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The Lamb of God

I love to tell the story
of unseen things above,
of Jesus and His glory,
of Jesus and His love.

I invite you to forget the weather. Very pleased to see everyone here in the the assembly with us this evening, and I'm thinking of all of you who are listening in. We are going to forget all of our troubles, and everything around about us. For the next few moments, we're going to think of the old old story again of Jesus and his love.

Adam and Eve

In order to begin this story, we must go back to the book of Genesis. If you have your Bible, I invite you to turn to the third chapter of Genesis, looking at the twenty-first verse. The subject of our message this evening is the Lamb of God. We go back to the beginnings of creation here, the first man and woman--Adam and Eve, perfect creation of God. This is right after the fall, right after Satan has been successful in tempting Adam and Eve. They have yielded to temptation. We find in this verse that Adam and his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and cloth them. Most every Bible scholar feels that there was something secret that had taken place between God and Adam and Eve after the fall. It was not to be secret for long. God had made a promise and a covenant with Adam. He had made a promise, I'm going to make a way for you. I still love you, even though you have sinned. I'm going to make a way and here's the coat to put on. Here are cloths, Adam, and here, Eve, are the skins of animals. This represents a great covering that you will be conscience of later in eternity, the robes of righteousness. God must have sacrificed an animal, and showed Adam and Eve how to do it.

Cain and Abel

Adam and Eve had children. The first two we read about are Cain and Abel. It was time to make a sacrifice for sin. Abel brought an animal, and sacrificed it on the alter, and it was pleasing to the Lord. But Cain said, I am going to do my thing. I am a farmer and I will bring the fruits of my labour, and sacrifice to the Lord. It did not please the Lord. And the Lord gives Cain another chance. I'm looking at the fourth chapter, and the sixth verse. ``And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?'' He was very angry that his sacrifice was not accepted, but his brother's was. Why can't I do what I wish to do! and bring what I wish to bring! Why won't God accept me that way? And the Lord said, ``If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.'' (Gn 4:7) Cain would not make the blood sacrifice.

I spent a long time on this phrase, ``sin lieth at the door.'' I found the most interesting, wonderful thing that this translation of sin also carries a connotation that where sin lies, the forgiveness of sin also is found. My heart welled up when I thought, way back where Cain had sinned, the Lord said, if you don't do the right thing sin lieth at the door. But also at the door is the forgiveness for sin. What did the Lord mean? Lying at the door of the tent would be the lamb. We find this out later. We're going to talk about that in a minute.

I found a verse in Romans, ``Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound!'' (Ro 5:20b) and there is not reason to give up on the sinner, because Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God is always at the door. The sacrifice has been made. Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. ``Cain, sin lieth at the door, but the door of the tent is that little lamb that you could sacrifice at the alter, and find pleasure in my sight.'' Cain would not do it. Cain invited his brother for a walk in the field and he slew his brother. Cain became the first murderer, and Cain gave Satan his first great triumph.

I say that Satan was watching, Will my plan work? Will my plan work, that I have caused the human race to fall into sin, and the carnal nature to have entered into the heart, the root of sin-- Will it work? And Satan had his first great triumph when Cain killed Abel. It worked. No wonder God said, when He was having a meeting with the angels and the beings in heaven, and Satan approached, God said, But did you notice Job? (cf Job 1:8) It doesn't always work! My plan works.

And thinking about Cain, I say that Cain became the first modern humanist. He rejected the blood of Christ, and he was the father of a long line of sinners. They were materialistic, and they loved the world, and loved cities, and they loved ungodliness, and they married and remarried, and they married two wives at once or whatever! They worshiped idols, and they denied God. They put very little value on the human person. They denied him as being the very image of God just as Cain did killing his own brother. Had lost all kinds of normal affection that would come from the Lord.

