Good evening. I invite your attention to the
book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the last book in the
Bible, the Revelation of Jesus Christ chapter 13. Revelation chapter 13. I am delighted to be here this
evening. During the years of my pastorate
in Louisville, Kentucky, which followed the years of ministering
in the islands of the Caribbean, I was invited on a number of
occasions to return for a visit of a week or so to minister on
those islands and was usually requested to bring someone with
me. Your pastor was always my first
choice. And he was a favorite traveling companion
to me, a faithful confidant, a faithful minister. And I am
told I'm the only person who can live with him for a week
at a time. But we had some great times. And you've been a very dear friend. And if memory serves, you were
responsible for my going to Louisville to pastor, I am told. And then
the dear sister who sang the special for us tonight, I knew
her and her husband when we were teenagers in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina. Lo, those many years ago. And
so we've got dear friends and longtime friends and every one
of you here, I want you to know that you are very dear and near
to our hearts always. We thank you for all your kindnesses
and your liberalities unto us. And we are indeed blessed to
have friends such as you. And it's a pleasure to be here
this night. to worship our Lord in your presence
and with you. Revelation chapter 13, And I stood upon the sand of
the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven
heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns. and upon
his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was
likened to a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear,
and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. 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 worshipped the dragon
which gave power unto the beast. And they worshipped 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 forty 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 him over
all kindreds and tongues and nations, and all that dwell upon
the earth shall worship Him whose names are not written in the
book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him
hear." Now in verse 8 is found my text. And it'll be this one
line, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That's the topic of my message
and the subject of my words this night. Seven verses dealt with
a beast and one little line deals with
this lamb. I'm not even going to spend any
time describing that beast or that false prophet. They are
completely inconsequential to us this night. But I have a lot
of things I wanted to say about this lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. The identity of this lamb is
readily ascertained when we read these words. The Lamb is Lord
of Lords and King of Kings in Revelation chapter 17, 14. That's
who He is. He is Lord of Lords and King
of Kings. The Lamb is. We read that John
the Baptist when looking at Jesus said, Behold the Lamb of God
in John chapter 1 verse 36. When he here is identified as
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, the meaning is
quite simply this, that when this world was brought into existence,
this Lamb was already slain. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. Two things I want you to see
this night. I want you to see the progressive
revelation of this Lamb, and I want you to see this Lamb's
eternal blessings. There is a progressive revelation
of Him in Scripture, which culminates in our text, in this Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. But because this one is the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, the blessings found
in Him are eternal. For as old as is His death of
this Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So observe, first
of all, that here is the culmination of a progressive revelation. Now, what do we mean by progressive
revelation? Well, that describes the manner
in which God reveals the truth of His sacred Word. Many times
in Scripture we find that A subject is introduced, but you have to go later on to
find out what it means. The prophet Isaiah says that
he shall justify many. What does that mean? It's not explained. Jesus Christ
talks about a certain publican or tax collector who went down
to his house justified. What does it mean? Declared righteous. That's about all it means. You
do not really know what this doctrine of justification is
until you read the epistles of Paul, and he goes to great length. A subject is introduced, a comment
is made, but as you go through the scriptures bit by bit by
bit, a doctrine is explained. This is because that truth is
given unto us precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon
line, line upon line, here a little and there a little, Isaiah 28
verse 10. That's the way that God reveals
things unto us. He introduces the subject, He
says something else about it, and as you read further and further
into the Scriptures, you find that God progressively reveals
the truth concerning His Word. That's the reason why that we
always interpret the Old Testament by the New Testament. That's
the reason why that you find the doctrine revealed bit by
bit. And here, I want you to observe that this Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world is progressively revealed unto
us from the book of Genesis all the way through and finally set
forth unto us in the very last book of the Bible. Observe that
this lamb is introduced in Eden in Genesis chapter 3 verse 21. Note these words. Also for Adam
and his wife the Lord made tunics of skin and clothed them. Now that is a very obscure statement. What does it mean? It's talking
about the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. But
much more is intimated than is declared in this statement. But
notice this. That since Adam and Eve were
clothed with skin, an animal slain. Since its skin was removed,
its blood was shed. Since this animal had not sinned,
