Good evening and welcome, everyone, to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #11 of Revelation, chapter 5, and we are going to be reading Revelation 5:12:
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
This is the heavenly host – ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands – of angels and, in all probability, representing God’s elect and they are proclaiming the worthiness of the “Lamb that was slain,” from the foundation of the world. It is the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, that took away the sins of His people and they are declaring that He is worthy to receive these seven things: “power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”
The number seven has to do with the perfection of each one of these things that are mentioned. The Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of receiving the absolute perfection of power, perfection of riches, perfection of wisdom, and so on.
Since God takes the time to list these things, we want to go through and look at each one just a little bit, to consider and think about what God is telling us about the victorious Lamb of God, the One that overcame and, therefore, is worthy to receive all these things.
The first thing that God mentions is power. The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power.
Remember we read these things in Romans 1:3-4:
Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
That resurrection took place from the foundation of the world. That is when the Lord Jesus died for the sins of His people and that is the time He was resurrected and gave all evidence that He had overcome and won the victory over sin and death. At that point, He was “declared to be the Son of God with power…by the resurrection from the dead.”
It is no wonder then that the Lamb is in view in Revelation 5, the Lamb who has overcome. And how did He overcome? He overcame by rising from the dead, demonstrating that death had no power over Him; He was stronger and more powerful than death itself, so He is worthy to receive the perfection of power.
The second thing mentioned is that the Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive riches, and, of course, God is not referring to earthly riches or material things. No - that would be nothing to the One that created all things. Those are not the riches that interest God. Those are not the true riches anyway. The true riches must be something that is eternal. We read in Romans 9:23:
And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Here are described some of the riches of God, the “riches of his glory.” Look at Romans 11:33:
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Notice that phrase at the beginning of this verse: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” We often say that the Bible is a very “deep” Book and you can search the scriptures and search the scriptures for your whole lifetime and you would never plumb the depths of the truth that is within. That is a true statement. Given our limitations with our finite nature and our temporal life span in this world, we can never plumb the depths of the “riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!”
And that helps us to understand that word riches. Again, it is related to spiritual riches, to the eternal riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge. We learn a little bit about these things – the wisdom and knowledge of God – as we learn truth from the Word of God.
But we are always learning truth from the Word of God. It is really incredibly sad that many in the churches (and some outside of the churches) have the idea that there is no such thing as “progressive revelation.” In other words, they think they have reached the high water mark of knowledge; they think they have learned all there is to learn of the Bible. It must be that they think that because whenever a child of God puts forth information from the Word of God that is “new” or “brings correction” to something previously thought, their reaction is, “Oh, no, oh, no, we do not go in for progressive revelation.” Basically, they are saying, “There is nothing new to be learned. There is no further insight for us to gain. We will just hold on to what we have.”
Of course, that kind of mindset is one of the reasons why God has brought judgment on the churches and congregations. They have uplifted and held their confessions and creeds and their denominational positions above the teachings of the Bible. Of course, there is progressive revelation! There are depths of riches of the Bible – riches that are hidden treasure and depths that mere man (mortal, finite and tiny little man) cannot reach. It is only by the grace of God and His kindness toward us that He has opened up the Scriptures to reveal certain truths to His people at this time (the time of the end), that we are able to learn some things. Of course, God has not opened up everything, but before God’s program for this world is completed, we will have learned everything that He wants us to learn.
Here, again, is this word riches and we find it in Ephesians 3:8:
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
And who is Christ? He is the Word made flesh. He is the embodiment and personification of the Word of God, the Bible. So the Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of God, speaks of preaching among the Gentiles, the nations, the “the unsearchable riches of Christ” or the unsearchable riches of this Word that we are so privileged to have in our possession, if we have a Bible or other access to the Word of God. It is unsearchable by men. Remember what God says in 1st Corinthians 2:9-10:
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed *them* unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
Remember we read in Romans 11:33: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.” These are the deep things of God and it also says in 1st Corinthians 2:11-12:
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Then God goes on to explain how God gives those things through the process of “comparing spiritual with spiritual” and then “the Holy Ghost teacheth.” But notice the “deep things of God,” which is the Bible, His Word, and that no man knows these things. If anyone thinks that they can take a seminary course or they graduate from seminary and then maybe they move on to get their doctorate in theology (and they become a Doctorate of Theology) and that this qualifies them to know “the deep things of God,” then they are utterly deceived. They are no more qualified to know these “deep things of God” than an ant would be qualified to know anything found in a medical journal, if you found the ant walking along the pages of an open medical journal. The ant might be upon that book and, perhaps, he might be able to deceive his fellow ants into thinking he knows something (of it), but the reality is he does not know a thing about that complex book. (And that is a book written by men.)
Mankind knows nothing about the “deep things of God,” the infinitely deep thoughts of this Eternal Being – this God who can speak a word and bring a creation like this into existence. What can we know of Him? We can know nothing except what He wants us to know and He has given us the Bible that we might search it out, but searching without His help will be fruitless; it will bring us no closer to understanding. It requires the Spirit of God to know the things of God, just as no man knows the things of a man except the spirit that is in him. And, likewise, “the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” It requires not only a lamp, but oil within the lamp to light it, that we might be able to “see” and gain knowledge.
