Revelation chapter 7, and I'm
taking the title for the message from what's said in verse 17. The Lamb shall feed them and
lead them. Notice in verse 17, Revelation
7. The Lamb which is in the midst
of the throne This is the Lamb who is the Lion of the tribe
of Judah. This is the Lamb who is our Great
Shepherd. This is the Lamb who is King
of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is the Lamb that was slain
before the foundation of the world. The Lamb which is in the
midst of the throne. shall feed them because He saved
them by His grace. He shall feed them and lead them
unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes." No more tears. No more heartache. No more pain. No more death. No more sorrow. The Lamb that we read of in the
book of Revelation And the whole book of Revelation is about the
Lord Jesus Christ who is called the Lamb, the Lamb of God. What is the book of Revelation
all about? It's about the Lord Jesus Christ
and His sacrificial character. Twenty-seven times in this book,
He is called and referred to as the Lamb. The Lamb, but this
is no ordinary Lamb. This is the Lamb who is also
called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. This is the Lamb who
is also the Shepherd of the sheep, who gave His life for the sheep.
The Lord Jesus Christ as our Lamb, Lion, King, and Shepherd,
He shall save His people from their sin. He is called the Great
Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, the God of peace that brought again from the dead the
Lord Jesus Christ, that Great Shepherd of the sheep through
the blood of the everlasting covenant. He's my Great Shepherd. He is God's sacrificial lamb
given for us. He's called the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd does what in John 10? The Good Shepherd laid
down His life for the sheep. And he's called, in Peter, he's
called 1st or 2nd Peter, I can't remember which, but he's called
the chief shepherd who is coming again. We've seen that in our
study, haven't we? Behold, he cometh. The Lord Jesus
Christ is on his way. He's coming back. The Lord Jesus
Christ is called the Lamb of God that takes away our sin. He is our Shepherd. He is our
Savior. He is the surety of the everlasting
covenant. It's going to be okay. He's in
charge. He sealed us in that covenant
of grace with His blood and none for whom the Lord died can perish. God has always purposed to save
sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. God
has always purposed that. In Revelation 13, He's called
the Lamb slain. from the foundation of the world. Before there was a center, the
Lord Jesus Christ stood as a surety. Before Adam fell, Christ stood
as a guarantee of our salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is referred
to in the book of Revelation 27 times in his sacrificial character,
but also we read this word, the Lamb on the throne. 31 times
it talks about the throne of God. That is, and that means
to us, that the Lord Jesus Christ is in charge. Aren't you glad
somebody's in charge? He's in charge of all things. God worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will. The very one who is the Lion
of the tribe of Judah, who is King of kings and Lord of lords. It is who he is that gives power
to what he did. It's just not that some Jewish
man from Nazareth died. This one who died on Calvary's
tree is the anointed Messiah, Son of God. And it's who he is
that gives infinite value, merit, and power. God bought us with
his own church. One who died for us is none other
than God Almighty, manifest in the flesh, the God-man, mediator,
who has made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. In our last study, we
saw the description of the church. The elect of God, redeemed by
the blood of Christ, that stood before the Lamb, that stood before
the throne of God, clothed in the righteousness of the Lamb.
Look at verse 9 and 10, Revelation 7. After this I beheld, John
said, I saw a great multitude. A great multitude which no man
could number. Now the Lord knows the number.
The foundation of God's plan is sure, having sealed the Lord,
knoweth them that are His. This great number which no man
could number, you remember over in chapter 5 when it talks about
that great multitude there, 10,000 times, 10,000, and 1,000, and
1,000 of all nations, of all kindreds, of all people and all tongues,
our Lord said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. These who were sealed in their
forehead by the grace of God, This great multitude of elect,
chosen sinners, they stood before the throne, before the Lamb. Now remember over in chapter
6 verse 17, the question is asked, who shall be able to stand? Who
can stand before that throne? Only those in Christ. They stand
in the Lamb. They stand in Christ Jesus. They are redeemed by the blood
of Christ. They stood justified by the grace
of God before the throne. Justified freely by His grace. They stood, notice what it says
there, they stood before the throne, clothed. They don't stand there
naked, they stand clothed. with the justifying righteousness
of Christ imputed to them. So we have redemption from all
our sin, we have righteousness given unto us in Christ Jesus. And then they stood, the elect
of God, the chosen of God, who were called chosen and faithful,
they stood victorious. They stood victorious, not defeated.
but victorious because of the victory we have in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Remember when Paul writes in
1 Corinthians 15, talking about the gospel of God's grace, and
he said, thanks be to God who has given us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us, because He wins, we win. Remember chapter
6 verse 2, And I saw, behold, a white horse, and he that sat
on him had a bow and a crown, was given unto him, and he went
forth conquering and the conqueror. He's conquered all of our enemies.
