Here's where we turn with me. Please to get this chapter 22. Pray for me that the Lord will
bless it. 22 a very familiar text. This is the story of course of.
Abraham and Isaac. And it came to pass after these
things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, behold, here I am. And he said, take now thy son,
thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the
land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon
one of the mountains, which I shall tell thee of. 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 unto the
place of which God had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. Abraham had three
days to think about what was about to come to pass. And Abraham
said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ash, and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. And Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son.
And he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both
of them together. 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. I'm not going to expound on this
text this morning, but I do want to take four words that we find
here. Where is the Lamb? And I want
to look through the Scriptures and find how that question is
answered. Looking from eternity past to eternity future and see
how in the Scriptures, that question, where is the Lamb, is answered.
The Lamb, of course, is referred to throughout the Scriptures
in both pictures and sacrifices. And as the very Lamb of God,
Christ is called by John the Baptist. He's referred to as
the Lamb 28 times in the book of Revelation. And if we're to
have any understanding of this Holy Book, we first have to understand
that there's one theme that Christ crucified, that there is one
main character, and that is the Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Lord Himself tells us this in John 5.39, when He said, Search
the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, but
they are they which testify of Me. Now, this word testify means
to give testimony in a legal case, to express or declare a
strong belief, to bear witness. So we know, based on the very
words of our Savior, that this holy book is all about Him. There
are many, many sub-characters, but there is only one main character,
and that is the Lamb of God. Throughout the Scriptures, A
lamb is represented as a sacrifice. There, of course, were other
animals that were sacrificed, bullocks, doves, and so forth.
But our Lord is never referred to as the dove of God, the bullock
of God. He is always referred to as the
Lamb of God. And we find numerous instructions
given to Israel concerning those lambs that were to be sacrificed.
And always it is noted that that lamb must be perfect, without
blemish. And what a perfect description
of our Lord who is described in the Scriptures as being holy,
harmless, and undefiled. If we ask this question looking
at eternity past, where is the Lamb? We find Him dwelling with
the Father and the Spirit. John 1-1 states, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. being infinite creatures cannot
begin to grasp the concept of things eternal. Everything and
everyone we have ever known, we have ever touched, tasted,
heard, felt, everything has had a beginning. And many of those
things and many of those people have had an end. We've lost many,
many dear friends over the years. So we cannot imagine an infinite
God who has always been, Thousands of trillions of years ago, the
Lamb was with the Father and the Spirit, dwelling in perfect
contentment. And even that term in the beginning
doesn't describe eternity, because as we know, eternity has no beginning.
But the writer had to put it that way so that our puny brains
could have some concept of what he meant. Turn with me, please,
to the book of Proverbs. As we read these verses, know
that this is a description of our Lord Jesus Christ in eternity
past in line with the Father and the Spirit. Proverbs 8, verse
22. The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of His way before His works of old. I was set up from
everlasting, from the beginning. wherever the earth was. When
there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains,
abounded with water. Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills, was I brought forth. While as yet he had not
made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When
he set a compass upon the face of the When he established the
clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when
he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass
his commandment, when he appointed the fountains of the earth, then
I was with him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily
his delight, rejoicing always before him. rejoicing in the
habitable part of the earth, and my delights were with the
sons of men. Now therefore hearken unto me,
O ye children, and blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear
instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the
man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at
the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me, findeth
life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he that sinneth
against me, wrongeth his own soul. All they that hate me love
death." This text describes the bliss, the unity of the triune
God, dwelling in perfect contentment, needing nothing. Verse 30 tells
us that Christ was daily His delight, speaking of God the
Father. John 118 says that Christ is in the bosom of the Father.
Everything with our God is present tense. He doesn't say, It's His
name when He was asked, I was, or I will be. He said, I am. So when this text states that
Christ is in the bosom of the Father, it is simply telling
us that He has always been there from before there was what we
call time. Now as we look at creation, we
ask the question, where is the Lamb? That question is also answered
in John 1. Verse 3 tells us, All things
were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that
was made. The very first verse of the Bible
starts with the exact same three words as John 1, in the beginning. In the beginning God, the Word,
the Lamb, created the heaven and the earth. So is this in
the beginning found in Genesis 1 the same in the beginning found
in John 1? If that were so, it would tell
us that the universe and the earth on which we dwell is as
old as God Himself. We know that is not the case.