Well, these are the riches that Christ is worthy to receive and it is related that the Lamb was given the Book. Remember it said in Revelation 5 that “thou art worthy to take the book.” The Book contains all these riches that we are reading about and He was worthy to unseal the Book and this means that Christ is worthy to receive these spiritual riches. Of course He is, as He is the essence of them and everything that is in that Book is speaking of Him and, so, He is worthy as the Lamb to receive these riches.
This is such an edifying thing for us to think about, so let us also look at Ephesians 3:16:
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
Yes, the riches of glory, riches of wisdom, riches of knowledge and God also says in Philippians 4, referring to His riches and glory, in Philippians 4:19:
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
These are the riches, not gold and silver or dollar and cents, not coins or paper money, not things like houses and boats or whatever things one can find. The riches of this world are paltry; they pale in comparison to the glorious riches of the kingdom of God and of Christ Himself.
In our verse in Revelation 5, it says in Revelation 5:12:
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom…
You see, Jesus is all of these things and, yet, it says He is worthy to receive them. Let us turn to 1st Corinthians, chapter 1, and we will see what wisdom is. We read in 1st Corinthians 1:30:
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
Jesus is wisdom. You see, all things that Christ is, in a sense, are being “given back to Him.” He has been restored as the Lamb that was slain. He emptied Himself of His glory and now it is, perhaps, as though God is saying now that He has received all these things, once again, now that He has risen from the dead because it would be true that if Christ had remained dead, He would have lost everything – all of the “unsearchable riches” of His purpose and His kingdom, all of the tremendous power and untold things that our minds cannot even grab hold of that belong to Him as King of kings and Lord of lords, as the one that has always been. He has dared to die for the sake of rebellious sinners (wretched, filthy sinners that have shaken their puny little fists at Him) that He has created. He, the Creator, dared to die for them and if He had remained dead, He would have lost “the deep things of God.” He would have lost the treasures of heaven. But He was able to win the victory, to overcome death, to rise from the dead and, now, gloriously, to be seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of God and to reign as the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world, the Lamb worthy “to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength…”
Now the word strength can be translated as power, also, and it is translated as mighty in Ephesians 1:19:
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
The mighty power of God and the mighty power that belongs to Him – He is worthy to receive it. God then goes on with this heavenly proclamation of the perfection of these glorious attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ and He is worthy of each one. He is worthy to “receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour…
Regarding honour, we read in Romans 13:7:
Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
And that is exactly what is happening in the heavenlies, in the throne room of God. The One that is due honour, the One worthy of honour, is receiving honour from those He has redeemed, from the sinners that He has saved and from the Godhead Himself (three Persons, yet, one God); all are declaring His glory and declaring that He is worthy to be honored.
And the next word is “glory,” where it says He is worthy “to receive… honor, and glory.” We read in John 17:4:
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
And, again, it is said in John 17:22:
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
The glory that Christ had with the Father before the world was…now that glory is being showered upon Him as He is receiving these things: honour and glory and blessing. And blessing is the seventh attribute and praise being given by His elect. He is worthy of blessing.
We normally think of God as the one who does the blessing and that is true. God is the one who bestows blessing upon us. Who are we to think that we can bless anyone, let alone that we can bless God? But it is also true that God is, in Himself, blessed. He is able to bestow and grant blessing to others because He is the very essence of blessing. We read this in Romans 1:25:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
And, also, it says in Romans 9:5:
Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
This is something that God is. He is blessed. He is blessing and that is why when God saves a person and enters into that individual, that individual becomes blessed, due to the identification with the One that is blessing Himself.
Well, what a wonderful praise to God this is: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” And it goes on to say, in Revelation 5:13:
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
Some of the very same attributes or praises are declared again! Can we ever praise God enough? Can we ever thank Him enough and we have done it sufficiently and there is no need to praise Him or thank Him any further? Of course not! We will be praising God eternally, for ever and ever.
We read in the Psalms (and these Psalms are wonderful), and I am going to just read the entire Psalm 148:
Praise ye JEHOVAH. Praise ye JEHOVAH from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of JEHOVAH: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass. Praise JEHOVAH from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps: Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word: Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars: Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl: Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth: Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: Let them praise the name of JEHOVAH: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven. He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye JEHOVAH.
And we also read in Psalm 150:
Praise ye JEHOVAH. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise JEHOVAH. Praise ye JEHOVAH.
It was pointed out to me recently that Psalm 150 has the word praise thirteen times contained within it. Thirteen times God is to be praised. Why would that be? Of course, the number thirteen points to “super fullness” and it points to the end of time – to the end of this world – and, therefore, it also points to the beginning of the new heaven and the new earth which will take place once this world is destroyed.
Then all of God’s elect and all principalities and powers and all the heavenly host and everything that has life from God will praise Him in unison and in glorious song! God will be exalted and will receive the honor and the glory and the power that is due unto His name, for He is worthy as the Lamb of God: worthy to be praised.