And I'd like to start reading
with verse 1 and read down through verse 8, do a little review from
last week and then spend our time on verse 8 tonight as we
go through this book that continues to share with us the wonderful
glory of our Savior. As that song, this is my father's
world and all glory belongs to the Lord Jesus. And he is going
to share that again in this passage of scripture. There is nothing that prevents
the salvation of the chiefest of sinners. Nothing prevents the salvation
of the chiefest of sinners. As a person put it, except his
own depravity and his own desire not to come
to Christ. And that has to be worked on.
And we find in this verse of Scripture, this passage of Scripture,
that there is an essential part on God's side that has to be
dealt with or nobody will ever be saved. In this verse 13, I
want to read it, excuse me, verse 8. Verse 8, let me read that
first, then we'll come through these 8 verses. And all that
dwell upon the earth shall worship Him, and if we look up, that's
going to be the beast and so forth, whose names are not written
in the book of life of the Lamb. Now this is the alternative to
election. is following after the beast.
The alternative to God's salvation is following after the beast.
That's the alternative. In God's purpose, God's grace,
God's elective grace, it's the only way we'll ever be saved.
And the alternative, if we're not involved in election, if
we have no favor with election, if we have no interest in election,
or what it has to say, and we're not going to believe it, the
alternative is serious. If that is, we will follow the
Beast. We will follow the Prince and
Power of the Savior. We will follow religion. We will
be captivated by it. But we will not follow Christ.
Alright, it's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Let's back up here to verse 1 now. I stood upon the sand of the
sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea. If you remember,
and I'm trying my best, I shouldn't even say this, but the charts. They had a big lake or a big
ocean of water and a beast coming out. That's not what it's talking
about. Most of the time in the book of Revelation when we run
into the word sea, it means people. And this is coming up out of
people. And the beast that had seven
heads and ten horns, and I mentioned last week, I don't know all that
means. It just means to me something I don't want to follow after.
And the only way that we won't is if God had an interest in
us before the foundation of the world. This beast, it's a ruling
beast. It might very well be that what
most countries have had most of their existence was the marriage
between religion and politics. And this beast is so often that
the ruling is made by some church group. And that's been through
centuries. And it's in all lands. It's not
just in the western civilization. It's all over. So what this means,
I'm not completely sure, and I may never be, but I know this.
If I don't have what's found in verse 8, I will follow this. And I still don't know what it
means. Still won't know what it interpreted. The beast which
I saw was like unto a leopard. His feet were the feet of a bear,
and his mouth is the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him
great power, and seat, and great authority. Now, in that description,
the Lord has some significance. But I know this, I may not understand
all, but I know this, that if I don't have what's written in
verse 8, I will follow this creature, I will follow this system, I
will follow this religion, I'll follow whatever it is, even though
I may not know and probably will not know what it is. My heart
will be given over to it. That's the natural inclination
of humanity, is to be given over to this alternative to Christ. Whatever it is Goes on to say
and I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death And
his deadly wound was healed and all the world wondered after
the beast all the world wondered after the beast There's only
well the world wanders after one beast and that is works Works Every religion in the world is
based upon that very thing. Now they may call it different
things and may say different things, but it is based upon
that very principle. It is based upon works. They
followed the beast. He gives people, the system gives
people, the politics give people, whatever it is. gives people
the idea that worship is truly of works. I can work my way to
God and thus everybody follows after the beast. If it wasn't
for God derailing us, we'd still be doing it. we'd still be worshiping
the beast. And we may have grown up in some
of the finest religious organizations in the world, but we still, if
God hadn't had an interest now, on a permanent basis, we're not
going to do that on a permanent basis. God's going to intervene
in all of his people's lives. But on a permanent basis, the
whole world is going after them. God had no part in there before
the world began. And they worship the dragon which
gave power to the beast. And this is serious worship.
