Good morning, brothers and sisters. I invite you to turn to the book of Revelation, chapter 5. Revelation, chapter 5. As a church, we have been studying that book in our morning service. You can find that on page 1030 in the Pew Bibles. And as you turn there, I want to thank very much our elders and deacons for how they led very effectively and graciously in the midst of an unexpected situation with the flood and the storm. I think for the first time in the history of our church, a sermon was finished in the hallway. We praise the Lord that the providence, severe as it was, was not as bad as could be. And we thank him for that. Thank you also as God's people for responding so graciously in the midst of a very unexpected situation. Revelation chapter five, verses one to 14. This is what the word of God says. 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 and 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 among 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. 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 sung 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 I 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. Let us pray. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the power it comes with. I praise you that it does not need the help of flesh and blood to do what you purpose for it to do. I give you praise that it is living and active. It cuts into dividing soul and spirit, bone and marrow. It works in those who believe. It creates faith where there is deadness. It awakens and feeds hope. and direct our attention to Jesus Christ, the living and eternal word of God. I pray now that you would send your word with such an effect among us. I pray that your spirit will come with power and open our eyes to behold wonderful things in Revelation chapter five. I ask in Jesus' name, amen. Opening mails can be a very interesting experience sometimes. There are some mails that you pick up from your mailbox and you immediately shred and by the time you get to the house, they go straight to the trash can. There are other mails that you pick up and read just quickly and set them away and put them aside and never look at them again. Others, you read with very careful attention to every word and every detail and everything else that is said in the mail. Now just imagine that you picked a mail out of your mailbox and it turned out to be the wheel that a loved one of yours left behind before they passed on. Opening a mail like that would be a very unique experience, because in many circumstances, the will of a loved one who went before can profoundly impact the lives of those who are left behind, sometimes in very dramatic ways. It is said that the will of Princess Diana indicated that her wealth should primarily be directed to her two sons, William and Harry, and she left specific instructions about the management of her estate until her two boys reach a certain age. That's not something people would have predicted before reading that will. It's also said that the will of William Shakespeare committed most of his wealth to his two daughters, even though his wife was still alive by the time he died. So wheels can have a way of making people think, oh, now I see the way he or she always thought about me. Now I understand why this thing used to work like this and like that. Well, this morning we come to the opening of a document. The opening of a document that has significance and determination for the destiny of the universe down to all its details. That's what we are looking at in Revelation chapter 5. This is a very profound passage. And what I want to do this morning is lift up five truths from Revelation 5 for our instruction and I hope for our edification. We are dealing here with the opening of the will, so to speak, of the sovereign God of the universe for the whole universe, for the world. And so here is truth number one that I think directly jumps at us from this passage. We are hopeless without Christ. We are hopeless without Christ. And that's the very basic truth of the Christian faith. You are really not a Christian if you think that we can have some kind of hope of the forgiveness of sins, of eternal life, and of the consummation of redemption without Christ. You're really not a Christian if you think that. If you think things can work out well, and I will know the forgiveness of sins, and have eternal life, and that creation will turn out to fulfill its purpose, even if you remove Christ from the equation. You can't think that and be a Christian. Every verse of the Bible understood in the broad context of the whole Bible screams at us that there is no hope without Christ. But John shows that same basic truth to us in very striking and fresh and gripping ways. Let's remember, John is here narrating to us the progress of his visionary experience that began back in Revelation 4. John saw a door open in heaven. Then he heard a voice. He heard the voice of Jesus Christ say to him, come up here and I will show you the things that must take place after this. And then the Spirit of God came on John for prophetic revelation. And John saw a throne in heaven and seated on the throne was a being with inexpressible splendor and majesty. That's what John saw so far. And now he is telling us that he also saw in the right hand of the one who sat on the throne a scroll that was written on both sides, within and on the back of the scroll. Look at verse 1. 