I would like you to take your Bibles this morning and turn in them to Revelation chapter 5.
! How many of you are into cold chills?
! I mean, you know, you get that little, just undeserved little rush of emotion on occasion.
How many of you have those?
Some of us leave, kind of let, you know, we run on a very straight line.
I mean, everything's kind of mellow all the time, but others of us, it's like, whoosh,
whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, you know.
Anyway, I'm into cold chills, and I can't help but reflect on the passage this morning and
the emotion that it has elicited in my own heart in study and in prayer as we think about
the conclusion to this year, and we frame the Christmas story with communion.
I want you to turn to this passage in Revelation chapter 5, and I want you to follow along with
me as I begin reading there in chapter 5, verse 1, and we will carry down to verse 8.
Revelation chapter 5, verse 1.
And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll.
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 the 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 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'd taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before
the lamb, each holding a harp and a golden bowl full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
And they sang a new song, saying, worthy are you to take the scroll, to open the 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.
Let us pray.
Father God, this morning as we come again in prayer, we do so because we know that apart
from you we can do nothing.
We're thankful for the blessing of being together this morning, and we're thankful in particular
for the ministry of the indwelling spirit, for the blessing of being able to hold the
word in our hand, for the privilege of being able to pray together that the word of God would
have free course and that it would have an effect upon our lives, that our affections this
morning would be stirred to glory in the Lord Jesus Christ and the sufficiency of His grace and salvation,
that as we together consider Calvary and we consider what you have done for us,
that our desires would be set on eternal things rather than things of this earth.
that our time around the table, taking the elements that remind us of our Savior's sacrifice for us,
would stir our hearts to look forward to the day that we will see you face to face and be like you.
that our thinking about you and our interest in the day in which we will see you would cause us to live a life that brings glory to your name.
So allow the word of God this morning and the work of the Spirit in the lives of your people to make a lasting difference.
And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Well, as we take up the passage of Scripture this morning in Revelation chapter 5,
we have to admit that one of the basic principles of Bible study is that we pay attention to context.
And context is always an important thing because it helps us frame the ministry of the Word of God
and understand what we are actually looking at.
And as we look at this passage this morning,
I want you to kind of mark the fact that the book of Revelation is a book that kind of gives us a broad overview
of the way in which the story ends.
It tells us, and at one point in the book of Revelation,
John the Apostle pens these words that the book of Revelation talks about things that had happened,
things that are happening, and things that will happen.
And so as we think about the book of Revelation,
we understand that it is a wonderful and intriguing window
through which God gives us a little picture into the future
and helps us understand not only what the future is going to be about,
but it really gives us a big picture of the grand theme of the whole Bible.
It tells us things that we need to pay attention to.
And really, when you stop and think about what is the central theme of Scripture,
without question, we would say without a hesitation, it's Jesus Christ, isn't it?
He is the center of the story, and the entire Scripture revolves around Him.
So I want you to understand that as we pick up here in chapter 5,
we find that the first three chapters of the book of Revelation have been given to a large degree
in giving explicit instructions to the seven churches regarding their spiritual state.
Following that, we have chapter 4 in which John the Apostle opens up
and gives us a picture of the glory of heaven,
and you would say in some sense that chapter 4 in particular is about God the Father.
Woven into that is the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
And then we come to chapter 5, and it begins in a very interesting way
because we have a question that is posed by an angel to John the Baptist, or John,
regarding, okay, who can open the scroll?
And the idea of having all of history kind of unfold in front of him,
something that was dear to John's heart at the moment,
he suddenly finds out that there is no immediate response to opening the scroll.
And how does he handle it?
How does he handle it?
What does it tell us happens in the Scripture?
Here's an adult man who is doing what?
He's not sniffing. He is what?
He's sobbing. He's crying.
Loudly.
Why is it? Because of his interest and affection
in seeing what God was going to do
and seeing the glory of God, and here is this kind of path that he was on.
Suddenly it comes to a halt.
And why did it happen that way in part?
How many of you discovered that on occasion
God has kind of brought a pause
in the things that he's been doing in your life,
and it actually amplifies what lies in front
to a certain degree, doesn't it?
And here it plays out that way,
that John, anticipating, hearing what was coming next,
suddenly there's a pause.
And when the pause is not immediately fulfilled
or that question is not immediately fulfilled,
it kind of amps up his emotion.
And in the backdrop of that, he really begins to sob
until he is given some encouraging news.
What is that news?
