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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Revelation Lectures(37) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation5:5-11 |
Date |
2007-09-07 |
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Revelation 5:5-11
[5] And one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals."
[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.
[7] And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
[8] 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.
[9] And they sang a new song, saying, "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.
[10] "You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth."
[11] Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
In the right hand of our God who sits on the throne did the apostle John see a book written inside and on the back sealed up with seven seals.
Recorded in this book is the things that will happen in the last days when the time of human cultivation ends up according to the providence and plan of God.
The things written in the book will take place the moment the book is unsealed.
So, the book must not be unsealed randomly at any time or by anybody.
Only when the time that God destined comes and only by the person who is worthy to do it and only in accordance with the will of God will it have to be done.
When the apostle John looked for the person who is worthy to break its seals, there was no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth.
When the person breaks its seals, the history of 6ooo years of human cultivation is finished and the plan and providence of God are completed.
And the seven years of Wedding Banquet, the Millennium, and the kingdom of heaven in which you will enjoy eternal life will follow as the children of God who have been saved have waited.
All these things will take place only after someone breaks the seals.
But when the apostle John saw, the time almost seemed to come but he could not find the person who is worthy to do it.
He was discouraged and felt very sorry, so that he came to weep greatly.
At that time one of the 24 elders came to him and told him good news.
In the Verse 5, he said, "Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals."
"The Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David" here refers to Jesus who was born of sons of David, the tribe of Judah.
Acts 13:22-23 say, "After He [God] had removed him [Saul], He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.' From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus."
The only person who is fully qualified for a Savior is Jesus alone.
In order to become our Savior, Jesus died on the cross, was raised from the dead on the third day of His burial by destroying the power of death, and became the first fruits of resurrection.
So, anyone who is united with the resurrected Lord by faith can come forth as the fruits of resurrection and reach salvation.
In other words, our Lord broke the seals and God's providence of reaping the fruits of salvation came to be fully fulfilled.
It means that all the authorities belong to God up to until the last moment of human cultivation.
In the future, the enemy devil and Satan will put everything under their control during the seven years of Great Tribulation, but it never means that the authority over the Great Tribulation belongs to the devil.
Only when our Lord breaks the seals of the book, will everything that is destined for the end time of the world take place.
All the tribulations and disasters that will be poured down onto the earth during the Great Tribulation are allowed exactly on the perfect time without any slightest error and in accordance with the providence of God destined.
And the authority over all these things is by our Lord and only our Lord is worthy to break its seals.
One of 24 elders, who knows all these providences of God, comes to the apostle John and tells who is worthy to break its seals.
Who then told John who is worthy to do it among 24 elders?
The Bible tells us a person who clearly understood the providence of salvation through Jesus Christ and recorded it in deep order and logic.
He is the apostle Paul.
Paul established the way of salvation through Jesus Christ quoting many parts of the Old Testament.
In addition he received many clear revelations about the providence of human cultivation and the end time of the world.
Who else but the apostle Paul can understand and explain more clearly who is worthy to break the seals of the book among 24 elders?
That's why the one who told the apostle John about the matter is the apostle Paul.
The following Verse 6 says, "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."
When the apostle Paul, one of the 24 elders, explained to John Jesus Christ who is worthy to break its seals, a Lamb as if slain was seen to him.
The Lamb here refers to Jesus.
Lambs are known as the meekest animal and to be very obedient and to cause no harm to mankind at all.
They have no evil in which they quarrel, fight and bit each other, and give us mankind only benefits such as providing us with hair, skin, meat and other everything.
Accordingly, Jesus sacrificed everything He had for us and gave us only benefits like lambs.
The reason that Jesus is referred to as the Lamb is because He is blameless and pure without any spot and blemish like a lamb.
Amidst the exodus from Egypt, before the 1oth plague of deaths of the firstborns came upon Egypt, God revealed to the people of Israel the way to escaping from the plague.
God told them to take and kill a lamb that is an unblemished male a year old and to put some blood on the two doorposts and lintel of their houses.
A male lamb a year old should be an unblemished lamb that has never mated but is chaste and pure.
Our Lord Jesus is pure and blameless as those unblemished lambs, and poured down all His blood and water on the cross and died for us.