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. Now, as we progress through the book of Revelation, we will find this scroll is actually a definition of the purposes of God in redemption and judgment. This scroll contains and spells out God's purposes of redemption and judgment. And when the Bible says that it's written both inside and on the back, it's saying the fullness of it. Nothing is left out. All of what God intends to do in redemption and judgment, he has written in this book. And of course, because that's the case, we are dealing here with the most official document you could ever possibly imagine. It is sealed with seven seals. It is sitting in the right hand of God, meaning the place of its power. It doesn't get any more official or momentous. Than that and then John sees that but he sees something else also He sees a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals Now to open the scroll that contains the redemptive purposes of God and the judgment of God, what that means is to bring those things to come to pass, to enact the redemptive purposes and judgment of God. So what the angel is asking is, who is worthy to bring about, to bring to come to pass, The redemptive purposes of God and the judgment He has decreed for everyone who lives on the planet and for every aspect of life here on the planet. Who is worthy to bring that about? And that question is answered in verse 3. Look at verse 3. And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. Now, when John says no one, he actually means no one. Because there's nobody, he says, he covers the whole realm of creation. Not in heaven, not on earth, not under the earth, not in the realm of the dead. There's no angel, no human being, no necromancer, no one in the realm of the dead who could open this scroll and bring to come to pass the redemptive purposes of God. Now that answer is not surprising, but it is also profoundly devastating. Why is the answer not surprising? Well, we have to remember in context who we're talking about. John, back in chapter four, he told us that when his eyes were opened, when the Spirit came on him for prophetic revelation, he saw a throne, and the one who sat on the throne had unspeakable splendor. He is the one around, so to go get this scroll and to open it means you have to get past the 24 elders who are sitting on 24 thrones and dressed in white garments and wearing golden crowns on their heads. It means you have to get past the flashing lightnings, and the rumblings, and the peals of thunder, and the sea of glass, and the four living creatures covered with eyes, one looking like a lion, and the other like a tiger, and the other like an eagle, and the other like a man. You have to get past the seven torches burning before the throne of God. So if you think about who we are dealing with here, and what qualification what credentials it will take to approach this throne and to receive the scroll from the hand of the one sitting on the throne and open that and enact the purposes of the one sitting on the throne you should not be surprised that there was no one in heaven on earth and under the earth who could open the scroll and look into it so so that is not surprising but it is devastating Here's the reason why it's devastating. It's devastating because for the scroll not to be opened is to say the purposes of God will not come to pass. If the scroll is not opened, then we are condemned to everlasting hopelessness and despair and grief. And that is exactly why John is weeping. See verse four? And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. Beloved, it is not church talk when we say we are hopeless without Christ. It is reality. We are hopeless without Christ. Remember what Paul said to the Corinthians. If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. Your faith is in vain. You are still in your sins. Those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished, and we are of all people most to be pitied. That's the vision of the New Testament of humanity without Christ. We are without hope if there is no truth in the fact that Jesus came and lived and died and rose again from the dead. But praise be to God, we are not without Christ. And therefore, we are not without hope. That's my second point. Christ's victory is our only hope. Christ's victory is our only hope, verse five. 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. So one of these high-rank angelic beings, called here elder, is saying to John, your worst fears have been addressed. There is no need to weep, John, the elder is saying. There is one who emerges from the midst of the throne and he is worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals. He is worthy to bring to come to pass. the redemptive purposes of God and his judgment. There is one who fulfills the ancient promises of a king who will come from the land of Judah and who will come as both the creator of David and the descendant of David. There is one who fulfills that credential and is able to take the scroll and to open its seals. Let's listen to this promise and prophecy from Genesis chapter 49. So remember, here we are in Revelation. And Jesus is fulfilling something that God spoke by the mouth and pen of Moses way back in Genesis chapter 49 verse 10. Judah is a lion's cup. If you want to think about the context, this is Jacob blessing his sons in Egypt as he is lying dying there in that foreign land. And he speaks of Judah like this. Judah is a lion's cup, for they pray, my son, you have gone up. He stood down, he crouched as a lion, and as a lioness, who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him, and to him shall the obedience of the peoples be. That's Moses speaking about this one, whom the elder in heaven says to John, he