You look there in the passage,
and in Revelation chapter 5,
it says,
Weep no more, verse 5,
because we want you to know
that the lion of the tribe of Judah,
the root of David,
has conquered,
so he that he will open the scroll,
and he's going to lay it all out before you.
When you hear those words,
the lion of the tribe of Judah,
the root of David,
what kind of thoughts go through your mind
with those words?
Lion, tribe of Judah.
You think about the Old Testament passages
that speak about the coming Messiah
and his power and his glory and his significance,
and you're kind of struck by that,
and this is exciting.
The one who's going to bring all of history
to its culmination
and is going to bring the power and glory of God
to the forefront is going to be the lion.
And yet we find that on the heels
of that verbal announcement,
then John is given insight that's rather stunning.
You look there, and it says,
In between the throne, verse 6,
and the four living creatures,
now just imagine this,
here's an announcement,
don't cry, John,
because the lion of the tribe of Judah
is the one who's going to open the scroll.
Now, having heard that with his ears,
he looks, and in verse 6 he says,
And I saw a lamb standing
as though it had been, what?
slain.
He was slain.
As I was praying and thinking through
those words in particular,
I had to stop and think
that for the most part,
the vast majority of you who are sitting here
really have no idea what goes into preparing food
that comes from animals.
You really don't understand
what that word lamb slain means
in a visual, visceral way.
Because the truth of the matter is,
I would venture to say
there are very, very few of you
that have ever slaughtered your own food.
Raise your hand if you have.
Raise your hand.
Get them up high.
You've slaughtered your own food.
It is a difficult process.
Would you agree to me?
How many would say,
hey, when your mom said,
go out there and catch that chicken
and whop off its head,
you thought, yes!
Chickens are easy compared to lambs.
Do you understand that?
How many of you have slaughtered
anything larger than a chicken or a rabbit?
Okay.
We got a couple goat killers in here.
I can see it now.
A couple.
Mathea goats?
Lambs?
Yeah.
It's a hard work, isn't it?
Huh?
And so here's this image.
John sees the lamb slain.
And what he means by that
is that he sees in this lamb
the evidence of the fact
that the lamb had been sacrificed.
And the imagery must have been
absolutely stunning.
By the way,
when you stop and think about
the imagery of the book of Revelation,
just off the top,
what are some of the things
that stand out to you?
I mean,
the catastrophic things
that happen in the book of Revelation
are pretty stunning,
aren't they?
Fire from heaven,
you know,
blood up to the bridles of the horses.
You know,
you think about all the people
that are dying left and right.
It's just,
it's pretty graphic.
And yet here,
the most significant
of all the images
is not all that,
but it's the lamb,
the lamb,
the lamb.
And I want you to understand
that God wants us to remember
for all eternity
that our salvation
cost his son his life
as our sacrifice.
It's interesting to Mark
that prior to the book of Revelation,
Jesus is only mentioned
four times as the lamb.
One of them is in John chapter 1,
verse 29,
where John the Baptist
sees Jesus
and what does he say?
Behold,
the lamb of God
that takes away
the sins of the world.
Four times prior
to the book of Revelation,
we have Jesus spoken of
as the lamb.
And yet,
and mark this
because it's significant,
in the book of Revelation,
Jesus is spoken of
28 times as the lamb.
That's stunning
when you stop
and put it together.
And as you think about
what is being said
about the Lord Jesus Christ,
it would seem
that the thing
that the Spirit of God
wants us to understand
when we think about Christ,
in particular,
in the scope of eternity,
we remind ourselves
of his sacrifice
on our behalf.
Eternity is going to be
a great place.
Isn't it going to be?
There will be no sorrow.
There will be no tears.
There will be no sickness.
There will be no sadness.
It's going to be a...
How many of you,
on occasion,
think to yourself,
I'd like to go now?
It's going to be great.
But there,
throughout all of history,
when we look at
the Lord Jesus Christ,
we will look at
a reminder
of what he did
to get us there.
And it's important.
Well, I want you
to take a minute
and appreciate
what this issue
of Christ being our Lamb
really communicates
by appreciating this title
in the light of Scripture.
And so allow me
to skip over
what God did
in providing a covering
for Adam and Eve
back in the Old Testament,
in the book of Genesis,
when he sacrificed animals
and gave their skins
to Adam and Eve
to cover their nakedness
and even step forward
beyond Abraham's instruction
to his...
or instruction
regarding his son
and his sacrifice.
And I want you
to move forward,
if you will,
to the book of Exodus,
just in your thinking,
and stop and consider
what God said to Moses
in relationship
to the Passover Lamb
and the sacrifice
of that Lamb.
