FAITH BIBLE CHURCH - www.faithbiblechurch.net

SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 24

TITLE: THE REDEMPTION SONG

TEXT: REVELATION 5:9-10

INTRODUCTION: (1) LET ME BEGIN BY ASKING A QUESTION THIS MORNING.

* WHAT IS THE GREATER WORK OF GOD, CREATION OR REDEMPTION?

** NOW OBVIOUSLY BOTH WERE GREAT WORKS OF THE ALMIGHTY.

*** BUT WAS ONE GREATER THAN THE OTHER?

**** MY ANSWER IS YES. AND SPECIFICALLY THE GREATER WORK WAS REDEMPTION.

(2) LET ME EXPLAIN FROM A QUOTE FROM PURITAN THOMAS WATSON.

* HE WROTE IN HIS BOOK, BODY OF DIVINITY, AND I QUOTE: “GREAT WAS THE WORK OF CREATION BUT GREATER THE WORK OF REDEMPTION; IT COST MORE TO REDEEM US THAN TO MAKE US; IN THE ONE THERE WAS BUT THE SPEAKING OF A WORD, IN THE OTHER THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD.

** THE CREATION WAS BUT THE WORK OF GOD’S FINGERS. REDEMPTION IS THE WORK OF HIS ARM.” (UNQUOTE)

*** NOW I WOULD ADD, IN CREATION GOD’S POWER AND GLORY ARE ON DISPLAY, BUT IN REDEMPTION, GOD’S POWER, GLORY, MERCY AND LOVE ARE ON DISPLAY.

**** IN CREATION, HE SPOKE, IN REDEMPTION HE GAVE.

(3) IN CREATION, HE MADE SOMETHING, IN REDEMPTION HE PURCHASED SOMETHING – HUMAN BEINGS.

* SO IN MY VIEW, REDEMPTION IS THE GREATER WORK OF TWO GREAT WORKS.

** NOW AT THIS POINT, IT WILL BE PROFITABLE FOR ME TO DEFINE THE TERM REDEMPTION, FOR IT’S NOT USED A LOT IN OUR CULTURE.

*** REDEMPTION IS A WORD, A TERM THAT DEFINES ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF SALVATION.

**** IT DEALS SPECIFICALLY WITH THE HIGH COST OF SALVATION AND THE MEANS BY WHICH GOD RECEIVED PAYMENT.

(4) AND BECAUSE ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE HELPLESS SLAVES TO SIN AND COMPOUNDED BY THE LAW OF GOD, IF THEY ARE TO BE FORGIVEN AND RECONCILED TO GOD, HE HAS TO PURCHASE, TO BUY THEM BACK FROM THEIR CONDITION.

* AND ONLY THEN CAN GOD RELEASE THEM FROM SIN’S BONDAGE, FROM SIN’S SLAVERY AND SIN’S CURSE.

** REDEMPTION IS A TERM THAT LIT. MEANS TO BUY BACK, TO PURCHASE OUT OF THE MARKET, TO PURCHASE BACK SOMETHING THAT HAD BEEN LOST BY THE PAYMENT OF A RANSOM.

*** AND IN THE ANCIENT WORLD, REDEMPTION FREQUENTLY PERTAINED TO SLAVERY. BY PAYING THE REDEMPTION PRICE, A BENEVOLENT PERSON MIGHT SET A FAVORED SLAVE FREE.

**** THE LANGUAGE OF REDEMPTION IS THE LANGUAGE OF PURCHASE, PAYMENT AND MORE SPECIFICALLY OF RANSOM!

(5) AND RANSOM IS THE SECURING OF A RELEASE BY THE PAYMENT OF A PRICE.

* NOW WITH THAT IN MIND, IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, THE TERMINOLOGY OF REDEMPTION IS USED MANY TIMES OF JESUS’ DEATH FOR PEOPLE THAT HE CAME TO SAVE.

** FOR EXAMPLE IN I PETER 1:18&19 IT SAYS: (READ IT).

*** PAUL SAID IN GALATIANS 3:13 – CHRIST REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW, HAVING BECOME A CURSE FOR US – FOR IT IS WRITTEN, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE.”

