things—that is to say, to bring all things back to the feet of the Son of God.
All things had drifted away from the center and disintegrated, because our Lord Jesus is the cohesive force that brings all things into one. He was the center.
But because of the rebellion that happened in the universe, all things disintegrated and drifted apart, losing their meaning and entering into ruin, corruption, and rebellion. They did not manifest the glory of the Son of God anymore.
Then we find God created man, and God had a commission for man: that man would bring all things back to the Son of God, that the Son of God might have the first place in all things.
So man’s mission was to subdue all things, to bring all things out of the hands of the enemy and bring them back to Christ. What a creation! What a commission!
But unfortunately, in Genesis Chapter 3, we find man was tempted by the tempter.
Man was tempted to be self-centered. Man was tempted to pride. Man was tempted to ambition for himself, just like what had happened to that archangel in the beginning.
Man fell into temptation. Instead of being used by God to bring all things back to the Son, we find that man joined the enemy’s camp.
The earth was cursed. Man was cast out of the garden of Eden. It was as if God’s will was frustrated.
Will God give up? Thank God, our Lord Jesus said, “My Father worketh even until now, and I work.” So God started to work. God started the work of recovery.
In the fullness of time, He sent His Son, His beloved Son, into this world to become man.
We find in Hebrews Chapter 2:
But now we see not yet all things subjected to Him. But we behold Him Who hath been made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He should taste death for every man.
In the fullness of time, God sent His Son into this world. We see Jesus. He was made a little lower than the angels, because according to the order of creation, angels occupy a higher order than men. They are more intelligent than men. They are spirit.
But here you find the Son of God Himself. He emptied Himself of the glory, the honor, and the power that belonged to Him. He took upon Himself the form of a bondservant, even the fashion of a man. We see Jesus made a little lower than angels.
On account of the suffering of death, Jesus came into this world not to live, but to die. He came to die. He came to redeem the world. He came to reconcile all things to His fullness.
Let us go back to Colossians again. Listen very carefully: Chapter 1, verse 20.
And through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.
Now, some versions put “to Himself.” I will not quarrel with it. But to me, I feel “to itself” has a very special meaning: to reconcile all things to itself.
What is that “itself”? The antecedent of “itself” is in verse 19, and it is the fullness of the Godhead. In other words, you find that by Him—that is, by Jesus—God is to reconcile all things to the fullness of Himself, having made peace by the blood of His cross.
By the blood of the cross, He made peace. This peace is made by Him, not just for men. When we think of the blood of the cross, of course we think about ourselves. We think how, by the blood of the cross, our sins are atoned. Thank God for that.
But read here: whether things on the earth or things in the heavens. In other words, the blood of the cross of our Lord Jesus has a much farther, much greater significance. It is not only to reconcile us to God’s fullness, but to reconcile all things, whether in heaven or on earth.
Of course, here in verse 21, “And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before Him.”
Now, probably in some other version it is “Him.” It is the same. It is Him, but it is also that fullness. Now think about that.
Dear brothers and sisters, there on the cross, our Lord Jesus laid the foundation for the reconciling of all things back to His fullness. How far-reaching an effect that is!
Oh, the precious blood of our Lord Jesus! Oh, the cross of our Lord Jesus! It has not only redeemed us from our sins and transgressions; it has brought us back into the fullness of God, that we might become irreproachable, unblamable, and holy before the fullness of God. What a salvation this is!
Thank God, the foundation is laid: the foundation for the reconciling of all things back to the will of God, that all things will manifest the glory of God’s Son, that all things will be for God’s Son, that all things will enter into the fullness of God. That foundation was laid on the Calvary cross of our Lord Jesus.
And now, the development. Scientists are interested in knowing the physical history of the universe. They want to know the age of the universe, the extent of the universe, the formation of the universe, and the changes in the universe. They are interested in the physical history of the universe.
But what is our interest? Our interest is in the spiritual history of the universe.
We know this universe was created in the beginning for God’s will, for God’s Son. We know that. We also know that something tragic had happened.