Let me summarize
the Exodus passage
for you this way.
each family
was to choose
a young lamb.
Young.
They were to take
that lamb
into their home
and live with it
for four days.
Would it be easier
to take a knife
and slit the jugular
of an animal
that you just arbitrarily
picked out of the room
and did it
in five minutes?
Or would it be harder
to take that lamb
into your house,
have it live
with you?
Could you keep
the kids
from petting that lamb?
Don't pet that lamb.
It's dying in three days.
Don't pet that lamb.
It's got a day to live.
Don't mess with that lamb.
I mean...
And after four days,
that lamb died.
And that lamb's blood
was put on the doorposts
and over the lentil.
As you work your way through
the scriptures,
you understand not only
in the book of Exodus,
but also in the book
of Leviticus
and Numbers
and Deuteronomy,
the issue of sacrifice
was one in which
the Old Testament saint,
in particular,
when he was engaged
in sin offering,
one of the things
that actually he did
was that he went
and put his hand
personally on the head
of that sacrificial lamb.
And in doing so,
he was recognizing
that it was his sin
that was the consequence
that was causing
the death of that animal.
Very visceral.
Very emotional.
Very personal.
For you who have been involved
and have been involved
on occasion
in killing an animal,
I trust you never
found pleasure in it.
It was difficult to do.
It was necessary.
I want you to imagine
just what it was like
to realize that the reason
that little lamb
was being sacrificed
was because of your,
are you listening,
willful, intentional
rebellion against God.
So when you think about
Jesus Christ,
the lamb,
I want you to play this forward
in a very personal way
by stopping and recognizing
that the lamb
was an innocent victim
and was dying as a substitute
in the Old Testament.
And so,
when we think about Jesus
as our lamb,
I want you to understand
that we are going
to remember forever
that God's lamb
died in our place
and as a substitute
for our sins.
Do you understand that?
In the scope of eternity,
when I look at Jesus,
I cannot separate
the image that I see
from the reality
of what He has done for me.
And He will have that
etched into my conscience
and to my heart
for all of eternity.
I would propose to you
that in eternity,
there will be something
in relationship
to seeing to the lamb
that is much,
that is a blessing
in comparison
to our thinking today.
Our thinking about
Christ as the lamb
is very, very inconsistent
up and down.
Would you agree with me?
How many of you confess
that one of the things
that frustrates you
on occasion
is how fleeting
your appreciation
and emotional affection
are for Jesus?
Right?
I mean,
some days it's hot,
some days it's cold,
some days you're caught up
in Thanksgiving,
and other days you're just
as moody and as sour
as they come,
and you stop and think,
man,
well, when we think
about Jesus in heaven,
none of that up and down
will be there.
It will be with a joy
unfettered and unbridled,
and we will enjoy Him forever,
thinking about what He's done
for us.
He,
our sacrifice,
and the substitute
for our sins.
As I said earlier,
in the act of sacrifice,
particularly in the burnt offering
and the sin offering,
the offerer had to lay his hand
on the head of the sacrifice,
and that act
was a symbolic way
of indicating
the transfer of sin
from the sinner
to the sacrifice,
and the act was also
an admission of something else.
It was a recognition
that someone else
was going to die
in your place,
and so later on this morning
when we take the cup,
one of the things
that we will be doing,
we are admitting
that Jesus died for us.
That cup is a reminder
that you have salvation
because of His blood.
Going back to the imagery
in the book of Exodus,
you remember
when the blood of sacrifice
was sprinkled
on the doorposts
and the lentil.
It was later
sprinkled on the altar
and once a year
on the mercy seat.
This sprinkling
communicated the effect
of the blood
on sin.
And I want to communicate
several different passages
or relate several
different passages,
kind of drive that point home.
What does blood do for sin?
In Exodus chapter 12,
verse 13,
when God spoke
to the nation of Israel
regarding that night,
He said,
when I see the blood,
I will pass over you.
And wherever blood was
against the posts
and the lentil,
death did not come
into that home.
I think about the passage
in Hebrews chapter 9,
verse 22,
and I want you to go there
just for a moment.
You're there in Revelation,
so turn back just a little bit
to Hebrews chapter 9,
verse 22.
2.
The author of Hebrews
makes a summary statement
regarding the Old Testament
sacrifice,
and he says this,
without the shedding of blood,
there is no,
what?
Forgiveness.
Why are your sins forgiven?
Are they forgiven?
Because you have done
some nice things
to kind of compensate
for those bad things.
