Today we're going to look at
the Eternal Lamb. The Eternal Lamb. Do you know
that before there was ever a sinner, there was a Savior? Before there was ever a sinner,
there was a Savior. Purposed and planned by God in
eternity. Before the foundation of the
world. Before there was ever anything. A.W. Peake wrote one time in a book
on the attributes of God about the solitariness of God. And he said, God dwelt in eternity,
and he was absolutely pleased to dwell with himself, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit in perfect unity. They didn't
have to create anything, but they did to manifest their glory.
And they planned the salvation of men, fallen men. in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ by the shedding of his precious blood,
all planned and purposed by God, when? Before the foundation of
the world. Turn, if you would, to Revelation
chapter 13. Revelation chapter 13. We'll read one verse here,
verse 8. Revelation chapter 13, verse
8. The lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. God didn't go to plan B when
Adam fell in the garden. I used to say that to my shame
when I was in religion. No. God's a God who's purposed
and willed the salvation of his people who he gave to Christ
before the foundation of the world. He's purposed their salvation
even before there was ever any sinner. And marvel at this as we read
this. And all that dwell upon the earth and shall worship him,
that being the Antichrist, whose names are not written in the
Book of Life, in the Book of Life of the Lamb. When were our
names written in the Book of the Life of the Lamb? Well, religion
tells you that as soon as you make a confession for Christ,
God takes his pen and writes your name in the Book of Life.
Well, not according to this verse. Look what it says. Whose names
are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. Beloved, our names, God's people's
names were written in the Book of the Life of the Lamb, the
Lamb's Book of Life, it's called, before the foundation of the
world. Now let that sink in. Travis
Thorne. Karen Thorne. Marsha Walker. Isn't that amazing? Like they're thwarting God, like
God's up there crying for him. No, he's not. Scripture says
he laughs in their derision. He mocks their calamity. My oh my. The God of the Bible. He's not the God of people's
imaginations, let me tell you that. And often you'll hear we
grace preachers proclaim that Christ is the lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. And this is where we get it from,
this verse. And today we'll look closer at
this wondrous lamb. We'll see him in scripture. We'll
see how he's revealed. Remember, we who are the people
of God would never know who he was unless he revealed himself
to us. And the only reason he reveals
himself to us is because our names are written in that Lamb's
Book of Life. And who did he die for? All whose names were
written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Well, who is that? Well,
I don't know. So I preach the gospel to everyone and let the
Holy Spirit do the work. He does the saving. I don't do
the saving. I just proclaim. I'm just a messenger. Norwell
said, we're postmen. We just deliver the mail. Just
people get mad at the mailman. Well, if that's the way it's
going to be, that's the way it's going to be, right? Oh, my. God's given me a message to proclaim.
I'm going to proclaim it. Salvation's in Christ alone.
There's no other way. Not by anything you do or I do.
If you're saved, it's all by the grace of God in Christ plus
nothing. He does, He saves us all according
to His mercy. He chose us in Christ, wrote
our names in the Lamb's book of life. God the Father did that
according to His mercy. I don't think we can really fathom
it, can we? I don't think we can, we can think about it, but
our minds are, and it's good for our minds to fizz out about
it because it's truth. It's truth. My. And this is a wondrous truth. Let it sink in. Meditate upon
it this week. Think upon it. That my name was
written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of
the world, and that Christ was a lamb slain from before the
foundation of the world for me? Oh my goodness. That's truth. We say and see
in this verse, he's a lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
and that means before there was ever anything. That's what that
means. My oh my. And this truth, beloved,
these truths that we're going to look at today, they will comfort
us. The fact that Christ is a lamb slain from the foundation of
the world will give us comfort. You know why? Because our salvation
is in He who is eternal. It's not in ourselves. It's not
based upon nothing we do. It's all based upon what Christ
has done for us in our room and place. The Savior who I love
is my substitute. He died in my place. And every
believer can say amen. Your sins, my sins was placed
upon Him. No wonder we love Him so. He
bore the wrath that was due His people. That wrath of God that
should have fallen upon me, He bore it all. It's extinguished
now. What more can we say but hallelujah? Praise be to God. What a great, what a great savior. What great love. Do you know that the greatest
manifestation of love was at Calvary's Cross? That this world
has ever seen? When Christ died for his people,
that was the greatest manifestation of love. My, Christ is a lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. In John 17, 24, he said, Father,