**** IN EPHESIANS 1:7 THE SCRIPTURE SAYS: (READ IT).

(6) AND THEN IN I CORINTHIANS 6:20 PAUL WAS INSPIRED TO SAY: (READ IT).

* NOW THE PURCHASE PRICE FOR BUYING HUMAN BEINGS OUT OF THE SLAVE MARKET OF SIN IS THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.

** CHRIST’S DEATH TURNED ASIDE THE WRATH OF GOD AS HE BECAME A SATISFACTION, PROPITIATION FOR OUR SIN.

*** CHRIST’S DEATH ESTABLISHED PEACE BETWEEN WARRING PARTIES, RECONCILIATION.

**** AND CHRIST’S DEATH BROUGHT ABOUT ATONEMENT, TO MAKE AT ONE, THOSE WHO WERE FORMERLY AT ODDS WITH A HOLY GOD.

(7) AND IN HIS DEATH, CHRIST DID NOT COME TO MAKE REDEMPTION POSSIBLE, HE DIED TO REDEEM HIS PEOPLE, AND ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE, FROM EVERY TRIBE, TONGUE, PEOPLE AND NATION.

* AND THAT TRUTH, THAT FACT, LEADS A HEAVENLY CHORUS IN OUR TEXT TODAY TO BURST FORTH IN SONG AND WORSHIP.

** AND THEY SING A NEW SONG, A REDEMPTION SONG, WHICH IS THE TITLE AND THEME OF OUR STUDY TODAY, “THE REDEMPTION SONG.”

*** AND UNDER THAT THEME WE’LL LOOK AT THE WONDERFUL AND GLORIOUS TRUTH OF REDEMPTION.

**** AND IN DOING THAT WE’LL LOOK AT 3 TRUTHS: NO. 1 THE REASON FOR REDEMPTION, V. 9A; NO. 2 THE REALITY OF REDEMPTION, V. 9B; AND NO. 3 THE RESULTS OF REDEMPTION, V. 10.

(8) AND WITH THOSE POINTS AS HANDLES, LOOK AT V. 9A PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE REASON FOR REDEMPTION.

I. THE REASON FOR REDEMPTION, (READ V. 9A)

A. NOW THE ULTIMATE REASON FOR REDEMPTION IS TO SHOW THE WORTHINESS OF CHRIST AND OF GOD THE FATHER THAT IN TURN SHOULD PROMPT US TO WORSHIP.

* LET ME EXPLAIN. THE FOCUS OF REVELATION CHAPTER 5 IS THE LION AND THE LAMB, THE LORD JESUS.

** UP TO THIS POINT, JOHN HAS BEEN PREOCCUPIED WITH THE SIGHT OF THE LAMB AND THE SMELL OF THE INCENSE WHICH ARE THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS.

*** IN V. 9, SOUND ENTERS INTO THE PICTURE, WE GO FROM SIGHT, TO SMELL, TO SOUND.

**** AND IT SAYS, “THEY SANG A NEW SONG.”

1. AND THE “THEY” HERE ARE THE 24 ELDERS, WHICH IN MY STUDY REPRESENTS THE GLORIFIED CHURCH IN HEAVEN, AND OTHERS WOULD ADD ALSO THE 4 LIVING CREATURES, CHERUBIM OF THE EXALTED ORDER OF ANGELS.

* NOW I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THE TIME TO DEBATE WHETHER THE 4 LIVING CREATURES ARE A PART OF THIS GROUP GRAMMATICALLY OR CONTEXTUALLY, BUT SUFFICE TO SAY THAT A GREAT HEAVENLY CHORUS AT THIS POINT IN HEAVEN, BREAKS FORTH IN SINGING A NEW SONG.

** AND THIS NEW SONG IS A REDEMPTION SONG, THE REDEMPTION SONG AS WE’LL SEE AS WE MOVE ON IN V. 9.

*** AND THE WORDS “NEW SONG” ARE USED IN THE PSALMS 6 TIMES, IN THE BOOK OF ISAIAH ONCE, AND HERE IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION TWICE.