it did not deserve to die. Since it did indeed die, and
since Adam and Eve continued to live, even though they should
have died, that animal died in their place instead, and for
their life. And here is a shadow of things
to come, but the substance is of Christ. Here in Genesis 3.21,
when God clothed Adam and Eve, here is a very obscure Introduction
to the lamb slain from the foundation of the world Here is that lamb slain who would
die as a substitute of God's elect in order that they should
live, whose blood would be shed for their redemption, and whose
righteousness is their garment and their covering. It's introduced
in Genesis 3.21. Here is the first time the gospel
was ever preached. Genesis 3.21 was not needed till
then. Who preached it? God did. God
did. God declared the gospel and introduced
a lamb slain from the foundation of the world in this prophecy. Furthermore, note that later
on in the book of Genesis, chapter 22, verse 8, this lamb was prophesied
by Abraham. When Abraham said, God will provide
himself the lamb for a burnt offering, the Lord said to Abraham,
Abraham, take your son. Yes, Lord, I have two sons. No, you only have one. Take your
son, your only son. But Lord, I've got Ishmael and
Isaac. Abraham, take your son, your only son, Isaac, and take
him up to the mountain to which I show you and sacrifice him
on that mountain. Lord, you want me to sacrifice
my son? Yes. Isaac, your only son, take him
up there. Lord, he's my only son. That's right, sacrifice
him. So Abraham takes Isaac and the servants, and they make that
journey, and the father is going to sacrifice his only son. They go to the mountain. Abraham
takes the wood off the donkey, leaves the donkey with the servants,
And he says, the lad and I will go there and make a sacrifice
and then he and I will come back down to you. Because Abraham
knew the Lord had promised that through the seed of Isaac Messiah
would come. Abraham fully intended to sacrifice
his son on that mountain and he fully intended that his son
would come back down the mountain with him. Isaac does not know
what's going to happen. The wood is laid on Isaac and
they walk up the mountain. This father, most certainly with
a heavy heart, he's about to sacrifice his only son. Isaac
feels the weight of the wood upon his back and he looks and
his father has a dagger in one hand and he's got the fire and
the burning coals with which to make a fire in the other.
And Isaac says, Father, I see the wood. I see the fire. I see that dagger. But where
is the lamb? And Abraham declared and prophesied
that the Lord shall provide himself the lamb for the burnt offering. They go to the top of the mountain.
Now, bear in mind, Isaac is a grown man. in the prime of life. Abraham puts the wood on the
altar. He binds his son hand and foot
as a man would bind a lamb. He lays a son on the altar and
the son does not protest. Abraham pulls the dagger back
to sacrifice his son with a piercing through the heart. And God calls
out, Abraham, Abraham! To get his attention, called
his name twice. Yes, Lord. There's a substitute just behind
you. And he looks and behold, and there is a ram that the Lord
has provided. Isaac gets off the altar. The
ram was put up there, and that lamb was slain in Isaac's place,
and the father and the son walked down the mountain. But when you
read the book of Hebrews, it declares this. He sacrificed
his son. He did it. He did it. And he
did it through the substitute that God provided. And Abraham
not only declared that concerning Isaac, he prophesied the coming
of Christ. that God would provide a lamb
in the place instead of his people and sure enough it was done in
this lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This lamb also was a shadow of things to
come but the substances of Christ. And this lamb was portrayed in
the Passover sacrifice in Exodus chapter 12. Here was a lamb that
was taken which God required. A lamb of the first year in the
prime of life. God requires sacrifices in the
prime of life. And it was without blemish. It
had no spot. It was a perfect specimen. The
Lord said, take such a lamb as that per household. Shed its
blood. Take its blood. and apply it
to the top and to the sides of your door. Put none on the threshold,
but in those places, put the blood. Come into your house,
shut the door, and eat the roasted lamb. Now I say to you that that
lamb also is a picture of Christ. God said, when I see that blood,
I will pass over your house. If I do not see the blood, I'm
coming in in my wrath." The Lord went through the land of Egypt
that night and struck with death every household that did not
put up the blood, as he said, had not slain a lamb, as he had
said. That was called Passover. Because the Lord said, when I
see the blood, I'll pass over that house. That's Passover.
In scriptures we read that Christ is our Passover. In scripture
we read that we are to purge out the living as they were told
to do. He is our Passover sacrifice
for us. His blood is applied to our hearts. God passes over us when he comes
through in wrath. And we're saved through this
lamb that died in our place instead. This lamb is characterized by
Isaiah the prophet. In the 53rd chapter, verse 7,
he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before which shivers
is silent, so he opened not his mouth. Now, we know he's talking
about Christ because Philip the Evangelist declares it to be
so. The eunuch reads this passage
and said, of whom does the prophet speak? And the scripture declared
that Philip began to preach from that very passage Jesus Christ
unto him. That lamb. that is spoken by
Isaiah in the 53rd chapter, that's Christ. How's he characterized? Lambs are led, not driven. Christ was willingly led to the
place where he was slaughtered on Calvary. Sheep are silent and not complaining
when sheared. And Jesus Christ, when sheared
by his enemies, kept silent and said nothing, Mark 14, 61. When he was reviled, he did not
revile in return. When he suffered, he did not
threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously.
