The Lamb of God

… Good evening, dear brothers and sisters. It is a great pleasure to be here again and to see you again, or for the first time, tonight. The topic before us is a wonderful topic, the Lamb of God. It is something that does not speak so much to our brain, to our head, but it is a subject that will much more speak to our hearts, that we really contemplate the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, as the One who gave His life on Calvary's cross. Just as a kind of introduction and headline for all the four addresses, I would like to read two verses from the New Testament, and later on we will turn to the Old Testament. Just two verses from the New Testament to start with. 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 18 and 19. Knowing that ye have been redeemed by the precious blood as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ, foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but who has been manifested at the end of times for your sakes. And John's Gospel, chapter 1, verse 29. On the morrow he sees Jesus coming to him and says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And verse 35, again, on the morrow there stood John and two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as he walked, he says, Behold the Lamb of God. There was a time in the eternity before time, before the foundation of the world, when the Lamb of God was foreknown. God knew that the day would come when the Lord Jesus Christ would be manifest as the Lamb of God. And this is the wonderful moment when John the Baptist saw him on the banks of Jordan and said, Behold the Lamb of God. And this is what we would like to put before us during this series of lectures, to really see and behold the beauties and the glories of the Lord Jesus Christ under this specific character as the Lamb of God who died on the cross of Calvary, who accomplished this wonderful work on the cross, the work of redemption for us, and the work to glorify God his Father. We will put before us four well-known scriptures during this series of lectures. Tonight we would meditate a little bit upon Genesis chapter 22. Tomorrow we will have Exodus 12. And the third lecture will be on Isaiah 53. And God willing, on Lord's Day evening, we will consider some New Testament scriptures about the Lamb of God. Now let us turn to the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, and we read chapter 22. Genesis 22 as of verse 1. And it came to pass after these things that God tried Abraham and said to him, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah. And there offer him up for a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will tell you of. And Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son. And he claimed the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went to the place that God had told him of. On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. And Abraham said to his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lead will go yonder and will worship and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand and the knife, and they went both of them together. And Isaac spoke to 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 sheep for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself with the sheep for a burnt offering. And they went both of them together. And they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built the altar there and piled the wood. And he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. And the angel of Jehovah called to him from the heavens and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Stretch not out thy hand against the lead, neither do anything to him. For now I know that thou fearest God and hast not withheld thy son thine only, son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh, as it is said at the present day on the mount of Jehovah, will be provided. And the angel of Jehovah called to Abraham from the heavens a second time and said, By myself, I swear, saith Jehovah, that because thou hast done this and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, I will richly bless thee and greatly multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because thou hast hearkened to my voice. And Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham dwelt at Beersheba." So far, the Word of God. Now, when we read Genesis 22, a very well-known chapter, we have at least three different viewpoints in this chapter. The first viewpoint is that here in this chapter, we find a believer whose faith is tested. We see that God cried Abraham, and it was a test to see the faith, the bright, shining faith of Abraham. The second viewpoint is the viewpoint we had before us last year, if you remember. We have a father and a son, and we learn a lot of family life, relationship between father and son. But the most important viewpoint of this chapter, of course, is the prophetic one, the one that we will have before us tonight, that in this scripture, in this Old Testament scripture, we have a wonderful prophetic picture of what God the Father did when he gave his only begotten, his beloved son, as a lamb, that was offered on the altar. This is the prophetic view of this chapter. We see in Abraham a picture of God the Father who gave the Son, and we see in Isaac a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the Lamb of God, who was slain on this altar in picture, but the Lord Jesus Christ was not slain in picture. He was really slain. He gave his life. God gave him not only as man to be born on earth, but he offered him up on Calvary's cross, this wonderful, spotless, unique Lamb of God. Now, if we read the chapters before, Genesis 22, and those that follow, we will find a series of prophetic pictures, and I would just like to mention them without entering into any details. In chapter 1, we have two points. First of all, Isaac is born, and that speaks, of course, of the great moment when the Lord Jesus Christ, as man, was born on earth. The second point, in chapter 21, is that Hagar and Ishmael were driven out. Hagar stands for Israel under the law, and with Israel under the law, there was an end when the Lord Jesus Christ was born. The third point is, of course, chapter 22, the third point of this series of prophetic pictures, that is, that the Lord Jesus Christ was not only born to live on earth, but he was born to give his life, and so he did on the cross of Calvary. A fourth point is found in chapter 23, that is, the death of Sarah. The death of Sarah speaks of Israel again, but not under the law, but Israel in that short period when grace was preached to Israel in the acts of the apostles. And again, they rejected the offer of grace that was given to them, particularly by Peter, in the acts of the apostles. And this is seen in the death of Sarah. Then, fifthly, in chapter 24, again a well-known chapter, it is Rebekah who comes to the fore. And in Rebekah, we have a wonderful picture of the church. This is what we find again in the acts of the apostle, the household of the dispensation of grace, the dispensation of the church began when believers from Jews and Gentiles were built together in this wonderful one body, the Bride of Christ. And then, a sixth point concludes this prophetic view in chapter 25 of Genesis. Abraham marries Keturah, and we read of the sons of Keturah, and they speak of the nations that will come into the blessing in the millennium in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the center of this prophetic outline, of course, is our chapter, is chapter 22, where we find the offering up of Isaac, which prefigures the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. And we will find in this chapter two great aspects of the work of the Lord on the cross of Calvary. The first great aspect is the burnt offering. Abraham was asked to bring a burnt offering. This is the first aspect. The Lord Jesus Christ died for the glory of God the Father. It was the pleasure of God the Father to see His Son who loved His Master as the Hebrew servant did. I love my Master. So the Lord Jesus Christ gave His life as a burnt offering, as a pleasure to God His Father. But there is a second aspect clearly seen in Genesis 22, and this is the aspect of substitution. In the first part of the chapter, we read of the burnt offering. But at the end of the chapter, we read of substitution. There was a ram at the end who died instead of Isaac. And the ram again is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ giving His life, but this time not for the glory of His Father, but as our substitute. So we have these two aspects, the burnt offering for the glory of God, and substitution for us, for our salvation. This is what we have read in 1 Peter 1, that we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ as the Lamb of God. Again in this chapter, we will find the two great characters of God, divine characters. The two great divine characters of God are love and light. So we will see that God, and we will see that God gave His Son because He is love. It was the love of God that brought our Savior from above. But at the same time, the holiness of God, the light of God, had to consume the offering on the cross of Calvary. The Lord Jesus Christ had to die because God is light and cannot see sin. Now when we read this chapter, we will immediately realize a lot of parallels. Of course, we have a symbolic figurative language in this chapter, but immediately we realize a lot of parallels between Abraham and Isaac on the one hand, and between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son on the other hand. But we do not only learn from these parallels, we will do so this evening, but we also learn by contrasts. There are also a lot of contrasts. There are not only parallels. I would just like to mention some of these contrasts that are very obvious. The first contrast, a big contrast, is this. Abraham was told to give his son. He got a divine instruction. God told him expressively and said, Abraham, take thy son, thine only, whom thou lovest, Isaac, and get thee offer him up for a burnt offering. That was a clear instruction giving by God. He told Abraham, do so. Now who told God to give his son? Nobody did. It was a free gift that God gave his son. Nobody told God to do so, and nobody could tell God to do so. No, it was love. It was wondrous love. The love of God who gave his son. We all know, I think by heart, also the children who are here tonight, John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Nobody could tell God to do so. No, he gave his son because he is love, because he loved us, because he loved you and me. That is the very reason why the Lord Jesus Christ came on earth. God gave him. Second contrast. Isaac was totally ignorant of what would happen. He had to ask this question, my father, behold the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for a burnt offering? He had to ask. He didn't know. It was good that he asked. If we are ignorant, we can ask, but the Lord Jesus Christ, dear friends, has never been ignorant. Not at all. As of the very beginning, before the foundation of the world, 1 Peter 1, he knew that he was the Lamb of God and that the moment would come where he would give up his life on Calvary's cross. He knew it very well. He knew every detail. He knew all the rejection that would be his when he went through this world. He knew that we would nail him on that shameful cross. He knew very well that the moment would come where his Father God, the Holy God, would take the knife and the fire and that he had to give up his life. He knew it very well. And although he knew all the details, he came. Imagine Joseph, another wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jacob sent Joseph, he was ignorant as well. He might have had an idea that he was not very welcome by his brethren, but he did not know that they would nearly kill him and sell him. He didn't know that before. Maybe he wouldn't have gone. I'm sure Jacob, if he had known what his sons would do with Joseph, he hadn't sent Joseph. You see the big difference here? The Father knew everything. The Lord Jesus knew everything. And yet he came. He accepted to come to be the Lamb of God. There is a third contrast I would like to mention. That is that for Isaac, there was a substitute. We have already mentioned the ram. He was a substitute for Isaac. For our blessed Lord Jesus, there was no substitute. No substitute. He really had to die. He had to go into these awful hours of darkness. He cried, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? No substitute. He had to give his life. These are big differences between Genesis 22, the picture, and the reality as we see it in the New Testament. Now, it will be impossible to dwell on all the details of this chapter tonight. We would need maybe two, three, or four addresses to do so. It is a chapter so rich, so instructive. But I would just like to mention some essential points, not verse by verse, but just some points that will be important for us and that we would like to really put on our hearts. And of course, if we do so, if we contemplate the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God, we do it with a certain distance. On the one hand, we can approach, we can surround the altar, we see all the details with adoration in our hearts. But on the other hand, we keep a certain distance. We do it like Moses who had to get off his shoes. It's a holy place. It's a holy subject. And we should approach with adoration and with reverence in our hearts. And like the disciples who went to Amos that evening, and the Lord Jesus Christ approached them and presented himself in his sufferings and glories. They said afterwards, our hearts were burning in us. And I hope that really our hearts will burn again tonight for the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God, and also for God the Father who gave him. Now, first of all, who are the dealing or acting persons in this chapter? Of course, that is Abraham, first of all. And we have already said, Abraham is a wonderful picture of God the Father who did not spare his son. He gave him the only begotten one. But secondly, it is Isaac typifying the Lamb of God. And let us have a look how Isaac is introduced in this chapter. Verse 2, it says, God says, take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, Isaac. So there are four different expressions used in this verse to introduce the Lamb of God. First, the Son. Secondly, the only Son. Thirdly, the beloved Son. And fourthly, Isaac. First, we read about the Son. When we consider the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God in the New Testament, we have to distinguish two aspects. When the Lord Jesus was born as man, God was his Father. He was begotten by the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ as man was Son of God. Psalm 2 says, thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee. So God was the Father of the man, Jesus, on earth. And Mary, the Virgin, was his mother. But secondly, and this is what we have before us in our chapter here, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. And as the eternal I Am, He has never been born. He is. He didn't come into existence. He always was. He is. Therefore, He could say, I Am. He is the great I Am. Not I was or I will be. He is the great I Am. He is the Son. Son here speaks of relationship. The Lord Jesus Christ is never called a child of God. He is called the Son. We, on the contrary, are called children of God, but we are never called a Son of God, singular. We are sons of God