I invite your attention to the
revelation of Jesus Christ. Chapter 13, last book in the
Bible, the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is good to know what
this book is about. And that is the title of the
book. the revelation of Jesus Christ. Some people simply call
it the revelation, and yes, we do refer to it, turn to Revelation
chapter 13 or whatever, but it is the revelation of Jesus Christ. If you want to understand this
book, you better look for him, because he is revealed in here.
And we're gonna look at that this morning. The revelation of Jesus Christ,
chapter 13. My text will be found in verse
number eight. My message is titled, The Lamb
Slain from the Foundation of the World. John writes, and I
stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of
the sea. He's gonna see two beasts, one
out of the sea, one out of the earth. anti-Christian government
and anti-Christian persecution. This one's rising up out of the
sea. The sea in the revelation speaks
of lost mankind. Having seven heads and 10 horns,
a whole lot of authority. And upon his horns, 10 crowns
and upon his heads, the names of blasphemy. And the beast which
I saw was likened to a leopard, fast. His feet were as the feet
of a bear, powerful. And his mouth was as a mouth
of a lion, devouring. And the dragon gave him his power
and his seat and great authority. 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. And they worshiped
the dragon, which gave power unto the beast. And they worshiped
the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? 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 40 and two months. And he opened
his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and
his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given
unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power was given unto him
over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And all that dwell
upon the earth shall worship him. Now watch carefully. Whose names are not written in
the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. That's my text. The Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Who is this Lamb? Identity is readily asserted
when you read in Revelation 17, 14 that the Lamb is Lord of Lords
and King of Kings. And as you read this book of
the revelation of Jesus Christ at least 25 times, the Lamb is
mentioned and he's Jesus Christ. The Lamb is the subject and the
theme of this revelation of Jesus Christ. Then we hear John the
Baptist standing in the Jordan, preaching to sinners. And he
looks up one day and he sees someone walking by and he says,
behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And
he was pointing to Jesus Christ. We therefore know that Jesus
Christ is this Lamb, this Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Now, what does that phrase, from
the foundation of the world, mean? Well, it can have two different
meanings. And they're not contradictory,
but two meanings. It can mean since the creation
of the world. Jesus spoke about the blood of
the martyrs that was shed from the foundation of the world,
from righteous Abel down through the years, from the time of the
foundation of the world, the blood of martyrs has been spilled. But then again, this phrase can
also mean before the foundation of the world, the lamb was slain
when the world was founded. He is the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, since the foundation of the world in
type and picture, prophecy and in reality. And he was slain
before the foundation of the world in God's eternal decree
because he was foreordained. Foreordained in old eternity. foreordained to be the Lamb slain. Yes, he was slain before the
foundation of the world in God's decree and from the foundation
of the world in type, in picture, prophecy, description, announcement,
and on Calvary, he's the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. This Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world is prominent in what we call progressive revelation. And doctrines are usually revealed
to us in a progressive manner. When you read the introduction
of a doctrine in the Holy Scriptures, do not expect to be fully understanding
of it. It may be very obscure when it
is introduced. And then, bit by bit, As the
prophet says, line upon line, line upon line, precept upon
precept, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.
And bit by bit, God gives more revelation regarding a doctrine
so that by the time you have come to the end of the New Testament,
you should understand it. That is why we always use the
New Testament to interpret the Old Testament. had the conversation with one
of you yesterday and speaking about some people that are under
the law think we need to keep it and they do not realize Jesus
fulfilled it. Well, if you read the New Testament,
you'll find that he did. And if you read further in the
New Testament, you'll read that all those things of the law were
a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Why are we not under the law?
Because the New Testament tells us we are not. If we did not
have the New Testament and all we had was the old, yes, we might
think we were under it. But in progressive revelation,
God reveals the truth unto us bit by bit by bit until you come
to the end of the scriptures. You should be able to understand
the doctrine because God has revealed it progressively. And
so it is with this Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. We find that he has been progressively
revealed unto us. So let's look at this progressive
revelation of the land slain from the foundation of the world.
You have the synopsis in front of you, you can follow right
along with me. First of all, he is introduced
in Eden, in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve sinned. And they realized they were naked.