**** AND IN THE PSALMS A NEW SONG DENOTES A FRESH DELIVERANCE.

2. IN OTHER WORDS, NEW GROUNDS FOR PRAISE PROVIDE NEW NOTES OF PRAISE, SOMETHING THAT IS SEEN PARTICULARLY IN PSALM 40:3A WHICH SAYS:

* “HE PUT A NEW SONG IN MY MOUTH, A SONG OF PRAISE TO OUR GOD,”

** AND THE NEW SONG WAS A SONG OF PRAISE TO OUR GREAT GOD FOR WHAT HE HAD DONE IN DELIVERING HIS PEOPLE, FOR HIS GREAT WORKS, FOR HIS SALVATION, FOR HIS BENEFITS.

*** BUT LET ME SUGGEST TO YOU AS WE MOVE INTO THE BOOK OF REVELATION AND SPECIFICALLY TO REVELATION 5:9, THAT THE NEW SONG SUNG HERE IS DIFFERENT.

**** FOR THE GREEK WORD TRANSLATED “NEW” HERE INDICATES THAT THE SONG IS NOT MERELY NEW IN TIME, BUT THE VERY CHARACTER OF THE SONG IS DIFFERENT FROM ALL THAT HAS GONE BEFORE, THAT IT IS FRESH, A NEW KIND OF SONG.

3. AND THIS NEW SONG IS THE SONG OF REDEMPTION, THAT COULD NOT BE SUNG BEFORE THE CROSS.

* JOHN RITCHIE IN HIS COMMENTARY ON REVELATION HAD THESE INSIGHTFUL WORDS TO SAY AT THIS POINT:

** “THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT THAT THIS SONG IS THE FITTING RESPONSE TO THE MIGHTIEST DELIVERANCE EVER WROUGHT.”

*** HE WENT ON TO SAY: “THIS SONG, OF COURSE, COULD NOT BE SUNG PRIOR TO THE CROSS BUT THE POINT MADE HERE IS THAT THE TAKING OF THE SCROLL, SIGNIFYING THE COMPLETION OF THE REDEMPTIVE WORK TOWARDS EARTH, IS THE SIGNAL FOR THE SINGING OF A NEW SONG.”

**** “THE SONG CELEBRATES, NOT THE POWER REVEALED IN CREATION, BUT THE PERSON REVEALED THROUGH THE CROSS. THROUGH HIS BLOOD THE LAMB HAS WON THE RIGHT TO TAKE THE BOOK AND ACT FOR GOD IN REDEMPTIVE POWER.” (END QUOTE)

4. SO TAKING THE SCROLL, THE TITLE-DEED TO THE EARTH, LEADS TO SINGING, AND THE THEME IS REDEMPTION.

* IT LEADS TO WORSHIP, THAT ONLY CHRIST IS WORTHY TO TAKE THAT BOOK AND TO BREAK IT’S SEALS WHICH HE WILL DO THAT WILL UNFOLD JUDGMENTS UPON THE EARTH.

** AND IT IS THE LAMB – THE LORD JESUS WHO IS CELEBRATED IN THIS NEW SONG.

*** AND TO HIM THE WORD “WORTHY” ADDRESSED IN CHAPTER 4:11 TO THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY IS NOW APPLIED.

**** AND CHRIST’S WORTH IS DEFINED IN TERMS OF HIS SACRIFICIAL DEATH ON THE CROSS THAT HAS FITTED HIM TO TAKE THE BOOK AND TO OPEN IT’S SEALS.

5. AND THE REALITY AND RESULTS OF REDEMPTION WILL FOLLOW. REDEMPTION IS THE THEME, NOT ONLY OF THE EARTH, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, OF SINNERS!

* WHICH LEADS ME BACK, THE REASON FOR REDEMPTION.

** THE REASON FOR REDEMPTION GOES BEYOND SAVING SINNERS, WHICH IS ONE OF GOD’S PURPOSES.

*** BUT THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE IS TO BRING WORSHIP AND PRAISE AND GLORY TO HIS WORTHY NAME.

**** AND IF YOU THINK I’M STRETCHING HERE A LITTLE, I TAKE YOU BACK TO EPHESIANS 1.

6. FOR IN EPHESIANS 1:5-7 AND 1:11&12 IT SAYS:

* EPHESIANS 1:5 – “HE PREDESTINED US TO ADOPTION AS SONS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST TO HIMSELF, ACCORDING TO THE KIND INTENTION OF HIS WILL,

V. 6 – TO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE, WHICH HE FREELY BESTOWED ON US IN THE BELOVED.

READ V. 7.