It is worship from the people and they probably don't even
realize what's going on. They're worshipping religion,
worshipping a system. And they worshipped the beast,
saying, who is like unto the beast, and who is able to make
war with him? And there was given unto him
a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemies, and power was
given unto him to continue forty and two months. Now there's a
lot of people who say, that's the Roman Catholic Church right
there. That's too simple. That's too simple a statement
because they don't have the inside track on religion. religion is
around the world and called by many things in the hearts of
many people. So that's just too simplistic
to say that there could be any nationality, any place, any people. And they opened his mouth, and
he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God. Now, anything that
is against The Word of God, in any fashion, is blasphemy against
God. When the Word so clearly states
that He does have an interest in people before the world began,
and the people says, it's all of my will. I was listening to
one of the talk show hosts today, and a lady called up, and she's
just thanking God for the election yesterday in Massachusetts, and
I've said my part too. But he just interjected, this
talk show host just interjected, he says, I go along with some
of that, but man has a free will and he can make a choice. Well,
that gives people the impression that we're standing on no man's
land. And we got all the good going
this way, and all the bad going this way, and it just depends
on which way we tip, which way we're going. The sad thing about
it is, we're all going this way. We're not on no man's land. We're
not on the middle. There is no middle ground. In
Adam, all fell. So our will is so tainted by
the fall of Adam, we can't make heavenly choices. We can make
election choices and elect people, and God moves in people to do
that, but we can't make divine choices about God. That's against
our nature, and it's not going to happen. Alright, the beast,
he's given with his mouth speaking great things and blasphemies
and powers given unto him to continue forty and two months.
And we mentioned last week that's exactly the same amount of time
that the church is hidden in the wilderness. It's the amount
of time God has directed. It's not just three and a half
years. God has a timetable, and to Him,
a day is a thousand years, and a thousand years is a day. He's
not limited by this time. It's just a figurative statement
about God has it in His purpose. How long it will be. He's going
to protect His church. Until he comes again, and there
will be this religion the religious regime that people follow after
until that time too and There's it's not gonna last seven years
longer than the church has taken out. It's gonna be equal time
this is going to be here just as long as the church is here
the Antagonism will be here just as long as the truth is here
and when the last Lamb. Last sheep is saved. The end
is going to be for the beast as well as for the church. They're
not on different routes. Same amount of time. That's why
the church is protected for this amount of time, and the beast
is going to have activity for this amount of time. The truth
will be here, but the error... Jesus said, will there be faith
when he returns? And he said, if it were possible,
this system, this religion, this would take away the faith of
the very elect, but it's not possible. So I'm thankful for
his sealing power. The elect cannot be convinced
of this error to the heart's degree. It's been changed by
God. Now we may be slapped alongside
of the head, and we may have thoughts run through it, but
it's not going to change the heart. It's sealed. It's sealed
by the Holy Spirit. And it can't be changed and won't
be changed. And then it says here, and he
opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his
name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. So he's
blaspheming God, he's blaspheming the Lord Jesus Christ, that's
the temple of God, and he's blaspheming them that dwell in heaven, that's
the church. He has no use for any of it. He just, this system, this religion,
man's nature, has no love affair with anything that is of God.
Doesn't love God, doesn't love the Savior, and doesn't love
those who are saved. That's just as simple as we can
put it. He has no love affair for anything that is divine,
and is angry with them. Yeah, the Lord there in the book
of John, he says, the world hated me, I'll hate you. There's no
love affair that the world has with God's people. Now they may
like us as people, they might like us as individuals, but they
will not like the gospel until God changes the heart. That's
just, that's it. And most people don't want to
go there. You can be my friend, but don't
talk about your religion. And, you know, we continue to
be friends and someday, just like in our lives, God's going
to touch our heart and we're going to be able to listen. And
we just pray that that will happen to our friends and happen to
our family, that someday, just like us, Our nature will be changed,
we'll be regenerated, and then we'll say, I want to hear about
this. I want to hear about this. And we'll say, come and go with
me, we'll do thee good. So it's an act of God. But until then, it's going to
be a love-hate affair. I love you, but I hate what you
have to say about your God. Now if you want to talk about
my God, I have some friends, they just can't shut up about
their God because they're trying to impress me with their religion.
We do all this, we've got all these affairs going, we've got
all these works going, we're in Haiti, we're all over the
world, we're doing all kinds of things. And that man down
there in New Guinea summed it all up. They don't have a thing
to say about Christ. And he's the only one that can
save. It's not some helping somebody. He is the gospel. And then it
says there, and power was given him over all kindred and tongues
and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship him whose names are not written. Now this is
the alternative to election. The names, all that dwell upon
the earth shall worship him whose names are not written. Names
are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb.