I will that they also whom thou has given me be with me where
I am. Well, when were they given to him? Turn to Ephesians chapter
1. When were they given to him?
He's speaking about people. And in John 17, he says, Father,
I will that they also whom thou has given me be with me where
I am, that they may behold my glory, which Thou hast given
me, for Thou lovest me from before the foundation of the world.
So we see our Savior clearly proclaims in John 17, 24. He
proclaims His deity. He proclaims He was loved of
the Father before the foundation of the world. And He's the Son
of God. He's the Word of God incarnate.
He's the second person of the Trinity. He's the great and everlasting
God, the Ancient of Days. And now men and women may deny
this truth. But it doesn't change the fact that it's true. It's
absolutely true. The son of God set aside his
glory that he had in heaven. He set it aside, beloved. The
captain of the Lord's house came into this earth to suffer, to
bleed, and to die in the room and place of his people. And
he did it. And he was successful. He was
so successful, he cried, it is finished. It means it's done
to perfection. It's completed to perfection.
That means there's nothing for you and nothing for me to do
for our salvation. It's completely done. And the
scripture says of the Messiah, he shall not fail. He didn't
fail, did he? No. People of other religions may
look at Christ and say, well, look, he died. He's nothing. No, he's God dying on that cross.
That's the God man dying on that cross. That's the savior of his
people dying on that cross. My, oh, my. If you look here
in Ephesians chapter 1, we read verses 3 to 6. It said, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
So Paul's writing to the saints in Ephesus, the church, not a
building, the people. Right? Because the church isn't
a building. The church is the people, the called out assembly,
the ekklesia in the Greek, which means a called out one. We are
called out ones, beloved, from this world. sanctified and set
apart by the Lord Jesus Christ, purchased by his precious, precious
blood on Calvary's cross. My, it's amazing. It's amazing. Look what it says here though.
He's blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. There's not one spiritual blessing
that we're missing. Justification, we can stand in
the presence of God in Christ. Holiness, we're made holy in
Christ. Wisdom, we have all wisdom in
Christ. We're learning, but he is all
wisdom. Christ is all wisdom. And the
Holy Spirit teaches us the things of him. And it doesn't cause
us to boast in ourselves, because we didn't do nothing. But it
causes us to boast in Christ, doesn't it? The more we learn
about the great salvation that Christ has wrought out for us,
the more we boast in him. The more we say, look what God's
done. Look what he's done. And then look at verse 4. Look
at this. According as he has chosen us in him, That's Christ. So we already saw in verse 8
of Revelation 13 that Christ is a lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, and here we see that God's people are chosen
in Him, in Christ, when? Before the foundation of the
world. Well, if that doesn't tell you
that our salvation is not dependent upon us, then nothing I show
you is going to You know, and the Holy Spirit has to reveal
this truth to us. There was a time when someone bought this truth
to me, and I just, I just went, I was so much against it, thought
it was wrong. I thought, how can God be like
that? Well, I praise God he's like that. He didn't leave me
where I was. Praise God he chose me in Christ, because I never
would have chosen him. Is it so for you? before the foundation of the
world. Look at this. Why? That we should be holy. We're holy
in Christ. We're holy in Christ. Isn't that
amazing? And without blame before Him
in love. There's going to be a day when Christ is going to
present us to the Father. Jude talks about it. Blameless,
spotless. Isn't that wonderful? Sinners
from the top of our head to the bottom of our feet. Even now
we're saved. We're still sinners, aren't we?
Anyone who says they aren't, God says you're a liar, right?