But again, the writer had to put that in terms that we could
understand. That sometime in the distant
past, our God brought into being what we know as the universe. And all life sprang forth from
Christ, as is stated in John 1.4. It says, in Him was life. All life that was created and
which exists today came forth from and is sustained by the
Lord Jesus Christ. There is no life to be found
anywhere outside of Christ, physical or spiritual. He is the source
of all life. And next, we look at the creation
of man and we ask, where is the Lamb? In Genesis 1.26, we read,
and God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth." When we read here that God created man in
His image, it means exactly that. I sometimes wonder if Adam wasn't
the exact identical twin of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrew 1-3 tells us that Christ
is the expressed image of His person, speaking of God. Likewise,
I think it would stand to reason that when God said, let us make
man in our image, it would also mean that He was, at the time
He was created, perfect, perfectly sinless. He had perfect communion
with God. And we know from Scriptures that
you cannot have any dealing with God outside of His wrath unless
you are as perfect as Christ Himself. And Genesis 2-7 tells
us, And the Lord formed man out of the dust of the ground and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became
a living soul. Notice that it doesn't say man
became a living being, man became a living human. It says man became
a living soul. And I think it's stated that
way so that we understand that the only thing that lives forever,
about a man or a woman, is their soul. It's a never-dying soul
that was created. And since it is a never-dying
soul, it will surely spend eternity in one of two places. Either
in the bliss of heaven, beholding our Savior, or in an eternal
damnation that no human mind can begin to imagine. And as
I already stated, the Scriptures tell us that in Him, in Christ
was life. And we know that the breath that
would breathe into man's nostrils would breathe in by Christ Himself. And as we look throughout the
Old Testament, we ask the question, where is the Lamb? We see Him
manifested in various places. Our pastor used to tell us that
most of the time when you see the term angel of the Lord in
the Old Testament in the Scriptures, that most often that is referring
to Christ Himself. I want to look at just a few
of these Scriptures. You can turn with me or just listen.
But when Christ appeared to men and
women in the Old Testament, it wasn't that He just was like
a bored teenager and wanted to get out of the house for a while. All of these accounts tell us
that our Lord loves His elect people so much that He felt He
must be there in person to assist, to bless, to rebuke, to correct,
to encourage, and to instruct His people in their times of
need. In Genesis 14, let me read a few verses to you here. This
is describing Melchizedek. Genesis 14. We'll begin reading in verse
17. Genesis 14, 17. And we'll read
through verse 20. And the king of Sodom went out
to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Jerusalem. And of the kings, that were with
him at the valley of Sheba, which is the king's dale. And Melchizedek,
king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was the
priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him and said,
Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven
and earth, and blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered
thine enemies into thy hand. And He gave Him tithes of all.
Now many scholars believe that this Melchizedek that we read
of here was none other than Christ Himself. And they base that belief
on the scriptures that we find in the book of Hebrews. It says,
whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made an
high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. For this
Melchizedek, king of Salem, Priest of the Most High God, who met
Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
to whom Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation
King of Righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which
is King of Peace, without father, without mother, without descent,
neither having beginning of days or end of life, but made like
unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually. In Genesis
17, we ask where is the Lamb and we find Him appearing unto
Abram. Genesis 17, it says, When Abram
was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I
am the Almighty God. Walk before me and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between
me and thee and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abraham
fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, As for me,
behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of
many nations. Neither shall thy name any more
be called Abram, but thy name shall be called Abraham, for
a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make
thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee,
and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant
between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations
for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy
seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and
to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger,
all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I
will be their God. In Genesis 32, we have a description
of the Christ Himself wrestling with Jacob. In verse 24, it says,
And he said unto him, Let me go for the day breaketh. And
he said, I will not let thee go, this is speaking of Jacob,
except thou bless me. And he said, What is thy name?