Cain brought through his line such a sin and degradation that it became so bad that almost every soul in the whole earth fell to it, and followed it. We'll follow the world. We'll follow this materialistic Cain and his ideas. We will hate one another if we want to. We'll kill. We'll have violence. We'll be jealous. We'll have all the things that God is displeased with. The scripture says, when they finally came to the time of Noah that the imaginations of the hearts of man were wicked constantly, all the time, their thoughts, their imaginations, their ambitions, their desires. (cf Gn 6:5)

The Passover

God still loved us. God still had a plan. We read of the great time of the Passover. (cf Ex 12) God looked down on His people, and He's going to free them. Not only that, He's going to give them a promise that becomes our greatest symbol in the Old Testament of the blood of Jesus Christ.

God said on the tenth day of the month, I want you to go and get a little lamb. I want you to put it at your tent's door, or take it inside if you want to. And you keep it until the fourteenth day of the month. Three or four days keep this little lamb, keep this innocent little lamb, this gentle little lamb, this harmless little lame, this lovable little lamb, this dear little lamb. Let the family love it. Let the children put their arms around it and hug it. Love this little lamb! Keep it at your door for three days...and then God said I want you to kill it. I want you to take the blood of this lamb and put it over the door, and you will be saved. How can we take this little lamb that we love so much, and we brought into our household, and the children have learned to love, this innocent, this pure, this little creature that has no way to defend itself, and kill it?

Isaiah

Isaiah said (cf Is 53:7) Jesus Christ was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and He said nothing. Isaiah saw it way back down the corridors and looked forward to the time of His crucifixion on the cross. When the world was waiting for His coming, oh, how they needed the Messiah! How they longed for the Savior! How they hoped for the Savior!

John the Baptist

John the Baptist was called to preach that one was coming, He was on His way. He says, ``If you think I'm good, and you think that I have lived a dedicated life,'' he said, ``this one that's coming, I'm not worthy to untie His shoes. He's going to follow me and He's coming soon. How many of you are going to be ready for it? Why don't you repent and believe, because He's coming soon?'' (cf Mt 3)

Lo and behold, one day when he was out by the water baptizing, talking about Jesus, he suddenly looked up. Coming in His seamless robe, in all of His innocency, purity, holiness, gentleness, comes a man. And John the Baptist stopped, and he says, ``Behold!'' and everybody looks. ``Behold, behold what? Just a man, He's not even anything that you'd look and perhaps desire. Why is he saying,`behold'?'' And John the Baptist said, ``Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.'' (Jn 1:29b) And the world stood still for a moment. A dove came down, and John said later, ``I saw it, the Holy Spirit came and settled on Him. A voice was heard from heaven,`You are my beloved Son. In You I am well pleased!''' (cf Jn 1:32; Mt 3:17) God knew what kind of a Son He had sent. He had sent the Lamb, the gentle, the pure to be led to the slaughter for our sins. And He was crucified. He died on the cross. The world shook and the sky blackened, and Jesus paid the price on the cross for our sins.

Jude

I read through the Bible. I think we're in the book of Jude somewhere, in the time we are living in. There is only one chapter in the book of Jude. So we say, ``Jude, verse one,'' or whatever. In the book of Jude we find great warnings against apostasy. We are living in a day of apostasy. What does apostasy mean? It is falling away from what we have been taught, what we know, forgetting what the sacrifice of Christ has meant. What really stirred me up, sometimes the Lord speaks to us personally. You might say, ``Why did that affect you so?'' I do not know. It just was a new revelation with what I read in Jude, the eighth verse.

Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. ... But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally as brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam... (Jd 8,10,11a)

The Way of Cain Today

It never affected me so much. We are living in a day in age where we are running in the way of Cain! Worldliness, lack of regard for God Almighty, the rejection of the blood of Jesus Christ, humanism filling our schools, filling our churches, filling the government offices. We need to be crying out and saying, ``Don't go the way of Cain! He rejected the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.''

Someone recently said about a church, and I've never been there, I don't know anything about it personally but this person offers this information. He said, ``I visited that church, and in that church they sing peppy songs, they jump around, they sometimes wave their hands, but,'' the comment was made, ``they require no commitment.'' In this day in age that we are living in Jesus Christ required a commitment. Let's not go the way of Cain. The disregard for human beings made in the image of God goes the way of Cain. The murder of the innocence goes the way of Cain. The materialistic love of the world goes the way of Cain. The desire to please oneself goes the way of Cain.

I was reading in a book someone handed me the belief the materialists put over on us: Anything directed by the genes is all right. Do what pleases you, and that's unselfish, they say. If you go the way of the genes, without the blood of Christ, you're going the way of Satan! because he has put into the genes an inheritance for the carnal nature, and all its wickedness and sin, all of its jealousies and hatred, and meanness,--that's going the way of the genes.

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ paid the price on the cross and we are bound to make a commitment. Thinking about this commitment, I thought of some wonderful hymns. Have you ever been blessed by the words of hymns? What kind of commitment is required when the Lamb of God gave His all on the cross for our sins?

Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord to Thee.
Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet...
Take my lips...
Take my will...
Take my love...

Wash me in the Savior's precious blood.
Cleanse me in its purifying flood.
Lord, I give to Thee my life
and all to be Thine henceforth eternally.''

Watch the apostate preacher that doesn't require a commitment.

Oh, that old rugged cross
so despised by the world
has a wondrous attraction to me.

For the dear Lamb of God
left His glory above
to bear it to dark Calvary.

Can you make a commitment to that?

The Book of Revelation

Going on through the Bible we read the most wonderful things about Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation. When the heavens open and John gets a view of Jesus Christ, it is overwhelming--His glory, His majesty. In the fifth chapter of the book of Revelation approaching coming into the tribulation time, there is a book with seven seals. John says, In my vision I saw no one could open this book, no one in heaven or earth, under the earth. And he said I cried because no one could open this book. Then it was revealed, there is only one worthy--Jesus Christ. (cf Rev 5:3-5)

Then John gives a vision of Christ in His kingly character, King of kings and Lord of lords.

And one of the elders said unto me, Behold, behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. (cf Rev 5:5)

a little different from what John the Baptist said. Look at Him! the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Look at Him! the Rod of David!

And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, (Rev 5:6a)

still having in heaven the dripping blood, the slain Lamb.

And He came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne. And when He took the book

we are talking about Jesus,

the four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one harps, and golden vials full of odours which are the prayers of the saints. (Rev 5:7-8)

And they sung a new song. (Rev 5:9a)

We sing a song saying, I'll sing the new song. Here it is:

Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals. Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Rev 9b-10)

Here is one of the perhaps, most moving passages in the whole Bible, (someone mentioned it in testimony meeting recently) where every living thing on the whole earth and above the earth and below the earth, and everyone who ever lived is praising Jesus Christ. We are all going to be there.

I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands and thousands. (Rev 5:11)

Praise the Lord!

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. (Rev 5:12)

And then a universal praise of Jesus Christ:

And every creature which is in heaven

all the birds, everything, and all the angels

and on the earth

every creature on earth

and under the earth

Name them all, all the creatures that crawl on the earth that are under the earth.

and such as are in the sea,

Got a great thrill--I petted a whale a couple years ago. Can you think of that big old whale coming up? Praise the Lamb that was slain.

and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. (Rev 5:13)

Alma White

I would like to close with one more short verse. This is a hymn by Alma White. She titled it, Wash Me In Thy Blood.

Oh, fill my heart with love divine,
Thou who hast died for me.
Wilt Thou not consume the dross,
and make me pure like Thee?

From day to day my soul doth pine
to know Thy perfect will.
Take all my inbred sin away.
Thy word in me fulfill.

Oh, wash me in Thy precious blood
that flowed from Calvary.
Oh, take away my load of sin,
and give me victory.

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