And because he's won the victory, we're winners in him. And they
cried with a loud voice saying, salvation, verse 10. And they
cried with a loud voice saying, salvation, salvation to our God,
which sits upon the throne. He is sovereign, the absolute
sovereign God of creation, providence, and all of salvation. Salvation to our God. Remember
back in chapter one, turn over there. Revelation 1, verse 5, Jesus
Christ, who is a faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead,
and the prince of the kings of the earth, he's the king of kings,
the prince of peace, unto him that loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own blood, and made us priests, kings and priests,
unto our God and his Father. To him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. And we say, Amen. We say, Amen. Now, back to the text. Salvation
to our God that sits upon the throne forever and ever and ever. Now, look at verse 11 and verse
12. All the angels of God, and these
are the elect angels, they were fallen angels. who are reserved
unto judgment of that last day, and they are elect angels. The
elect angels stood around about the throne, and about the elders,
we know there were 24 elders representing all the elect of
God, all those sealed in their forehead, and the four living
creatures, the four beasts, representing God's ministers, and they all
stand before the throne, round about the throne, And they fell
on their faces before the throne and worshiped God. That's why
we're here today, to worship God, to honor Him. Remember,
our Lord said, the Father seeketh such to worship Him in spirit
and in truth. And here's what they said. Amen. Amen. Blessing, seven things. Blessings, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving,
honor, power, might be unto our God forever and ever. And then
again, they said, amen. Amen. Not only do all the redeemed,
all the elect of God, willingly serve and worship the Lord Jesus
Christ, but so do all the elect of God, all the angels of God. If you look back in Revelation
4, Luke 8, Revelation 4, verse 8. The four
beasts, each of them had six wings, about him they were full
of eyes. Within and without, they rest not, day and night,
saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which is, which
was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory,
and honor, and thanksgiving to him that sat upon the throne,
who liveth forever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall
down before Him that sat on the throne and worship Him that liveth
forever and ever. And they cast their crowns before
the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory,
honor, power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure
they are and they were created. So we give all honor and glory
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only all the elect angels,
but all those redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Although the elect angels know
nothing of the experience of redemption by the blood of Christ,
they know that redemption is all of God's grace through the
redeeming blood of Christ, and they say, Amen to that. Amen
to that. But notice also we have here
all those who are redeemed, called, chosen, and faithful, they say
amen as well. Verse 12. Let's look at these
seven things that are mentioned here in verse 12. First of all,
they fall on their face and they worship God, saying amen, salvation
to our God, blessing. Blessings. Blessing. We bless
God who had blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessing. Bless the Lord. The
Lord is blessed in himself and is a source and fountainhead
of all spiritual blessing to us, to his people who were signed
sealed and delivered by the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessing to our God. We bless
Him who had blessed us. If you want to turn with me,
you can. If not, just sit still and I'll read it to you. But
over here in Psalm 103, Psalm 103 saying, Blessing to our God. Psalm 103 verse 1. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy
name. We bless the Lord. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all of his benefits, who forgiveth
all thy iniquity, who healeth all thy diseases. Shouldn't we
bless the Lord in honor of magnify him who redeemed thy life from
destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender
mercy, who satisfy thy mouth with good things so that thy
youth is renewed like the eagles, The Lord executes righteousness
and judgment for all that are oppressed. The Lord is merciful
and the Lord is gracious, slow to anger, plenteous in mercy.
He separated our sin from us as far as the east is from the
west. Can't we say amen, blessing to our God? He is a great God
who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly in Christ
Jesus. And then the second thing they
say amen to, Blessing to our God, and then they say glory. Glory to our God. Praise the
Lord. Glory to our God. Our Savior
is the Lord of glory. All glory is due His name. All His works of creation, providence,
and salvation, they are glorious, aren't they not? Glorious! His works of creation, He created
all things by the word of His power. His work of providence,
working all things exactly as He determined from all eternity. When the Savior came in the flesh,
the angels of God, you remember what they said? When He was manifest
in the flesh as the God-man mediator. We studied it in Luke chapter
2. You remember what the angels said? Glory to God in the highest. Glory to God in the highest. Peace, honor, goodwill toward
men. So we glory. We give them all the honor and
glory for the salvation of the Lord. We can say with the Apostle
Paul, God forbid that we should glory saved in the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So blessing. Blessing do his
name for everything he is and everything he's done for us.