I chuckle
when I talk with individuals.
I have to confess
that I don't laugh out loud.
I think that would be inappropriate,
but I kind of chuckle
when I talk to people
and say,
well, how are your sins
going to be accommodated for?
Well, I'm hoping
my good outweighs my bad.
It doesn't work that way.
One sin against
an infinitely holy God
is infinitely offensive
and your paltry
little peanut effort
doesn't amount to anything.
But the blood of Christ does.
And here in Hebrews chapter 9,
it says,
without the shedding of blood,
there is no forgiveness.
And then mark what it says
there in verse 26.
As it is,
he has appeared once for all
at the end of the ages
to put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself.
By the sacrifice of himself.
So when we think about Jesus
as the slain lamb,
forever in all of eternity,
carrying the marks
of his sacrifice,
we must think of him
as the sinless substitute
for our sins
who died in our place
that we might have
everlasting life.
So I want you,
as we come together
on this thought,
to kind of revel
in his work on our behalf,
to stop and just kind of
flesh it out a little bit
and think,
well, just how significant
is it that Jesus died for me?
I want you to recognize,
for one,
that the book of Revelation
speaks about the fact
that he was slain for us
from before the foundation
of the world.
When did God plan
his son's sacrifice?
How many of you
would prefer
that someone put a lot of effort
into thinking about
your Christmas present?
Don't go there.
I understand that.
What happened before Amazon?
I can remember
with my father,
you know,
it's father and son thing.
We would go out,
guess what night?
Christmas Eve to shop.
I mean,
it's like dad
in the last minute,
it's like,
ah,
I've got to do this.
He hated shopping.
He hated it desperately.
He passed on the genetic code.
And, you know,
so would you rather
that someone rushed out?
What happens
when you buy Christmas Eve?
It's generally panic buying
and it's the leftovers
on the shelves.
How many of you
understand that?
And one of the things
that Christmas Eve buying
always cares for
is that at least
you keep the tag with it
because you can curse
the person
with the responsibility
of taking it back afterwards
if they don't like it.
When was our salvation planned?
Look in the Bible,
if you will.
Just go forward a little bit
to Revelation chapter 13,
verse 5.
Revelation chapter 13,
verse 5.
I want you to kind of
chew on this passage
a little bit.
Revelation chapter 13,
verse 5.
How did I do that?
From before the foundation
of the world,
I am,
verse 7.
How do I get?
Verse 8.
Okay, there it is.
And all who dwell
on the earth
will worship
everyone whose name
has not been written
before the foundation
of the world
in the book of life
of the Lamb
who was slain.
And by the way,
so ask yourself the question
when we sing that song,
the Lamb slain
from the foundation
of the world,
where does that come from?
From this passage.
And I want you to recognize
that what it is saying here
is that Jesus,
the plan for Christ's sacrifice
in our stead
was something
that was foreordained.
It was planned before.
That Jesus would die
for my sins.
He would die
for your sins
before I ever
committed them.
He had me
in mind
when He died
on the cross.
All of us,
our names
written in the book
of life.
I have to confess
that it's hard
to get our head around,
isn't it?
Stop and think about that.
Not only was He slain
from before the foundation
of the world for us,
but He was also slain
specifically
for our sins.
Implicit in that
holy title,
the Lamb,
is the idea
that Jesus is our substitute.
When I think about Him
as the Lamb,
when I see Him
as the Lamb,
I will be reminding myself
that Jesus died
in my place
and it is worthy
of consideration
often.
Who is Jesus?
He's the one
who died in my place.
Furthermore,
as we mark the fact
that we will see Him
forever as the Lamb,
every time we look
on Him,
we will see Him
as the Lamb
and we remind ourselves
over and over again
of our close relationship
to the fact
of what He has done
for us
even in our
eternal existence.
I want you to turn ahead,
if you will,
to Revelation chapter 1,
not 21.
Revelation chapter 21
and I'm going to
ask that you kind of
follow with me
as I read
verses 1 through 7.
Revelation 21
verse 1 through 7.
Then I saw a new heaven
and a new earth
for the first heaven
and the first earth
had passed away
and the sea was no more
and I saw a holy city,
new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven
from God,
prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice
from the throne
saying,
Behold,
the dwelling place
of God is with man.
He will dwell with them
and they will be His people
and God Himself
will be with them
as their God.
He will wipe away
every tear from their eyes
and death shall be no more.
Neither shall there be mourning
nor crying
nor pain anymore
for the former things
have passed away.