Well, they had been naked the whole time. They just now realized it and
they were ashamed of their nakedness. Tried to make some garments for
themselves. Flimsily made, undoubtedly. But
they did not want God to see them in their nakedness. And
they heard his voice. And here he comes. Adam, where
are you? God knew. He knew exactly where
Adam was. He wanted Adam to know that you're
hiding, and I know it. And Adam steps out. Yes, Lord. Ah, I see you ate the forbidden
fruit. The woman you gave me, she gave
me the fruit, and yeah, I ate it. Okay. All right, I'll take care of
this. And then we read. It's a rather
obscure verse, but here's what we read. Also for Adam and his
wife, Jehovah God made tunics of skin and clothed them. Now
folks, this is the beginning of the progressive revelation
regarding this land slain from the foundation of the world.
And it's obscure. There's not much said. Here's
the whole statement. For Adam and his wife, Jehovah
God made tunics of skin and clothed them. Much more is intimated than what
is said. First, Since Adam and Eve were
clothed with skin, an animal was slain. Because you cannot
clothe somebody with the skin of an animal unless you kill
it. The Lord did not shear the lamb
and take its wool. He took the skin of the animal. The animal died. Second, since
this animal's skin was removed, its blood was shed because you
cannot remove the skin of an animal without the shedding of
its blood. Third, since this animal had
not sinned, it did not deserve to die. This animal had never
violated God's law. In fact, you may make the case
that it was not under it. Fourth, Since this animal did
indeed die, and since Adam and Eve continued to live even though
they should have died, this animal died in their place instead and
for their life. Now, all of that is intimated
in that statement. It is not said. Remember, it
is obscure. And you have to wait and wait
and wait for a little more revelation. Well, you're going to get a bit
more revelation regarding this animal. What animal was it? Evidently,
it was a lamb. Did the scripture say so? No. Scripture does not say much
about this animal at all. But you do read just a few verses later that
Cain and Abel were to make an offering unto God. Cain made
the wrong offering of the fruit of his hands, and Abel made an
offering of the firstling of his flock. How did Abel know
what to sacrifice? How did he know? Father and mother need to make
a sacrifice. What should I do? Do what God
did. Make an offering. Make an offering,
folks. This lamb was slain in Eden.
Not specifically identified as such, but it does fit the typology
and the picture in the progressive revelation of God. And this lamb
perfectly typified Jesus Christ. First, like this lamb, Jesus, was innocent. That lamb was innocent. That
lamb did not deserve to die for sinners. It did, but it was just
like Jesus Christ. He is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, Hebrews 7.26. Holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners. That's our savior. He was in
all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Well, nobody
here fits that description except him. Tempted like we are,
but he never sinned. He knew no sin. 2 Corinthians
5.21, he committed no sin. 1 Peter 2.22, and in him there
is no sin. 1 John 3.5, eternally. Jesus is completely innocent
of sin. Sinless, holy, undefiled, and
separate from sinners. Furthermore, second, Jesus, like
this lamb, did not deserve to die. The wages of sin is death,
the scripture says. Jesus never earned those wages. The soul who sins shall die,
the scripture says. He never sinned, he never deserved
to die. That lamb in Eden did not deserve
to die, neither did Jesus. He never merited that death.
Third, like this lamb Jesus, the lamb died as a substitute
of others. Jehovah says, for the transgressions
of my people, he was stricken. For the transgressions of my
people, he was stricken. He's a substitute. And Jehovah's
people confessed that we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God
and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace
was upon him. We should have done the dying.
Instead, he did the dying for sinners. Fourth, like the blood
of this lamb, The blood of Jesus Christ was shed for God's people. He says when he institutes the
Lord's Supper, my blood is shed for you. Look at whom he speaks. He has his disciples around here.
My blood is shed for you. And what do his people confess?
In the revelation of Jesus Christ, fifth chapter, when the Lamb
comes forth to take the decree out of God's hand and to reveal
the decree before God's throne in the fifth chapter, his people
say, you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood
out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Therefore,
we recognize We have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. Fifth, as Adam
and Eve lived because of the death of a lamb for them, so
do God's people live because of Jesus the lamb's death for
them. 1 Peter 2, 24. He himself bore
our sins in his own body on the tree as our substitute. Think about it, folks. When he
is on Calvary, He is laden with sins. God has laden on Jesus
the sins, not Jesus' sins, he never committed any, but all
the sins of God's elect laid on Jesus Christ. When you behold
him there on Calvary, bear in mind, should have been you and
should have been me, and instead it is him. It is him. He is there. as our substitute, that we having
died to sins, that phrase is pregnant with meaning, having
died to sins. Do you realize that when Jesus,
my substitute, died on Calvary, I died? I died to my sin in my
substitute. He died in my place instead,
and I died in him, and by whose stripes you were healed. Healed,
healed of what? Every infirmity. Even death,
even death. Sister Jenny, your father is
healthier now than he's ever been. You talk about healing, he's
healed now. He's never had better health,
healed of even death. By his stripes, we are healed.