And then glory to his name. We glory in none other but the
Lord Jesus Christ. And then thirdly, he mentioned
wisdom. Wisdom. Our God is not only almighty,
but he's wise. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? In Christ are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. He is the only wise God, our
Savior. Wisdom and power. That's what
it took to save sinners like us. Wisdom and power. You remember what it says in
Corinthians? Let me just read it to you. We
preach Christ crucified, and to the Jews a stumbling block,
and to the Greeks foolishness, but to them which are called,
both Jews or Greeks, Christ the power of God and Christ the wisdom
of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men,
for you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, but God had chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God
had chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty, and the best things of the world and things
which are despised have God chosen. Yea, all things which are not,
to bring to naught, yea, all things that are not, to bring
to naught the things that are, that no flesh should glory in
his presence. But of him, are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that with
glory, let him glory only in the Lord. So blessings, honor,
glory, wisdom. Christ crucified is the very
wisdom and power of God. How can God, do you think how
wise he is? God who is holy, infinite, and
eternal, and yet he justifies the ungodly and does so in such
a way that he does not violate his own holy character or his
own holy law. How can God be both a just God
and Savior? just and the justifier, only
in Christ and Him crucified. That's where we see the wisdom
of God in saving sinners. He is called the King, eternal,
immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory
forever and ever. Amen. And that's in 1 Timothy
1, verse 17. The fourth thing that he mentions
in our text, verse 12, is thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. Thanks being to
God for the unspeakable gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. If
we know anything about sinners redeemed by the grace of God,
we know that they are thankful. Thankful. You think what we deserve,
the wages of sin is death. Think what He gave us, the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. Why does that make
the sinner redeemed by His blood, justified by His grace? Thankful. Thankful. Thankful. The apostle
put it this way, rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in everything
give thanks. For this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. All of our salvation is of the
Lord's doing. This is the Lord's doing and
it's marvelous in our eye. Thanksgiving motivates us to
worship and to serve him. We worship him because we love
him, because we're thankful for him. everything He has done for
us and blessed us with. Back to the text, look at verse
7, chapter 7 verse 12 rather, saying, Amen, blessing, glory,
wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, honor. Honor is due, pay honor
to whom it's due. From all of His creatures, they
honor Him, for He is their Creator. and the sons of God, especially,
for Christ is the author of eternal salvation for all of his people,
he is their Lord. Who is due honor and respect
alone for all things in salvation? Well, you know the answer to
that. The Lord Jesus Christ. All honor is due unto him. We confess that our salvation
is all his doing. And then the next thing he mentions
there, is power. Power. All glory, all blessing,
all wisdom, all thank-giving, all honor, and power. How much power does it take for
God to save a dead Guilty sinner. It takes all the power of God. So much so that the Apostle Paul
puts it this way, we believe according to the working of His
mighty power. And then it goes on in the next
verses to describe that power, the same power it took to raise
the dead body of the Lord Jesus Christ that third morning is
the same almighty power it takes for God to quicken a dead sinner. Aren't you glad he has all power?
He prayed that in John 17, Father I thank you, you've given me
power over all flesh that I should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given to me. Paul put it this way, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believes. He has all power in heaven and
in earth and we're kept, we're kept by the power of God. We're
kept by the power of God. Turn over here to Revelation
chapter 11, verse 17, saying, chapter 11, verse 17, we give
thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art and was and art to
come, because thou hast taken to thee great power, and he hath
reigned. That means God is sovereign.
That means God is on the throne. That means whatsoever the Lord
is pleased to do, that's what He does. In heaven, earth, sea,
and all deep places. The seventh thing He mentioned
back in our text. Might. Might. Might and power. Sovereignty and strength. He
is the Almighty God or the Lord God Almighty. He is mighty to
save. All things the Lord Jesus Christ,
all these things the Lord Jesus Christ is forever and ever. and
will never be diminished." Never be diminished in His blessing,
His honor, His glory, His power. And you know what they said to
that? They said, verse 12, they said, Amen. And then they said
again, Amen. Can't you say that in your heart?
Don't you desire to honor Him, to glorify Him, to bless Him,
to worship Him? And we say, Amen and Amen. Now, verse 13. One of the elders
here, redeemed, called, chosen, washed in the blood of Christ,
answered, saying unto me, what are these? Or who are these which
are arrayed in white robes? And where did they come from?
Who are these? Great multitude. And these 144,000
that are sealed in their foreheads. Who are these? Where did they
come from? And these white robes, how did they get them? And I
said, verse 14, unto him, Sir, you know. And he did know. And he said to me, well, these
are they which came out of great tribulation. Great tribulation. Talking about this life. This
life is man is born of woman, few days, and full of trouble.
And they have washed their robes. And they made them white in the
blood of lamb. And they are before the throne
of God. And they serve him day and night in his temple, in his
tabernacle. And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them. Two questions and one plain answer.