And He who was seated
on the throne
said,
Behold,
I am making all things new.
Also He said,
Write this down
for these words
are trustworthy and true.
And He said to me,
It is done.
I am the Alpha
and the Omega,
the beginning and the end
to the thirsty
I will give
from the spring of water
of life without payment.
The one who conquers
will have this heritage
that I will be His God
and He will be my Son.
Now I want you to think
through with me
carrying from these verses
here that we've already read
forward on to the end
of the chapter more or less
and mark several different things.
For one,
we find that He is our God
and we are in relationship
with Him
and blessed because of that.
That's what we found here
in the first seven verses.
But I want you to understand
that also when we think about
who we are in eternity,
we will recognize ourselves
in relationship to the Lamb
because as it says there
in verse 9,
look at it,
Then came one of the seven angels
who had the seven bowls
full of the seven last plagues
and spoke to me saying,
Come and I will show you
what?
The bride.
Who's the bride?
That's who we are.
Isn't that right?
I couldn't help as I was
studying to remind myself
of one of the things
that I have often said
to our search committee
as we continue looking
for God's man.
I said,
You know what?
The Father loves this bride
because it belongs to His Son
even more than the search committee does.
The bride.
We are referred to
as the Lamb's bride.
Furthermore,
I want you to recognize
in verse 14
that the foundations
of the holy city
will carry
the name of the Lamb.
The underlying stability
that we will enjoy
in all of eternity
is there because
of the Lamb.
Our worship
will be centralized
on the Lamb.
Look at verse 22.
And I saw no temple
in the city.
And by the way,
to the Old Testament saint,
how important was the temple?
Buddy,
it was supremely important.
I saw no temple.
Why?
For its temple
is the Lord God,
the Almighty,
and the Lamb.
Our paths,
our decisions
will be governed
by the Lamb.
That's what we find
in 23 and 24.
And the city
has no need
of sun or moon
to shine on it,
for the glory of God
gives it light,
and its lamp
is the Lamb.
By its light
will the nations walk,
and the kings
of the earth
will bring their glory
into it.
And so this morning,
when we take the bread
and we take the cup,
what I want you
to stop and think about
is just how significant
Jesus is
to your life.
I want to add something
as I close.
You will not think
those kind of thoughts
effectively
apart
from a humble
dependence
upon the Holy Spirit.
And so this morning,
as the men come
and we take the elements
together,
the thing that I want you
to do is think about
the Lord Jesus,
the Lamb,
slain from before
the foundation
of the world
for your sins,
and we celebrate
that fact this morning
as we take these elements.
We are going to...
Go ahead, men.
Have a seat for a minute.
We're going to sing
and celebrate
the Lord's table together.
Behold the Lamb
who bears our sins
away,
slain for us.
We remember the promise
made that all would come
in faith,
find forgiveness
at the cross.
So we share
in the bread of life
as we drink
of His sacrifice
as we sign
of our arms of peace
around the table
of the King.
Let me take a moment
in prayer.
Father,
Holy Father,
this morning
as we gather
at this table,
we remind ourselves
that You,
in eternity past,
planned for our redemption
through the bloody
sacrifice and death
of Your Son,
the Lord Jesus,
on our behalf.
And this morning
as we take the bread
and we take the cup,
we want to do so
with consciences
that are clear.
As believers
who have come by faith
to recognize
that salvation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ
alone.
And as we take
the bread and cup,
we bear testimony
to that.
Our desire also
is that, Lord,
as we take the bread
and cup,
our thoughts
would reflect
that Your purpose
in saving us
was for Your glory.
That our lives
and our obedience
would draw attention
to Your power
and Your grace.
Give us an ambition
and affection
for godliness
in the days to come
that brings honor
to our Son,
the Lord Jesus.
We ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
And when he'd given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.
Amen.
Drain the cup that all may enter in to receive the life of God.
In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying,
This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
Let's stand together.
Amen.
As we rise together to come
Our call to follow in the steps of Christ as his body here on earth.
As we share in his suffering.
And we'll pray
We'll to them again
And we'll join
The day's of high
And at the day's of the day
To the day's of high
The Lion of Judah, the Lamb that was slain,
was sent to heaven and therefore the rain.
At the end of the age, when the earth will be,
we will gather the nations before you.
And lives of all men will be fixed on the Lamb
who was crucified with wisdom and mercy and justice.
You'll reign the Father's side and the angels will cry,
Hail the Lamb!
And the earth will reply,
You shall reign
As the King of all kings and the Lord of all kings.