But thank God, we also know that through the cross of Calvary, the foundation of recovery—the restoration of all things—has been laid. Now we are interested to see how this is developed.
So now we turn to Revelation Chapter 5. We believe, as our brother already mentioned, that it is the scene of the ascension of our Lord Jesus. It is a replay of the scene of our Lord’s ascension.
There are many reasons for this, because we find a Lamb slain. Our Lord Jesus was the Lamb of God. He came into this world to take away the sin of the world, and there on the cross that Lamb was slain.
But we see the Lamb in heaven, before the throne, standing. If a lamb was slain, he must lie down. But here this Lamb, standing as newly slain, speaks of resurrection.
Thank God, even though He is in heaven, He has not changed His person. His position is changed, but His personality remains the same. He is still the Lamb.
There is a book in the hand of the One who sits upon the throne. We know the One who sits upon the throne is none other than God Himself. In His hand, He has a book.
A book sealed with seven seals. We believe this book is the title deed of our universe.
God owns all things. He has never relinquished His ownership. The title deed is still in His hand, even though our universe today is occupied by the enemy.
He is a usurper. Even though he is called the god of this world and the ruler of this world, we know he is a usurper. He occupies this universe that does not belong to him.
This universe—all things—still belongs to God. It is in His hand.
This book is written within and without. In other words, this book is a detailed plan—God’s plan to restore all things to His will.
But it is sealed. In other words, nobody knows how God is going to recover His property. That plan has not been executed. It is in God’s hand. God has a plan, but nobody knows, and nobody is executing it.
So there is a challenge to the universe. A strong angel, with a loud voice that can be heard, says, “Who is worthy to open the book and to open the seals?”
In other words, who is worthy to execute the plan of God? It is a matter of worthiness. It is more than a matter of power. It is a matter of authority.
Worthiness is something that is based upon past life and performance. Worthiness means that there is a qualification proven beyond dispute.
Who is worthy to take that book, open the seals, and execute the will of God—to bring all things back to God’s will, to fullness?
A tremendous challenge. The voice is heard not only in heaven, but on earth and underneath the earth. In other words, it is a challenge going out to every creature, to everything celestial, terrestrial, visible, and invisible.
There was silence. The whole creation stood still, waiting for that One. But nobody answered.
The Bible says John wept. Brothers and sisters, if you know the meaning of it, I believe you will weep too.
Here you find the whole universe—this universe of ours—is occupied by the enemy, and he tries to make this his own, putting his imprint upon everything in it.
Yet God actually is the Owner of it. But no one is able to execute God’s plan to bring all things back to God’s will. Is this a hopeless situation? Are we hopeless? Is there no hope for all creation?
All creation groans under corruption, under purposelessness. We groan in pain, sorrow, and everything else. No hope. Is this something that will continue forever and forever? Is there no hope? Has God given up His will? Is God defeated?
Brothers and sisters, if you understand the seriousness of the situation, I believe you will weep with John. He wept much.
He was comforted by one of the elders. The elder said, “Weep not. There is One who is worthy. He has overcome. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David. He has overcome.”
Immediately John saw a Lamb, standing as though slain. This Lamb stepped forward and took the book from God’s hand.
You know, a lion is mighty among beasts, which turneth not away for any. That is Proverbs 30:30. Lion represents majesty, might, and strength.
A lamb is just the opposite. Lamb signifies meekness, lowliness, and pureness. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, but John did not see a lion; he saw a Lamb.
Brothers and sisters, this Lamb is lionized.
While He was on earth, He was a Lamb—helpless. Because of weakness, He was crucified. But now in heaven, He is still the Lamb, but He is lionized. He is full of might, majesty, and glory.
He is worthy to take it in His hand because He has overcome. On Calvary’s cross, He has spoiled principalities and authorities. He has taken them captive and made a show of them.
He has released us and set the captives free. He has opened the gate.
Brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus, through His life and His death, has shown that He is worthy. He is the One worthy to execute the plan of God.
When that happened, you find worship and praises throughout the whole universe, as if it is already done.