** EPHESIANS 1:11 – “ALSO WE HAVE OBTAINED AN INHERITANCE, HAVING BEEN PREDESTINED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE WHO WORKS ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS WILL,

V. 12 – TO THE END THAT WE WHO WERE THE FIRST TO HOPE IN CHRIST WOULD BE TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY.”

*** THEN READ EPHESIANS 1:13&14.

**** NOW BELOVED, THE BOTTOM LINE FOR REDEMPTION IS, GOD’S ULTIMATE GOAL IN REDEEMING MEN IS “THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY.”

7. WHY DID GOD DO ALL OF THAT FOR US? WHY DID HE MAKE SOME SINNERS HIS SONS?

* WE ARE REDEEMED AND MADE SONS “TO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE.”

** ABOVE ALL ELSE, HE ELECTS AND REDEEMS US FOR HIS OWN GLORY.

*** WHICH LEADS US BACK TO THE TRUTH, IT’S ALL ABOUT HIM, IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT US.

**** THE REASON FOR REDEMPTION IS WORSHIP, TO SING A NEW SONG, HE IS WORTHY TO RECEIVE GLORY AND HONOUR AND PRAISE – AMEN!

- NOW WE’LL MOVE FROM THE REASON FOR REDEMPTION TO THE REALITY OF REDEMPTION, LOOK BACK AT V. 9 PLEASE.

II. THE REALITY OF REDEMPTION, (READ V. 9)

A. NOW REDEMPTION IS A REALITY, IT IS ACCOMPLISHED AND APPLIED BECAUSE CHRIST “WAS SLAIN” AS WE SEE HERE IN V. 9.

* AND THE VERB SLAIN HAS TO DO WITH A VIOLENT DEATH, THE WORD CAN MEAN TO SLAUGHTER, TO BUTCHER, TO PUT TO DEATH BY VIOLENCE, TO MORTALLY WOUND.

** AND OF COURSE WE KNOW THAT CRUCIFIXION WAS A TERRIBLE WAY TO DEATH AND WAS THE MEANS USED TO KILL CHRIST.

*** BUT WE KNOW THAT ACCORDING TO ISAIAH 53:5 (READ IT).

**** AND CHRIST WAS SLAIN TO PURCHASE FOR GOD SALVATION AND REDEMPTION FOR ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE, NOT JUST JEWS, BUT THE WORLD.

1. MEANING PEOPLE FROM EVERY TRIBE, EVERY DESCENT, EVERY TONGUE – OR LANGUAGE, EVERY PEOPLE – EVERY RACE AND NATION, LIT. CULTURE.

* IN CHRIST’S DEATH HE PURCHASED REDEMPTION FOR ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE, NOT JUST JEWS, FOR THE WORLD IN THAT SENSE.

** AND THE PURCHASE PRICE FOR REDEMPTION WAS THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.

*** AND OF COURSE THAT IS A REPETITIOUS THEME IN SCRIPTURE, REDEMPTION COMES THROUGH THE DEATH, THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD OF A SACRIFICE.

**** AND ALL OF THE O.T. SACRIFICES COULD ONLY PROVIDE A TEMPORARY COVERING FOR SIN.

2. FOR HEBREWS 9:12-15 SAYS: “AND NOT THROUGH THE BLOOD OF GOATS AND CALVES, BUT THROUGH HIS OWN BLOOD, HE ENTERED THE HOLY PLACE ONCE FOR ALL, HAVING OBTAINED ETERNAL REDEMPTION.

V. 13 – FOR IF THE BLOOD OF GOATS AND BULLS AND THE ASHES OF A HEIFER SPRINKLING THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN DEFILED SANCTIFY FOR THE CLEANSING OF THE FLESH,

V. 14 – HOW MUCH MORE WILL THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, WHO THROUGH THE ETERNAL SPIRIT OFFERED HIMSELF WITHOUT BLEMISH TO GOD, CLEANSE YOUR CONSCIENCE FROM DEAD WORKS TO SERVE THE LIVING GOD?