Well, we all as grace people, we're the first folks that meant
we're sinners. We are. Sinners saved by the grace of
God. We're going to sing a song later. Only a sinner saved by
grace. That's all we are. That's all
we are, sinners saved by grace, right? But in God's eyes, we're
blameless. What? You're a sinner now, but
in God's eyes, you're blameless? Yeah, because I'm in Christ.
Are you? Oh, my. All the guilt of my sin
is gone. The payment on my sin is paid
in full. The wrath of God against me is
extinguished. And I'm going to tell you that
the only way that's possible is salvation in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture says, look unto me
and be ye saved. Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy
laden. I was thinking about that verse
today. Are you weary? Are you weary from trying to
work your way to heaven? Trying to do things that in your
eyes would gain your favor and merit with God, and then you
just keep failing. Oh, I know what that's like. I was like
that in religion. Just keep failing, just keep
falling on your face. Come unto me, all you that are
weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Rest. Cease from your labors
and just trust Christ. And may God give you faith just
to look to Him, just to look to Christ. The Philippian jailer
said to Paul, what must I do to be saved? And Paul said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. My, well, that's too easy. Well,
that's the way of the Bible, but you won't believe unless
God gives you faith to believe. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that incredible? What a
gracious and merciful God. I was mentioning this morning
in Sunday school, I'm going to repeat this, that I was thinking about
Ephesians 2, talks about how we're, let's turn there, let's
turn there, Ephesians 2. Let's turn there, this is something
to look at here. Ephesians chapter 2, I'm going to weigh out my
notes, but I want to, this is important to bring up. Ephesians
chapter 2, verse 1. And you, Hathikwiken, now Paul
again is writing to believers here. You, Hathikwiken, who were
dead in trespasses and sins, dead there is a corpse. in the
Greek, a corpse. And I mentioned this morning,
a corpse can't walk, a corpse can't talk, a corpse can't do anything. There's nothing that a corpse,
it's dead, it's lifeless, right? That's how we are spiritually.
That's how we're born into this world, spiritually lifeless,
physically alive and spiritually lifeless, okay? Look at this. Where in times
past you walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience. Among them also ye all had our
conversations in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others." Now look at, notice
something Paul does. He doesn't say, he doesn't say, well, you
were all like this. He says, we were. This is how
we were. I remember being in religion,
and the preacher, when the preacher got up and talked, you'd think
he never sinned. This is how we were, beloved.
We were dead. That's our state. That's our
natural state. But look at this. Here comes
the mercy of God. But God, oh, praise God for but
God. But God, who's what? Rich in
mercy. Oh, he's so rich. You can't measure
it. You can't measure the mercy of God. It's immeasurable, beloved. For his great love, how much
has he loved us? Oh, he loved us with an eternal
love from eternity. His love has never changed. You
know how we change and we can be fickle? He's ever, he's the
same yesterday, today, and forever. So his love has never changed
for us. Isn't that amazing? Mine. His great love were worth, he
loved us. Even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace, ye are saved. Okay, so one who's spiritually
a corpse, is now made alive. And we have
an example of that. You know that? I was just thinking
about that. We have an example. Lazarus! Come forth. What'd that corpse
do? Well, life went back in him,
right? And he got up and walked. What happens when Christ gives
us life? We run right to Christ. We flee right to... As Lazarus
did, he came out at the command of Christ. We come at the command
of Christ, don't we? Isn't that wonderful? And that's
not a command. That's a loving command he gives
us, right? With cords of love, we're drawn to Christ. I was
thinking about this this week. It's the goodness of God that
leads men to repentance. Think of how merciful he is to
us. Think how good he is to us. Think of how he doesn't give
us what we deserve. It's the goodness of God that leads a
man to repentance. Oh my. And then verse 5 and 6
of Ephesians 1 says, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will,
it pleased God to save us. We're saved because it pleased
God, all according to the good pleasure of his will. Think of
that this week. That'll put a spring in your
step, I'll tell you. Oh my, not because of anything we did, but
we're saved according to the good pleasure of his will, to
the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us.
We don't make ourselves accepted, do we? No, he made us accepted
in the beloved. God's made us accepted in Christ.