I say to you that this lamb slain from the foundation of the world
is characterized by Isaiah. This Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world is furthermore presented unto us by John the Baptist. When he saw Jesus coming toward
him one day and John said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world. More on that later. This Lamb
was manifested in time because He was ordained from eternity.
Listen to these words. You were not redeemed with corruptible
things, like silver or gold, but you were redeemed with the
precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot. He indeed was foreordained, predestined
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who
through him believe in God who raised him from the dead. Now
observe carefully, that lamb was foreordained before time
began. When this one was the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, he was foreordained and the death
was as good as done. But it was made manifest unto
us. This lamb slain from the foundation
of the world in God's decree was manifested to us on Mount
Calvary thousands of years afterward. That one who died on Calvary
2,000 years ago is the very same lamb slain from the foundation
of the world and progressively revealed unto us. In the book
of Revelation, chapter 13, observe it is the very last book of the
Bible We began in the book of Genesis, in the first gospel
message, and bit by bit we find that this Lamb is presented unto
us. We learn a little bit more about
Him in this place, a little bit more about Him in this place,
a little bit more about Him in this place. God has a Lamb who
takes away the sin of the world, and you come to the book of Revelation,
and there you find, lo and behold, this Lamb was slain before time
began! and progressively revealed unto
us this lamb slain. He was foreordained before the
foundation of the world, introduced in Eden, prophesied by Abraham,
portrayed in the Passover lamb and Levitical offerings, characterized
by Isaiah, presented by John the Baptist, manifested on Calvary,
and declared to be the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Now, that's the progressive revelation. Precept upon precept. Line upon
line. here a little, there a little,
and finally revealed in all his glory. Now, observe the eternal
blessings. In this land slain from the foundation
of the world, here is the means by which all God's eternal blessings
of salvation have been wrought. when the redeeming death of Jesus
Christ was by God foreordained before the foundation of the
world in 1st Peter 1.20, and even before it was manifesting
these last times, it was considered as already performed and its
saving benefits already applied from eternity. And accordingly, Isaiah the prophet
prophesying 750 years before the incarnation of that Lamb.
Before that Lamb came into this world. 750 years! He described His death as being
already in the past tense. He says, by His stripes we are
already healed. Already healed. And Christ, even before His crucifixion,
is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That's
what John the Baptist said. Behold the Lamb of God. He did
not say He will take away the sin of the world. He says He
takes. And He used a present active
participle. He takes away the sin of the
world. Even before he died on Calvary,
he takes away the sin of the world as God's Lamb. How can
that be? John speaks as though he's of
the opinion that Christ takes away sin eternally. And if that's
what he's thinking, he's absolutely right. He takes. What John the Baptist said could
have been said by Abraham. Behold, Isaac, the Lamb of God
takes away the sin of the world. Oh, this is true because even
from eternity God caused those things which do not exist as
though they did. Romans 4, 17. This is true because
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13,
verse 8. Is He the Lamb who takes away
the sin of the world now? Yes. Then He always has been.
Always will be. Because the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world is the same yesterday, today, and forever,
immutable, never changing. He's the Lamb of God slain from
eternity. Now what blessings do we obtain
from that? Oh, these are sweet blessings.
This Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world, we have eternal
blessings in Him. For example, we have eternal
grace. Go to, in your Bible, locate 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2
Timothy chapter 1. Look in verse number 9. In verse 8, Paul speaks of the
gospel according to the power of God, and then in verse 9 he
says, He hath saved us and called us with a holy calling. Now the
first thing I want you to see is, notice the order of saved
and called. He had saved us, and called us. When I preached, I thought that
we were called to salvation and then saved. And you thought correctly. That's true. You are called unto
salvation and they that obey the call are saved. That's true. But preacher, it reads here that
they were saved and then called. That's right and that's true
too. Well, how can they both be true? Because with regard
to your experience, you are called and saved. But with regard to
God's decree, you're saved and then called. He had saved us
and called us, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus,
when? Before the world began. When was that Lamb slain? Before
the world began. In God's decree, that Lamb was
slain before the foundation of the world. And I received grace at that
time. This grace was given to me before
the world began. Therefore, from eternity, God
saved me, and then in time, he called me, and I came to Christ,
and he saved me. No contradiction in that. But
the grace was given to me before the world began. Here is also
eternal sanctification. In Ephesians 1, verses 3-6, a
very familiar passage to you. I'm sure you know it well that
God's chosen and predestined children were highly favored
to be accepted in Christ as holy. We were highly favored to be
accepted in the beloved. We were chosen to be holy. And at the very time we were
chosen to be holy, we were accepted in Christ. And in Him is no sin. In Him never has been sin. In
Him never will be sin. And I was in Him before time
began, the sinner that I am. But I was in Him as God chose
me to be. holy and without blame. Do you
realize that when I was in Christ, before time began, I was sanctified and I was holy
by eternal sanctification. God's elect are therefore told
that you were sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus
Christ before time began. Jude, verse 1. Before I was born, I was holy
in Christ. Furthermore, here is eternal
justification. Same passage, Ephesians 1 verses
3 through 6. God's chosen and predestined
children were highly favored to be accepted in Christ as without
blame. That's what they were chosen
to be. They were therefore justified before the foundation of the
world. Now how can we know that? Abraham who lived 2,000 years
before Christ died was justified by faith 2,000 years before Christ
died Job who also lived about 2,000 years before Christ died
was declared by God to Satan to be blameless and upright Holy
and righteous Nathanael when he approached Jesus Christ was
said to be an Israelite in whom is no deceit, no guile before
the death of Jesus Christ. And you, if I understand correctly, you
were conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity and you departed
your mother's womb speaking lies. We read tonight from the book
of Genesis that every thought of your heart from your youth
was evil, only evil continually. You have sinned with every breath
you took. Now this Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
is He your Savior? Then therefore, God never imputed
sin to you. All those sins. Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. Blessed is that man of whom it
is said, even in the book of Numbers chapter 23, Jehovah has
not observed iniquity or wickedness in them. God looked upon His people even in the Old Testament times
and said, they have no sin. They're just, they're holy. Abraham,
he's my friend. He's just. Job, blameless and
upright. You'll find nothing that I will
charge Job with because of this lamb slain from the foundation
of the world and obtained eternal justification for us. Here is
eternal glorification. Whom God foreknew, he also predestined. Whom He predestined, He called. When did He call them? When He
predestined them. Because they were the called
from eternity. Whom He called, He justified.
When did He justify them? When He called them. When did
He call them? From eternity when He foreordained them. And whom
He justified, He also glorified. When did He glorify them? From
eternity. How can He do this? through this
lamb slain from the foundation of the earth, because in God's
eternal decree, when that lamb was slain, my salvation was complete
in God's decree. I was glorified before time began,
in Christ, in Christ. Here is eternal redemption in
Psalm 74 verse 2. Christ's church. Now remember
this is the book of Psalms at least a thousand years before
Christ. And even then they said, you redeemed your church or your
congregation from of old. That's before he even died. And
they said, you've already redeemed us. And you did it from old.
Before the foundation of the world. Christ himself declared
his people were by him redeemed even before his incarnation.
In Isaiah 43 verse 1. And 2,000 years before this lamb
died on Calvary, Job said, I know that my Redeemer lives. How could
he know that? Because he had a lamb slain from
the foundation of the world and ever lives to make intercession
for us. Here is eternal salvation. In
Hebrews 5, verse 9, we read that Christ is the author of eternal
salvation to all who believe in Him. And even before His incarnation,
believers in Him were confident that by and through Him, all
their iniquity was forgiven, and all their sin was covered,
and all God's wrath had been taken from them. You can read
that in Psalm 85, verses 2 and 3. They knew. They knew those
things. Their sin was covered, iniquity
forgiven, and God's wrath removed. How could they know that? Because
their lambs were slain before the foundation of the world.
And here is eternal enrollment. Now again, we begin before eternity and
we come into the book of Genesis. and line upon line and precept
upon precept, and here a little and there a little. Bit by bit,
this lamb is revealed unto us, this lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. We now come to the last book
of the Bible. And in the 13th chapter of this
last book of the Bible, in the eighth verse, we find, that believers in this land had
their names written in his book of life from the foundation of
the world. Eternal Enrollment. This book of life is God's decree
of salvation. And my name was in that book
before the world began. Every blessing God has for me
in time was secured for me from eternity by this lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. It is therefore no wonder that
the heavenly hosts eternally sing, worthy is the lamb who
was slain. Worthy is the lamb who was slain.
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and blessing. Blessing and honor and glory
and power be to him who sits on the throne into the land forever
and ever and ever and ever and ever. He cleansed my stain when he
was slain before the world began. And for
all eternity, I'm going to sing the praise of this Lamb, slain
from the foundation of the world. I beheld the one whom John declared. Have you? Have you trusted this Lamb who's
declared to you this night? Or are you still in your sin?
Would you reject this Lamb and die in your sin? Do not. Do not. Behold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world. Trust in Him. Believe in Him. And through all eternity, sing
His praise. Pastor?