by adoption, that is true, but it does not say that we are a Son of God. This title, Son of God, in the singular, is reserved to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of His personal glories. He is the Son, the eternal Son of God. Secondly, He is the only Son. There is a reference to this happening in Hebrews chapter 11, and there it is said that Isaac was the only begotten Son of Abraham. And the New Testament clearly says that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. This expression, only begotten Son of God, does not mean that the Lord Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of God was born. It has nothing to do with birth. The only begotten means that the Lord Jesus Christ is unique, is not to be compared with anybody else. He is the unique, the only, the only Son of God, unique and incomparable with anybody else. This is the meaning of the word only or only begotten. You cannot compare Him to anybody else. He is unique. Thirdly, it says, Whom thou lovest. We might know that this is the first time that the word love occurs in the Bible. And when a word, an expression occurs for the first time, we should really give attention. God does not speak about love when He introduced marriage in Genesis chapter 2. Of course, there was a a link of love between Abraham and Eve, I'm sure. They loved each other. And in the New Testament, the New Testament speaks clearly about this relationship of love within marriage. But God has reserved this expression, love, to tell us about His love to His Son, who became the Lamb of God. Isaac was the beloved son of Abraham. And so the Lord Jesus Christ is the beloved Son of God the Father. When the Lord Jesus Christ was here on earth, He spoke about the love of the Father to Him. Thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world, John 17. When we think back as long as we can, to the eternity before time, there was this wonderful flow of love, this stream, this river of love flowing from the Father to the Son. He loved me, He has loved me before the foundation of the world. And when the Lord Jesus Christ was down on earth as man, He gave His Father a new occasion to love Him, John 10. Therefore, the Father loves me because I lay down my life. Yes, the Father loved the Son, He loves the Son, and He will love Him forever. There is this wonderful relationship of love that we can never understand. We can contemplate it with adorating hearts, this relationship of love between the Eternal Father and the Eternal Love. Then a fourth point is added, God said, Isaac. When He spoke to Abraham and said, Take thy son, thine only, whom thy lovest, it was ever so clear who was meant. There was no doubt. There was no doubt. There was no second one. This could never refer to Ishmael. Impossible. For Abraham, it was 100% clear that God spoke about Isaac. But nevertheless, God adds Isaac. Take Isaac. Why did He add the name of Isaac? Isaac means he who laughs or who makes laughing. Isaac was the special joy of his father, Abraham. We know this very well. He made Abraham very happy, to put it in easy and human words. Isaac made his father very happy. And if we see the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, He was really the one in whom God was well pleased, in whom God found all His pleasure. Isaac, he who makes laughing, the pleasure of the Father. You see, this is the description here of the Lamb of God. The Son, the only Son, the Beloved Son, the Son in whom the Father found all His pleasure. That is the unspeakable gift God the Father gave. This is the Lamb of God who came in order to lay down His life. The second point I would like to underline is that God says, offer Him up for a burnt offering. The Lamb of God is certainly linked to the offering on the cross. We are maybe very much used to this expression, the offering. And in the Old Testament, we find a lot of offerings, a lot of offerings. Millions of offerings were brought. They all found their fulfillment in the one offering, the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Now, particularly in the book of Genesis, we found some very instructive narratives about the offerings. And I would just very briefly mention four of them. The first offering that was brought was an offering that is not called an offering, but it was an offering. When Adam and Eve had sinned, God clothed them with His blood. With clothes of skin. Where did the skin come from? Of course, from an animal that had to be killed. The first creature that died, or that we know that died, was this animal that God killed in order to provide these skins, these clothes of skin for Adam and Eve. And we learn that God shows mercy to us, that God gives us this robe of righteousness, but He can do so only on the basis and on the foundation of the offering of His Son. Acceptance, no, the love of God, the justice of God that is given to us can only be given because the Lord Jesus Christ died as the Lamb of God. The second offering is the offering of Abel. Abel, other than Cain, brought a sacrifice and he killed an animal of his sheep. Cain, on the contrary, tried to offer God something for which he had worked. And we see that God rejected the offering of Cain and He accepted the offering of Abel, because Abel came on the basis of death. And this clearly shows us the way the sinner has to take in order to be accepted by God. If a man thinks that he can come to God on the virtue of his own working, we have to say this is not possible. It is a dead-end street. There is no way through. God cannot accept that what we do on our own. The only thing that God can accept is a man who comes on the basis of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. The third offering in the Old Testament is the offering of Noah, the bird offering that Noah brought after the flood. And this offering speaks of the blessing that God one day will have for his creation in the millennium, again on the basis of the accomplished work of the Lamb of God on Calvary's cross. The fourth offering that we find in the book of Genesis is Genesis chapter 22. It is our chapter and here we learn something that we just learned once in the Old Testament. I already mentioned the millions of offerings that were brought in the Old Testament, but all the offerings in the Old Testament, those who were killed were animals. They all were animals. This is the only incident in the Old Testament where we learn that the offering can only be a man. A man has to die for mankind. And this is what we learn in Genesis chapter 22. God opens the veal a little bit and we see not an animal, but a man. And not just a man, but the man, the Son, the Son of God. This Lamb of God, as we have read, was provided. Isaac asked this question, where is the sheep for a burnt offering? And then we see Abraham answered, my God, my Son God will provide himself with a sheep for a burnt offering. God will provide. In first Peter 1 we have read that the Lord Jesus Christ was foreknown as the Lamb of God. It does not say that he was elected before the foundation of the world. We are elected before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1. But the Lord Jesus Christ has never been elected before the foundation of the world. Because when you want to elect somebody, you have to choose. There has to be a choice. You need at least two in order to elect one. But in the eternity of time, before the time began, there was only one. So the Lord Jesus could not have been elected before the eternity of time, before the foundation of the world, but he was provided and he was foreknown. It was God's purpose, God's plan, God's counsel to give the Lord Jesus Christ. Foreknown before the foundation of the world, but manifested at the end of time. That is the great moment where John the Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God. The third point I would like to underline when we read this chapter, we see that the activity is taken by Abraham, not by Isaac. It is Abraham who is active and Isaac is passive. Now when we look to the New Testament, we will find a confirmation of what we have here. But at the same time, the New Testament gives us also the other aspect. Genesis 22 just has one aspect. The father active and the son passive. In the New Testament, this is confirmed. God gave his son. God provided this offering. God did everything. He sent his son. He gave his son. But the other aspect is true at the same time. But this is not seen in Genesis 22. And the other aspect is that the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself. He gave himself. This is not found in Genesis 22. But it is clearly underlined in the New Testament. I think we all know these wonderful verses in the epistles where it says that the Lord Jesus Christ did something himself. That he gave himself. It is true God loved the world and gave his only begotten son. But it is as well true that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2.20. The Lord Jesus Christ loved us and gave himself for us. Ephesians 5. The Lord Jesus loved his assembly and gave himself for his assembly. Again Ephesians 5. So we have these two aspects. The Father who gave the Son who provided the offering and at the same time the Lord Jesus Christ who came himself. Here we have the obedience of Isaac and in the New Testament we see the obedience of the Son of God. His dependence on God his Father. Now what did Abraham do? First of all what did he take with him? This is my third point. The activity of Abraham. He took the wood. He took the fire. He took the knife and he took two boys. These lads. These young men that went with Abraham and Isaac at least for a certain step of their common way. The wood I would propose speaks of the mankind of the Lord Jesus Christ. This wood was claved or split. You could see the interior of the wood that Abraham took with him. Now wood is something that grows out of the earth and it speaks of the mankind and the split wood speaks of the perfect mankind of the Lord Jesus Christ. In him really everything was perfect. No spot, no stain, no nothing. Everything was perfect. Abraham laid the wood on Isaac and so they went together. The Lord Jesus Christ went here on earth. The perfect man from heaven. The Son of Man. 33 years. Three years of public ministry. Everybody could see him. Everybody could contemplate him and everybody who was honest had to declare he was righteous. He did nothing that was not at its place. Perfect mankind. God took the fire. The fire speaks of God who is searching and of course God who is judging. Now God churched the Lord Jesus Christ and what did he find? Let us just read one verse. Psalm 17 I think. Yes. Psalm 17 verse 3. Thou has proved my heart. Thou has visited me by night. Thou has tried me. This is the fire. Thou has found nothing. My thoughts, my thought goeth not beyond my word. The Lord Jesus Christ was tried. The fire was there. God searched him and there was nothing found but perfectness. Thirdly he took the knife and this of course speaks of death. The moment came when God not only took the knife with him but when he took the knife in order to kill his son. When the Lord Jesus Christ really had to die. But the shadow of this very moment was on the whole pathway of the Lord Jesus Christ here as of the first moment. And then there were these two boys. Maybe they represent the disciples. They went with the Lord Jesus for a certain period of time but the moment came when they all left and when they had to leave. The moment came when they could not follow. The Lord Jesus Christ told them before the way I go now you cannot follow. They tried to do so but they couldn't they couldn't follow. The two young men here the lads they couldn't follow. Later on they joined them again. So the disciples joined again in resurrection. But this last step the way to Calvary's cross and particularly the three hours of darkness the Lord Jesus Christ was all alone. My fourth point. They walked together. Twice or actually three times. Genesis 22 said they went together. Twice it says they went together to Moriah and the third time they came back together. They went together. The father with the son and the son with the father. So this is a there is a double meaning when two went together. Abraham and Isaac. Isaac and Abraham. The son went with the father. This speaks of obedience. This speaks of dedication. The Lord Jesus Christ always did what the father had commanded to him. He always did what the father pleased. So the son went with the father but at the same time the father went with the son and this speaks particularly of the fellowship they had. The Lord Jesus Christ could say the father had not left me alone. He is with me. There was a perfect fellowship between father and son. Nevertheless the moment came when God had to forsake his son. And let us be careful. Scripture does not say that the father left him alone. The Lord Jesus Christ did not say my father, my father, why has thou forsaken me? He said my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? You see this is one of the points where we keep a certain distance. We cannot understand. The Lord Jesus says the father has not left me alone. He is always with me but at the same time on the hanging on the cross he cried my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? What a moment in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. When this moment had come on the cross of Calvary and this is my fifth point, not to be too long. They arrived on that hill, Moriah. It speaks of Calvary and we have read this verse nine. I want to reread it and just to underline that there are seven points mentioned that what Abraham did. He built the altar. That is the first. He piled the wood. That is the second. He bound Isaac. That is the third point. He laid him on the altar. The fourth point. He stretched out his hand. The fifth point. He took the knife. The sixth point. To slaughter his son. We know that Abraham was stopped here. He had not to kill his son but God did not stop at that moment. And Hebrews 11 clearly says that God counted what Abraham did as if he had given his son into death. They saw the place from afar. This place of a skull. The Lord Jesus Christ saw this place as of the first moment. There were these long shadows of Calvary on the life of the Lord Jesus. But what a moment when he went out bearing his own cross. When this cross was standing on Calvary's hill and the Lord Jesus Christ was hanging on the cross. The hours of darkness came. And the Lord Jesus Christ had to give his life. Now realize another unique thing in the Old Testament. All the offerings that were brought in the Old Testament were killed before they were laid on the altar. Here you have a victim that had to be killed after it was laid on the altar. The Lord Jesus Christ hang on that cross. And after the three hours of darkness he gave up his life. He died for us. And Isaac, what is Isaac doing? What is he saying? Is he complaining? Not at all. Not a word. Not a reaction. Not a defense. Isaac was not a small boy. He was a young man at that time. Maybe he was stronger than his father. Abraham was an old man. Isaac was a young man. No. Isaac did not defend himself. He just accepted what his father did. And this is what the Lord Jesus Christ did when he went to give his life. He did not complain. We will see this more clearly in Isaiah 53. This Lamb of God went without saying a word. Apart from this cry at the end of the three hours, this cry that we have already recalled, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Time is up. So just very briefly a sixth point. There is this thought of substitution. For Isaac there was a substitute. The ram comes to the fore and the ram again speaks of the offering, speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ who gave his life, but this time who gave his life for us. This again will be seen more clearly in Isaiah 53, God willing tomorrow evening. Then we have a seventh point. Abraham and Isaac came back together and this clearly speaks of resurrection. Hebrews said, Hebrews 13 says that God brought again from among the death the Lord Jesus Christ, our great shepherd. He came back. He died, yes, but he took his life. God raised him from among the death. What a wonderful moment. They came back together. They joined the two young men. So we join God the Father and the Son in resurrection. On the cross of Calvary the Lord Jesus Christ was alone. In resurrection there are many who follow him. And then to finish we have a last and the eighth point. We see a wonderful result, the wonderful result of the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. God speaks of Abraham, speaks to Abraham and he is mentioning the stars of heaven. He is mentioning the sand on the seashore and he is mentioning all nations of the world. There is a threefold blessing that flows from Calvary's cross or on the basis of Calvary's cross and the channel of this blessing is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. A threefold blessing, a blessing for the stars of heaven that speaks of the heavenly saints of the assembly, the sand of the seashore that speaks of the remnant of Israel in the millennium and thirdly the nations. This again has to do with the wonderful time of the millennium when the nations will be blessed through Israel and all the blessings that we have, all the blessings flow down from that wonderful work that the Son of God, the Lamb of God has done on the cross of Calvary. Yes indeed, we may say with all reason, Lamb of God, our hearts adore thee. …