Then, when you go to Chapter 6, He begins to open the seals. You know, two things happened.
When our Lord Jesus ascended to heaven, He took from God that title deed of the universe.
This is a fulfillment of the prophecy in Psalm 2:
Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.
This is a fulfillment of Psalm 110. God has made Him a priest after the order of Melchizedek.
This is what Peter testified on the day of Pentecost: “What you have seen and heard tells you that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ.”
When our Lord Jesus returned to heaven as the Lamb slain, He was anointed by the Father as Christ—the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One.
When God anointed Him, that oil flowed down from Aaron’s head and came down to the skirt. That is Pentecost.
Here you find the Lamb has seven eyes and seven horns. Horns represent power. Eyes represent wisdom. These seven horns and seven eyes are the seven Spirits that are sent into the world.
Dear brothers and sisters, is it not true that after the ascension of our Lord Jesus, He received from the Father the power from on high, and there He poured down His Spirit upon this earth?
The Holy Spirit is the power of God. The Holy Spirit is the wisdom of God. Here the Holy Spirit is sent to the world. The Holy Spirit is given to the church.
Two things happened. One thing is that, through the working of the Holy Spirit, many are convicted, brought to repentance, and enter into salvation.
Thou hast redeemed a people out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation;
and Thou hast made them kings and priests unto God;
and they shall reign over the earth.
Brothers and sisters, when our Lord Jesus is executing the plan of God in recovering all things, on the one hand you find that He is calling many people out of every tribe, every nation, and every people. He redeems a people.
He sets them free from the enemy’s bondage, from the field of death, and brings them into life. He makes them a kingdom, priests unto God.
In Revelation 1:5-6, it says that He loves us, has washed our sins by His blood, and has made us a kingdom, priests unto God. Do you know what this means?
This world is occupied by the enemy. He sets his kingdom upon this earth. He organizes the world into a kingdom—a kingdom of darkness.
He puts his imprint upon everything in this world, whether political, economic, social, educational, or even religious. You find he has organized the whole world as a cosmos, a system, a kingdom—a kingdom of darkness. He rules over this world. He has absolute power over the whole world.
But then something happened. You find that our Lord Jesus invaded this world. He came into this world occupied by the enemy. He invaded the occupied territory.
He entered into the house, bound the strong man, and set the prisoners free. Hallelujah!
Brothers and sisters, more than that, He laid the foundation. Now, by the power of the Holy Spirit, He is building His kingdom in the occupied territory, right in the kingdom of darkness. He builds the kingdom of the Son of God’s love.
Wonderful! Oh, brothers and sisters, this is a kingdom not of the world. This is the kingdom of heaven. This is a spiritual kingdom. This is the true kingdom—the kingdom of the Son of God’s love.
He has translated us out of the power of darkness and has put us in this kingdom.
He has made us kings. We are here to rule for God. We are here to subdue all things to the feet of our Lord Jesus. We are here as priests to worship and to serve God. Think of that—right in the enemy’s territory, God is building His kingdom.
Brothers and sisters, what a responsibility! When our Lord Jesus is opening the seals in heaven, His church on earth is carrying out His will.
Ephesians Chapter 6. Ephesians Chapter 6, verse 13:
Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.
Brothers and sisters, we are in the enemy’s territory. That is the reason why we have to take up the whole armor of God. We have to put on Christ, that we may be able to withstand in the evil day.
But more than withstanding: “having done all, to stand.” Now, what does that mean?
We are not here just to be on the defensive. The enemy is attacking us, and we try just to withstand him. No, more than that.
Here you find, “having accomplished all things, to stand.” This “having accomplished all things” means having overcome all things. Or it can mean to carry through and put into execution all that is purposed and called for, in spite of opposition.
Brothers and sisters, we are the kingdom of God on earth. We are here to carry it through, to put into execution the will and purpose of God in the face of opposition. That is our mission, our task.
One day, when there is enough spiritual energy generated, the power of darkness will be overturned, and the kingdom of God will be manifested upon this earth. This is what is going on.
Thank God, we are in it. We are a part of it.