is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals. And this same one is the one Isaiah spoke of in Isaiah 11 when he says, there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And verse 10 of Isaiah 11, in that day the root of Jesse who shall stand as a signal for the peoples, of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. That is who is worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals. So if I may just ask you this morning, do you have hope? And what is the ground of your hope? What is your hope resting in? You know, something about hope, that is interesting is that sometimes you meet people who are feeling very hopeful. They are full of hope, but there is no ground in reality at all for their hope. They just hope that things will turn out well. They just hope that things will be okay with them. They feel very hopeful, but there's no secure ground at all. for feeling like that. And then on the other hand, you have others, believers in Jesus, who are not always feeling as hopeful, but their hope has their most secure ground in reality. That's kind of what's going on with John here. Hope, by the definition of the Bible, is not ultimately about how we feel. It's ultimately about the ground of that hope. What's the definition of the hope? What's it grounded in? What's the foundation of that hope? That's what the Bible defines fundamentally as hope. It's not so much how you feel. It's much more what the hope rests in. If you look just at John as he's weeping here, you will think he is the most hopeless individual in the universe. But nothing could be further from the truth. He was handpicked by Jesus and called to righteousness and justified and filled with the Spirit and given a key role in the church of Jesus Christ. But in this particular moment, he was not feeling as hopeful But he has a hope that is utterly unshakable, because the ground of the hope is not his feeling, but Jesus Christ. If you contract a disease that they say is terminal, and you try to get a cure for it and don't succeed, but then somehow stumble on a doctor who says they are able to cure you or to treat you of the disease, and one month into the treatment, You pick up a packet of the medicine that he's giving you and read and then realize he's been giving you the wrong drug the whole time. What's that going to do to your hope of survival? But what if it turns out that actually you are the one who misread the level and misinterpreted the level and that you are actually receiving the right treatment and it's going to cure the sickness? What will that do to your hope of survival? See, what John is crying about here is not about reality. John just misread the situation and the elder is giving him perspective, directing him to the right way of thinking about what he is seeing. We are a people with great hope because of the victory of Jesus Christ. If you're a believer, no matter how you felt through this week, no matter how you felt coming in this morning, no matter what you fear that lies ahead of you, there's one unchanging truth about you, you have a hope that cannot be defeated. It is true about you that there is no condemnation for you now because you are in Christ. It's true about you that nothing can separate you from the love of God because you are in Christ Jesus. It's true of you that you have been bought and ransomed and redeemed and made to be part of a kingdom of priests and you shall reign under Christ on the earth. That is never gonna change. Now I want you to notice a very interesting detail here. The angel says, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered. That's an important word. If you remember, we have seen that word at least seven times already in the book of Revelation. Every one of the seven letters to each of the seven churches, remember how they all ended, to him who conquers. And now we are told the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered. What John wants us to see is we do not conquer and then Christ conquers. We conquer because Christ has conquered. So he's not using that language randomly. He wants to show us our own conquest, our victory is a very dependent victory. It rests on the fact that someone else has conquered for us, and that is Jesus Christ. And that's exactly what Paul says to the Romans. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Our conquest and our victory is not autonomous and independent conquest and victory. It is that which rests on and depends on the victory of Christ. And how blessed we are that our victory, our final victory does not rest on us, but on Christ. Because that's the one victory that is not gonna give out for eternity. So Christ's victory is our only hope. There's no other plea. So beloved, you could not possibly render a greater ministry to any brother or sister who is experiencing despair more than by pointing them to Christ. That's what the elder is doing here. John is in grief and despair and weeping, and what does the elder say? Weep no more. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered. John, get perspective here. That's what the elder is saying to John. Truth number three. Christ conquered by dying. How did this lion conquer? And verse six answers that question in a very stunning way. Notice verse six. And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain. Now just picture the scene here with me. Throughout the realm of created reality, No one is worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals. Not in heaven, not on earth, not under the earth. And John is overcome by grief as a result of that and is weeping greatly because there is no one worthy to open the scroll as he could understand it. Then one of the elders says to John, weep no more, behold the lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered the root of David, so he can open the scroll and It's seven seals. Then maybe John nervously wipes his eyes and looks to see. And what does he see? He does not see a lion. He sees a lamb. The elder speaks to him of a lion, but he looks, and what does he see? He sees a lamb, and the lamb is standing between, or in the midst of the throne, and between the throne and the living creatures, and the lamb is as though it had been slain, but it is standing. That's remarkable, what John is telling us here. Remember the words of Jesus back in chapter one, verse 18? I was dead, but now I am alive forevermore. See, John is wanting us to tie these things together. So if you think about the flow of the storyline of the Bible. What we pick up here is that what the Passover lamb stood for in Egypt, what the lambs of the daily sacrifices in the Old Testament stood for, what Isaiah meant when he said, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its sheriff is silent, so he opened up his mouth. All of that comes to fulfillment in this lamb that John is now seeing standing in the midst of the throne in this vision. And no wonder this same John could introduce Jesus to the world as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. No wonder Peter could refer to him as a lamb without blemish or spot. You know, if you're like me, then you probably don't think very often about this. But as someone has said, every time you eat something, You do because something else has died for you to have food to eat. Just think about it as you sit over lunch this afternoon. Either a cow has died, or a goat has died, or a pig has died, or a plant has died. If something does not die, you have nothing to eat. And if you don't have something to eat, it's just a matter of time and you'll die. So something has to die for you to have food to eat and stay alive. In fact, that principle in our physical life translates almost one-to-one into our spiritual life. If Christ did not die, we have no life. Christ had to die. This Lamb of God had to be slain for there to be life for us. He had to be slain. So Jesus does not conquer as a lion that mauls its enemies. He conquers as a lamb that is sacrificed for the forgiveness and life of his people. But again, remember this. He did not stay dead. John sees him standing. Dead lambs don't stand. You will never see a standing dead lamb. That doesn't exist. This lamb did not stay dead. The lamb is now standing. So yes, he was slain for the life of his people, but now he stands triumphant as the slain lamb. He stands in victory with almighty strength. John saw him with seven horns. That's a sign of his perfect and infinite power. and kingship. He's standing there in utter rulership. This is the one who said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. This is the one about whom Paul said, he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. And the last enemy to be abolished is death. He was slain, but now he reigns on the throne as the slain lamb and as the lion. That's who we are talking about. Jesus conquered by dying. Do you know this kind of victory? At the cross, in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God, the God of the universe, radically redefined what we call victory. What's victory? The world does not see victory in death. Only the God of the universe defines victory that way. And if you do not know this victory, if you do not cherish this kind of victory, if you are not consumed and enthralled and delight in this kind of victory, you have no hope. The only victory that gives life is the victory that is defined at the cross of Jesus Christ. Christ conquered by dying. So if you're here this morning, you've never trusted in Jesus Christ, you've never turned from your sins to trust in this one who triumphed in this way, you don't have hope. I invite you to trust in him. There is no victory that will go with you through the gates of death. Only the victory of Christ will still be victory when death comes knocking at your door. Because as I said, John sees him standing. Slain lambs who stayed dead never stand. Only those who are in this lamb, cleansed by his blood, will stand forever with him. If you're an unbeliever, I invite you to think seriously. What is the ground of my confidence? Can I walk for myself through the 24 elders and the four living creatures and the sea of glass and the flashing lightnings and the rumblings and peals of thunder to the one who is sitting on the throne and take the scroll, can I do that for myself? The answer is a resounding no, but someone has done it and you can trust him and the inheritance he purchased will be yours. And brothers and sisters, because our Lord conquered, not as a lion, but as a lamb. That's an invitation to us to remember that our daily lives, our weekly lives, our lives on this planet, up until everything is consummated, our lives on this planet will be marked by denying yourself, carrying your cross, and following Christ. That is victory. He conquered, not as a lion, but as a slain lamb. Truth number four. All creation worships Christ for his victory. All creation worships Christ for his victory. Notice verse seven, it says, and he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. One writer says, this is a breathtaking act of audacity. Like there's nobody in heaven on earth or under the earth who could go to the one seated on the throne and take the scroll and break its seals. And then right before the 24 elders and the four living creatures and the sea of glass, Jesus Christ walks straight up to the father, takes the scroll from his hands. That is the greatest act of courage and boldness there ever could be. And the one who is able to do that deserves everlasting worship. And that's the point of verse eight. Look at verse eight. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lion and 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. So there we have the four living creatures, the 24 elders, what we have said are high-ranking angels, worshiping the Lamb. Now just remember, this is not a letter. Strictly speaking, this is not a book like Romans. This is not a book with stories like First Kings. This is an apocalyptic book. So if you start to try to interpret every single detail, you will end up with bizarre conclusions about what you see. So if you thought, well, how are these falling to the ground? and holding harps and bowls full of incense. How are they balancing that when they fall so that the bowl doesn't tip over or something like this? You're gonna end up with really bizarre interpretations. You have to follow John and let him interpret what is happening there for you. John is conveying truth to us with profuse symbolism here. And the point of what he is making is there is worship going on because of the victory of the Lamb. Heaven is worshipping and it's not just people are not the angels and the 24 elders and the four living creatures They are not worshipping begrudgingly. There is joy and that's why he talks about them having harps in their hands when you read through the Old Testament when when when instruments had to accompany music it was because the people of God were happy and exuberantly joyful and worshipping in that way so these these creatures are worshipping with joy and If you read Psalm 137, you'll see that when the people of God were going into captivity, their captors were taunting them and saying, sing to us one of the songs of Zion. And then the Psalmist says, how can we sing the Lord's song? We must hang up the lyre because we can't sing the Lord's song in Babylon. So that's a moment of grief. You can't sing musically joyfully as they would do in their own land. So the musical instrument here is meant to say heaven is worshiping, not begrudgingly, but with profound and immeasurable joy for the victory of the Lamb of God. And it's clear, isn't it, that this is really worship going on because of what they say. But it's not just the 24 elders and the four living creatures. Look at verse 11. Then I looked, and I 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. So not just the four living creatures and the 24 elders are worshiping, but many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, they join in the worship, declaring, worthy is the lamb who was slain. The book of Hebrews tells us, in the context of speaking about the new covenant, saying that Those of us, we who are saved by Christ's work in the new covenant have been brought to the assembly of innumerable angels in festal gathering. That's the vision that John is giving us here. In other words, the whole angelic realm is exploding in worship to the Lamb of God for his victory on the cross. But it's not just the four living creatures, and the 24 elders, and the whole angelic realm. It's all of creation. Look at verse 13. And I heard every creature in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, 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. One of the things that preparing to preach this passage did to me over the week was just convict me of how pathetically small my celebration of the victory of Christ on the cross tends to be. I mean, just think about it. The whole angelic realm is exploding in worship to Jesus because of the cross. All of created reality is exploding in worship to Jesus because of the cross. They recognize the cross of Christ is the key of history. If you take it apart, if you take it out, everything implodes on itself. There's no future without the cross. That's what they recognize right here. And notice, they do not just worship Christ, they worship Him as God. Which in some ways, biblically speaking, is actually redundant to say. Because biblically, the only one who receives worship is God. But Christ is worshiped here as God. And that's made very explicit. This is one of the most high Christology, as theologians will call it, or a text that exalts the divinity and deity of Christ in the most explicit way. So just look at a few details here. First, Christ emerges from the throne. If you just saw somebody walk out of the Oval Office, who is not the President of the United States, what would you think? You'd think something is really wrong here. There's been a real breach of security here. because somebody coming out of there should have had a certain status conferred on them. This one emerges from the throne, and the one who sits on the throne, as John has described to us, is one who is otherworldly in his being. So Jesus coming from the throne is to say he has the same status like the one who sits on the throne. And then the next thing, look at the language that is used in the worship of Jesus. Back in chapter four, verse 11, they said, the 24 elders and the four living creatures said, worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things. Now, when they speak about Jesus, they say, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain. They use the same language to worship the one who sits on the throne as they used to worship Jesus Christ. When they come to verse 12, they'll say, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. The same language, worthy are you. And then to wrap it up, they'll say, to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb, Couldn't be more equal than that. So Jesus has the same status as God. So beloved, the church did not fabricate the doctrine of the Trinity. It arose from passages like this. Careful reading of passages like this led believers to conclude that the living and true God exists eternally as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is equal in all the divine attributes, but they are distinguished from one another by their personal properties that are incommunicable. The Father is always the Father, the Son is always the Son, the Spirit is always the Spirit, but there is one God, and in creation and providence and redemption, they each work conducting roles that are true to their personal being, but they are never divided, always united as one. So the church didn't create that. The one who sits on the throne and the lamb are co-equals. And John wants us to think like that. All creation worships God, Jesus Christ, as a co-equal of God. Here's the fifth and final truth. Christ's people are a global kingdom of priests. Verse nine, 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. that's glorious what they say with their mouths. In other words, the Lamb's blood liberated people from sin's captivity and the liberation is so efficacious both in its depth and its breadth. There is nobody too deep in sin that the blood of Christ can't bring them out. And there is nobody too far removed that the blood of Christ can't bring them from there. The blood by which we are ransomed is infinitely powerful to bring home all that God intends to bring home. By his blood, he ransomed people for God. But why did he do that? He did that to fulfill the original mandate of God. When God put Adam and Eve in the garden, He put them there as a king and a priest to rule the world for Him. They failed. When God redeemed Israel out of the captivity in Egypt, he said, you are a kingdom and priests to me and they failed. But God never gave up on that purpose and it's been decisively settled on the cross by the blood of Christ so that his church is now a kingdom and priest made up of people from every tribe and every tongue and every nation and they shall reign on the earth. That's why they were redeemed. Beloved, what that means is we should be more confident and expectant in our evangelism. of all the people you talk to, trying to share Christ to, there'll be someone for whom the ransom has already been paid, and they will come home. In all our missionary efforts, we should be more confident and more expectant, because in every single people group of the world, God has a people for whom the ransom has already been paid. And when God pays the ransom, what has been purchased is going to come home. If you have confidence that your last order on Amazon is going to be delivered at your door, do you have any reason to doubt that what God has purchased will be delivered to God? What God has purchased will be brought home to Him. But here's the second thing that I want to close with. The fact that the priesthood of God's people is made up of people from every tribe and tongue and nation and language also means you and I should always, always resist the temptation to despise a brother or sister or anyone else because of how they look or how they sound or their personality or their status because God did not make those kinds of distinctions. As we live in this life, you will always meet people who are different than you are, who like things you don't like, who emphasize things you don't emphasize, but our calling as God's people is to love each other as God has loved us and brought us all in. Isn't it amazing that God's people come in all shapes and sizes and colors and preferences, but no one of them is more a royal priest than the other? We are all rebels turned into royalties by the grace of Jesus Christ. That's who we are. Rebels turned into royalties by the grace of Christ. And therefore, ours is to love each other as we have been loved. And we do, by God's grace, wonderfully as a church to do that. And so I say this to you as an encouragement and as an appeal to say, continue to do what you're doing and do so more and more. God does not call us to tolerate one another. He calls us to love each other earnestly from the heart. Almost any human being can tolerate another. Workers tolerate colleagues because they need the job to pay the bills. Believers are not called to tolerate one another at church, but to love one another earnestly from the heart. Because you came in by the same means as the brother that may have a different emphasis or a different court than you do and so on and so forth. Christ's people are a global kingdom of priests. That means we should be confident. There are more out there who should be in here, and so we should preach with confidence. That means we should love all that God brings in to us, and love earnestly from the heart. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, these things are too glorious for any human mouth to explain adequately. These things are too wonderful for any human mind to understand and any human heart to delight in as fully as we should. But I do pray, Lord, that whatever has been said here that is in keeping with your truth, that you will burn unto our hearts and cause such to bear abiding fruit in and through our lives. We thank you that you are the lamb who was slain, but now reign in victory on the throne. In your name we pray, amen.