V. 15 – FOR THIS REASON HE IS THE MEDIATOR OF A NEW COVENANT, SO THAT, SINCE A DEATH HAS TAKEN PLACE FOR THE REDEMPTION OF THE TRANSGRESSIONS THAT WERE COMMITTED UNDER THE FIRST COVENANT, THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN CALLED MAY RECEIVE THE PROMISE OF THE ETERNAL INHERITANCE.”

* THEN READ HEBREWS 10:4.

** SO IT WOULD TAKE A PERFECT LAMB, A HOLY LAMB, THE LORD JESUS, THE GOD-MAN TO OFFER HIMSELF AS THE FINAL SACRIFICE AND ULTIMATE SACRIFICE FOR SIN, READ HEBREWS 10:10&12.

*** IN LIGHT OF THAT, JESUS WOULD SAY TO HIS DISCIPLES IN MATTHEW 26:28: (READ IT).

**** ALSO READ ACTS 20:28, ROMANS 5:9, TITUS 2:14, HEBREWS 9:28 AND I PETER 1:18&19.

3. SO THE PURCHASE PRICE OF OUR REDEMPTION IS THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, THAT HE WAS SLAIN AND GAVE HIS LIFE AS AN OFFERING FOR SIN FOR ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE, SPECIFICALLY HIS PEOPLE, HIS ELECT.

* AND HERE’S SOMETHING I WANT YOU TO PONDER AND THINK ABOUT. IN CHRIST’S WORK OF REDEMPTION, HE DIDN’T POTENTIALLY PURCHASE FOR GOD THE SOULS OF MEN AND WOMEN.

** HE DIDN’T JUST PROVIDE SALVATION FOR PEOPLE WHO WILL REJECT HIS GIFT.

*** IT SAYS VERY CLEARLY, DIDST PURCHASE FOR GOD, IN THE NAS AND PURCHASED IN THE NAU.

**** IN THE ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION, “YOU RANSOMED PEOPLE FOR GOD.”

4. IN THE NIV, “WITH YOUR BLOOD YOUR PURCHASED FOR GOD.”

* AND IN THE KJV & NKJV, “HAS REDEEMED US” AND “HAVE REDEEMED US,” US NOT BEING IN THE OLDER MANUSCRIPTS, A VARIANT READING HERE, WHICH DOESN’T TAKE US AWAY FROM THE FACT CHRIST REDEEMED PEOPLE IN HIS DEATH, NOT POTENTIALLY, BUT ACTUALLY.

** MEANING, CHRIST DID NOT COME TO MAKE SALVATION POSSIBLE, BUT ACTUALLY TO SAVE HIS CHOSEN ONES, HIS ELECT, HIS PEOPLE.

*** HE DID NOT COME TO MAKE REDEMPTION POSSIBLE; HE DIED TO REDEEM THOSE HE WILL EFFECTUALLY SAVE.

**** CHRIST DID NOT COME TO MAKE SATISFACTION POSSIBLE; HE TURNED ASIDE GOD’S WRATH FOR EACH OF HIS ELECT PEOPLE FOREVER.

5. BELOVED, CHRIST DID NOT COME TO MAKE RECONCILIATION POSSIBLE; HE ACTUALLY RECONCILED TO GOD THOSE WHOM THE FATHER HAD GIVEN HIM.

* AND THEN JESUS DID NOT COME TO MAKE ATONEMENT FOR SINS POSSIBLE, BUT ACTUALLY TO ATONE FOR SINNERS.

** IN THE BOOK, THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE BY JAMES MONTGOMERY BOICE AND PHILIP GRAHAM RYKEN, THEY SAID IN THE CHAPTER ON PARTICULAR REDEMPTION,

*** “CHRIST’S WORK ON THE CROSS WAS NOT A HYPOTHETICAL SALVATION FOR HYPOTHETICAL BELIEVERS, BUT A REAL AND DEFINITE SALVATION FOR GOD’S OWN CHOSEN PEOPLE. A REDEMPTION THAT DOES NOT REDEEM, A PROPITIATION THAT DOES NOT PROPITIATE, A RECONCILIATION THAT DOES NOT RECONCILE, AND AN ATONEMENT THAT DOES NOT ATONE CANNOT HELP ANYBODY.”