But that is one side. There is another thing going on. When our Lord Jesus began to open the seals, you know what happened upon this earth, upon our universe?
You find wars, famine, killing, and disaster after disaster. With the seals, one-fourth of the whole universe is affected. With the sounding of the trumpets, one-third of the universe is destroyed.
We find all these disasters coming upon this earth. Now why? What does it mean?
Brothers and sisters, the question is often asked: Do all these wars, famines, poverty, sicknesses, death, sorrows, and tears come from God? If God is good, why does He give us all these things?
That question is always asked. But brothers and sisters, let us remember: it is true that when our Lord is opening the seals, these things happen on earth. But remember, it is because of the sins of the world.
It is because of the resistance, the opposition, of the enemy. The enemy occupied this universe for a long time, and he would not give up. Here you find he is making his last stand.
All these things are the result of his activity. All these things happening are just revealing the nature of the kingdom of darkness.
You remember when God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt. Pharaoh would not let the children go. If he had let the children of Israel go, there would have been no plagues. But he would not let them go.
Because of that, plague after plague came upon the land of Egypt, until finally all the opposition of the enemy was destroyed.
Not only the Egyptians were destroyed, but the gods of the Egyptians were destroyed. You know, all these plagues were against the gods of the Egyptians.
Actually, you find it brought out the very nature of the kingdom of Egypt. All the evil nature of that kingdom came out in its fullness when God was trying to deliver His people.
The same thing happens. Brothers and sisters, you remember Matthew 24. Our Lord Jesus said there will be wars and rumors of wars, there will be famine, there will be earthquakes, and there will be all these disasters coming.
We know that as the coming of the Lord draws nearer and nearer, these things will intensify. These things will extend their scale. They are bound to happen. But the Lord said, “This is not the end. This is the beginning of birth pangs.”
You know, a woman is with child, and in her womb she is travailing. The baby is ready to come out. When the baby is ready to come out, you find the woman will go through all those birth pains.
She will be in pain. When the time comes closer and closer, you find the pain intensifies. Then finally, the baby is born.
You forget your pain. You rejoice. That is what is happening.
Brothers and sisters, when our Lord Jesus is restoring all things, the enemy is trying all out to resist. That is the reason why all that he is comes out.
He is the murderer. He is the deceiver. He is a liar. He is the accuser. He is the wicked one. He is the adversary. You find he is a dragon; he is the old serpent.
All the evil nature of the enemy and of his kingdom begins to be manifested. That is the reason for killing, murdering, and all these disasters happening. That is the opposition of the enemy.
But thank God, God is using this to bring forth a child. God is using it to complete us. God is using it to make us full of Christ.
When that man-child is born, he will be caught up into heaven, and Satan will be thrown upon this earth. There will be the great tribulation, the seven bowls of the wrath of God, and the last battle of Armageddon.
The false Christ and the false prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire, and Satan will be bound and put into the bottomless pit for a thousand years.
Then the kingdom of God will rule upon this earth for a thousand years. After that, Satan will be released temporarily. He will try to tempt the people again. The last rebellion will be put down, and all heaven and old earth will pass away.
The New Jerusalem will descend upon the new earth. This is eternity. You find all things have been summed up in Christ.
Is that not the purpose of God? In Ephesians, it says: What is the purpose of God? The purpose of God is to sum up all things in Christ.
All things are gathered together in Christ, and all things speak of the glory of the Son of God. Oh, hallelujah! Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, how we worship Thee because Thou art the Creator of the universe. Oh, how we praise Thee because Thou hast never given up Thy rights.
How we thank and praise Thee that Thy Son is worthy—worthy to take the book, to open the seals, and to bring all things back to Thy fullness.
Oh, our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee that Thou hast called us into Thy fullness through Thy Son, by Thy Holy Spirit.
We praise and thank Thee that we are not only the recipients of Thy grace, but Thy grace has such an effect upon us that we may also be used by Thee with Christ in bringing all things to His feet.
Oh, we worship Thee. We thank Thee, in the name of our Lord Jesus.