… Good afternoon, dear brothers and sisters, and a warm welcome to everybody, particularly to those who could not be here yesterday night. The subject of our lectures is a wonderful subject, a heart-touching subject, because we think about our precious Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God. And the reading this afternoon, as already announced, is in Exodus chapter 12. And I would like to read some of the verses, Exodus chapter 12, as of verse 1. Exodus 12, verse 1. And Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of the month. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak unto all the assembly of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month let them take themselves each a lamb for a father's house, a lamb for a house. And if the household is too small for a lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of souls, each according to the measure of his eating shall ye count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be, without blemish, a yearling male, ye shall take it from the sheep or from the goats, and ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month. And the whole congregation of the assembly of Israel shall kill it between the two evenings, and they shall take of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread with bitter herbs shall they eat it. Ye shall eat none of it raw nor boiled at all with water, but roast with fire, its head with its legs and with its inwards. And ye shall not let of it remain until the morning, and what remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it, your loins shall be girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And ye shall eat it in haste, it is Jehovah's Passover. And I will go through the land of Egypt in that night and smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am Jehovah, and the blood shall be for you as a sign on the houses in which ye are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be among you for destruction when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall celebrate it as a feast to Jehovah throughout your generations. As an ordinance forever shall ye celebrate it. Seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread. On the very first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses. For whatever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. Hebrews 21, and Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, Seize and take yourself lambs for your families, and kill the Passover. And take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and smear the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. And Jehovah will pass through to smite the Egyptians. And when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, Jehovah will pass over the door and will not suffer this destroyer to come into your houses. And ye shall observe this as an ordinance for thee and for thy sons forever. And it shall come to pass when ye come into the land that Jehovah will give you as he has promised that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass when your children say to you, What mean ye by this service that ye shall say, It is a sacrifice of Passover to Jehovah who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses. And the people bowed their heads and worshipped." It is a great chapter that we have before us this afternoon. It is a well-known chapter. And if we ask ourselves what is the meaning of this chapter of the Passover, there is a threefold answer to this question. The first answer is this. The Passover night speaks of Calvary. The lamb that was killed during that fateful night reminds us of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul himself in 1 Corinthians gives this answer, Christ our Passover has died. The lamb that was killed speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ who gave his life on Calvary's cross. This is the first answer to the question, What does the Passover mean? God passes over. No judgment for those who are under the shelter of the blood. There was a substitute for a guilty people. The substitute was the Passover lamb as our substitute who died for us, who gave his life for us, is our precious Lord Jesus Christ. The second answer to the question, What does the Passover mean? is that the Passover speaks of the conversion of somebody who turns in faith and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. We see that the people of Israel had to kill, to slain the lamb. They had to apply the blood on the door posts and on the lintel and they were safe behind the blood. This speaks of what man has to do in order to be protected from that awful judgment that is over all of us because of sin. We have to convert. We have to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to apply the blood that was shed on the cross of Calvary. That is the second answer. The third aspect that comes before us when we read Exodus 12 is that the Passover also was a feast in the yearly calendar of Israel. It was also a remembrance. There was an initial Passover that what happened in Exodus 12 that was a one-time experience, but God gave the Passover as a regular feast, as a remembrance feast, which had to be held for Jehovah. That speaks for us of the remembrance that we have. We remember daily, weekly, monthly, yearly what the Lord Jesus Christ did. Personally, we do it every day and when we think of our assembly lives, we do it once per week when we are together to remember the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are certain references, certain parallels between the Passover and the Lord's Supper. Of course, the Lord's Supper is not a Passover, not to get me wrong, but there are certain parallels between these two things, the Passover and the Supper of the Lord. So we have these three great aspects. First of all, the Passover speaks of the cross, of what happened when Christ died. Secondly, it speaks of conversion, when someone really applies the blood of God, the blood of the Lamb, and gets secure under this blood that the Lord Jesus Christ gave. And thirdly, it is a remembrance. This chapter is one of the central chapters in the book of Exodus, and it might be useful just to give some words on the context in which this chapter is given. The book of Exodus is the book of redemption. It speaks of the people of Israel who were in slavery in Egypt and God redeemed them. He set them free in order to be his people. And the book of Exodus shows us three very important truths as to redemption. First of all, the need of redemption is emphasized. Secondly, the how of redemption is underlined. And thirdly, we find the target of redemption that God had in mind. The need of redemption is clearly seen in this book. The people of Israel, they were in slavery. They were slaves of the Pharaoh, slaves of the Egyptians, and they needed to be free, to be freed, to be set free. So every man by nature is a slave, a slave of Satan. He is not free. He is not free to do what he wants. He has to do the will of his master, and the master is Satan. That is the reason why redemption is necessary. There is a second reason why redemption is necessary. Not only that we were slaves of Satan, but we were also guilty. If we read Exodus 12, we clearly find that the people of Israel were as guilty as the Egyptians were. The difference that God made between Israel and the Egyptians was not that the people of Israel were better than the Egyptians. They were as bad as the Egyptians were. They were as guilty as the Egyptians were. The difference God made was God's grace and love and mercy, but the difference was also the application of the blood. They were all, they all were guilty. So the need of redemption for us is for two reasons. We were slaves, slaves of Satan and also slaves of sin, and secondly, we were guilty. We were under the judgment of God. For this reason, redemption was necessary. The how of redemption, how did God work this redemption out is given in two different steps. There is redemption by power. This refers to what happens at the Red Sea. Redemption by power, and there is redemption by blood. This is Exodus 12, redemption by the blood of the Lamb. Both incidents, Exodus 15, the passage through the Red Sea and Exodus 12, the Passover, both speak of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. The one to set us free from slavery, the other to set us free from the judgment that was over us. So a twofold answer to the question, how did God work out this redemption? By power and by blood. And thirdly, we see the target of redemption, the purpose God had in mind to redeem the people of Israel, they should serve God. And this is the very reason why we have been bought, why we have been redeemed, why we have been saved. God wants us to serve Him now. We are able to serve God. The Thessalonians, they had converted to God in order to serve the living and true God. This is the great purpose God has in mind. Already now here on earth, we can serve God because we have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, but also in heaven, in the eternity, we will be able to serve God on the virtue of the blood that was shed on the cross. Now, yesterday we had Genesis 22, and yesterday it was impossible to go through the verses and to explain each and every detail, and the same is valid for this afternoon. It is impossible to enter into all the details, and for this reason, I would structure the subject a little bit different and just emphasize on some important points. The first point is found in verse 1, sorry, verse 2, and verse 2 makes very clear that with the Passover lamb slain, there was a new beginning. This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year. If we turn to 2 Corinthians 5, we find the New Testament answer or reference to this verse, 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. It says, So if anyone be in Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. There was something that was old. The old things, the old life have passed away. They don't count in the eyes of God. Something entirely new has begun. God says all things have become new. There is a new creation. At the very moment where somebody turns to the Lord Jesus in obedience and in faith, there is a cut, a clear cut. The old life has come to an end. No value for God, but a new thing came up, a new creation, something entirely new. God did not try to ameliorate the old things, but He threw everything away. He couldn't use it, not at all. And something new started, new life. This month shall be unto you the beginning, the head of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you, a new beginning. And may I ask the question, do we all know about this new beginning? A new life without Christ is entirely worthless in the eyes of God. Something completely new has to begin, a new birth. Many of us remember their birthday. Once a year we celebrate our birthday. Normally we celebrate our natural birthday. And I'm sure we all know exactly the date when we were born. Now many of us who grew up in a Christian family might not know the exact date of the new birth. But we have to know that we have been born again. That there was a day, a day zero, where this new beginning started. And do we all, those who are converted, do we all remember this day in thankfulness and in adoration? Every day of our life that God grants us is a great chance to remember this new beginning. Let us never forget the day when we got converted, when we came under the shelter of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now secondly, and this will be one of the main topics this afternoon, let us consider the description that is given of the Lamb. There is a clear description that God gave about the Lamb, how the Lamb should be and what they should do with the Lamb. The first thing that is said that the Lamb should be a Lamb without blemish. Yesterday night we already quoted 1 Peter chapter 1, I think verse 19, where we read of the Lamb of God without blemish and without spot. Of course, the Lamb without blemish speaks of Christ and all the offerings in the Old Testament should be without blemish, without spot that was impossible in the Old Testament. Maybe all the lambs had a spot, one or two or even more, but the Lord Jesus, he was more than the lambs and the animals in the Old Testament. Not only without blemish, but without spot. What does it mean? Nothing less that the Lord Jesus Christ was perfect. There was no fault in the Lord Jesus, not at all. He was sinless, stainless, spotless, only perfect. The eyes of God saw him, God searched him. Yesterday we had the fire before us, God searched him. He found nothing but perfectness. The Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect Lamb of God. Secondly, it is said that it should have been a male, not a female, but a male. The male speaks of the energy of the Lamb of God. A male lamb is more powerful than a female lamb. So when we consider the Lord Jesus Christ, we see his energy in which he went forth. He knew everything that would happen during his life. He knew everything that would happen during that dreadful night when the Lord Jesus Christ was delivered and when he gave his life. He knew everything. And yet, he made his face like a pebble, like a stone. He went on in all the energy of that male lamb, the Lamb of God. He offered himself by the eternal Spirit to God. This is what Hebrews chapter 9 says. He offered himself. He wanted to offer himself. Yesterday we have seen that Abraham offered Isaac. But here when we consider the male Lamb of God, we realize the second aspect that had also been before us yesterday