**** “BUT A REDEMPTION THAT REDEEMS, A PROPITIATION THAT PROPITIATES, A RECONCILIATION THAT RECONCILES, AND AN ATONEMENT THAT ATONES REVEAL A MOST AMAZING GRACE ON GOD’S PART AND DRAW US TO REST IN HIM AND IN HIS COMPLETED WORK, RATHER THAN OUR OWN.”

6. JOHN MURRAY WRITES IN HIS BOOK, “REDEMPTION ACCOMPLISHED AND APPLIED,” WHICH I READ ON VACATION FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MARCH, SAID AND I QUOTE:

* “WHAT IS OFFERED TO MEN IN THE GOSPEL? IT IS NOT THE POSSIBILITY OF SALVATION, NOT SIMPLY THE OPPORTUNITY OF SALVATION, WHAT IS OFFERED IS SALVATION.”

** HE WENT ON TO SAY, “IT IS BECAUSE CHRIST PROCURED AND SECURED REDEMPTION THAT HE IS AN ALL SUFFICIENT AND SUITABLE SAVIOR.”

*** AND I KNOW THIS IS DIFFICULT FOR SOME OF YOU, SO I DON’T WANT TO BE A HAMMER TODAY, BUT APPEAL TO YOU AS BEREANS TO STUDY OVER THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURES IN THEIR CONTEXT.

**** ISAIAH 53:8; MATTHEW 1:21; MATTHEW 20:28; MATTHEW 26:28; LUKE 1:68; JOHN 10:11; JOHN 13:1; JOHN 17:1-2,9; GALATIANS 3:13; EPHESIANS 5:25; AND HEBREWS 9:28.

7. NOW AS YOU LOOK UP THESE VERSES, YOU’LL SEE A DEFINITE PURPOSE FOR THE DEATH OF CHRIST TO REDEEM A DEFINITE GROUP OF PEOPLE, AND THAT HIS DEATH WAS AN ABSOLUTE SUCCESS IN ITS INTENT AND THAT THERE IS NO ONE IN HELL THAT CHRIST DIED FOR.

* SO THE REALITY OF REDEMPTION, THE FACT IS, CHRIST ACTUALLY PURCHASED FOR GOD ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE THAT ALL ARE UNWORTHY OF THIS SOVEREIGN GRACE.

** AND LEADS US THAT HAVE BEEN REDEEMED BY GRACE TO SING A NEW SONG, WHICH LEADS TO ONE LAST THOUGHT ABOUT REDEMPTION, THE RESULT OF REDEMPTION, LOOK AT V. 10 PLEASE.

III. THE RESULTS OF REDEMPTION, (READ V. 10)

A. NOW THE RESULTS OF REDEMPTION HERE IN THIS CONTEXT ARE TWO:

* NO. 1 CHRIST HAS MADE THEM (BELIEVERS) PROBABLY THE BETTER TRANSLATION, TRANSLATED THAT WAY IN THE NAS, THE ESV AND THE NIV, OVER US.

** BUT CHRIST HAS MADE BELIEVER NO. 1 TO BE “A KINGDOM AND PRIESTS TO OUR GOD.”

*** AND THE MEANING HERE IS, AS GOD’S POSSESSION, AS HIS REDEEMED ONES, WE WILL NOT MERELY BE GOD’S PEOPLE OVER WHOM HE REIGNS, BUT WILL ALSO SHARE GOD’S RULE IN THE COMING MILLENNIAL KINGDOM.

**** WE LIT. ARE A KINGDOM AND PRIESTS TO GOD. AND A SIMILAR PHRASE IS USED TWO OTHER TIMES IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

1. ONCE IN REVELATION 1:5&6 WHERE IT SAYS:

V. 5 - “AND FROM JESUS CHRIST, THE FAITHFUL WITNESS, THE FIRSTBORN OF THE DEAD, AND THE RULER OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH. TO HIM WHO LOVES US AND RELEASED US FROM OUR SINS BY HIS BLOOD –

V. 6 – AND HE HAS MADE US TO BE A KINGDOM, PRIESTS TO HIS GOD AND FATHER – TO HIM BE THE GLORY AND THE DOMINION FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN.”

* AND HERE IN THIS CONTEXT COMMUNICATES THAT THE REDEEMED ARE OBJECTS OF GOD’S LOVE AND HAVE BEEN CLEANSED AND FITTED FOR THE ROLE OF PRIESTS UNTO GOD.