He died at the young age of 33, so the apostle John said that the Lamb seemed to have been slain.
"Between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing" means that Jesus became the Propitiation and Mediator between our God and us human beings.
So, in the Epistle of 1 John 2:2, John says, "and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."
The Lamb was seen to have seven horns and seven eyes by John.
And the seven eyes are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
As I have before told you, our God sees everything of the earth through the seven Spirits of God.
He sees the heart, the thoughts and deeds of everyone on the earth, and decides whether or not He will give him answer and blessing according to the result of the measures of the seven Spirits.
The reason that the seven Spirits are illustrated with seven eyes is because the Seven Spirits play the role of seeing and measuring every one.
The number "7" means "Perfection," and with the seven eyes the Seven Spirits of God see everything completely without losing sight of anything and measure everything without any slightest error.
In Revelation 4:5, the Seven Spirits of God are referred to as seven lamps. It is because the Seven Spirits bring anything that is hidden in the dark and secret place to bright lights and see it clearly.
Thus, God illustrates the Seven Spirits with seven lamps and seven eyes in order to help us human beings better understand.
What then do the seven horns refer to?
Horns have various meanings.
Psalm 18:2 SAYS, "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
Horn here means power, authority, strength and help.
Luke 1:69 says, "And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant." The horn here means not only power and strength but ruler or king as well.
Psalm 75:5 says, "Do not lift up your horn on high, Do not speak with insolent pride."
Horn here refers to self, pride, self-righteousness and frameworks of the thought.
Among the three meanings of horn, the seven horns of the Lamb refer to "King" or "Ruler."
So, our Lord the Lamb having the seven horns is our perfect King and Ruler, and sees every history of human cultivation and governs it.
Thus, the seven horns of the Lamb means that our Lord Jesus sees all the earth, judges everything exactly, and rules over all creation as the Ruler over everything.
The Seven Spirits sees everything and governs it, so the seven horns symbolize the Seven Spirits who sees and governs everything.
With the fact that the seven horns refer to the Seven Spirits, we can infer that the Seven Spirits play another different role.
That is the part of disciplining and refining the heart of each one.
The Seven Spirits not only measure the heart of each one exactly but discover in what kind of aspects he lacks and fill it.
Horns include the meaning of thrusting, and in the same manner, horns spiritually play the role of thrusting and refining the heart of each individual.
Suppose your heart is full of horns such as pride, self, self-righteousness and frameworks. How many times have you thrust others' hearts with those horns?
Thrusting others play the part of disciplining their hearts.
Now if you are thrust with horns, you will be disciplined in heart but as that result, you will come forth as a more complete person.
Of course, you should not play the role of thrusting horns that discipline others' heart. And when the other disciplines your heart by thrusting you with his horn, you have to pass it through with thanksgiving.
Just as horn also plays the role of disciplining the heart, the seven horns do not only see the heart of each person but also play the role of a guide who touches the heart of each one and causes him to be disciplined and helps him to pass the standard.
In other words, the Seven Spirits do not simply see and measure everything but also help and guide us to reach the standard for the answers.
The Seven Spirits are the heart of God, and the heart of God is the very heart of the Holy Spirit as well.
Therefore, in the Seven Spirits is included the characteristics of our Helper the Holy Spirit.
The following Verse 7 says, "And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne."
Our Lord, the only person who is worthy to break its seals, took the book our of our Father God out of His right hand.
Our Father God is wholly worthy to break the seals and achieve everything, but He assigned all authorities to our Lord and let His Son accomplish it in the name of our Lord.
So, when our Lord took the book out of the right hand of our Father God, it means that the authority over the things that would happen was handed over to the Lord and our Lord became the subject.
Of course, it never means that since then our Lord would accomplish the future things at His will.
Our Lord absolutely accomplishes everything in accordance with Our Father God's will by the providence of our Father God.
The real meaning is that breaking the seals and ruling over everything are done by our Lord.
Verse 8 says, "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."
The phrase "the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb" means how great the dignity and power of our Lord is.
Because our Lord is the King of the kings and the Lord of the lords and has been given the authority to rule over and accomplish everything, even the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fall down before the Lord and worship Him.