That's mercy. That's pure mercy, that the ones
who were dead in trespasses and sins, shaking our fists at him
as the rebels do, and he makes us. He makes us alive and we
praise His mighty name. Let's look at Revelation 13,
8 again. It says, And all that dwell on the earth shall worship
Him whose names are not written in the book of the life of the
Lamb from the foundation of the world. Now let us always remember
that our God, His purpose is absolute. He's a God of purpose. And His purpose doesn't change.
His will doesn't change. If He's loved us from eternity,
He'll love us for eternity will never end. He loves us all the
time. It's amazing. Eternity past,
if you want to put it that way, eternity present, eternity future.
Well, it's all eternity, isn't it? It's all one. God dwells
outside of time and space. We're locked into time and space.
He's not. He's outside of time and space.
He dwells outside of it. I was talking to Vicki this week
and I said, God, imagine how people say, well, where's the
Lord? Where is he? Well, he's only getting gone two days, beloved.
One day to the Lord is a thousand years. It ain't been very long
at all, has it? No, no, not been very long at
all since the Lord's left this earth. Not in his eyes, not in
God's eyes. And we see here, before the world
was made, before time began, our great almighty and all-powerful
sovereign, God the Father had purposed that all things that
come to pass. So what comfort we can take in
these precious truths. My, oh my, we find ourselves
in uncertain times, don't we? But everything's unfolding according
to God's will and purpose. We don't understand it. Oftentimes
when, I know, Many times going through things and thinking at
the time, how is this bringing glory to God? And then years
later, looking back and going, oh, my gosh, look what God did.
And some of the things was the things he protected me from doing. And I know it's so for you, too.
It's amazing. Oh, he's wonderful. He's wonderful. If I'd been left to myself, I'd
have ruined myself. But he kept me. He knew I was
one of his sheep. I didn't know that. My. And think upon this, that everything
in this universe is moving toward the predestinated end of God's
eternal purpose. Everything. It's all working
to the end that he's purposed. And that he's planned. And there's
nothing that's happening, not just in our world, But in the
whole universe, in everything he's made, there's nothing that
escapes his ever watchful eye. Nothing. Nothing escapes his
watchful eye. People think they get away with
it. Oh, I'll get away with that. No. Someone's watching. Oh, my. That makes us sober,
isn't it? That's sober in thought. My, oh, my. Everything that comes
to pass in time, was purposed by God in eternity. And we know
this because the purpose of God is eternal. The purpose of God
includes all things. And the scripture declares that
all things work together for good, right? For our good and
for God's glory to those who are called according to his purpose.
Again, we don't always see it, do we? There's some times we're
thinking, oh, Lord, what's going on? Just trust him. When those times come, just look
to Christ. Just trust him. Ask him to give
you grace and strength and hold on to the lamb. So let us consider
how the scriptures bring forth this precious truth that Christ
is a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Turn if you would
to Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3. This lamb of God who was slain
from before the foundation of the world, was this wondrous
lamb of God, he was first introduced in Eden in picture, in picture. Look at this, in Genesis chapter
three, verses 21 to 24. Unto Adam and also unto his wife
did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothe them. How did
that happen? Well, there was a lamb slain,
wasn't there? There was a lamb slaying, beloved,
an innocent victim. Slaying to clothe them. They were naked. What are we
before God? Naked. Right? My. But these, they were, they
were clothed by the death of an innocent lamb. What are we
clothed in, beloved? The righteousness of Christ,
right? How did we come about having that righteousness? By
the death of the Lamb of God. Clothed in His righteousness.
So this is a picture, look at this. And the Lord God said,
behold, the man has become as one of us to know good and evil.
Now, lest he put forth his hand and take also the tree of life
and eat and live forever. Therefore, the Lord God sent
him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from
whence he was taken. So he drove out the man and placed
at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims and flaming sword
and turned every way to keep the way of life. Now the coats
of skin again that God clothed Adam and Eve represent the righteousness
of Christ. When that prodigal son came home,
what did the father say? Bring out the best robe. And
the father clothed them. We're clothed by the father.