** AND THEN IN ITS OTHER USE IN REVELATION, IT SAYS IN REVELATION 20:6 (READ IT).

*** NOW HERE THE EMPHASIS FALLS UPON THE PERIOD THAT IS PARTICULARLY IN VIEW, THE 1000 YEAR REIGN OF CHRIST ON EARTH.

**** AND THIS CONNECTS WITH THE 2’D RESULT OF REDEMPTION IN V. 10 FOR THE REDEEMED WILL WHAT?

2. “REIGN UPON THE EARTH.” AND HERE THE EMPHASIS FALLS ON THE PLACE WHERE THE REDEEMED WILL REIGN AS KINGS AND PRIESTS, ON THE EARTH.

* AND A COUPLE OF FUTURE RESULTS FOR THE REDEEMED, WE’LL BE KINGS AND PRIESTS, AND WE ARE GOING TO REIGN ON THE EARTH.

** AS JESUS SAID IN THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS IN MATTHEW 25:21 TO THE MAN WHO HAD 5 TALENTS AND GAINED 5 MORE: “WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT SLAVE, YOU WERE FAITHFUL OVER A FEW THINGS, I WILL PUT YOU IN CHARGE OVER MANY THINGS, ENTER INTO THE JOY OF YOUR MASTER.”

*** AND BELOVED, MY POINT IS, THE REDEMPTIVE PURPOSE OF GOD INCLUDES THE TRANSFORMATION OF PEOPLE TO SHARE THE MEDIATORIAL REIGN OF CHRIST IN THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM.

**** AND THE FUTURE TENSE IN THE VERB “SHALL REIGN” SUPPORTS THIS INTERPRETATION.

IN WRAP UP: (1) THE REDEMPTION SONG OF REVELATION 5:9&10 SHOULD LEAD US THAT HAVE BEEN REDEEMED TO SING A NEW SONG.

* A SONG OF PRAISE SHOULD FLOW FROM OUR HEARTS AND LIPS AS WE THINK OF OUR GREAT REDEMPTION, AND THE GREAT WORK OF GOD IN OUR REDEMPTION, A GREATER WORK THAN CREATION.

** I MEAN HAVE YOU CONSIDERED RECENTLY GOD’S GREAT WORK OF REDEMPTION IN QUICKENING YOU FROM THE DEAD?

*** HAVE YOU CONSIDERED HOW HE OPENED YOUR HEART BELIEVER WHEN YOU WERE NOT SEEKING HIM?

**** HAVE YOU CONSIDERED HOW HE OPENED YOUR EYES WHEN YOU WERE BLIND, OPENED YOUR EARS WHEN YOU WERE DEAF, AND MADE YOU ALIVE BY HIS GRACE WHEN YOU WERE DEAD, LITERALLY RAISING YOU FROM THE DEADNESS AND DEPRAVITY OF YOUR SIN!

(2) OH IF YOU CONSIDER THEN TODAY AND GRASP THE GREATNESS OF GOD’S WORK IN BUYING YOU OUT OF THE SLAVE MARKET OF SIN, YOU WILL SING A NEW SONG TO HIM.

* YOU WILL RESPOND IN WORSHIP AND SING TO THE LAMB, YOU ARE WORTHY.

** YOU ARE WORTHY TO RECEIVE GLORY AND HONOR AND POWER.

*** AND AS YOU CONSIDER BELIEVER, THAT JESUS DIED FOR YOU AND THAT HIS DEATH WAS AN ABSOLUTE SUCCESS TO SAVE YOU, YOU WILL SAY: GLORY TO GOD! I AM SECURE, FOR YOUR PURPOSES WILL BE FULFILLED.

**** AND IF YOU CONSIDER THAT THE BEST IS YET TO COME, THAT YOU ARE GOING TO REIGN WITH CHRIST, YOU WILL RESPOND AND SING, OH LORD WHY?

(3) AND THE ANSWER IS, TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY OF HIS GRACE! TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY!

* OH BELIEVER, BE GLAD TODAY, BE ENCOURAGED, WE HAVE BEEN REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. MAY WE SING A NEW SONG, THE REDEMPTION SONG.