night, that the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself in all the power of his life, in all the energy. Yes, he gave himself. Then it is said, a yearling, a young lamb, not an old lamb, one year old. When the Lord Jesus Christ died, he was not an old man at the end of his life. No, he was in the middle of his life. He was 33 years old, a comparatively young man in the middle of his life. And we see that one of his sorrows was that he was taken away in the middle of his life. A yearling, a young lamb. The Lord Jesus Christ died in the middle of his life. Then it is said that they should take it from the sheep or from the goats. Normally, when we consider the Lamb of God, we think of a sheep. But here it is said, sheep or goat. Now I am not an expert on animals, not at all, but I have read that there is a difference between a sheep and a goat. The sheep speaks of willingness, speaks of devotion, speaks of dedication. This is what we have seen yesterday in Isaac. This devotion, the devotion of the Lord Jesus Christ towards God, to do his will. Not to do his own will, but to do his will. Father, not as I want, not how I want, but your will let be done. He was the dependent, obedient, devoted sheep. The goat is different from a sheep. The goat is an animal that likes to live alone, likes to live in separation. Sheep, you find them together in a herd, in a flock. But the goats, you will easily find them alone. And maybe this indicates the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ was a lonely stranger when he was on earth. He was, as it is said in relation to Joseph, the separated one from his brethren. Although the Lord Jesus had his disciples, those who went with him, in the moment of decision he was alone. Yesterday we had before us the two young boys, the lads that Abraham took with him. The moment came when they could no longer follow. And when the Lord Jesus Christ was delivered, when they took him, he was all alone. And when he went to Calvary's cross, there were those who followed afar, but there was no one to really consolate him, to give him sympathy and comfort. He was all alone. And when he died on the cross, when the three hours of darkness came, the Lord Jesus Christ was all alone. So he gave his life, the lonely one, sheep and goat. They had to keep it from the 10th to the 14th day. So three days they had to keep the lamb. They could see it. It lived with the family. The children could observe the lamb during these days. So before the Lord Jesus Christ died, before his blood was shed, he lived here on earth. Thirty-three years in total and three years of public ministry, when everybody could see him, could observe him, and everybody could see that the Lord Jesus Christ was nothing but perfect during these three days. Then they had to kill the lamb between the two evenings. Between the two evenings, that means late afternoon before the nightfall. And there is a direct accomplishment in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. At the very time when the Passover lamb was killed, the Lord Jesus Christ gave his life on Calvary's cross. It was late in the afternoon. It had to be roasted on the fire and not to be boiled. It was not allowed to deduct the heat of the fire. All the heat of the fire came directly to the lamb. So when the Lord Jesus Christ was on the cross of Calvary and the judgment of God came over him, there was no mitigation. The full power of the fire, the full power of judgment came upon the Lord Jesus Christ. When he was there as our substitute, as your substitute, as my substitute, all the judgment that I had deserved, all the judgment that we had deserved was on the Lord Jesus Christ. The full power of the divine judgment. What a sorrow for the Lord Jesus Christ. What a suffering. He was pure. He was perfect. He was sinless. But yet the full divine judgment came upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Not boiled, but roast under the fire. Not raw. Head and legs and inwards all came into the fire, all came into the judgment. Dear friends, are we really thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled this wonderful picture that we do have here in the Old Testament? That he really was this lamb of God. The lamb foreseen of God to give his life. Now my third point is the question, what did the people of Israel had to do with the lamb? We have seen it was a new beginning. We have seen the perfectness of the lamb. And now let us consider the question, what had they to do with the lamb? And that speaks of this aspect that we had, that I have mentioned, that Exodus 12 speaks of conversion. Now God had set up the rules. He had told exactly what they had to do. And there were two conditions in order to be safe under the shelter of the blood. Two conditions. First condition, they had to obey what God said. They had to do what God had said. And second condition, they had to believe what God said. Obedience and faith. These are the two great conditions in order to be safe. There is an interesting expression that the Apostle Paul is using twice in the epistle to the Romans. He speaks of obedience of faith. And this is a very important thing. It is not only obedience. It is not only faith, but it is both. It is obedience of faith. Sometimes we underline the truth of faith. But let us not forget that it is also a matter of obedience. God clearly says that we have to obey. And if people will be lost one day, they will be lost for lack of faith and for lack of obedience. God has given a commandment to repent. It is not only an appeal to faith, but it is a commandment. It is both. We have to obey and we have to believe. And we see here that God gave clear instructions. So if somebody wants to be safe, he has to follow the instructions that God gives in his Word. We are not safe if we follow our own way, our own imaginations, but we have exactly to do what God tells us in his Word. And what does he tell? We learn that each of the Israelites was in need of a lamb. Of course, there was a lamb for a family, and this is the great truth that God has always in mind to save families. But it is also true that God says that each one of them should take a sheep, a lamb, each one of them. It is necessary that we all personally accept the Lord Jesus Christ and come under the shelter of his blood. It's not enough that your parents are saved. Your parents cannot save you. Your brother, your sister cannot save you. Your children, they cannot save you. You have to be saved on your own, each one. God says that the lamb is always sufficient. Maybe the family was not big enough for a lamb. That could occur, but he does not say that the lamb was not enough. The lamb is always enough. The Lamb of God answers to all our needs. It's always more than our needs are. They had to keep it. They had to watch it, but then they had to kill it. They had to kill it. We have to acknowledge that in order to be saved, in order to receive redemption, death was necessary. The very death of the Lord Jesus Christ. His life could not save us, but it is his death that saved us. We are redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb of God. He had to give his life. This is the point that is emphasized and underlined. It is the death of Christ. They had to slaughter or to kill it. They had to apply the blood of the Lamb, and it was the blood that made the difference. Now the New Testament does not only speak of the blood of Christ, but it is the precious blood of Christ. And dear friends, all the blessings that we have, they found their foundation in the blood that the Lord Jesus Christ gave. If God opens the storehouse of blessings for us, it is only on the virtue of the blood of the Lamb of God that was shed on Calvary's cross. In Revelations we read that we have been bought by the blood of the Lamb. That was the price that had to be paid. The ransom that had to be paid in order to buy us. First John tells us that our sins are cleansed by the blood of Christ. First Peter, the first already quoted, speaks of the blessing of redemption that we have through the blood of Christ. In Romans we read that we are justified by the blood that the Lord Jesus Christ gave. Hebrews 9 speaks of forgiveness of sins through His blood. In Colossians 1 Paul said that we have peace has been made by the blood of His cross. We have peace with God. What a wonderful blessing, but only because the Lord Jesus Christ gave His blood. Hebrews says that we have been sanctified by the blood of Christ and that we have boldness to enter into the holy of the holiest also by the blood of Christ. And in the epistle to the Ephesians Paul says that we have been brought nigh by the blood of Christ. We who were once so far away, we have become nigh. We belong to the family of God. God is our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. Dear friends, the blessings that we have through the blood of Christ, these blessings are really unsearchable blessings, unsearchable riches. We are so rich, we are so blessed, but all this has come to us through the blood of Christ. Truly, it is a precious blood that the Lord Jesus Christ gave. They had to eat the lamb. This is one of the next things that God gives in His instructions. They had to eat the lamb. The Lord Jesus Christ is the food. To eat Him, we do it once when we accept Him as our Lord and as our Savior who died for us, but we will feed on Him continually. He is our food, the food of the new life. When the son in Luke 15 came home, the fatted calf was killed and they had fellowship when they eat this fatted calf together. So the Lord Jesus Christ is the basis of our fellowship with God the Father. We eat of this flesh and blood every day. We enjoy the fellowship that we have with God the Father. And there is one common interest that we have with God the Father and that is His Son, the one who gave His life on the cross. They had to eat it without leaven. Leaven speaks of unjudged sin. Of course, if we have fellowship with God the Father, we cannot accept unjudged sin in our life. And they had to eat it with bitter herbs. Yes, bitter herbs. We will never forget what it has cost our Savior to give His life. Our sins were on Him. What a deep sorrow. What a deep suffering. The Son of God who bore our sins. Let us never forget this. Yes, we enjoy the riches of the blessings that we have through the blood. But when we eat of this lamb, we do it with bitter herbs. And how had they to eat the lamb? The loins shall be girded, the sandals on your feet, and the stuff in your hands. This speaks of an atmosphere of departure. We are strangers on earth. We are pilgrims. This earth is not our home. No, while we remember the Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, we do it in an atmosphere of departure. We know that the day will come when we will leave this world. The loins speak of our mind. The feet speak of our walk. And the hands speak of that what we do. While we are still here on earth, we think about the things which are in heaven. We walk through this world which for us is a wilderness. And our hands do what the Lord Jesus Christ wants us to do. The New Testament tells us do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now third point, what the people of Israel had to do. Fourth point, very briefly, we see what God would do. God is also active here. And two things are said of God, at least two things. He will pass over you. That's the very reason why this feast is called the Passover feast. God passes over or he passes by and in consequence, no judgment on us. The substitute was killed. God is a just God. He will not execute a judgment twice. The judgment has been executed on the Lord Jesus Christ and God will not execute the judgment a second time. He passes over. But why did he pass over? When I see the blood. When I see the blood. We can emphasize this in two ways. First of all, we can say when I see the blood, what was the security for the people of Israel? The blood, of course, but not the blood that they saw, but the blood that God saw. Now what is our security? Is it what we see, what we feel, or what we understand? Or is it what God says and what God sees? For sure it is what God sees. God says, if I see the blood, not if you see the blood, if I see the blood. God cannot lie. And when God says those who are under the shelter of the blood, they are free from the judgment. This is true. We just have to accept and to believe what God says when I see the blood. Secondly, we can emphasize when I see the blood. So today God says, when I see the blood of Christ. Not when I see your good works. Not when I see your good intentions. Not when I see that you have been baptized, that you go to church regularly, that you attend the Sunday schools and whatever you might do. No, God says, when I see the blood. Of course it is good to go to church, to go to the meetings, to be baptized, to work for God. All this has a value. But not in relation to eternal salvation when I see the blood. It is the blood. It is the question whether we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. Not our feelings count, not what we have done count, but what God says. That is what counts. When I see the blood, I will pass over. My fifth point, remembrance. They should keep this Passover as a feast. And they should celebrate it in the desert. And they should celebrate it in the land. Now we as Christians, we are at the same time in the desert. We pass through this world and this world is a desert. But at the same time we are already in the promised land. In Christ we are blessed in the heavenly places. This is our position already now. But on which basis, on which foundation can we walk through this wilderness? Can we pass through this desert? Under which condition can we enjoy our heavenly blessings? It is always the blood of Christ. It is the work of redemption, the work of atonement, but here it is more a redemption that has been accomplished on the cross. On the value, on the virtue of this work of Christ, of the accomplished redemption. We can pass through this desert and we can also enjoy the heavenly blessings that we have been given. The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1, where he speaks of how we are blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing, in this very chapter he speaks of the redemption that we have. The redemption is not the target, but the redemption is the means, is the basis, is the way through which all these blessings have come to us. And we should remember this. We do it personally, of course, every day. We do it together when we are together as local assembly to have the Supper of the Lord. I already said the Supper of the Lord is not a Passover feast, it is a different thing, but there are, of course, similarities. The Passover speaks of redemption. The Supper of the Lord speaks of what? Of redemption? Yes, but more than that. More than that, the Supper of the Lord speaks of the Redeemer. What is more, the redemption or the Redeemer? We don't want to underestimate redemption. Oh, no. It is a precious thing that has been acquired, but yet the Redeemer is more than redemption. So when we are together to remember, we are not together to remember our redemption, but we are first of all together to remember our Redeemer. That is a big, big difference between the Passover and the Supper of the Lord. We can forget ourselves when we are together on Lord's Day morning. We can forget a little bit about redemption, although it is so precious, but we concentrate on our Redeemer. The Lord Jesus gave his life. He is the Lamb of God. When we will be in heaven one day, we will see him, the glorious man at the right hand of God, our Bridegroom, our Lord, the Son of God who loved us. But dear friends, we will never forget what happened at Calvary's Cross. On the throne there is the Lamb, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, this spotless Lamb of God. And as we have sung in our hymn to him, then let our songs ascend. Who stooped in grace so low? To Christ the Lamb, the sinner's friend, let ceaseless praises flow. Maybe we can sing this verse once again. …

… Genesis 22, a wonderful climax in the first book of the Bible. Exodus 12, a great chapter in the second book of the Bible. There is another peak to come. We want to read Isaiah 53 this afternoon or tonight. We will start reading in the prophet of Isaiah, chapter 52, verse 13. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and be lifted up and be very high. As many were astonished at thee, his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the children of men. So shall he astonish many nations. Kings shall shut their mouth at him. For what had not been told, them shall they see, and what they had not heard shall they consider. Who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender sapling, and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form, no lordliness, and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and left alone of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their faces, despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, and we did regard him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgression, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and Jehovah hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, but he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and was as a sheep dumb before her shearers, and he opened not his mouth. He was taken from oppression and from judgment. And who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And man appointed his grave with the wicked, but he was with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was there guile in his mouth. Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him, he hath subjected him to suffering. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see a seed. He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the fruit of his soul, and he shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant instruct many in righteousness, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I assign him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and was reckoned with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors. The verses we have read together fill us with deep appreciation and adoration. These are, of course, well-known words, but they are rarely really considered in detail. We know them, but do we really consider them with our hearts in adoration of the One who is described in these wonderful and great verses? Again, it will be impossible during this meeting to enter into all the details. I will try, I will try, with all the weakness of a human being, to give an overview over this real great climax in the prophet of Isaiah. If we read this prophet, we can divide it into three sections. The first 35 chapters speak about the judgment mainly concerning Israel and the nations. The center part, chapters 36 to 39, speak of the history of Isaiah, of Hezekiah, sorry, of Hezekiah and its prophetic meanings. And the chapters 40 to 66 form the last section of this prophet. And here we hear about the future redemption and restoration of Israel. And we, of course, can apply these chapters also to us. Their first application are in relationship with Israel, with the remnant, the restored remnant, and the blessing, the blessings that will be bestowed over this faithful and believing remnant. But, of course, we can apply these chapters also to us. They speak of redemption. They speak of the Redeemer. They speak of the One whom we have seen in Exodus 12, the Lamb of God. In this chapter, again, we will find Him as the Lamb of God. We have read this expression. We will find His sufferings, His deep humiliation, but we will also find the glories of the Lamb of God after He had suffered on the cross. The Apostle Peter tells us that the great subject of the prophets in the Old Testament is the following, the sufferings of Christ and the glories thereafter. And it is so important for us, dear brothers and sisters, that we really consider these two great subjects of prophecy, these two great subjects of the Old Testament, the sufferings of Christ and the glories thereafter. Yes, Christ was the Lamb of God, the One who came on earth to suffer and to die. And let us never forget what it has cost our Savior to save us, what deep sorrows, what deep sufferings were His. But at the same time, let us never forget that God gave Him this wonderful place at His right hand, that He gave Him a name that is above every name. And we love to bow before Him, to come to Him with thanksgiving and with adoration in our hearts. Again, I repeat what I have said yesterday. If we consider a chapter like this, we get off our shoes. We should be very prudent in what we say and in what we think. We are so weak, and the Lord is so great. We are human beings, and He, the Lamb of God, or the Servant of God, as we will find Him in this chapter, is a divine person. What can we say? What can we feel? But nevertheless, this chapter is given to our attention. It helps us to learn more about this wonderful Lamb of God. Let us consider the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us be grieved for the breach of Joseph, but let us also rejoice in the glories thereafter. The text that we have read, chapter 53, and the last verses of chapter 52, they form a unity. It is like a hymn in five verses or five sections. There is a total of 15 verses, and if we divide 15 by 3, we get these five sections of three verses each. The first section is chapter 52, verse 13 to 15, where we find the humiliation or degradation of the Lord Jesus, the Servant, and the exaltation afterwards. The second section, in the first three verses of chapter 53, tell us about the sufferings and the contempt of the Lord Jesus, the Servant of God. The third section, verses 4 to 6, speak of the insight and of the repentance of the turning back of the remnant. They see what they have done when they crucified the Servant of God, the one whom God had sent them. The fourth section, verses 7 to 9, speak about the perfect Lamb of God and what he suffered and how he suffered. And the last section, the last three verses, 10 to 12, they speak of the wonderful results. They speak of the fruit of the travail of his soul. This chapter, or these 15 verses, are a dialogue, a dialogue between God and the remnant of Israel. And if we apply it to us, it is a dialogue between God and us. The Lamb of God is silent again. When we have considered Genesis 22, we recognize that Isaac just asked one question. Here we find the complete silence. The Servant does not speak. The Lamb of God does not open its mouth. It is silent. It is God who speaks. It is the remnant of Israel who speaks. Or it is us who speak. Let us listen to this wonderful dialogue that we have in these verses. Now the first section, as of verse 13 to 15 in chapter 52, speaks of the humiliation of the Servant and of the exaltation afterwards. God starts to speak about his Servant. The one who is the Lamb of God, the one who gave his life on Calvary's cross, is the Servant of God, the perfect Servant of God. You will surely remember the Hebrew Servant in Exodus 21. It is the one whom we re-find here. I love my Master. I love my wife. I love my children. So, in picture, he gave his life in a symbol. He did not die, this Hebrew Servant, but the Lord Jesus, he died. He loved his Master, his God. He loved his wife, the assembly. He loved his children, all those who believed in him. He is the perfect, the true Servant. Behold, my Servant shall deal prudently, that says, full of understanding. We see the noble character of the Servant of God. When the Lord Jesus Christ was here on earth, we marvel at the way he dealt with people. We marvel at his service, his intelligence, his insight in the purpose of God. Oh, let us consider the Lamb of God, let us consider the Servant of God. He who was God, he became a true Servant. This is what Philippians 2 tells us. Oh, the Lord Jesus humbled himself. He really became a true Servant. He had come not to be served, but to serve and to give his life for a ransom for many. What a wonderful Servant, what a wonderful Lamb of God. And immediately God speaks about the glorious results of what his Servant had done. He shall be exalted, he shall be lifted up, and he shall be very high. Of course, the first application again is to Israel and to what will happen in the Millennium. Then the Lord Jesus Christ, the Servant, will be exalted, he will be lifted up, and he will be very high. But we can also apply this to the results immediately after the work of Calvary's cross, the work of redemption, the work of atonement was finished. He was exalted, God raised him. That speaks of resurrection. He was lifted up, he went again into heaven. He ascended into the glory. And thirdly, he will be very high. This is the place God has given him at the right hand of himself. He sits on the throne of God. He is exalted, he will be lifted up, and he will be very high. We realize that this verse is in the passive voice. This is what God did with his Servant. Of course, there is the other aspect that the Lord Jesus Christ, being the eternal God, raised himself. He ascended himself, and he set himself on the right hand of the Father. Being God, he could do it himself. But here we have the Servant of God, and later on the Lamb of God, and here it is God who glorifies his Son. The glory always follow the sufferings. The pathway of the Lord Jesus was a pathway through deep sufferings to that wonderful glory. The depths of death and the heights afterwards. First, the service, first the sufferings, and then the glory. This is a principle that is always true, and the Lord Jesus applies this principle also to us. If we are apt to suffer for the Lord Jesus, we will be glorified afterwards. Now it is not the time to be glorified here on earth for us. Now it is the time to suffer with the Lord Jesus, to suffer for the Lord Jesus, but the day will come when we will share his glory. Now we share his rejection, but the day will come when we share his glory. As many were astonished at thee, his visage was so mild, so disfigured, more than any man, and his form more than the children of men. God looks back to what happened when the Lord Jesus Christ came as the Servant. They didn't want him. We didn't want him. He was rejected. We did reject him too when he came. But as many were astonished at thee, so shall he astonish many nations. Kings shall shut their mouth at him, for what had not been told them shall they see, and what they had not heard shall they consider. Again this applies of course to the situation in the millennium when those kings, the kings of the nations who once crucified the Lord Jesus together with the Jews, will be astonished who he is and who he was. They will shut their mouths at him, for what they had not been told they shall see, what they had not heard they shall consider. But again we can apply this also to us. There is an application to us in this. Sometimes it is good to shut our mouths. We just open our eyes, the eyes of our hearts. We open our ears, the ears of our hearts, and we see things that we could have never imagined before. We hear things that nobody has heard before. When we consider the Lord Jesus, when we consider the servant of God, when we consider his glories after his sufferings, yes we shut our mouth. In deep adoration we praise our Lord Jesus Christ. And we are happy. We rejoice that God gave him this wonderful place at his right hand. The servant who once came to serve and to give his life, to be the Lamb of God, to die on the cross. Dear friends, it fills us with glory. We see things, we hear things that we could have never, never, ever imagined. God gives us and speaks us about his Son, the Lamb of God, his servant. Second section, the verses 1 to 3 in chapter 53. God speaks about the sufferings, the disregard of his servant. There is a question of the remnant in verse 1. Who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed? When the Lord Jesus Christ came on earth, God spoke through him to his people, to Israel. He was sent by the Father with a message, with a report to Israel. They rejected. They did not listen. To whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed? The arm speaks of power. Now when the Lord Jesus Christ came on earth for the first time, he did not come in power primarily. He came as the humble servant, the Son of Man. But nevertheless, his divine power could be seen. When he healed the sick, when he raised the dead, there was divine power in activity, and this power could be seen. Now they ask, who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of Jehovah been revealed? They realize that it was God who had spoken to them through the Messiah, through Jesus, the Nazarene who came. But they haven't opened their eyes. They saw the power, but they didn't realize that it was the power of God. They ascribed his mighty works even to Satan. For he shall grow up before him as a tender sapling and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor lordliness, and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. Of course, the desire of Israel was the Messiah. They waited for him, but they waited for him to come in glory, to come in power, to come in might, to come as the great conqueror. To set them free from the bondage of the Romans. Their expectation was totally different from the reality. Because he did not come as the King of Kings and as the Lord of Lords as he will come one day. No, he came as the humble servant of God. He came as the Lamb of God to die on the cross. So their expectation was not met at all. He was just a tender sapling. He was a root out of dry land. Nobody realized, nearly nobody realized who he was. There were only a few who behold his glory, the glory of the only begotten Son of God. And even those did not really understand who he was. But there was one who realized who he was. That was God the Father. He was like a tender sapling, like a root out of dry land. The dry land that was Israel. There was no fruit in Israel when the Lord Jesus Christ came down on earth. But he was fruitful. He brought forth fruit for gold. This is what we find in chapter 11 of our prophet. We will just quote this verse. Isaiah 11 verse 1 This is what we have in verse 2 of our chapter. There was no beauty that we should desire him. Although the Lord Jesus Christ for us, for those who believe, is the fairest of ten thousand. Fairer than all the Son of Man. When he appeared here on earth, people didn't recognize, didn't realize who he was. He is despised and left alone of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. No outward glory, no outward attraction. But on the contrary, he was despised. He was left alone. A lonely stranger, as we have seen this afternoon in Exodus 12. He was like a pelican in the desert, just alone. Even those who followed him, his disciples, they could not really enter into his emotions, into his feelings, into his thinking. He was so alone, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was despised and left alone of men. The men who are mentioned in verse 3 are the noble ones of the people. And particularly the noble ones, the leaders, the religious leaders, the Pharisees. They rejected him. They despised him. They didn't want him. Although they should have known it much better because they knew the scriptures of the Old Testament. And they should have seen that they found their fulfillment in that man from Nazareth. But they didn't want him. They rejected him. They despised him. He was despised. He was left alone. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We know this expression very well. Man of sorrows. I think you have a hymn that says, man of sorrows, what a name for the Son of God who came. Ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Man of sorrows. Not only on the cross of Calvary the Lord Jesus was the man of sorrows. There it was a climax. But during the whole life of the Lord Jesus, from the very first moment to the very end when he gave his life, he was the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But what a peak in that night when he was delivered. When he was judged. When people stretched out his hand to seize him. When they did whatever they liked to do with him. Man of sorrows. And at the end he gave his life. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ had suffered so much. Let us concentrate on the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. And like one from whom men hide their faces. Oh, when the Lord Jesus Christ was so ill-treated. When he was hit. When the crown of thorns was on his head. And blood was there in his face, his blessed face. Men hide their faces. They couldn't see it. Man of sorrows. Despised. And we esteemed him not. Not only the noble ones. Not only the leaders. But here the remnant said, we esteemed him not. He was rejected by the people. He was rejected by the people of Israel. By these religious people. He was rejected by the Romans. These political people. No, there was no place for the Lord Jesus here on earth. The only place they had for him. The only place we had for him. Was that shameful cross of Calvary. We esteemed him not. Dear friends, dear brothers and sisters. What is our estimation of that man of sorrows when we think back? He is the fairest of 10,000. He is the one who loves us. He is the one whom we love. He should have the highest appreciation. The highest estimation ever possible. We esteemed him nothing. Or we esteemed him not. That should be the past. But now he is so precious to our souls. He is the Lamb of God. The one who came to die for us. For you and for me. The third section runs from verse 4 to verse 6. And it speaks of the insight and of the repentance. Of the turning back of the remnant. It speaks of their conversation. Their conversion, sorry. Surely, they say, he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. They realize that when the Lord Jesus Christ was here on earth. In reality, he bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. When did the Lord Jesus Christ do that? Sometimes we answer, he did it on the cross. But this is not the correct application of this verse. He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. It does not say here that he bore our sins, our transgressions, or our iniquities. And this verse is quoted in the Gospel of Matthew. When the Lord Jesus Christ healed the sick. Then it says in Matthew 8 that the prophecy of Isaiah should be fulfilled. And then this verse is quoted. When the Lord Jesus lived here on earth. He took away the consequences of sin. In healing those who were sick. And we, we did regard him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. These people of Israel thought that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Was a consequence of his own faults and mistake. They thought that he was smitten and afflicted by God. Because he had done something wrong. That was their estimation. A very, very wrong estimation. And now we see how they convert. To be converted means to think completely different. But, says verse 5. He was wounded for our transgression. Not for his own. For our transgression was he wounded. He was breathed for our iniquities. The judgment of our peace was upon him. It was not his fault. It was not his transgression. His iniquities. No, it was ours. And if we apply this verse now to us. Oh, what a wonderful verse. It speaks of substitution. Yes, we say the Lord Jesus was wounded for our transgression. And I like to read the Lord Jesus was wounded for my transgression. He was breathed for our iniquities. For my iniquities. The judgment of my peace, of our peace, was upon him. This is substitution. I had deserved the eternal judgment. And there was a substitute. And he said, I will take the judgment on me. And so, the Lord Jesus Christ died. Not for his own sins. No, he was sinless. Spotless lamb of God. But, the sins were our sins. The iniquities were our iniquities. The transgressions were our transgressions. He bore them. And this, of course, refers to the cross. And on the cross, the Lord Jesus, or we say God, dealt with the roots of all our problems and sins. Not with the consequences of sin. The Lord Jesus did it while he was living on earth, healing the sick. He dealt with the consequences. But he dealt with the root, or God dealt with the root of all that on the cross where the Lord Jesus gave his life. With his stripes, we are healed. This verse is quoted in 1 Peter 2. And the stripes that are mentioned here, and in 1 Peter 2, are not the stripes as a result of what men did with him. These stripes speak of the divine judgment in the three hours of darkness. With his stripes, we are healed. And we all, all we like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and Jehovah hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. We went astray. This was our condition. We have turned everyone to his own way. Our lost condition. Like a sheep that runs away. Like a sheep that is lost. Our condition was indeed a condition where we were totally lost. And it says, everyone to his own way. We all were lost, but also every one of us was lost. It is comparatively easy to say, well, we are all sinners. That is comparatively easy. But it is another thing, and it is necessary to admit, I am a sinner, not the others. Yes, we all are sinners, that is true. But I have to realize and to recognize, to acknowledge that I am a sinner. Jehovah hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Us all means all those who believe in him. That does not mean that one day God will save all men. No, us all means all those who believe in him. The next verses, as of verse 7, speak of the perfect Lamb of God. It is God's answer to what the remnant says in the verses 4 to 6. He was oppressed and was afflicted, but he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and was as a sheep done before his shearers, and he opened not his mouth. What a contrast. We were erring sheep. We went astray. The Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect Lamb of God. He was so much ill-treated by his people, by the people of Israel, and also by the nations, by the Romans. He was oppressed and he was afflicted. Oh, how much was the Lord Jesus oppressed and afflicted. And his reaction? He opened not his mouth. He did not defend himself. Of course, we find these seven words of the Lord Jesus on the cross. But these words were not spoken in order to defend himself. If we consider these seven words or sentences that the Lord Jesus spoke on the cross, these are wonderful utterances of the Lord Jesus, wonderful sayings, but not a defense of himself. When he was concerned, his suffering, his glory, he didn't answer. He didn't say a word. He kept the silence. He opened not his mouth. He was like a lamb. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and was as a sheep done before his shearers. And he opened not his mouth. Really, the Lord Jesus Christ, we admire him. When people attack us, when we are despised, how easily do we defend ourselves. So when we consider the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God, when we see how willingly he accepted what was done with him, this is also for us related to a very practical consequence, that the character of the Lord Jesus Christ will be found a little more in us while we are here on earth following in the footsteps of this wonderful Lamb of God. He was taken from oppression and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? This is a little difficult to understand. It does not mean that God made a shortcut when he judged his son. We have seen in Exodus 12 that the full judgment of God came over him. But this means he was taken away from oppression and from judgment. It's the oppression of man. It's the judgment of man. God put a stop to what man could do with him. And who shall declare his generation? That means, it's also a little difficult to understand, that means who would like to have to do with such a generation that put the Lord Jesus Christ to death? Is there a future for Israel after this horrible crime that they committed? Yes, there is a future for Israel. For the time being, Israel is set aside. The judgment came over Israel in the year 70 after the Lord's birth, when Jerusalem was burned down by the Romans. But there is a future for Israel. He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people. Again, it's repeated, he was stricken. And man appointed his grave with the wicked, and he was with the rich in his death. This finds the fulfillment when we read the Gospels, how they wanted to bury the Lord Jesus Christ with all those criminals somewhere outside of Jerusalem. But God the Father, he took care about this. And there was a godly man who buried the Lord Jesus, who had a new grave, and he was put in there. He was with the rich in his death. Joseph of Arimathea, because he had done no violence, neither was there guile in his mouth. Again, the perfectness of the Lamb of God is underlined. He has done no violence with his hands, with his actions, neither was there guile in his mouth. There was no sin when the Lord Jesus said something. His wordings, his words, and his deeds were perfect. They were in a full harmony, but they were also perfect. He had done no violence, neither was there guile in his mouth. It is the Lamb of God who comes before us in this section. Then we have the last section. Yet, and it speaks like a summary, but it also speaks of the fruit, of the wonderful results. Yet it pleased Jehovah to breeze him. He hath subjected him to suffering. We can read this verse, but I think nobody really understands what it says. It is beyond our grasp. To read, it pleased Jehovah to breeze him. He hath subjected him to suffering. If we read it in the context, we can put the emphasis on Jehovah. Yet it pleased Jehovah to breeze him. He hath subjected him to suffering. Why did the Lord Jesus Christ die? Why did he die? There is a threefold answer to this question. The first answer is because there were those who killed him. He is murderous. The reason why the Lord Jesus Christ died is that man put him to death. That is the first answer. The second answer is that the Lord Jesus Christ gave his life himself. But there is a third answer, and this is emphasized in this verse. It was the purpose of God. It pleased Jehovah to breeze him. He hath subjected him to suffering. This is the counsel, the purpose of God. Not that God delighted in the death itself. But the death of Christ was necessary in order to fulfill the purpose of God. In order to bring the purpose of God to reality, the Lord Jesus Christ had to give his life. And so it pleased God, it pleased Jehovah to breeze him and to subject him to suffering. He was breezed like the holy anointing oil was beaten or breezed to powder. So the Lord Jesus was breezed. And what came out? Only perfection. Only perfection. This sweet Savior, this sweet smell that came out of the burnt offering when the Lord Jesus gave his life. At the same time when he died for our sins, at the same time when he was your and my substitute, he glorified God. He was breezed and the wonderful fragrance went up to God the Father to his glory. He was pleased. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see a seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He shall see a seed. First of all, this is the seed that he sees in Israel, but it is also the seed he has in us, those who believe during the dispensation of grace. He shall prolong his days. We have seen this afternoon that he gave his life, that he died in the middle of his life. Now God has given him life, life forever. He shall prolong his day. He lives forever. He will never die again. No, he is the living one. The pleasure of the Lord, of Jehovah, shall prosper in his hands. All that we have spoiled will be restored in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this will be seen in its fullness again in the millennium. He shall see of the fruit of the trawai of his soul, and he shall be satisfied. Again, the first reference is to Israel, but the application, of course, is to us. We belong to this wonderful fruit. I would like to read well-known verses, Psalm 126, verse 5 and 6. They that sow in tears shall reap with rejoicing. Of course, this is a general principle. This is the principle I mentioned some time ago, that glory will come after sufferings. But let us apply these words to the Lord Jesus. They that sow in tears shall reap in rejoicing. O the Lord Jesus Christ, he sowed the seed. He was this grain of wheat that fell into the ground and that died in order to bring forth fruit. He will reap with rejoicing. He goeth forth and weepeth, bearing seed for scattering. He cometh again with rejoicing, bearing his sheaves. What a glorious moment when the Lord Jesus Christ was risen, and when there were those who believed in him. And now, during the dispensation of grace, all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you and me, hopefully we all who are here this evening, we belong to this wonderful fruit that he has acquired on Calvary's cross. He shall see of the fruit of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. He shall be satisfied. The day when we will be around his throne will be a day of rejoicing for us. That is true. It will be a satisfaction for us. But, dear brothers and sisters, let us forget for a moment ourselves. It says, he shall be satisfied. He gave his life. He is worthy of that wonderful fruit that God the Father will give to him. By his knowledge shall my righteous service instruct many in righteousness, and he shall bear their iniquities. Again, once again, God looks back to what happened. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, he instructed many in righteousness, and he bore their iniquities. Here it doesn't say he bore their sorrows and their grieves, but here it says he bore their iniquities. This is what he did on the cross. Therefore, I will assign him. Again, he speaks about the wonderful results. Therefore, I will assign him a portion with the great, and he shall divide spoil with the strong. Because, and again God looks back to Calvary, he hath poured out his soul unto death. Let us never forget the Lord Jesus Christ was life. He had life. He is the eternal God. He is the life. But he hath poured out his soul into death. He was reckoned with the transgressors, and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Again, God speaks of what happened on the cross of Calvary. He poured out his soul into death. He died as the burnt offering. That is what the Gospel of John presents to us. He was reckoned with the transgressors. That speaks of the trespass offering. That is Matthew's Gospel. He bore the sin of many. That is the sin offering. That is the Gospel of Mark. And he made intercession for the transgressors. That refers to the peace offering. This is what the Gospel of Luke presents us. There are so many offerings in the Old Testament. The burnt offering, the trespass offering, the sin offering, the peace offering, and they all find a final and wonderful fulfillment in one offering of the Lamb of God on Calvary's cross. The Lord Jesus Christ, he died for us. He gave his life for us. Now he is exalted. He is in heaven. He is exalted. He is lifted up. He is very high. And what a moment, when the fruit of the trawai of his soul will be completed, when we will be with him, and when he shall be satisfied. There is a wonderful hymn written by Brother Rossier from Switzerland. We have a German translation. You have the English translation. It is the hymn number 498. And the last verse says, As wilt thou contemplate, Pearl of thy heart's deep longing, Trawai of thine lone soul, Freed of thy wondrous cross, Then wilt thou rest in love, Thou wilt rejoice in singing, Rest in triumphant love, Singing for joy over us. Normally we speak about our joy. We think about what we will have. But here it is the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe we can sing this hymn, the whole hymn 498. …

