10. "In the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb, as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.... Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.... Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing."
These three passages, in painful contrast to the world's course of thought, give us Heaven's estimate of the Lamb as it had been slain. And, first, we have this as connected with the mind of God, and the settled ordered arrangements of the glory of the place.
" In the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain." And not only do we find Him in this place of glory as to the throne of the Lord God Almighty, but even that throne itself sharing in His name, as oft afterward the throne is called the throne of God and the Lamb. Then, secondly, we have the song of the elders (representatives of the church on earth) in full accordance with the mind of Him, before and around whose throne they are hymning still the death of Jesus: " Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth!' And then; thirdly and lastly, the full chorus of those whose minds are in. full unison with the mind of heaven; "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth forever and ever."
Surely it ought to give us great boldness and liberty, when thinking of the glory that awaits us, and the place prepared for us, amid the many mansions of the Father's house; to see the place those grand and leading truths (which our present necessities and circumstances so press home upon our hearts and minds) hold in the hearts and minds of them that are there. If our sin, and sinfulness, and misery, and failure, make the death of Jesus, and His life from death, our one abiding constant resource, these things are better known, and more appreciated there, whither we go, than here. And, indeed, while from the flesh in us we may be more conscious of being driven to them by pressure of passing circumstances, and the evil in us and around, we must never forget, that the secret of our power to value them at all, is the mind of Christ, which we have from the Spirit; and this is the mind of heaven; so that in principle we, as those there, do rejoice in these things in their intrinsic value, though it may be that, amid much weakness, and infirmity, and failure, we may be more conscious of being driven to them by circumstances than drawn by their intrinsic preciousness.