This is the alternative. This is what happens. This is
the alternative. We love not the Gospel. We love
not God's Word. We love not God's election. We
love not His Son. This is the alternative. Follow
after the Beast. That's the alternative. Follow
after our self-serving religion. Follow after our religion. Follow after a system. Follow
after something. But this is the alternative. They follow after the beast whose
names are not written in the book of life. Now I want to spend
a little time on this one verse of scripture and some thoughts
here with regard to this one verse of scripture. The Lord
often identified his people by written names. Here there's some
names written. in the Lamb's Book of Life. It
says there, "...and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship
Him whose names are not written." Now the Lord often identifies
His people by names written in various forms in the Old Testament.
He used different symbols to indicate what this passage of
Scripture means to us. that there are names written.
Would you turn with me over to the book of Isaiah chapter 49?
This is such a wonderful passage of scripture and it took me a
while to stumble on to the verse after the verse that says, can
a mother forget her child? I like that verse a lot because
it says, no, yes, they may, but God will not. Well, look at the
next verse there. Well, let's stop at 49 verse
13. Isaiah 49, the Lord often speaks
about how He has written names. and where they're written, and
whose names are written. In the Old Testament, it's often
a symbolic, Israel's names are written, and Israel is symbolic
of the church. And all the blessings of the
Old Covenant was to Israel, just as the blessings of the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ is to the church. There's a type there. The anti-type is the church and
the blessings of Christ to the church. Isaiah chapter 49 verse
13 says, Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break
forth into singing. O mountains, for the Lord hath
comforted his people, And will have mercy upon his afflicted.
But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my LORD hath
forgotten me. Can a woman forget her suckling
child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her
womb? Yes, that can happen. They may forget, yet will I not
forget thee. Now I used to stop there. Next
verse, Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands,
thy walls are continually before me. It is no wonder that the Lord's
hands were used in the crucifixion. It's no wonder he wasn't stoned
to death as under Jewish law. It is so providential that God
would use a Roman system of execution and not the Jewish system. His
hands are spoken of here being graven, written. I have graven thee upon the palms
of my hands. I've written you upon the palms of my hands. I'm reminded I don't know about
you, I see it all the time when I'm in school, kids writing notes
on their hands. Well, I used to do that too because
I knew I wouldn't lose that piece of paper. Hopefully. Write a
note on there. Well, the Lord wrote notes on
his hands and it's engraved with the names of his people. He knew
exactly who those nails were on the behalf of. He knew exactly
who he was going to the cross for. These, whose names. Now, in the book of Exodus, going
back a little further in the Old Testament, we find here the
picture, the high priest is a picture of the Lord Jesus in his covenant
of grace. And though we cannot make Aaron
or his descendants Fulfill all of what Christ did they are they
certainly share with us Some blessed truths about the high
priest the Lord Jesus Christ these high priests in the Old
Testament They didn't endure forever our high priest has endured
forever They passed it from generation to generation He ever liveth
to make intercession for us. And if those priests, they had
to continually confess their sin and confess the sins of others.
He had no sin. There are some things about those
priests that just don't apply to Christ. And the book of Hebrews
helps us with that so much, sharing with us that Christ is so much
better than a human priesthood. as good as they were they paled
compared to the our high priest the church's priest all right
here in the book of exodus chapter 28 verse 15 Exodus chapter 28 is there's
there's names written in the book of life There's names there's
graven on the palms of his hand. I can't forget you. I have never
before me. I marked my hands With you there. I'm reminded of you Here, in
Exodus 28, verse 15, it says, And thou shalt make a breastplate
of judgment with cunning work. After the work of an ephod shalt
thou make it, and gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and
fine twine linen shalt thou make it, and four squares shall be
in doubled, and a span shalt be the length thereof. And Span
shall be the breadth thereof, and thou shalt set it in settings
of stones, even four rows of stones." And first row, and it
goes through the different stones that were used there. Verse 21. Verse 21, it says this, "...and
the stone shall be with the names of the children of Israel." 12 according to their names like
the engravings of a signet. Now exactly how this was put
together I don't know because I never saw it, but I do know
this, that there were rows of precious stones and semi-precious
stones on the breastplate of the high priest, and on those
stones were symbols or names of the children of Israel, the
twelve tribes. And everything the high priest
did, he is representing the names that he carries with him. When
he entered into the Holy of Holies, he's representing the names he
carried with him. When he's around the altar, when
he's doing incense, when he is taking a lamb, when he's taking
a bullock, when he's offering sacrifice, when he's putting
wood, he's calling for fire from heaven. He carries these names
with Him every step. He is representing these people
in all of His activities. And that's what we find with
the Lord Jesus Christ, that these names were with Him before He
became involved as a high priest. The priest was set aside and
these clothes were made for him before he entered into the tabernacle,
before he offered one sacrifice. So it was before But he still
represented before the activity. And the Lord Jesus Christ was
the high priest who ever liveth to make intercession for us.