… Good evening, dear brothers and sisters, and welcome to this last meeting on our little series on the Lamb of God. So far we have been considering some Old Testament scriptures, Genesis 22, Exodus 12, and Isaiah 53, and tonight we would like to turn to the New Testament. Now, when we read the Old Testament, we will find a lot of references as to the Lamb of God, whereas when we open the New Testament, there are only few references to the Lamb of God, but nevertheless there are some. Those who have been here on Friday evening, maybe remember that we read two scriptures from the New Testament as a kind of introduction, and I would like to reread these two verses. First Peter, chapter 1, verse 19, or verse 18, first Peter 1, verse 18 and 19, knowing that ye have been redeemed by precious blood as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but who has been manifested at the end of times for your sake. John chapter 1, verse 21, John chapter 1, verse 29, on the morrow he sees Jesus coming to him and says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And verse 35, again on the morrow there stood John and two of his disciples, and looking at Jesus as he walked, he says, Behold the Lamb of God. We will refer to other scriptures soon, but just briefly on these two well-known and precious scriptures. John the Baptist saw Jesus Christ coming, and then he makes this great utterance, Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And the second statement, Behold the Lamb of God. Just a few remarks. If we consider the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, we have to really contemplate him. John says, Behold, not just have a look at him, but have a close look at him, contemplate him, be occupied with him. Not just have a glance at him. We are living in a society where everything has to be very fast. Fast food and everything must be fast. If we consider the Lord Jesus Christ, if we are occupied with his glories, with the sufferings and the glories thereafter, we need to behold, to contemplate, to have time. It's not just drive in and drive out. No, we need some time, some quiet time to really consider him. Behold the Lamb of God. This is a great statement. The Lamb of God that was foreseen by God in the eternity before time began. Here is the great moment where the Lamb of God was manifested, where it was revealed, where the Lord Jesus Christ could be seen and could be touched. Behold the Lamb of God. This is my second remark, this great, unbelievable statement, a statement that we can only grasp by faith. Behold the Lamb of God. There is only one Lamb of God. We have seen the pictures in the Old Testament that depict this great truth, but there is only one. The one Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who came down on this scene in order to fulfill all the will of God, the purpose of God, to glorify him on the cross and to give his blood for our eternal redemption. The third remark, John says, he takes away the sin of the world. That is the great purpose, the great target for that the Lord Jesus came on the earth, to put away the sin of the world. Not only to forgive the sins that we have committed, but to put away sin out of this world, out of this creation. We know one day there will be a new creation, new earth and new heavens. And in this new creation there will be no more any hint of sin, any idea, any remembrance of sin. The atoning work of Christ at the cross one day will put away the sin of the world. It has already put away our sins. We are washed. Our sins are washed in the blood of the Lamb of God. We have been redeemed. I hope that this is true for all of us who are here tonight. But we also look forward to this wonderful day when the sin will be put away out of this world. The second statement of John in verse 35 is similar to the first one, but it is shorter. It does not speak of the results of what the Lord Jesus did on Calvary's cross. The second statement in verse 35 concentrates us on the very essentials. It just says, Behold the Lamb of God. It is indeed precious what the Lord Jesus Christ did as the Lamb of God. But it is still more important to see who He is. Just who He is. Behold the Lamb of God. Full stop. Nothing more. We consider the Lamb of God in all His glories. In 1 Peter 1 we have a little summary of what we have been considering during our first three meetings. First of all, the foreknowledge or the provision of the Father. He, the Lamb of God, was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world. We have said that He has not been elected, but that He has been foreseen. This reminds us of this wonderful counsel of God, of His purpose. It was God's very own idea or purpose or plan to send the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God in order to restore what we human beings had damaged by sinning against God. The second thing is that He will be manifested at the end of times for our sake. This is the great moment we just read about in John chapter 1. Behold the Lamb of God manifested in the time. The Lord Jesus Christ became man in order to die as the Lamb of God on Calvary's cross. Thirdly, Peter speaks about the price that had been paid. This ransom that had been paid in order to buy us, in order to redeem us, in order to save us. It is the precious blood of Christ. How precious is the blood by which we have been redeemed. We had the debt and we couldn't pay it. We couldn't pay it. The price was by far too high. All the silver and the gold of this world, all the riches a man could have would be nothing in comparison to the debt. We couldn't pay. Another one has paid. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, He has paid what we were not able to pay. And He has paid with His precious blood. He has paid in laying down His life on the altar on the cross. Fourthly, we realize the appreciation of God the Father. He says it is a precious blood. Of course it is precious to us, but first of all it is precious to Him. What the Lord Jesus Christ did as the Lamb of God on the cross was for the honor and the glory of God. Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in Him, John 13 verse 31. God alone can measure all the preciousness of what happened on the cross, all the preciousness of the Lamb that was slain, all the preciousness of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that was shed. And fifthly, Peter underlines again the perfection of this Lamb of God. It was a Lamb without blame and without blemish. Without blame, the Lord Jesus Christ was absolutely sinless. He did no sin. He knew no sin and sin is not in Him. This is the triple testimony the New Testament gives us as to the sinlessness of this Lamb of God. He did no sin. He knew no sin and sin is not in Him. No blame and no blemish. He could not even be touched. He could not even be defiled by sin. The Lord Jesus Christ was the only man on earth who could touch, for example, a leper without getting influenced by this serious illness. The Lord Jesus Christ was absolutely and 100% perfect. His perfectness is outstanding and His perfectness is before the eyes of God every day. He found His delight in the Lamb of God and He still finds His delight in Him. What a wonderful, unique Lamb of God, the one who died on the cross. Let us contemplate, let us continuously contemplate this Lamb of God. Now there is a book in the New Testament where we find a lot of references as to the Lamb of God. And this is the last book of the Bible. In the Revelation of John we find many references to the Lamb of God. And I would just like to refer tonight to one reference and I would just like to mention another one. Very briefly I would like to re-mention the expression, the wrath of the Lamb. This is an expression that we will find in Revelation chapter 6, the wrath of the Lamb. And maybe it is astonishing to read about a lamb and the wrath of a lamb. This is an attribute that we would not think is suitable for a lamb. It is rather the willingness, the devotion, the dedication, the obedience that we would relate to a lamb. But dear friends, it is true the Lamb of God who once laid down His life. In order to save you and me, this Lamb of God will one day be revealed as the Judge. And for this very reason we read of the wrath of the Lamb. This is a very, very serious thought, a very serious thought for all those who have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their substitute. We have seen that the Lamb of God gave His life as our substitute. All those who accept the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, who personally apply His blood, as we have seen it in Exodus 12, those are safe. They are under the shelter of the blood. But those who have not accepted the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior, they are not under the shelter of the blood and the wrath of God is on them. The just judgment of God that came over the Egyptians is over all those who have not accepted Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, as their personal Savior. And over those the wrath of the Lamb will be and will come and will be executed one day. I hope that tonight we all that are present in this hall have accepted Jesus as Savior, that we know that He is the Lamb of God who died for me. For those there is a glorious future. And this is the reference I would like to make tonight. Let us consider a little bit what we read about the marriage of the Lamb in the last book of the Bible. It is not the last reference to the Lamb of God, but it is one of the last references and it is worthwhile considering it. It is an encouragement for us. In our prayer tonight, the thought has been expressed that the word of God tonight might be an encouragement to us. And indeed, thinking of that wonderful moment of the marriage of the Lamb, we will have a great encouragement for our souls and for our hearts. We read Revelation chapter 19, verse 7. Let us rejoice and exult and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb is come and His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen are the righteousnesses of the saints. And He says to me, write, Blessed are they who are called to the supper of the marriage of the Lamb. Thinking of the marriage of the Lamb, I would make several points in order to explain a little more what does it mean. First of all, a short introduction. God is using figurative language in order to teach us important truths. Here He is using the picture of a marriage. And we all know what a marriage is. Even the children, they know what a marriage is. It is a great day, it is a great moment when two who love each other get married. And if we compare a human marriage with this heavenly marriage here, we will immediately realize a lot of similarities, but we will also realize some differences. A marriage needs, of course, a bride and a bridegroom. And of course, here we have a bridegroom, that is the Lamb of God, and we have a bride. We have guests. When somebody gets married, he will invite his friends and his relatives. And here in this section, we read about those who are invited to the marriage of the Lamb. Of course, there is a wedding feast. We have read about a wedding feast. There is a wonderful white wedding dress that is needed. A bride, when she gets married, has a wonderful wedding dress. And again here, we have read about a wedding dress. But there is a big difference between a human marriage and the heavenly marriage. If we consider a human marriage, and we see the married couple, who has most of the interest in a human marriage? The bride or the bridegroom? I'm sure the bride. We all look at the bride, the wonderful bride in her white wedding dress. The bridegroom is a little bit in the background. That's quite okay. But if we consider this heavenly marriage, it's different. This marriage is not called the marriage of the bride. It is not called the marriage of the assembly. Although the bride, which is the assembly, plays an important role. But it is not called the marriage of the bride. It's called the marriage of, not the bridegroom. It's called the marriage of the Lamb. Of course, this is the Lord Jesus, and He is the bridegroom, no doubt. But this marriage is called the marriage of the Lamb. He is in the center. He comes to the fore, not we. We are always so apt to think about ourselves, our privileges, our blessings. And yes, we are richly blessed, and it is good to be occupied with our blessings. But let us never forget who is the blesser, who is the origin of all our blessings. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, being the Lamb of God. Being the one who acquired us on the cross, where He gave His life. Where He paid the price that we could not pay. It is He. It is His marriage, the marriage of the Lamb. In all things, He should have the first place. He should have the first place in our lives, personally, in the assembly life, and He will have the first place when the marriage of the Lamb takes place. Secondly, it is good to understand the character of this marriage. Now, a marriage, an earthly marriage, is the official unification of the husband and the wife. Bride and bridegroom, they become husband and wife when they have got married. The marriage in the eyes of God is the unification of husband and wife. It is a unification of love in the eyes and in the intention of God. And the heavenly marriage will be the heavenly unification of Christ and His assembly. That is the character of this marriage. We do not speak of the earthly bride of Christ, Israel, but we speak of the heavenly bride of Christ, which is the Church. It is true that the Old Testament clearly shows us that Christ, the Messiah, also has an earthly bride. This is Israel. And one day He will renew and resume the relationship to Israel as His people in the millennium. But this is not the marriage of the bride in Revelation 19. Here the marriage has to do with the heavenly bride of Christ, and this is the assembly. I think that we all know that the New Testament uses different pictures in order to explain us the truth of the assembly. We have the great picture of the one body, of the body, which speaks of unity. We have the great thought of the house of God, or the picture of the house of God, and this picture speaks of holiness in the house of God. Then we have the great picture of the bride, or of the wife of the Lamb, and of course this speaks of love. Christ loved His assembly like a husband loves his wife. There is a relationship of love. Now we are, as the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians, engaged to Christ. Of course we already belong to Him, but we are like those who are engaged. People who are engaged are eagerly looking forward to the moment when the marriage will take place. So we are eagerly looking forward to that moment that will come when the marriage of the Lamb will take place. But not only we are looking forward eagerly, the bridegroom is even more eagerly looking forward to that great moment of the unification with his bride for whom he gave his life. Let us not forget that Calvary's cross was necessary in order to acquire this heavenly bride. In Matthew 13 we read about this merchant who was looking for precious pearls, and when he had found one, he sold all that he had in order to buy or to acquire this pearl. So the Lord Jesus Christ has given up everything that he had. All the requirements he could make, he gave them up when he came. But he did more than that. He did not only give up everything that he had, but he gave himself. I already quoted this verse from Ephesians chapter 5, Christ loved the assembly and gave himself for her. That's the way she became the heavenly bride. And he is really looking forward to that moment where he will have his bride with him. Let us thirdly think about the requirements or the conditions that have to be met in order that this marriage of the Lamb can take place. I would just briefly like to mention three important incidences. The first condition that will have to be fulfilled is the coming of Christ, the rapture, the Christian home. This heavenly marriage can only take place after Christ has come to take us to be with him. This is the first condition that has to be fulfilled. The second condition that will have to be fulfilled is the final judgment of the wrong bride, of the professing Christendom, professing Christianity. This is found in Revelation chapter 17 and 18, the chapters that precede chapter 19. The judgment over the great babylon, the professing church, professing Christianity. All those who will live here on earth, unbelievers who had a Christian profession but who did not belong to the true church, they will be judged afterwards. After this judgment will have taken place, then we will have this wonderful moment of the marriage of the Lamb. The third condition that will have to be fulfilled before this great moment can come is the judgment seed of Christ. We will all appear before this judgment seed of Christ. Not in order to be judged. Our judgment took place 2,000 years ago from our point of view. The Lord Jesus Christ, the judge himself, took the judgment. It is a judgment seed where we will be rewarded, not judged. We will see our lives with the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ. This will take place. It is a great moment and it is also a wonderful moment. There is no need to fear this judgment seed of Christ for those who know that the judge died for them. Those who die in their sins, they indeed have to fear the judgment, the final judgment, the great white throne that we find at the end of Revelation. But for us, for those who belong to the heavenly bride, there is nothing to fear when we think about the judgment seed. So when these three conditions are fulfilled, when the Lord Jesus has come, when the false bride is judged and we have been appeared before the judgment seed of Christ, then this wonderful marriage of the Lamb will take place. This heavenly unification with him. Now the bride has a wonderful wedding dress. And let us consider now the preparation of the bride in this wonderful wedding dress. If we read the text, we will realize that it says in verse 8, it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure. And then it is said the fine linen, the wedding dress, is the righteousness of the saints. Obviously, there are two different sides to be distinguished. On the one hand, the wedding dress is given to her. And something that is given to us always speaks of grace. But on the other hand, it says the fine linen is the righteousnesses or the righteous deeds, the righteous actions of the saints. And that is something that we have done. That speaks of our responsibility. So we have the two sides here that we do find very often in scripture. And we often find them together, these two sides. The sides of God's grace and the side of our responsibility. It is true that the wedding dress is given to us by grace. But at the same time, it is our responsibility to work on this wedding dress by the righteous deeds, actions that we do, or the good works that we as believers perform. Grace and righteousness. Grace and responsibility, excuse me. Grace and responsibility. We are thankful that this wedding dress will be given to us, to the church, to the bride. But let us never forget the other side, the side of our responsibility. And now we see that the subject also has a very practical side, a very practical impact. The fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints. Not of the bride. Well, of course, of the bride, but it says of the saints. Who are these saints? These saints are the individual believers, you and I. And it is our responsibility, during the time that we spend here on earth, during the time that we live here on earth, to prepare this wedding dress by our righteous actions. That means by practical righteousness. It is not here a question of the righteousness that has been given to us. It is here a question of living in practical righteousness. And living in practical righteousness means to live according to the revelation that God has given of himself and in accordance to the will of God. The New Testament speaks a lot of good works. Good works. Good works do not save. This is a great error. Great good works do not save. We don't do good works in order to be saved, but we do good works because we are saved. Not in order to be saved, but because we are saved. This is a big difference, isn't it? Human religion tells us, do something in order to get something. God says, do something because you have got something. That is the big difference between Christianity and all other religions. The good works are prepared by God. This is again the side of grace, but it remains our responsibility. Let us put it this way. The wonderful wedding dress that we will wear at that heavenly marriage is woven here on earth, woven in daily circumstances, in our family life, in our personal life, in our professional life, at school, at work, at home, when we are together with our neighbors, with whomever, there, in the circumstances of life, in the pleasant circumstances and also in the unpleasant circumstances. This wedding dress is being prepared, is woven, and it will be fine linen, it will be bright, and it will be pure. It will be for the glory of the bridegroom. The wedding dress is not for the glory of the bride, but it is for the glory of the bridegroom, for the glory of the Lamb. All that we do here on earth, all the good deeds, the good actions, the good activities that we do, first of all, they are grace, of course. Secondly, they are not for our own honor, but they are for the glory of Christ. Of course, everything will be rewarded. This is another side, and this is also true. We have been speaking about the judgment seat of Christ. There we will get the reward. God will reward everything that is done out of love for him. But the main target, the main motivation is not the reward. It is important, yes, but more important is that all that is being done for Christ here on earth, maybe unseen, unremarked by others, will be for the glory of the Lamb of God. It is a fine linen. It is bright and pure. It is fine. There are no mixed principles. All is well proportioned. It is bright, reflecting the glories of Christ. It is pure. There will be no more remembrance of sin or of any defilements. Christ will have his satisfaction when he sees his Bride. Now the next point that we would just briefly consider is that marriage has to do with joy. The joy of the Bridegroom, the joy of the Bride, and also the joy that is shared by the guests. Now if we consider our text, it says, Blessed are they who are called or who are invited to the supper of the marriage of the Lamb. Who are these who are called? Is the Bride called? Is the Bride invited to her marriage? Of course not. Is the Bridegroom called or is he invited to the marriage? Of course not. The Bride and the Bridegroom, or here the Bridegroom and the Bride, or I better say here it is the Bridegroom, he invites others, but he is not invited. A Bride is not invited to her own marriage. Others are invited. So there are guests. And the Word of God says, Blessed are they who are called to the supper of the marriage of the Lamb. Our old brothers, they have said, and I think they are right, they were right. They are still right that these are the Old Testament Saints. They will see the joy of the Bridegroom. They will see the joy of the Bride. They will share it. And for this very reason it is said that they are blessed. When we read the Revelation in the first chapters, we frequently find the 24 Elders. These 24 Elders speak of Old Testament Saints and New Testament Saints. Twelve Old Testament, twelve New Testament. All the Saints of the Old and New Testament. But here we do not read about the 24 Elders. Here they are separated. The Heavenly Saints belong to the Bride. And the Old Testament Saints are those who are invited. And they are blessed. It is not said that the Bride is blessed. The text does not speak of the joy of the Bride. But of course, the joy of the Bride will be great. It is so great that it cannot be described with human words. It is impossible for us, as long as we are here on earth, to understand the joy of the Bride. When we will be with our Lord, when we see Him as the Heavenly Bridegroom, as the Lamb of God, we will be silent in our joy. There will be no more questions. There will only be joy. Here on earth, we have a lot of questions. There are lots of things, lots of happenings in our lives that we do not understand. Why this? Why that? We do not understand. We ask. And it is okay that we ask. Sometimes the Lord gives an answer to our questions already while we are here on earth. But there are questions that will never find an answer as long as we are here on earth. But the moment will come, the moment of the unification with the Heavenly Bridegroom, with the Lamb of God, when all questions disappear because they have found their answer. We will understand His love. We will understand His ways. We will understand and contemplate the glory of the Lamb. Then we read of the supper of the marriage of the Lamb. The supper speaks, of course, of fellowship. There will be an eternal fellowship. And the reason of this fellowship, or the center of this fellowship, is again the Lamb of God. We will feed upon Him. I think yesterday we reminded the fatted calf that was slain in Luke 15 when the younger son came home. We will never forget what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. We will never forget that He went to Calvary's cross. We will never forget the love that surpasses all understanding, that Christ loved us, gave Himself for us, that Christ loved the assembly and gave Himself for the assembly. We are His bride, and He is the Bridegroom, the Lamb of God. Now, there is another difference when we compare the heavenly marriage with an earthly marriage. When we consider an earthly marriage, bride and bridegroom are bride and bridegroom on the marriage day. Two days after, one year after, they are wife and husband, but no longer bride and bridegroom. But if we consider our relationship to Christ, it is different. Let us turn just very briefly to Revelation 21, verse 9. Come here, I will show thee the Bride, the Wife's Lamb. Isn't that astonishing? The Bride, the Lamb's Wife, or it is the Bride, or it is the Wife, isn't it? But here it says, She is the Bride and the Wife. At the same time, we are and we will be the Bride and we will be the Wife. Why that? Because it is figurative speech. It is a picture that is shown, and the picture shows us two things. The love of Christ, or the relationship of love between Christ and His assembly, will be very deep, but it will also be very fresh. The bridal relationship speaks of the freshness of love, whereas the relationship between a husband and a wife speaks of the depth of love. And there will be a deep love forever, forever, the love of the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, for His assembly, for us, but there will be always this freshness of love. And this is a love, of course, that we will enjoy. But let us not forget, it is a love that the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, will rejoice. He will see His assembly, and Ephesians 5 says, He will present Himself the assembly, without spot, without wrinkle, or anything like this. He will present Himself the assembly. The starting point is the wedding of the Lamb, the marriage of the Lamb, but forever Christ will rejoice in His assembly, forever He will present His assembly to Himself, to find His joy, without spot, without wrinkle, or anything like this. When we consider the Church today, when we consider it from the point of view of our responsibility, we only see ruins, don't we? It's our fault, it's our failure, it's our mistake, but the day will come when Christ will present the assembly to Himself, without spot, without wrinkle, no more ruins, no more remembrance to all our failures and weaknesses here on earth. Everything will be perfect. Everything will be according to the pleasure and the good will of God and of Christ. Everlasting satisfaction for that what He did. Yesterday we read from Psalm 126, and I would like to re-read these verses. I can't quote them. Psalm 126, verse 5, they that sow in tears shall reap with rejoicing. He goes forth and weepeth, bearing seed for scattering. He comes again with rejoicing, bearing His sheaves. Of course, this is Old Testament ground, but we can apply this to that great moment when Christ will present Himself, the fruit that He acquired on the cross of Calvary. Let us finish by reading one verse from Revelation chapter 5, a well-known verse, Revelation chapter 5, verse 11, and I saw and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and their number was ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that has been slain. Worthy is the Lamb. Do you realize the big difference? We have been made worthy. We have been made perfect. We have been made fitted, but there is one, only one who is worthy. That is the Lamb of God. Worthy is the Lamb that has been slain. We will never forget what happened on the cross of Calvary where He gave His life. Worthy is He to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature which is in the heaven and upon the earth and under the earth, earth and those that are upon the sea and all things in them heard I saying to Him that sits upon the throne and to the Lamb, blessing and honor and glory and might to the ages of ages. And the four living creatures said Amen and the elders fell down and did homage. We are at the end of our little series of lectures. Isn't that a good thing to finish with? To give glory, to do homage, to worship the Lamb that was slain. All glory to Him, that wonderful Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God. …