We don't put this righteousness on ourselves. No, we're naked
and destitute. And the Father clothes us in
the righteousness of Christ. Isn't that wonderful? What a
picture we have here. This is a picture again of the
innocent substitute dying. So that Adam and Eve may be clothed.
What a picture of the Lamb of God. And His skin was removed. His blood was shed when His skin
was removed. My. And it hadn't done anything
wrong, had it? That Lamb hadn't done anything
wrong. Nothing at all. It did not deserve to die. And
think of this. Here's another thing for you
to think about. Since that lamb died, Adam and Eve continued
to live. See the picture? Since the lamb
died, we are the people God will continue to live. We're dying
here, but we're going to continue to live in glory, aren't we?
Forever. all because of the death of the
innocent one. They should have died, shouldn't
they? Adam and Eve should have died. The soul that's in it, it shall
die. But there's the death of an innocent
one in their place. Died in their room and place. My. Here, listen to what Paul
wrote in Colossians by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, he
penned this. But no man therefore judge you in meat or drink, or
in respect of the holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath
days, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.
So all those Old Testament sacrifices were just shadows, just shadows
of one who was to come. They just pointed to Christ.
He's the substance, beloved. Those were just shadows, types
and shadows. You ever, you've seen someone
come around a building, you see their shadow coming first? But
that's not them, is it? That's not the substance. And
in a minute, they'll come around the corner, and there they are. These sacrifices, all those sacrifices
were just shadows. Types and shadows. Until the
substance came. That being Christ, the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. My, oh my. Just shadows. So what a picture
we have of the sinless Lamb of God who would die as a substitute
of God's people. Next, let us consider that this
Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world was prophesied by
Abraham. Turn, if you would, to Genesis
chapter 22. Genesis chapter 22. My, oh my. Abraham We see in here Look at verse 1 it came to pass
after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him
Abraham and he said behold here am I Or here here I am and he
said take now thy son thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest and
get thee unto the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt
offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of What
does Abraham do? You say, I don't think I want
to do that, Lord. I don't know. And Abraham rose
up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two
of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and claimed the
wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the
place of which God had told him. Now several commentators, and
I heard grace preachers say this before, is that Abraham believed
that if he slayed his son, God would just raise him up again.
That's what he believed. Oh my. Look in verse 7. And Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire
and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And
Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a
burnt offering. So they went both of them together.
Look at that. Abraham is prophesying about
Christ there. God will provide who? Himself,
a lamb. Who's the eternal lamb? The Lord
Jesus Christ. Who is He? He's God. God will provide Himself as the
lamb, as a substitute for His people. My, oh, my. Look at verse 9, and they came
to the place which God had told him of. And
Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and
bound Isaac his son, and laid him in the altar upon the wood.
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, took the knife to slay
his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven,
and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, here am I. And he
said, lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything
unto him. For now I know that thou fearest
God. See, thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from
me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes,
and looked, and behold, Behind him a ram caught in a thicket
by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered
him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son." Look at
that. What a picture. What a picture. What a picture.
Substitute. He's ready to slay Isaac. And
there's a substitute. It's an innocent lamb. It's a
ram caught in a thicket. A divinely caught ram. Or a ram
who's divinely Finally, at that time, caught in that thicket.
My, oh my God, provided a lamb, didn't he? And what happened? That ram died in the room in
place of Isaac, didn't it? Well, see here, Isaac's son was
spared by God, but God didn't spare his own son, did he? No, he didn't spare his own son.