And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be
called no more Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince hast thou power
with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him
and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore
is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of
the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face, and my
life is preserved." And over in the book of Joshua we find
Our Lord fought for Israel and Joshua. In Joshua 5, keep in mind these
are instances when our Lord came to this earth bodily. Joshua 5, verses 13-15 says,
And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted
up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man over against
him with a sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went unto him
and said unto him, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as a captain
of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his
face to the earth and did worship and said unto him, What sayeth
my Lord unto his servants? And the captain of the Lord's
host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for
the place whereon thou standest is holy ground, for it is holy,
and Joshua did so. In Judges, next book over, chapter
2, we read of the Lord appearing
to the children of Israel. And an angel of the Lord, Judges
chapter 2, and an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgad to Bochem
and said, I made you to go out of Egypt and have brought you
unto the land which I swear unto your fathers. And I said, I will
never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league
with the inhabitants of this land, and ye shall throw down
their altars. But ye have not obeyed my voice. Why have ye
done this? Wherefore, I also said, I will
not drive them out from before you, but they shall be as thorns
in your sides, and their God shall be a snare unto you. And
it came to pass when the angel of the Lord spake these words
unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their
voice and wept. And they called the name of this
place Bochum, and they sacrificed there unto the Lord." A couple
more Scriptures. In Daniel, Text we're very, very
familiar with, obviously. Daniel chapter 3. Let's see if
I can find it. Daniel chapter 3. This, of course, is the story
of Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. We'll begin
reading in verse 23 of chapter 3 of Daniel. Again, we ask, where
is the Lamb? And we find Him here protecting
His people. You know the story. These men
would not bow to the image of Nebuchadnezzar, so He condemned
them to what He thought was death. And verse 23 says, and these
three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound
in the midst of the fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king
was astonished and rose up in haste and spake and said unto
his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst
of the fire? They answered and said unto the
king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see
four men loose walking in the midst of the fire. and they have
no hurt. And the form of the fourth is
like the Son of God. And Nebuchadnezzar came near
the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spake and said, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the Most High God, come forth
and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
came forth out of the midst of the fiery furnace." Here we find
our Lord in person again protecting His people. There's many, many. We could be here all day reading
these, but I just wanted to touch on a few of them. And I've often
thought that I would have loved to have been on the road to Emmaus
with those two disciples and our Lord and hear Him, as Luke
tells us, in the beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He
expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning
Himself. Those two disciples heard from
the lips of the very God-man Himself all the places mentioned
in the Old Testament Scriptures. What a thing to have heard. And
as we move through time and ask this question, where is the Lamb?
We're looking around 1 BC, 1 AD. No one really knows for sure.
But we find the Lamb dwelling in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
Now here, I have to admit, I am way over my head. I have no idea
how that an infinite God could become an embryo living inside
a human being. Scriptures tell us our God's
omnipresent, meaning He's everywhere at once. But can the God-man,
Christ Jesus, be bodily two places at once? No Christ in heaven
at this time. And I honestly do not know that
answer. Turn with me to the book of Hebrews.
Let me read a couple of verses here. Speaking of Christ coming in
the flesh. Hebrews 2. Hebrews chapter 2, we'll begin
reading in verse 9. But we see Jesus, who was made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, should taste
death for every man. For it became Him for whom are
all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons
unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
suffering. For both he that sanctifies and
they who are sanctified are all of one. For which cause he is
not ashamed to call them brethren. Saying, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren in the midst of the church while I sing praise
unto thee. And again, I will put my trust
in him. And again, behold I, and the
children which God hath given me. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took on him that it be of favor
to him. Pay attention to this next verse
especially. Wherefore, in all things it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a
merciful and faithful high priest in all things pertaining to God
to make reconciliation for the sins of his people. Now, when
Nipsey tells us that in all things it behooved him to be made like
unto his brethren, that includes coming into this world as a newborn
infant. Now, if he had chosen to, our
Lord could have simply come to the earth, as He had many times
before, as a full-grown man and begun His ministry. But that's
not what we read. We read it behooved Him. It was
absolutely proper and necessary for Him to be born in the same
way that men and women who are His elect are born. And why is
that? The Scripture tells us that He
might be a merciful and faithful High Priest forever for His people. I firmly believe, as I've gone
through this life for 71 years now, that there is nothing, nothing
that replaces experience. You can have all the book learning
in the world, but until you actually experience something, you just
do not know what it's like falling in love. You can describe it
all day long, but until you actually experience it, there's no description
that does it justice. You just can't get enough of
the person who is the object of that love. You can have someone
describe to you what it's like being punched in the nose, but
boy, until you've experienced it, you cannot realize how much
it hurts. And that's why we read that our
Lord had to come into this world as an infant and grow up and
learn as other children how to walk, how to talk, how to feed
Himself. Hebrews 4.15 tells us this very
thing. It says, for we have not, in
high priest, which cannot be touched with a feeling of our
infirmities, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without
sin. And when this child was born,
God didn't announce His birth to kings or rulers, but ironically
enough to lowly shepherds who Luke tells us were keeping watch
over their flocks by night And the angel tells them, for unto
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord. And I thought how appropriate
that the birth of the Lamb of God should be first told to men
who kept watch over lambs. And after he was born and learned,
like every other child, to walk, to talk, to feed himself, I sometimes
wonder, did he know all things as the infinite God that simply
went through the motions of being a child and becoming an adult?
