And again, God's people say, amen. You may be seated. We turn in God's word this morning to the fifth chapter of the book of Revelation. You were assigned reading chapters 4 through 16. Lord willing, you completed that assignment. If not, I'd encourage you Again, in this week to read those chapters and then the next three as well, 17, 18, and 19 as we continue our series on the book of Revelation. So far we have seen in the book of Revelation that Christ is the King. That's the revelation that John receives. Where did he go after this ascension? What happened? He is Christ the King. We have a wonderful description given to us in symbolic language of that which Christ is, the King. Last Lord's Day, we saw that Christ is the King of the church. He rules, he reigns over that church, and he judges that church. This morning, in these chapters of 4 through 16, we see him as the judge of the nations. We see him as the king who rightly rules and administers judgment upon the nations, upon the unrighteous, upon those who are the unbelievers of this world. Revelation is not written, my friends, to answer the question, when is he coming? The book of Revelation is not written in order to answer the question, what happens before he comes? The book of Revelation is not written to answer where he's coming or how he's coming. The purpose of the book of Revelation is one thing. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the King, and that settles it all. Everything else is secondary. The revelation given to John is to portray Jesus Christ as the King. We read then Revelation chapter five. Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, weep no more. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. And between the throne and the four living creatures and the elders, I saw a lamb standing. as though it had been slain with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.' Then I looked and heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them saying, to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, amen. And the elders fell down and worshiped. Thus far, the reading of the word of God this morning. Let's bow in prayer. Our dear heavenly father, You are indeed the creator God. You are the great physician. You are our great counselor. Lord, you make us, you help us. We dwell in your word and dear Jesus, you are indeed the great King for there is no other like you. And Lord, we just thank you for these verses in Revelation. We pray that you'll give Pastor Bob the wisdom, the words, to be able to pronounce your truths that are in these words, that they will sit in our hearts, and they will dwell in our hearts, and help us grow in our knowledge and love for you. In Christ's holy name we pray, amen. And amen. So from these chapters, we want to look at two main points. First of all, the throne, which encompasses chapters 4 and 5. And then secondly, the judgment, which we see in Revelation 6 through 16. So first of all, the throne. and then the judgment. If we go back to chapter 4, we are given a description. The throne is that which, first of all, John sees. Verse 2, at once I was in the spirit. And that phrase, at once I was in the spirit, is signifying for us this is another vision. He had one vision. That was the vision of Christ walking amongst the lampstands. That was the words that come to him in regards to the letters that need to be written to the seven churches. That was, and I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. He has that vision. We're still on the Lord's day there on the island of Patmos. And again, and I was in the spirit, meaning this is a new vision. And this vision does indeed continue all the way, all the way till chapter 17. So we have to understand, this is a one whole thing. God didn't piece this out as we so often do. We wanna dissect this into sections. And what God gave to John was a unity. He gave to him a picture in symbolic illustration of the rule of the Lamb of God. But first of all, the throne. At once I was in the Spirit and behold, there's a throne in heaven and one seated on the throne. And so immediately our thoughts are to the fact that this is about kingship, this is about sovereignty, this is about rule. It's described in beautiful language. The one who sits there is given just radiancy, the glory, the majesty of the one who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb. But immediately we have to be thinking, what is a throne? A throne is a place of judgment. A throne is a place of rule. That's what we're being introduced to. What we were introduced before in the last vision was the Christ the King walking amongst the church. Now, we're introduced in this vision to a throne. And there's all sorts of creatures surrounding this throne. Four living creatures, but they're complex and they're full of eyes. Meaning that they represent all of the created order. They represent every aspect of creation. And that creation is worshiping the Lord their God. The one who created them, the one who made them, the one who formed them, the one who fashioned them. And the worship is this, the words that we read as our call to worship. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and who is and is to come. In other words, we are correct when we say that creation is indeed its own revelation. Creation reveals to us that there is indeed a God. And John is catching the glimpse of this now. Oh yeah, creation. Creation celebrates the divinity, the holiness, the apartness of the one who is the only creator of all, the eternal. It answers all the questions. I don't know if you've ever thought about this line, holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come, puts to end any talk, any talk of an evolutionary beginning. It is creation itself that proclaims the eternalness of God, the divinity of God, the power of God, and the holiness of God. And then we see, regarding this worship, that the church joins in, the 24 elders. They also join in this worship by casting down their crowns, saying, it's not us, it's you. You are worthy. You're the one. You're the one who rules. You're the one who reigns. You're the one who is in control. You are the one to receive glory and honor and power. It's a glorious scene. But then we come to our fifth chapter. A scroll is seen in the hand of the one who sits upon the throne. The declarations of history. The declaration of God's providence of all that will ever occur in history. That's the scroll. And the scroll is sealed. Who seals scrolls? Kings. Kings are the one who seals the scroll. The problem is, as John is peering into this vision, there is no one found who can open the scrolls to reveal what it is that God has declared to take place. History. All of history. But then there is found one. We read it, did we not? John is crying, he's weeping because no one can open, no one can solve this. Nobody can reveal to us the will of God. An angel taps him on the shoulder and says, you could stop crying now. Verse five, weep no more, behold the lion of the tribe of Judah. The root of David has conquered, so he can open the scroll and its seven seals. Who is that? Well, if we still don't know who the root of David is, if we don't know yet who the lion of the tribe of Judah is, we are given an even more identifying marker by saying he is a lamb. A lamb what? That has wounds. Who are we speaking of? This is no mystery. Been clearly identified for us. This is Christ. And he is worthy to open the scroll. What does that mean? He has the authority. He has the right. Who has the right to break the seal? Only the king himself. Hence, think with me, right? The Roman government had put their seal upon a tomb, but who truly had the right to break the seal? The king. the King does. See, this again is a reminder. It is revealing Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, is the King, John. John, the one you saw pierced. John, the one you saw nailed to a cross. John, the one that you saw ascend into heaven. John, he's the king and he has the right to open this scroll. And what we do over the course of the next chapters is to open the scroll. Christ, who has conquered. Not who will conquer someday. Not who's going to conquer. Not who someday might conquer. What did the angel say? It is the one who has conquered. He has the right. Why? Because he has conquered. He is the king. He is the king of all kings. He is the Lord of all lords. He has many diadems upon his head, as we learned last Lord's Day. So we sing joyfully, crown him with many crowns. And so we come to our second point this morning, the judgment. And if you read through this, or if you have read through it in the past, you will note that there is a pattern. A pattern that emerges, and the pattern is this. There is six, followed by a pause or an interlude, and then a finality. The seventh. That's the way it always goes. Throughout most of the book of Revelation. Six. Six seals. Six trumpets. Six bowls. And there is this pause. between them. The first pause, which we found in chapters 6 and 7, is a sealing of those who belong to the king. A sealing of the saints, an ordaining, a gathering, a protecting of the saints. The king is putting his own seal upon those who are his people. Who can break the king's seal again? No one. No one. Who can rob us of the love of Jesus Christ? No one. The king seals those who are his own. He's gathering together his elect from every tribe, from every nation, from every people. They're coming together. In the second erudit, we have scrolls and witnesses. The scrolls, the Word, witnesses, the Spirit. The Word and the Spirit go forth into this world proclaiming the wonder of the Lordship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The third interlude, the third time where we get a pause, chapters 12 and 13, where the enemies of Christ seek by deception, by false religion, by anti-Christian government, seek to destroy the followers of the king. And then the seventh. Now if you will read Revelation, my friends, thinking that there are 21 separate events to coming, you are reading the book of Revelation wrong. First of all, remember what he said at the beginning. These things are going to occur soon. It's followed up at the end of the introduction with the word, things that are near