This Verse tells us about a harp and golden bowls.
The harp and golden bowls respectively play the role of measuring the incense of praises and prayers.
The harp measures your praises to God according to how much joy and thanksgiving you have praised God.
The golden bowls measure the incense of prayers.
The golden bowls are full of incense, which is prayers of saints.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, all prayers and praises you offer God turn into incense and are lifted up before our God in heaven.
In heaven there is each angel assigned for each individual and the angel receives the incenses of prayers and praises each one God offers and brings them before the throne of God.
Of course, the angel does not dare to bring the incenses before God, but in the middle archangels collect all the incenses and bring them before God.
When this incense fills the measure decided, the answer and blessing will be given.
But the incenses of prayers and praises by each one is different.
The incense of some of you is very thick, while that of some others is thin.
Some are very strong, but some others so weak.
It means that some prayers and praises are more pleasing to God but some others not so.
When many of you pray for the same prayer topics, the time necessary for receiving the answer is different according to the thickness of prayers of each one.
Some of you can fill the measure of time in a mere day with the thick incense of your prayer, while some others of you have to pray for 7 days or more than 10 days to fill up the measure.
Now you have to remember that the incense of some prayers cannot be lifted up into heaven.
If you have built up the great barrier of sins against God He will never listen to your prayers.
For this reason, Isaiah 59:1-2 say, "Behold, the LORD's hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear."
If you babble in prayers in the midst of drowse and idle thoughts, that prayer cannot be lifted up before God.
It is because the evil spirits that rule over the kingdom of the air hinder the incense of those prayers from going up into heaven and disperse it.
Only the incense of prayers that are worthy to be offered to God can be put into golden bowls a d handed over to God.
Why then does God out the incenses of your prayers in golden bowls?
Gold symbolizes unchanging faith.
Then, God let the angels put the incense of prayers offered with faith into the golden bowls.
The golden bowls full of the incense means that the time of the end of the human cultivation is very near.
In other words, the time has almost come when God has to measure all the prayers and praises that each one has offered God until now.
In the following Verses 9-10, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders sing a new song. This will be explained next time.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Through tonight's message you have learned that every single of your prayers and praises will turn into incenses and the incenses are lifted up before the throne of God.
And also you heard that some prayers and praises can never be lifted up into heaven no matter how much you pray and praise.
Into what kind of incenses do your prayers and praises turn?
No matter how poor a person's singing is, God does not measure the volume of his voice.
But He accepts the incenses of prayers stemming from the heart.
So, how earnestly and sincerely do you have to meditate on every single of verse from a song and sing that song to God?
Now you are attending all-night service and singing praises to God all night long. But how sorry it would be if our God has failed to accept the aroma of your praises!
But if you just babble in your praises because you are oppressed by drowse, it cannot be lifted up as the incenses.
It is the same with prayers.
It is not important how fluently you pray but important with what kind of attitude and heart you pray sincerely.
Even if you attend the Daniel Prayer Meeting every night, you cannot receive answers if the prayers are not acceptable to God.
Then, you will give up praying to God thinking there is no answer of God no matter how much you pray.
It does not mean that God stops answering to your prayers. But you have to examine if you have offered God the prayers that are not acceptable to God.
So, I urge each of you to keep this fact in mind and pray that your prayers and praises of each moment will be lifted up before the throne of God and turn into the thick and strong incense that is worthy to move the throne of God.
If your prayers and praises are lifted up before the throne of God as strong and beautiful incenses enough to move His heart, our God will get up from the throne and see who has offered such beautiful incenses.
As the incenses of your prayers are built up and useful in accomplishing the kingdom of God, none of your prayer will fall to the ground but every of it will be rewarded as great prizes on the Last Day.
On the contrary, no matter how much you have prayed, if our God does not accept it, your prayers cannot be rewarded at all.
Therefore, I eagerly urge each of you to offer every moment's prayer and praises as the perfect aroma.
The Psalmist confessed in Psalm 102:1, "Hear my prayer, O Lord! And let my cry for help come to You."
May our God listen to your prayers and praises and the incenses of your prayers and praises reach before the Lord, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I p[ray! |
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