I don't know, but we do read in Luke 2.46 about his parents,
after Passover, by mistake leaving him in Jerusalem. They thought
he was with the group, they were traveling with a large group,
and they thought he was among them. And they went back and
searched for him for three days, and the Scripture tells us that
they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors,
both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that
heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers."
Now that word astonished means awestruck, stunned, astounded,
stupefied. Those who heard him could not
comprehend that this was the very God of very God dwelling
in a human body. They could not possibly understand
that the child that they were dealing with was the very God
who gave them the Scriptures. He had no trouble understanding
the Scriptures because he wrote them. And Luke 2 tells us in
verse 40, And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled
with wisdom. And the grace of God was upon
him. Now when it says the child grew, it doesn't say that he
grew in knowledge, because as God, he already knew all things.
That verse tells us also that he was filled with wisdom. He
didn't learn, he was already filled with wisdom. John 2, 23-25
reads, Now when he was at Jerusalem, at the Passover, in the feast
day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which
He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because He
knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man,
for He knew what was in man. Now, He did not gain that knowledge
as He grew up by observing man as He matured. No, He created
man. He witnessed the fall of man.
And He knew from eternity what was in man, being filled with
wisdom, means he didn't have to learn what was in man. He
already knew. And now we proceed in time to
around 30 A.D. and ask the question again, where
is the Lamb? And we find Him coming to John
the Baptist in John 1. Coming to John the
Baptist to be baptized. And we hear John proclaim those
words, The Lamb of God. In John chapter 1, John the Baptist
makes this declaration twice. Behold the Lamb of God. First
in verse 29, the next day, John seeth Jesus coming unto him and
saith, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of
the world. Dropping down to verse 35, and
again the next day, After John stood and two of his disciples,
and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold, the
Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him
speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them
following and said unto them, What seek ye? They said unto
him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where
dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and
see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him
that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which
heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's
brother. He first findeth his own brother
Simon, and saith unto him, We have found them a sign, which
is being interpreted the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus,
and Jesus beheld him, and said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Cephas,
which is by interpretation, a stone. The day following, Jesus will
go forth into Galilee and find Philip, and saith unto him, Follow
me. And Philip was of Bethsaida,
the city of Andrew and Peter. Now Philip findeth Nathanael,
and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the Law
and the Prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
And Nathanael said unto him, Can any good thing come out of
Nazareth? And Philip replied the same way
our Lord did in the previous verses, Come and see. Jesus saw
Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold, an Israelite
indeed, in whom is no guile. Nathanael saith unto him, Whence
knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the
fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith
unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King
of Israel. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree,
believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things
than these. And he said unto him, Verily
I say unto you, Hereafter you shall see heaven opened and the
angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. This is
the beginning of Christ's public life and His ministry. We know
that that ministry only lasted three short years, and yet it
had an impact on this world like no other event in history. How
could it not? God Himself condescends to dwell
among sinful men and to set in motion the very events that would
lead Him to truly becoming the Lamb of God. Now walking the
earth in His lifetime, He did many miracles. You can ask this
question, where is the Lamb? And go through the New Testament
and witness so many things that John described it this way. He
said, and there are also many other things which Jesus did,
the witch. If they should be written, everyone, I suppose
that even the world itself could not contain the books that should
be written. And never forget this, that even
though He was God in the flesh, There was nothing that made Him
stand out. When Judas came time to betray
Him, He had to literally mark him with a kiss because He was
so unlikened to His brethren that Judas couldn't describe
Him. And that's why we read in Isaiah 52 that He hath no form
nor comeliness. He didn't have a halo over His
head. But it says when we see Him, there is no beauty that
we should desire Him. And now moving ahead, just three
short years after the beginning of His ministry, we ask this
question, where is the Lamb? And we find Him becoming what
John had already called Him, the Lamb of God being sacrificed
on a Roman cross. Our Lord told Pilate in John
18.37, to this end was I born. And for this cause came I into
the world that I should bear witness of the truth. What he's
saying is I was born in order to become the sacrificial lamb
of my people. In his prayer to his Father in
John 17, our Lord says, Father, the hour has come. That hour
to which I was born. to which I am truly about to
become the Lamb of God, the greatest sacrifice the world has ever
seen. The very God of this universe
coming to sacrifice for sinners. And it's no wonder that Isaiah
tells us, surely He had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised. for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. And after His
death and burial, we ask this question, where is the Lamb? And we find Him manifesting Himself
to His disciples. In John chapter 20, let me read
a few verses if you'd like to turn there. John chapter 20. Where is the Lamb after His death?
We begin reading in verse 11. But Mary stood without at the
sepulcher weeping. And as she wept, she stooped
down and looked into the sepulcher, and seeth two angels in white
sitting, one at the head, the other at the feet, where the
body of Jesus had lain. And they said unto her, Woman,
why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because
they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have
laid Him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back
and saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus
saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She,
supposing Him to be the gardener, said unto Him, If thou have borne
him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take
him away.' And Jesus said unto her, Mary. She turned herself and said unto
him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master. And Jesus said unto her,
Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go
to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and to
your Father and to my God, and to your God." Mary Magdalene
came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that
He had spoken these things unto her. Then the same day at evening,
being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where
the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus
and stood in the midst and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when He had said so, He showed
them His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus unto them again,
Peace be unto you. If my Father hath sent me, even
so send I you. And when he had said thus, he
breathed on them and said unto them, Receive the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins you remit, they
are remitted unto them. And whosoever sins you retain,
they are retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve
false enemies, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples
therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he saith unto
them, Except I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put
my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his
disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the
doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be
unto you. And he saith to Thomas, Reach
hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy
hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they
that have not seen and yet have believed. And many other signs
truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which were
not written in the book. But these are written that you
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing you might have life through His name." And after
this, we read of Him ascending to His Father in Luke. He tells
us, and he led them out as far as Tibethany and he lifted up
his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass when he blessed
them that he was carried up into heaven and they worshiped him
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they were continually
in the temple praising and blessing God. Now in the book of Acts,
we can ask this question, where is the Lamb? And we find Him,
I'll just highlight a couple of places. We find him standing
to greet Stephen as Stephen was being stoned to death. Acts 7.56,
Stephen proclaims, Behold, I see the heavens open and the Son
of Man standing on the right hand of God. We also find him
in the book of Acts manifesting himself unto Paul. On the Damascus
road, our Lord said to Paul, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. It should be noted here that
the Christ who appeared unto Saul did not appear to him as
the angel of the Lord that we find in the Old Testament, nor
as a man who walked the earth in human flesh. No, Saul, for
when he appeared to Saul, he appeared as the glorified Christ.
That's why we read in the book of Acts that there shined a light
on Saul and the men who were with him above the brightness
of the sun. And when we look at things today,
this present world that we're in. And we ask the question,
where is the Lamb? We find Him ruling this present
world in perfect ease. Though things in our country
and around the world seem to be just spiraling out of control,
we know that's not the case. I love those verses in Psalm
2. This should give us comfort whenever
we think things are just out of control. Why do the heathen
rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the
earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us
break their bands asunder and cast their cords away from us. He that setteth in the heavens
shall last. The Lord shall have them in derision. And as we look to the future,
as we close this out, we ask this question, where is the Lamb? And we see Him coming in judgment.
John 5.2, our Lord told us, For the Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son. And Revelation 6.6 tells
us about the wrath of the Lamb. Now when you watch a movie, at
the end, there's what we call the credits. This lists everyone
who had anything to do with making that movie, right down to the
janitors and the caterers. But as God rolls up this world
as a scroll, and the credits begin to run, and it's going
to be a long list, there's going to be one name listed. Creator of the universe, Jesus
Christ. Giver of life to all things,
Jesus Christ. Sustainer of life, Jesus Christ. Savior of his people, advocate
for his people, the great high priest, healer of his people,
the scapegoat, the Passover lamb, Jesus Christ. The brazen serpent,
the altar, the mercy seat, the chief cornerstone, the head of
the church, the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. The Prince of Peace. The Bread
of Life. The Water of Life. The Resurrection and the Life.
The True Vine. Jesus Christ. The Shoe Bread.
The Manna from Heaven. The Rock in the Wilderness. The
Veil of the Temple. The Ark of God. Jesus Christ. God's goodness to His people
in Christ is so unimaginable that it will take an eternity
for Him to show us the breadth and the depth of His goodness.
We will be forever immersed in the glory of God the Father and
His Son. And when we look to the future
eternity and we ask, where is the Lamb? We see Him in rightful
place on the throne of the universe being worshiped both by the elect
of God and the holy angels. Turn with me please to the book
of Revelation. I want to read a few verses and we'll wrap this
up. Where is the Lamb? He's on His
throne. Revelation 4. We'll begin reading
in verse 10 and 11. We see, the four and twenty elders
fall down before Him that sat on the throne and worship Him
that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before
the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory
and honor and power For Thou hast created all things, and
for Thy pleasure they are and were created." In chapter 14
of Revelation, it tells us, And I looked, and
lo, a lamb stood on the mount of Zion, and with him a hundred
forty and four thousand, having his father's name written in
their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven
as the voice of many waters and as the voice of great thunder.
And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. And
they sung as it were a new song before the throne on which our
Savior now abides. And before the four beasts and
the elders. And no man could learn that song
but the 140 and 4,000 which were redeemed from the earth. These
are they which will not defy with women for they are virgins. These are they which follow the
Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among
men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found
no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God."
How can that possibly be? They're without fault. We find that answer in Revelation
chapter 5. We'll begin reading in verse
9. Here's the answer to how these men and women can be without
fault. Revelation 5, 9, And they sung a new song, saying, Thou
art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for
thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred. and tongue, and people, and nation,
and has made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall
reign on earth. And I beheld and heard the voice
of many angels round about the throne, and the beast and the
elders, and the number of them were ten thousand times ten thousand,
and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, and wisdom,
and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every
creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the
earth, searches within the sea, and all things that are in them,
heard I saying, blessing, and honor, and glory, and power,
be unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb forever
and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen,
And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him
that lived forever. One more text. In Revelation
7. Beginning in verse 9. We'll read
through verse 17. And after this, I beheld, and
lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and tongues, stood before the throne. And before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands,
and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God,
which set us upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the
angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders,
and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces,
and worshipped God, saying, Amen, blessing and glory, wisdom and
thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our
God forever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes?
And whence camest thou? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
are they before the throne of God and serve Him day and night
in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among
them. They shall hunger no more, neither
thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any
heat. For the Lamb, which is in the
midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto
everlasting fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. These verses in Revelation tell
us what we're going to be doing throughout eternity. We're going to be singing the
praises of Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. And we'll
never get hoarse. We'll never hit a bad note. And
we'll never get bored with singing His praises. Now, if you're sitting
here today and you think that that is a pretty boring way to
spend eternity, You can rest assured that you have never known
the joy, the bliss that comes from knowing that you deserve
the wrath of God, and yet this Lamb, through the shedding of
His blood, has redeemed you. And I can assure you there's
a much worse way to spend eternity than singing the praises of the
Lamb. So I would encourage you, as
Paul wrote, be reconciled to God. Bow to the Lordship of the
Lamb of God and plead with God to show you mercy. Our God, I
love to quote this, delights in mercy. Delights in mercy. I find that text in Luke 5 to
be astonishing. Our Lord said, likewise I say
unto you, There is joy in the presence
of the angels over one sinner that repented. It amazes me that an occurrence
that takes place on earth could have an effect in heaven. But
this is how much our God delights in mercy. It even makes the angels
rejoice. That to me is truly amazing.
Our God stands ready to forgive your sins. And I would encourage
you to plead with Him for mercy. To ask Him for the gift of faith
that enables you to see the Lamb. And if He's pleased to show you
mercy, you will be able to answer that question, where is the Lamb
with this? He is on the throne of heaven
at this moment, acting in my advocate with the Father. And
because of this, I will never perish.