He had Abraham stop just as he had raised that knife. He spared Isaac, didn't he? Because
of a substitute. But God didn't spare his own
son. He sent his son to die in the ruined place of sinners. And when the sword of God's justice
was unseathed, It was plunged into Christ. So that it might not fall upon
you and I. Is that not mercy? Is that not
mercy? Oh, my. Oh, what great mercy. What great mercy. What great
mercy God shows his people. The physical lamb God provided
that day to die is The substitute for Abraham's physical son was
again the shadow of things to come. But the substance is Christ,
who eventually was provided to be an offering for the sins of
all of God's chosen people. Now turn, if you would, to Exodus
chapter 12. The third point is the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world was the Lamb portrayed in the Passover sacrifice. This story in Exodus I always
find amazing. Look at this. Exodus chapter 12. In verse 5 it actually says,
your lamb shall be without blemish. Look at that. A male for the
first year you shall take it out from the sheep or from the
goats. And this lamb was to be sacrificed. And remember, it
was an innocent one dying for the guilty. Because what was to happen with
that blood? Well, they were to put it on the doors, the lentils
on the doors, weren't they? And what did the Lord say? When
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. So all who were under that
blood was safe, weren't they? From the death angel. Are you under the blood? Are you under the blood of Christ? Let's read this portion of Scripture
with that on our minds. Exodus chapter 12 verses 7 to
14. And they shall take of the blood
and strike it on the two posts, on the upper door post of the
house wherein they shall eat. So they were to take the blood
of the lamb and they were to sprinkle it on here, sprinkle
it on the top, and sprinkle it down the side. God commanded
them to do that. That's what they were to do.
And remember, this lamb didn't do anything, did it? Just an
innocent lamb. But there must be a death. There
must be the death of the innocent one to clear the guilty. Look
at this. And they shall eat the flesh
that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread and bitter herbs,
they shall eat it. eat not of the rod, nor sodden
at all with water, but roast with fire his head and his legs,
and with the pertinence thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it
remain until the morning. And that which remaineth of it
until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye
eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and
your staff in your hand. And ye shall eat it in haste.
It is the Lord's Passover. It's Jehovah's Passover. This is picturing the death of
Christ. Look at this. For I will pass
through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the
firstborn of the land of Egypt. Look at that. Who's coming through? God is. For I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn of the
land of Egypt, both men and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt,
I will execute judgment. I am the Jehovah. He proved all those gods to be
false gods, didn't he? All of them. My. And the blood shall
be to you for a token upon the house wherein you are. And when
I see the blood. Oh, those are beautiful words. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. Those are so comforting. That's
why I ask, are you under the blood of Christ? Are you under
the blood of Christ? Oh, my. When I see the blood,
I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon
you to destroy you. We shall not go into everlasting
condemnation, beloved, but we're going to go into eternal glory.
We who are under the blood of the Lamb, covered by the blood
of the Lamb. I'll tell you a story. Jean-Claude
told me a long time ago and he, Jean-Claude said, I wouldn't
have believed this. I wouldn't have believed this unless it came from the
fellow who told me. He said the guy was a preacher
and he says, he says, anybody else that had told me, I wouldn't
have believed it. But he said that, um, he was in Africa and there,
this preacher was telling him that, um, someone had taken a
dislike into the preacher. And he had went to, they have
witch doctors and all that stuff is real over there. They have
all that stuff. And so this guy had went to the, to this whoever, whatever he does, witch
doctor or whatever. And he said, I want to, I want
you to put a curse on this guy, the preacher and his brother. He said, okay, well, he said,
who is he? And he told him and he says,
I can't touch that guy. I can touch him. but I can't
touch that fellow. This is supposed to be true.
John Cloth told me this. He said he wouldn't have believed
it unless it had come out of this guy's mouth, this preacher's mouth.
And he said, well, what do you mean you can't touch him? He
said, because he's covered. Oh, my beloved. We're covered. We're covered by the blood of
the Lamb. We're safe under the blood of the Lamb, beloved. It's like here, it says, when
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. The plague won't affect
you. The plague won't fall upon you. Mine won't destroy you when I
smite the land of Egypt. And we know what happened in
the land of Egypt, right? The firstborn of every family died. Where there
was no blood, the firstborn died in every single house. Now, the
Lord could have wiped them all out, couldn't he have? He could
have wiped all of Egypt out just like that, right? He could, couldn't
he? He got the power to do that.