One of the 24 elders asked John to focus John's attention and
ours upon these who are redeemed by the blood of Christ. Who are
these clothed in white robes and where did they come from?
Verse 14. Who are these people? These are
they who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and their
robes of salvation are pure and spotless white, no sin whatsoever."
The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just how powerful and how cleansing
is the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. So much so
that God said their sin and their iniquity will I remember no more. He has redeemed us with His blood,
and He has washed away and put away all of our sin by His blood. And these robes, Two things I
need to stand before God. I need redemption from all my
sin. And He has put away our sin by
the sacrifice of Himself, and I need righteousness. That's
what the white robe there indicates. Righteousness and redemption.
Where are you going to find such? Blessed things only in Christ
and Him crucified. He is our redemption. In whom
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin,
according to the riches of His grace. And we have righteousness
in Christ. We have a white robe given unto
us, which is His righteousness. Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord would impute righteousness without works. These are they
that have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb." His blood. Thank God for the sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood of bulls and goats
could never put away sin. Our great high priest didn't
bring that typical animal sacrifice. He brought his own blood and
obtained eternal redemption for us with his own blood. Who are these people? Well, they're
redeemed by the blood of Christ. Where did they come from? Look
what it says in verse 14. They came out of great tribulation.
Great trouble. Great trouble. Believers in this
life have a multitude of trials, troubles, and heartaches to endure. You read through the Scriptures,
God's faithful servants, Abraham, Moses, Job, David, Isaiah, Ezekiel,
all these faithful servants of God in their life, what did they
have? Trouble. How about the Apostle
Paul? Beaten, stoned, hated, whipped. How about the Apostle Peter?
You know, all the apostles, with the exception of John, all the
apostles died at the hands of those who murdered them. They all had trouble, but they
came out of these tribulations. brought to eternal glory by the
grace of God through the redeeming blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They came out of trouble. Our
Lord said to His apostles right before He went to Calvary's tree,
He said, These words have I spoken unto you, that in me you might
have peace. In this world you shall have tribulation. Ah, but
be of good cheer. I have overcome. I have overcome. Notice what it said there. These
are they which came out of great tribulation. The Lord gives us
grace in the day of our trials. In this life, we shall have tribulation. But thank God, by His grace,
He brings us through the trial. Trials that do come our way are
controlled by the Lord, and it shall be well. It shall be well
with the righteous. Now look at verse 15. And here
we know the outcome, the end. They came out of great tribulation.
They are redeemed with the blood of Christ, and they are before
the throne of God. And they serve him day and night
in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among
them." It's going to be alright. Everything's going to be alright.
It's going to be well. It'll be well with the righteous.
Because he said, come boldly to the throne of grace that you
may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. When is our time of need? All
the time. All the time. All the time. They're
before the throne of God and they serve him always. And he shall dwell among them.
Our God shall be with us forever and ever. This was the promise
of the covenant Remember, in Jeremiah 32, He said, I will
be their God. I will and they shall be My people. They came out of great tribulation.
And He sits upon the throne. And you know what? We're seated
in Him. We're seated in the heavenly, in the Lord Jesus Christ right
now. Right now. And because of that, We have
a shepherd who take care of all our need according to his riches
in glory. Verse 16, they shall never, they
shall hunger no more. We constantly feed upon Christ
the bread of life. We'll thirst no more. He is the
water of life. The sun shall not light on them.
No need for the sun. The sun light, Christ is the
light of that place. No more heat. no more wrath,
no more judgment, no more condemnation. Verse 17, for the lamb which
is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead them unto living fountains
of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."
What is heaven going to be like? What is paradise? You remember
our Lord said today, you'll be with me in paradise. What is
it going to be like? We just read it. We just read
it. If the Lord would just let us
enter into it for just a moment. I want to close this message
by reading two portions of Scripture First of all, let's turn to Revelation
21, verse 1. And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away, no more sea. You remember John was out on
that island, surrounded by sea. He said, no more sea. And I,
John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them. and they shall
be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their
God, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There
shall be no more death, no sorrow, no crying, neither shall there
be any more pain. The former things are passed
away." Good news. Revelation 22, turn over there.
Good news. I love verse 3. Revelation 22,
verse 3. And there shall be no more curse.
No more curse. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law. But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be
in it, and a servant shall serve Him, and they shall see His face,
and His name shall be in their forehead. Remember, they were
sealed in their forehead. And there shall be no night there,
And they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord
God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. What is paradise going to be
like? We just read it. Those redeemed by the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ will enjoy Him serving Him forever and ever
and worship Him. Just think of it. Worship Him
with no distractions. Worship Him without the frailty
of this sinful flesh. Worship Him truly in spirit and
in truth forever and ever and ever and ever. And I say to that,
Amen.