And sixth, as Adam and Eve were clothed in the skin of a lamb,
so were God's people clothed in Jesus, the lamb and his righteousness,
for we pray to be found in him, in him. When you stand before
God, you're gonna be standing there in one of two ways. One of them, you're gonna be
standing there in yourself. What do you think, Lord? Made
this garment of righteousness all by myself. Rather proud of
it, I am. These good works and these good
deeds All these things I did for you, I just wove this garment
myself. And the judge says, depart from
me, you who work iniquity. When I stand there, I want to be clothed in Jesus
Christ. I want nothing of the most parts
to be seen, that I may be found in him. not having my own righteousness
which is from the law, but the righteousness which is from God
by faith in Jesus Christ, clothe me. What is it the hymn writer
says? Jesus, thy blood and righteousness,
my beauty are my only dress. Oh Lord, cover me in Jesus Christ. Cover me. As you covered Adam
and Eve in the garden of Eden with the skin of a lamb, cover
me in the righteousness of the lamb, Jesus Christ. Second, this lamb was prophesied
by Abraham, Genesis 22, verse eight. Now, this passage is not
quite so obscure, but remember, it's progressive revelation.
prophesied by Abraham. The Lord came down to Abraham.
He says, Abraham, take your son. Lord, I have two sons. No, no,
no, you have only one. Your only son. That's what the
Lord said. Take your only son, Isaac. Now you just walk toward that
distance and I'll tell you when you come to the place in Moriah
and you're going to sacrifice your son on an altar, a burnt
offering, meaning that he's gonna be burned completely on that
altar. Do it, Abraham. Yes, sir. Yes,
Lord, I'll do it. So Abraham takes a couple of
servants And Isaac, who is by this time, by the way, a strapping
young man, he's not just some little boy. A strapping young
man, he's big enough to carry the load of the wood. And off they go. They come to
the mountain that the Lord had appointed. And Abraham said,
now listen carefully, said to the servants, you stay here by
the animals, Isaac and I will go up to the mountain and then we will come back. What you gonna do up there? I'm
gonna sacrifice him. You're gonna go up to the mountain
and sacrifice him and then come back. Yes, both of us. And off
they go. And Isaac carrying the wood and
he says, father, I see the wood. I see that vessel that you have
the flame in and that shining dagger. Where's the sacrifice? You did not bring a lamb. Where's
the sacrifice? And Abraham said, the Lord will
provide for himself. a sacrifice. Or if you will,
and many of the commentators will say it, his words meant
the Lord will provide himself a sacrifice. Whichever the case,
whichever the case, it is a burnt offering, totally consumed by
fire on the altar. The wood is laid out. Isaac lays
upon the wood and he's bound to the wood and he's ready to
be sacrificed. And he has not protested. And that loving father looks
at his only son, pulls that dagger back and is ready to plunge it
into the breast of his son. And a voice from heaven says,
Abraham, Abraham! Yes, Lord. Look behind you. He looks behind
him and there's a ram caught in the thicket. Now get Isaac
down off that altar and put that lamb on it. And he did. And sacrificed as a burnt offering. Now remember, that lamb died. in Isaac's place. Isaac lived because the lamb
died for him. The Lord will provide for himself
an offering. And a thousand years later, a lamb is led to Calvary and the Lord provided the lamb
on Calvary as a burnt offering, when you shall make his soul
an offering for sin. The prophecy in Isaiah 53 reads,
Abraham prophesied of that. Abraham had a lamb provided as a substitute
for his son, and God provided the lamb as to substitute for
his sons. Third, this lamb was portrayed
in the Passover sacrifice. Passover, Israel is in Egypt,
land of bondage. Lord's gonna bring him out. Tells every family, sacrifice
a lamb. Take its blood, put it on the
top and the sides of your doors. I'm gonna walk through Egypt
tonight, and every house that does not have the blood on it,
I'm gonna take the firstborn. The firstborn in every house
is gonna die if the blood is not there. So the Lord told them
to take a male without blemish. Now, what's the characteristics
without blemish? That lamb is unacceptable if
it's cross-eyed or has a limp or whatever. This lamb had to
be perfect. A male, the stronger of the species. Of the first year, in the prime
of life. Do you see this? The whole typology
fits perfectly regarding this lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. And its blood was shed. All leaven was removed from the
house. The family gathered around to
eat the Passover meal of the lamb. And the blood is applied
to the door. And God walks through Egypt that
night. And if he sees the blood, he
says, pass over that house. Let it go. Lord, there's no blood
on that house. Go in and kill the firstborn
and all through Egypt, even the house of Pharaoh. But wherever There was a house
from which the leaven had been removed and the land had been
slain. That house was spared. Likewise,
we come to the New Testament and we read that we who have
purged the leaven of sin from our lives, we are assured that
Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. He is our Passover. Line upon line and precept upon
precept. Then we come to the fourth point
and that is this lamb was characterized by Isaiah 53 verse seven. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his
mouth. Now we know this speaks of Jesus
because Philip, The evangelist is walking along a road and here
is an Ethiopian eunuch and he's reading aloud from the scriptures.
He was reading this very passage and Philip says, do you understand
what you're reading? No, how can I unless someone
explains it to me? And Philip got into the chariot
and explained the gospel preach Jesus unto him, the scripture
says, from this passage. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. Lambs are led, not driven to
the slaughter. Jesus was led to Calvary. He was not driven, he's not a
goat. You drive goats, you lead sheep. Jesus was led to Calvary. Sheep are silent when sheared. Jesus was silent when he was
sheared. When they were beating him, he
opened not his mouth. When he was reviled, did not
revile and return. When he suffered, he did not
threaten. He committed himself to him who
judges righteously. When you think of Jesus Christ
ascending Calvary, remember this. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. He was silent when he was sheared. Fifth, this lamb was presented
by John the Baptist. I made reference to him a moment
ago. Let me do it again. He's the
forerunner of Jesus Christ. He was the one sent to prepare
the way for God's Messiah. He's at the Jordan River. He's
baptizing unto repentance. He says, I have come to prepare
the way of one. I'm not worthy to undo his sandals. He's greater than I, mightier
than I, before me, and he'll be after me. By the way, there
he is. Behold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world. The only Lamb who ever did so. The only Lamb who ever bore all the sins of
God's people, and carried them away so that not one of those
sins is ever seen again. He carried them away. Behold, what a glorious presentation
is that. When we open the New Testament,
what do we read? Behold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world. And then my last point, number
six, this Lamb was manifested in time because he was ordained
from eternity. In 1 Peter 1, verses 18 through
21, we read that you were not redeemed with corruptible things
like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ,
watch, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God, sacrificed. a male in the prime of his life,
unblemished, spotless, holy. Now watch carefully. He indeed was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times to you, for you, who through him believe in God, foreordained. 2,000 years ago, at a place called Calvary, men beheld a lamb on an altar. The lamb is Jesus Christ on his
cross, stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted. dying on an altar for the sins
of others. What men saw on Calvary 2,000
years ago was the same thing God saw before the foundation of the
world. For ordained, and then manifested what God decreed before
time began. Men finally got to see. And here's the culmination of
the revelation. He was introduced in Eden, prophesied
by Abraham, typified in the Passover lamb, characterized by Isaiah,
presented by John the Baptist, and manifested as the Redeemer
in time on Calvary because he was the foreordained Redeemer
in God's decree from eternity. Men saw in time with their physical
eyes what God had seen with his eyes before time began, before
the foundation of the world. This is glorious news, folks.
Remember, you were not redeemed with corruptible things, but
with the precious blood of Christ. As a lamb without blemish and
without spot, foreordained in God's decree and manifested on
Calvary so that you could see the Redeemer. But, but, his redemption is only for those
who through faith believe in God. Did you catch that? I tell you, every single solitary
sinner for whom Jesus died had his sins taken away by this Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. but it applies only
to those who believe in Him. Only to those who believe in
Him. You will stand before God one
of these days, either believing in this Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world for your life and salvation, but if you will not believe in
Him, you'll perish for yourself. It's serious, folks. I stand here dealing with the souls of men
and women, and it's serious business. I have done my best this morning
to tell you about a glorious lamb. A lamb slain from the foundation
of the world and removes every sin for whom he died. And I plead
with you, do not walk out that door until you know that he's
your lamb, the lamb slain for you. Oh God, our Father, be pleased,
we pray, to receive our thanksgiving for this glorious message. of this lamb you foreordained
and decreed from all eternity, and then revealed unto us on
Calvary, and then showed him unto us in our hearts, so that
we might believe in him. To your glory receive our thanksgiving,
we pray, in Jesus' name.