He wiped out the firstborn. And then he said, and this day
shall be for you a memorial, and you shall keep it, a feast
to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it a feast by
an ordinance forever. So again, we see a clear picture
of what Paul brought forth, a shadow of things to come. That blood
was a shadow, a picture of the blood of Christ and how we're
covered under the blood of Christ as believers, safe under the
blood of Christ, redeemed by the blood of Christ. He obtained
eternal redemption for us, how? By the shedding of his precious,
precious blood, beloved. Oh, what a great God we have.
What a great God we have. Next point I'd like us to look
at is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world was characterized
by Isaiah under inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. Turn
if you would to Isaiah chapter 53. And then put your finger
in Acts chapter 8. Isaiah chapter 53 and Acts chapter
8. My oh my. Listen to this report
by Isaiah describing the suffering sinless Savior. Dying in the
room and place of his people. Isaiah chapter 53 verses 3 to
7. He is despised and rejected a
man. That's how they treated our savior. Rejected a man. The who's who
of religion rejected him. A man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was
despised and we esteemed him not. Well that's how we all felt
in our natural state. about God. Surely He hath borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. You know, they yelled at Christ.
They stood at the foot of the cross and said, He saved others
that can't save Himself. Meanwhile, He's saving a number
that no man can number as He dies there before them. And you
know, He gave His life up. He was sinless. He was absolutely,
I think it was Gail that said he could have come right down
off that cross. He was sinless. But he knew he had to die for
his people. He knew he had to die in the ruined place of his
people. And he willingly, it says he gave up the ghost, right?
He willingly gave up the ghost. But look at this. But he was
wounded for our transgressions. Put your name in there. My. He was bruised for our inequities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes,
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord had laid on
him the iniquity of us all. All our sins was laid upon him,
imputed to him, and he bore them for us before God's law and justice. He's sinless, totally sinless.
Can you imagine one who's sinless having sins imputed to him? No wonder he sweat great drops
of blood. But he's sinless still. He's dying. He's offering himself
up as a sinless, spotless lamb of God. The substitute dying for sinners. The Savior dying for sinners. Oh, what love. There's no love
like this. The Lord laid on Him the iniquity
of us all. All the sins of His people were
laid upon Him. All, not one was left behind. And then the full
wrath of God for those sins fell upon Him, beloved. Just fell
upon Him. God did not spare His Son. He
spared, again, He spared Abraham's son, didn't He? But he didn't
spare his own son. My, and Christ did that willingly
for us. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is bought as a lamb to the
slaughters of sheep before his shearers are done, so he opened
not his mouth. Now turn to, if you would, to
Acts chapter 8. And we see here, we see here,
so that was a picture of Christ. How do we know that? Look at
here in Acts chapter 8. Now we're going to see Philip,
the evangelist, He's going to preach Christ to the Ethiopian
eunuch from this passage, beloved. This is wonderful. Acts chapter
8, verses 29 to 35. Acts chapter 8, verses 29 to 35. Then
the Spirit said unto Philip, go near and join thyself to this
chariot. And Philip ran thither to him,
and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said, understandest
thou what thou readest? And the eunuch says, how can
I accept some man guide me? And he desired Philip that he
would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which
he read, he was led as a lamb to the slaughter. We just read
that. And like a lamb done before a shearer, so opened he not his
mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. And
who shall declare his generation for his life is taken from the
earth. And the eunuch answered to Philip and said, I pray thee,
of whom speaketh thou? the prophet of himself or of
some other man. Look at this. Oh, I love this.