to us. If you're standing there with some wall chart going, okay, where is event number one? Where is event number two? You're misunderstanding what's happening here. Let me explain the meaning of these things. Seals are things that are written, right? When you open the seal, something that has been written is being revealed. It's not happening. It's not taking place. You're just reading it. You're just reading of the event. The event itself is not yet happening. You're just reading about what the event will be. John's given images so that he can see what these things are. but they're written things, they're recorded things. And the lamb is peeling back the seals on this scroll so that more and more we know he's in control of this, he's in control of this, he's in control of this, he is king of this, he is king of this and king of this. And what are these things that we're reading about in the scrolls? Judgments of God. Christ is the king of judgment upon the nations of this world that are in unbelief. Seals are things that are stated, things that are determined, that are now being opened. Trumpets announce, they proclaim. So when we read, then we state. This is what is going to happen. This is what is going to take place. And then what happens? Then we get bowls that actually what? Are poured out. The fulfillment. See, what you're really reading is the same thing over and over and over and over and over again. But you have to think about it in terms of seals, that which is written, that which is then proclaimed, that which is then carried out. So it's not a whole bunch of stuff going on. And what are they all? Again, It is the judgment of God upon the unbelieving world. We don't want to talk this way in the world today. Even in the church we don't want to. We have an earthquake and thousands and thousands of people die. Nobody wants to say the judgment of God came upon them. I don't know why we're so afraid. The Bible tells us that's what's going to happen. That's what's happening around us. We have a volcanic eruption. Thousands of people die. There's a famine. There's wars. There's pestilence. Those chapters in the book of Revelation are telling you the one who is in charge of those things is not Satan. The one who is in charge of those things is not fate. The one who is in charge of those things is Christ the King. He is in charge. He is in control. The seals record it. The trumpets declare it. The bowls are the pouring out of it. Why seven? Because seven in scripture always marks the fulfillment of God. always marks the fulfillment of God, the finality, the fullness of God's judgment upon an unbelieving, unrepentant world. That may be startling to us. It may make us uncomfortable. It ought to make us uncomfortable. But that doesn't change the truth of what it is that Revelation is recording for us. God's judgment through Christ, the King, is being carried on. That's what John is being told. This is the message. See, we could get all caught up into a third of this and a third of that and a third of that, and it's like, that's not the point. The point is not, is it a third, is it a quarter? How many millions of people does that involve? Does that really mean two billion people on planet? We're missing the point. The point that Revelation is seeking to make to a first century church in the midst of persecution is who's in charge? Who's in control? And the answer is not Rome, not Nero, not any Caesar, not any empire. Christ. king and he always will be and he forever will be so you can go back and reread look at all the interesting symbolism that that John is given to picture this but all you're reading is the picture of God's judgment upon an unbelieving unrepentant world But don't miss, do not miss, my friends, the interludes. Do not miss the pauses. Do not miss those occasions where we have the wonderful, beautiful teaching of the assurance that we are given as believers in Jesus Christ. That in the midst of all of this judgment that is taking place, Through Christ, you and I as believers can celebrate three glorious truths. One, the King is always in control. Today, tomorrow, for all eternity, Christ is in control. Evil may raise its ugly head, but Christ is always in control. Evil can never win. It's not going to happen. It's not going to take place. In the end, Christ has already won. He has conquered. And I think that makes a difference as to how we live life from day to day. With that assurance, with that comfort, with that peace, that the one who we sang about, Just moments ago, the one who is crowned the Lord of life, the one who is crowned Lord of love, the one who is crowned the Lord of peace, and the one who is crowned the Lord of years, the potentate of time, the sovereign of time itself. The one who has created this is the one who rules this. Jesus Christ is in control. Never, not for a moment, not for a millisecond, is Christ not in control of that which is taking place throughout this universe. He controls it all because he is the one who is worthy to open the scrolls. Secondly, The king always protects his people. And you may say to me, well, Pastor Bob, wait a minute. Let's think about this a minute. As I go through some of those judgments that we read about, whether bowls, trumpets, or seals, Are you telling me that Christians are singled out from any one of those disasters that is mentioned? Depends on how you're asking me the question. Because the disasters are what? They're judgments. Am I kept from the judgment of Christ? Absolutely. There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Jesus Christ. Might I deal with the effects of those judgments? Absolutely. But nothing, nothing, not famine, not persecution, not nakedness, not sword, not volcanic eruption, not tidal wave, not earthquake, can rob me of the love of God that is in Jesus Christ. See, I'm sealed. You're sealed. You're guarded. You're protected. Spiritually, these judgments have no effect upon you and I. The judgment only has an effect spiritually upon those who know not Christ. For you and I? Yes, under the judgments of God. We think back to the Old Testament. Think back to the Old Testament. Think back to the book of Judges that we're going through. In the book of Judges, do even the saints who are still following God suffer under The oppression of a Midian? Of course they do. Are they being judged? Of course not. Why? Because the Lord knows who are his. And we've been sealed, we've been marked by the king himself, by the spirit of the king himself. The king has his people, they're eternally secure, even against the most evil enemies. See, remember one of those interludes, one of those pauses, covers chapters 12 and 13? If you don't recall, remember what's in 12 and 13. The beast, right? The beast, the beast, the beast. What's the point of the vision that John has regarding the beast? They're so strong and powerful they can rob your soul. No. The point was they're defeated. They're destroyed. They don't have the power to break the seal of Christ that is upon you. Why then? Why then? Would we spend so much countless hours worrying about them? Oh, we ought to be aware of them. We ought to be wise in knowing about them, but worrying about them, being anxious about them, being fearful of them. Why? They're destroyed by the Lamb. And we are protected. by God's grace and the love of Christ and the Spirit's power, even from the worst of the enemies that can arise. And why? Well, do I really need to repeat it? Maybe. It's the words of verse 5. Weep no more. Behold, behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered. What has he conquered? He's conquered every enemy. He's conquered every rebellion. He's even conquered the darkness. of my heart and my soul and yours as well. He has conquered. See, the message of 4 through 16 of the book of Revelation is this, Christ is one. He won even before the foundations of the earth. He won during his earthly ministry. He won on the cross. He won by his resurrection. He won by his ascension. He has the right to judge the nations of this world. But for you and I as believers, ah, the joy. Ah, the blessings. Revelation is not a fearful book. It wasn't written to bring fear into the hearts of the first century believers thinking, oh, this is persecution, this is bad. What, it's gonna get worse? It was written as a book of comfort, peace, and hope because it wasn't focused on the world or even upon us. It is focused on Christ, the judge of the nations. But you see, it has again raised the question, does it not? When those judgments come, are you protected spiritually? Are you guarded? Are you kept? Or are you one of those who upon those judgments are separated for all of an eternity from Christ. That's why the Bible continually reminds us that today is the day of salvation, not tomorrow. That's why there are no time dates. That's why there's no time stamps on any of this. at any moment, Christ may come. In judgment or in glory. Where is your heart? Where is your soul? We're reminded in this chapter five of the fact that the one thing that is needed, the one thing that is necessary is the fact that you need to know the Lamb. You need to know the one who died. You need to know those rich wounds. You need to know that you're a sinner and you cannot save yourself. You cannot protect yourself. You cannot keep yourself from the judgment of this Christ. Only his blood Only His body given can guard you, seal you, protect you. No condemnation for those in Christ. I can't make you be a believer. You can't make yourself be a believer. Only God, only God in his mercy and grace can open your heart. Pray, plead that God might do so. But if he has, if you're amongst that large mass that is mentioned in the book of Revelation that is surrounding the throne bringing honor and glory and praise, then come. come to the table, come celebrate what Christ has conquered for you. Father, thank you again for your Word and for its reminder again this morning of the Christ who has conquered, of the Christ who is King, of the Christ who rules, of the Christ who is judge, of the Christ who has poured out his blood upon a cross to save us from those judgments. Thank you for your love to us in Christ. In his name we pray. God's people say, amen. Our hymn is number 281.