And he had his people's names. Now, it says there's a book of
life. I'm not so sure that it's a book
like this. It could be the mind of God. Doesn't have to be a book written
with these. Doesn't have to be paper and
probably isn't. It's his mind. It's his purpose
or whatever. But he knows everyone that is
involved. That's the point. Here, Israel
is involved. Isaiah. Israel is involved. I'm graven. The church is involved.
Turn with me to the book of Revelation chapter 21. Revelation chapter
21. And we find here that the city
knew Jerusalem. Again, a statement about the
church. Jerusalem of old. Paul was used to help us clarify
that. We're not of Jerusalem which
is now is. But we're of Jerusalem which
is above. It's written about Abraham. It
just struck me again as I read through that again. What a blessed
account it is. He was given all of that land
and yet he looked for a city whose builder and maker was God. He was not tied to this. There
are more religion people today tied to it than Abraham ever
thought of being. Wrong interpretation about God's
Word. Abraham wasn't even interested
in it. He bought a piece of property to bury his wife in, and then
he was buried in. The rest of it was a promise
given to God in type and picture and shadow, and he said, I'm
looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. This is not
it. This is not it. All right. Look here in Revelation. The
church is pictured here. This is just so good. Revelation 21, verse 9. We're
getting closer to that, the study of this chapter. We're in chapter
13. Seven or eight chapters. We'll
be right here. But notice this with me. In Revelation chapter
21 verse 9, there came unto me one of the seven angels, which
had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked
with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the
Lamb's wife. The church is not afraid of a
messenger of God who has plagues and these vials when they're
going to get to see this. What the angel, the messenger
of God, is doing with the rest of the world is of no concern. Our blessing is to get to see
Christ. He wasn't concerned. This is
an angel. One of the seven angels would
have had seven vials full of seven last plagues. Oh my goodness. A person today, oh boy, I don't
know whether I'm going to survive this experience or not. John
didn't flinch. He said, the angel, the messenger
of God said, I'm going to show you the Lamb's ride. You know
what happened? He got excited. And he carried
me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me that
great city. Now let me put it this way, that
great high mountain I can't go wrong. It may not be all of this. It may be more meaning than this,
but that great high mountain to John and to us is Christ.
And it is only from Christ we are permitted to go on and see
these blessings. Great High Mountain, carried
me to Great High Mountain and showed me that great city, the
holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God. Having the
glory of God, her light was like unto the stone most precious.
He is looking at a spiritual city whose builder and maker
is God. He is the author and finisher
of our faith. He is the builder and maker of
the city, God. Having the glory of God, her
light was likened to the stone most precious, even like a jasper
stone, clear as crystal, and had a great wall, great and high,
and had 12 gates. What wall is around the church? The gospel. That's a great high
wall. That's a protective wall is the
gospel. The gospel protects the church. On the outside are those
who have nothing to do with it, but the gospel is there. They're
not going to pass that. And on the inside, the great
wall is protection. outside it's an offense on the
inside it is blessing great high wall could be Christ Christ in
his gospel 12 gates and and at the 12 angels and names written
thereon which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children
of Israel On the east three gates, and on the north three gates,
and on the south three gates, and on the west three gates,
and the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them
the names of the twelve apostles." Here we have the church old...
I should quit using Old Testament. That's put in there. It's supplied
by the translators. It's not in the original. The dividing line in here, it
would do us well And I saw a movie one time, I just really enjoyed
it, and that was the Dead Poets Society. And he was telling kids
to rip the stupid pages out of books that meant nothing. He just, rip them out, rip them
out. And then he says, you won't go to hell for ripping these
pages out. Well, if we just took those pages where it says the
New Testament, which is supplied by the translators, Out. Sometimes we wouldn't have the
problem of going from the old to the new. But here it's in
a combination. Names written. Twelve tribes
of Israel written on the door and the foundations. Names of
the apostles represented the church and our economy. Here's
the church. Names written. Now. The alternative? To have your
name written in the Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation of
the world? He's slain from the foundation of the world. This
purpose was before the foundation of the world. Back up just one
chapter. Revelation chapter 20. Here's
the alternative. Revelation chapter 20, verse
12. Revelation chapter 20, verse
12. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and
another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead
were judged out of those things which were written in the books
according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which
were in them. And they were judged, every man, according to his works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is
the second death." I've always stopped right there. last verse
of the chapter, and whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire. That's the alternative
to election. That's the alternative to having
your names written in the Lamb's book of life. Not there. They're not added in time. God
never added another name to the breastplate of righteousness,
to the breastplate of the high priest. Put 12 on there before
the priest ever did one sacrifice. Stuck it on him and he represented
those people in every sacrifice. Never added another name. God's
never added another name. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is based upon this very thing, the elective grace of
God. If He had not, we would not,
and we could not. Romans chapter 8 says we are
enmity with God, and we're not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be. It is so. So this is, this is
the alternative. Not found in the Lamb's Book
of Life. Not written in... Whosoever was not found written
in the Book of Life. Now we can say, oh, it's according
to their works. Well, it gets down to this. Who's
not written in the Book of Life? I don't understand all I say.
People say there's various places in hell. You've never heard the
gospel, you're not going to be quite as hot as those who did.
I don't know. I know it's a bad place. Doesn't
make any difference. I'm not going to give anybody
any hope." I said, well, stay away from them and maybe they'll
have a warmer place or a cooler place in hell. My goodness, my
goodness. What excuses are made by people,
what statements are made about people make about this subject
just to avoid the reality of those whose names are not found
will be there. All right. That's the alternative. That is the alternative. If God
doesn't show us his comforting doctrine of election, that he
had an interest in us before the world began, there's only
one alternative. Right there. All right. Now,
it says there, it's the Book of Life of the Lamb. That's comforting. Book of Life of the Lamb. I'm
glad it's not the Book of Life of Man. It's the Book of Life
of the Lamb. Now, I appreciate what was said
about the Lord Jesus. Turn with me, if you would, back
to the book of John, chapter 1. John, chapter 1. This was
the statement made by the prophets of old. This is a statement made
by the priests of old, those who had any inclination towards
the gospel. Anybody that had ever had God's
work in them, God's word work in them, Holy Spirit work in
them, would be able to say the same thing as John said about
the Lord Jesus Christ. John chapter 1 verse 29. It's
the book of life of the Lamb. the Lamb. Now notice this John
chapter 1 verse 29 it says here the next day John seeth Jesus
coming unto him and saith behold the Lamb of God. Now it's not
insignificant that that Lamb is mixed with that prepositional
phrase of God He is the Lamb of God. Nobody else would have
selected Him. Nobody else would set Him apart.
They did the physical lambs in the book of Exodus chapter 12.
But nobody would have selected this Lamb. Follow His ministry
in the New Testament. Nobody selected Him. All the
words that were said, and they just represent what people even
say today. Can any good thing come out of
Nazareth? This is Christ. We know his sisters. We know
his brothers. We know his father. And the final
one that we read, we be not born of fornication. And we're legitimate. The aspersions they give, if
he hadn't have been the Lamb of God, Nobody would have come
to Him. He's the Lamb of God, God's Lamb. And then it tells us there in
that verse 29 of the first chapter is, Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. Now this lamb is going to deal
with sin. The lambs under the old economy, under Aaron, they
pictured taking away sin. The lambs in the Garden of Eden
that God used to make the covering for Adam and Eve, it pictured
taking away sin and covering sin, the shedding of blood. But
it couldn't do it. Animals have never been able
to take away sin. They're on the lower level. Okay, who says they're on the
same level and why in the world with modern science? Why would
science say that we come from animals? These animals can take away sin
And God said they can't take away sin. The blood of bulls
and goats cannot take away sin. I've had people tell me that
these Old Testament sacrifices took away sin. No. Can't. Animals can't. The blood
of the lamb can. Behold the Lamb of God. This
is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Acts
chapter 8. Acts chapter 8. We read here with regard to a
quote from the Old Testament. Acts chapter 8 verse 32. I can't remember who I was talking
to the other day. It might have been Lance. It might have been
Wayne. It might have been one of you.
I can't remember. I started carrying three by five cards. I can't remember. But the comment
was made, how many holes would be in our New Testament if it
didn't have the Old Testament quotes? Hebrews would just be a few words
a lot of Matthew Mark Luke and John Would be taken out The old
scriptures are put in there So often and then said this is what
it means. This is what it means right Acts
chapter 8 Acts chapter 8 verse 32 The place of the scripture
which he read was this He was led as a sheep to the slaughter
And a lamb done before his shearer, so he opened not his mouth. The
Lord said, I could have called ten legions of angels. He said to his father, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my
will, but thine be done. He could have called legions
of angels to take care of this mess. His very voice put all
of those who came to arrest him on the ground. And if they'd
have brought 10 million people, he could have still done the
same thing with them. is his voice was not limited by the
number of people he demonstrated who was in charge he was but
he went as it was written as a lamb dumb what's that say and
this is Philip preaching to the Ethiopian unit says there in
verse 32 led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb done
before his shearers, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation
his judgment was taken away. And who shall declare the generation?
For his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered
Philip, and says, I pray thee, whom speakest, the prophet this
of himself or some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth,
and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
This lamb He made very little comments before Pilate, but he
did tell Pilate, you can't do anything if it wasn't given for
you. What else does a king have to say? How many words does a
king have to express? Pilate, you're limited unless
power is given to you. He didn't have to say another
word. When he went before those arresting, who do you see? Jesus
of Nazareth. I'm he. What else does the king
have to say? He can be silent. And he was. And he's like a sheep before
the slaughter. This is, he being again at the same place. This
is that lamb. The names, the book of life of
the lamb. This is the lamb. And then, 1
Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. We read these words, and again,
Peter's making reference to the Passover lamb, and bringing it,
oh, so many centuries ahead, and laying this at the feet of
the Lord Jesus. That's what it's speaking about all that time,
the Passover lamb. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 19. Well, let me back up to verse
18 there. It talks about redemption and what we're not redeemed by,
but what we are redeemed by. It says, verse 18, 1 Peter chapter
1, Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things of silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ, Of a lamb without blemish and without spot verse 19 there.
This is the lamb Peter put the Old Testament Passover lamb at
the foot of the Lord Jesus and said this is the lamb Cleared all the Passover up This
is the lamb. Now, the other part of that verse
says this lamb was slain from the foundation of the world.
This lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. He had
been purposed. What happened that day was purposed
from the foundation of the world. And for all intents and purposes,
and it's the only way that God could forgive Abel's sin, and
it could be written, by faith, Abel. By faith, Abraham. By faith,
Noah. By faith, David. By faith, all
these others. The only way, before the act
had taken place, the lamb was as if it was slain from the foundation
of the world. The purpose was there. God's
word was on the line. When he said, this will be the
sacrifice, that's all that was necessary. I will cover all the
debts. before the world began, I will
cover all debts." And therefore we don't have various
sacrifices of the Lord down through time. And all these animals were
only pictures. So, I'll cover all debts, that's
all he had to say. He'll take care of every one
of them. And when the time came, now turn with me if you would
to the book of John chapter 10. John chapter 10. The Lord Jesus
is sharing with us here in this wonderful chapter of John. John
chapter 10. Some very significant things
about His purpose. It was purpose before the world
began. He was the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. This is the Book of Life of the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The names of those
who are there are there because the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. He had a purpose before the world
began in the covenant of grace. He had a purpose and all he had
to do, God, all God had to do was promise to fulfill Calvary. God was the one that would be
satisfied. God, he shall see the travail of his soul and be
satisfied. God is the one. It didn't matter
whether man was satisfied or not. If God is satisfied, since
God is satisfied, then that's all that's necessary. And just
as we said with regard to a king, he doesn't have to say a lot.
King didn't have to say much to Pilate. King didn't have to
say much to those who came to arrest him. King didn't have
to say much to anybody. He just said a few things. He
just said a very, very small amount. A whole lot more plabber
coming from Pilate and from the rabble in the streets and from
the high priest than ever came from the Lord Jesus. Why? The
King has spoken. His authority. He didn't have
to say much. The words are few. If everything
that he had said and done were written, the world couldn't contain
the whole. His words are few. All right, John chapter 10, verse
11. John chapter 10, verse 11. I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Don't have to say much more.
He does for our benefit. It's like that angel taking John,
loaded down with plagues, taking John to see the bride. This is
a blessing. Say more, Lord. Say more. Well,
let's just jump ahead in this passage of scripture to John
chapter 10, verse 17. Verse 17. Therefore doth my Father
love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
Verse 18. Oh, Lord, say more. No man taketh
it from me, but I lay it down of myself I have power to lay
it down. I have power to take it again
this commandment Have I received of my father? He's the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Now, let's tie this together.
Book of Acts, chapter 2. Book of Acts, chapter 2. Day
of Pentecost. Those disciples and all twelve
are preaching the gospel on the day of Pentecost. Peter, I think
Peter has the Jews. The Hebrew speaking Jews. Then
we got the rest of them. There's a whole You read the
nationalities of those people. James has got a group over here,
and he's speaking in their language, and the rest of them around,
they're speaking in their languages. They're not speaking gibberish.
They said, we all do hear the wonderful works of God in our
language, in our tongue. And Paul said, I'd rather speak
five words with understanding than 10,000 words in an unknown
tongue. And that means an unknown language.
I've shared with you, I went and heard a good friend of mine
preach a whole message in Spanish. and I could have went fishing.
I was there because I wanted to
be there, but I heard Dios and two or three other words, and
that was about it. And he preached the gospel in Spanish. I would
have rather heard five words with understanding than ten thousand
that I couldn't understand. Anyway, all right. They're not
in gibberish. They're speaking language. And
I think Peter's got the Hebrew-speaking Jews And here in Acts chapter
2 verse 22, and I can't help but think that all of them are
preaching the same message. Just all of them. That's what happened in the Old
Testament. They're all preaching the same message. That's what
happened in the New Testament. They're all preaching the same
message. That's what happened through history. God has one message.
It didn't change with time. It's always been the same. Here
it is, Acts chapter 2 verse 22. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God. That should be underlined. Nobody else approved of him,
but God did he's the lamb of God Men didn't set him aside
God set him aside the Father the Son Holy Spirit covenant
mercies set the lamb aside Proved of God among you by miracles
and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you
as you yourselves also know you know about these him This Lamb,
this Son, this Son of God, this Lord Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth,
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. That covers a big, big field. Him delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. I will never grip that. I'm having trouble just grasping
some of the letters of it. It covers a lot, but go on and
read the rest with me Ye have taken and by wicked hands
have crucified and slain He is the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world now men were used but God slew his own son and God slew his own son. In the
covenant of grace, men couldn't do this. What's it say? He did
it alone. You're all going to fall away.
You're all going to leave me. I'm going to be the shepherd
that goes alone. Nobody's going to help me. This
is the Lamb slain. Now, two chapters more. Chapter 4. Chapter 4 of the book
of Acts. It's the book of life of the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. When God said, this is what is
required, this is what I'll provide, this is what's going to happen,
He didn't have to say another word. Anybody that He had written
down can and will be saved on that promise. It's no greater
promise or less of a promise than what He said to you in your
salvation when He said, I grant unto you eternal life. And you
know what? We haven't seen the fullness
of that. But on His promise, and that's what Abel, on His
promise, on His promise, I trust Him. On His promise, I have faith
in Him. Alright, Acts chapter 4, verse
23, it says, it's written, And being let go, they went to
their own company. Now, they'd been arrested. A
bunch of the disciples had been arrested. And they'd been let
go, and they went to their own company and reported all that
the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when
they heard that, when the group heard that, they lifted up their
voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, Thou art God,
which hast made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them
is. What they say? You're God that
rules. You are sovereign God. You take
care of the ants. Who by the mouth of thy servant
David hath said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people
imagine vain things? Psalm 2. The kings of the earth
stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the
Lord and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. The book of life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. The King promised
it. The King promised the results.
Names written in his mind, whatever. He had a people and they were
given to the Son by the Father. And those people will be saved. and all those whose names are
not written in the book of life. That's the alternative. It's not just saying, well, I
don't believe that, I believe another gospel. The alternative
is... Well, I don't want to go along
with the lecture. The alternative is...