And Philip opened his mouth and began the same scripture and
preached unto him Jesus, the Messiah, the sinless, spotless
substitute, the one who Isaiah spoke of, the one who the prophets
spoke of, the one who Moses spoke of, the one who all those sacrifices
were but types and shadow of. the Messiah, the Savior of sinners,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's said that lambs are
led, not driven to the slaughter. And Christ willingly followed
those who led him to the place where he was to be slaughtered
on Calvary. He knew he must die. He knew
he must shed his precious blood. Why? Because otherwise his people
could not be redeemed. You and I could not, as believers,
could not be redeemed unless Christ died on the cross. And
he did it. He was led like a lamb to the
slaughter for us, beloved. My. And sheep are silent, not complaining
when sheared. In Christ, when he was sheared
by his enemies, he kept silent and said nothing. When he was
reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he
did not threaten. No, but committed himself to
him, to God, who judges righteously. He committed his soul to God. Next point is this lamb of God
slain from the foundation of the world was manifest in time. He was ordained from eternity.
First Peter says this, for as much as you know that you are
not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversations received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb, as of a
lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these
last times for you. For ordained is the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, but manifest for you and I as
believers." Oh, that's wonderful, isn't it? That's wonderful. My. Who by him do believe in
God, that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory,
that your faith and hope might be in God. Just like that scripture
that Brother Neil read, our hope is in God. It's in God. My oh my. And lastly, I'd like
us to close with this. This lamb that was slain from
the foundation of the world is none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. None other than the Lord Jesus Christ. John said, behold
the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And John also wrote, John the
apostle wrote, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of
the Father, full of grace and truth. John bear witness of him
crying, this was he of whom I speak. He that cometh after me is preferred
before me, for he was before me. He's the word of God. Christ
is God in the flesh. He dwelt in eternity. We were
talking about his humiliation last week, sister, and we saw
that in the scripture there, that he humbled himself and became
a man. He lowered himself and became
a king. He was a king of glory. Angels at his beck and command.
The stars held in place by his command, by his word. Everything
in the world consists because of him. By him, all things consist,
Paul wrote. And he humbled himself and became
a man. And a word was made flesh and dwelt among us. John wrote,
and we beheld his glory, the glories of the only begotten
the Father, full of grace and truth. And then John, of course,
bear witness of him, didn't he, said, behold the Lamb of God.
Behold the Lamb of God. Turn, if you would, to Revelation
chapter 5. And here is the final unveiling of the Lamb of God
in the fifth chapter of Revelation. It's wonderful. Oh, it's wonderful. We're closed with this. Absolutely
wonderful. Revelation chapter 5. Oh, here's
the lamb. He's a lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, but here's the risen lamb now. Here he is. Our Savior's risen, beloved.
The grave's empty. You can trace all the religions
of this world, you can trace them back to a man in a grave. Except what we believe. He's
gone. He's in glory, beloved. He rose and reigns right now.
Look at this, Revelation chapter 5, verses 1 to 5. Oh my. And I saw in the right
hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on
the back side sealed with seven seals. Some people say that's
all the decrees of God, the purpose of God. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? Look at this. And no man in heaven
nor in the earth neither under the earth was able to open the
book, neither to look thereon." No one was worthy. No one on
this earth was worthy to open that book. No one in heaven was
worthy to open that book. And John says, I wept much because
no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither
to look thereon. And one of the elders said unto
me, Weep not. Weep not, beloved. Behold the Lion of the tribe
of Judah. The Root of David hath prevailed
to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. There's
the Risen Lamb. The only one worthy to open the
book of God's decrees and God's purpose. The only one. Weep not, beloved. We have a
Savior. Weep not. And what do you say
to those ladies on the way to the cross? Weep not for me. Don't
weep for me. Weep for yourself. Don't weep
for me. Weep for your children. Don't weep for me. The Lion of the tribe of Judah. Lion presents strength, power. He's all powerful. Our God is
not to be trifled with, is he? That's the one who saved us.
Think of that. The one who could have destroyed us saved us by
his grace and mercy. Oh, the Lion of the tribe of
Jesus, the root of David, the promised Messiah, he's prevailed. And when did he prevail, beloved?
Well, he prevailed on cry of his cross, didn't he? Oh my, he crushed the serpent's
head, didn't he? Crucified his humanity, but crushed
the serpent's head. My, behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. Be in awe and wonder that before
we were ever sinners, there was a Savior. And His name is the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the second person of the
Trinity. And the Scripture says, look
to Him and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth.