The Lamb of God: September 2018
Table of Contents
The Lamb of God
Who is this Lamb who takes away the sin of the world? Who is He who, coming into the world, says that He is able to take up the question of sin and settle it? No mere man could do that. Who then is He? In John 1 we find a whole string of glories as the answer, connected with Him as the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Ah! if the glories of the Lord Jesus were seen by His people as a string of pearls, so that they knew how to count over those glories, what far happier hearts and faces the people of God would have!
“Behold the Lamb”! The words were like a living touch to the hearts of those who turned and followed Him. Their hearts were laid hold of by this Christ, this Lamb of God who was drawing them to Himself. He is at work just in the same way now; people cannot tell how it is, but they are drawn and constrained to go seeking Him. They find Him melting their hard hearts and they are drawn on to follow Him—still a man, though now in glory instead of being down here.
Unless the heart is on fire from having seen Jesus, how easily does any little thing turn it aside from daily following God’s Lamb.
G. V. Wigram (adapted)
God's Lamb
“Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Have we ever gazed upon the Lamb of God, whose Person and work are brought before us in this passage? The Eternal Word—the Creator—the Light—the Life—the Word made flesh—the only begotten of the Father is here exhibited to us as God’s Lamb!
This was not a title which would be foreign to the minds of John’s hearers. It had been the delight of God before His Son came into the world to set up beforehand the faithful guideposts by which they might be encouraged, while surrounded with darkness and wickedness.
Just as signposts encourage a weary traveler as he passes through some lonely area, telling him that the road he traverses leads to the desired end, so these bright gleams of light in Old Testament times tell us that God had not forgotten His people and that He would make good His declaration, spoken in Adam’s hearing, of the Deliverer, the seed of the woman who would bruise the serpent’s head.
Abel’s Offering
Let us consider a few of them — take Genesis 4, for instance. Sin had entered the world when “the Lamb of God’s providing” comes, in type, upon the scene. Abel, in essence recognizing the distance that existed between man and God and bowing his head to the righteous sentence of God as to sin, owns that nothing will avail with God but the life of a sinless victim. Therefore he presents as an offering the “firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof.” He saw that the righteousness of God demanded a substitute for sin, which offering being sinless, could bear the judgment in death. He submitted himself to that righteousness, and his “more excellent sacrifice” obtained for him the witness that he was counted righteous according to God’s estimate of his gift (Heb. 11:4).
Have we bowed to His righteousness and learned that God accepts the sinner, doing so according to His thoughts of the sacrifice of the Lamb of His own providing — His own beloved Son?
Abraham and Isaac
Let us look at another. The moment had come for the trial of Abraham’s faith, and the son in whom the promises of God were centered must die. Obedient to the word of God, the father did not hesitate a moment; early in the morning he started forth on his sorrowful journey to offer up his only son. Faith triumphs over difficulties. He believed that God “was able to raise him up even from the dead.” In simple confidence, then, he trusted God, and in reply to Isaac’s inquiry, he says, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:8).
The decisive moment came; the altar was built and the wood was placed in order. Isaac was bound and laid upon the altar, and the hand stretched forth to slay his son, when the voice of God stayed the blow: “Lay not thine hand upon the lad.” And turning about, he beheld “a ram caught in a thicket by his horns”; another sacrifice is provided to offer instead of his son, and he rightly named the place “the Lord will provide.”
The Passover Lamb
In Exodus 12 we find God displaying to us another picture of His provision in grace to shield man from impending judgment. That night He was about to pass through the land of Egypt to execute judgment. But His people must be spared, and therefore a mode of shelter from judgment is proposed to them, by sprinkling upon the lintel and door posts of their houses the blood of “a lamb without blemish.” They believed in the coming judgment; they obeyed the directions given, took the lamb, and killed it. Then, with the blood upon the door post and lintel, they sat down in security and fed upon the one whose blood was the sole ground of their safety on that night of awful judgment. They rested simply on the word of Him who said, “When I see the blood I will pass over you.” How plainly does this point us to the “lamb without blemish and without spot,” by whose precious blood His people are redeemed (1 Peter 1:18-19)!
The Lamb of God
We are at our journey’s end, for these types and shadows have conducted us to the brightness of the presence of “the Lamb of God” Himself; guideposts now are no longer needed. Signposts are passed and forgotten in the presence of the glory of the Lamb of God. In obedience to His Father’s will He had come (Psa. 40:7-8). In obedience to the same will “He is brought as a Lamb to the slaughter” (Isa. 53:7) and crucified. God presents Him thus as an object of faith for all who will receive Him.
But there was one important difference between the sacrifices of Old Testament times and the Lamb of God. In old times the offeror had to bring his lamb; he was an actor in the proceedings, and without his activity there could be no sacrifice. Not so now; it is God who has provided, God who has brought His Lamb, God who has accepted Him. Man could have no share in the work, for the plan had been devised of God and accomplished of God. The sacrifice is of God’s providing, and therefore the sinner’s acceptance is according to the value God sets upon His own Lamb.
Has the reality of this entered into our souls so that we can say, I am accepted according to the value God sets upon His Lamb, that in love He provided for me?
Notice now the character of His work. It is twofold. He “taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and He “baptizeth with the Holy Ghost” (John 1:33). Can anything be more complete, more suitable to the nature of God than this? Not merely do I see my sins removed, but I see sin itself dealt with in Christ, when He as God’s Lamb bore its judgment — bowed His head and died! How complete a work; sin itself is dealt with in all its horrible enormity! Only through unbelief is the sinner deprived of an interest in the work accomplished by the Lamb of God.
But this is not all. His work being finished, He rises and ascends up where He was with the Father, to give us a more abundant blessing than before. Those who have received Him are now baptized with the Holy Spirit, thus uniting them to their absent Head and Lord. “By one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free” (1 Cor. 12:13). And thus we who have believed are linked to Christ and to each other.
The Reception of Christ’s Testimony
Now notice the way in which those who first heard the message of good news received it, and through abiding with Jesus received strength to testify of Him. “The two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus” (John 1:37).
How simple and beautiful! “Faith” came “by hearing” (Rom. 10:17). They heard the word, they received Him, they believed in His name, and all things were but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Him. In Paul’s case the sevenfold crown of fleshly glory (Phil. 3:5-6) was cast aside in the presence of the more excellent glory of the Lamb of God. They received “power to become the sons of God”; they followed Him and abode with Him. This was the place that Mary chose (Luke 10:39-42). This again was the place that John took, not because he had a better right to it than Peter, but because he loved it more (John 13:23). This is the place that we have an equal right to share, for Jesus says, “Abide in me” (John 15:4).
Those of us who know something of this may well cultivate habitual nearness of heart to Christ, continual dependence on Him, and constant outflow of affections towards Him of whose changeless love we have been assured. To cultivate this, beloved, the result will be peace flowing “as a river” and abundant fruitfulness. Remember, without Him we can do nothing, and service, though outwardly dazzling, is worthless unless it flows from continual fellowship with Him and habitual nearness of heart to Christ!
Their Testimony
Now comes their testimony: “One of the two ... was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias. ... And he brought him to Jesus” (John 1:40-42).
May we learn our lesson from this, too, and go forth fresh from the presence of our Lord to win those who are “without God in the world” to Christ. We may well delight to tell of the One whom we have found. Surely like the woman in John 4 we may say, “Come see a man that told me all things that ever I did,” or like Mary Magdalene of John 20, we may tell of the One who is now ascended to His Father and to our Father, and to His God and our God. It is thus we know our ascended Lord; may we so testify of Him that those around us may know the Lamb of God in the glories of His Person and in the virtues and excellencies of His work!
D. T. Grimston (adapted)
Behold the Lamb of God
John’s testimony reaches out far beyond the Messiah in Israel, and we see now the effect of his ministry. “Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; and, looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus” (John 1:35-37). It is not always the clearest statement of the truth which most acts on others, for nothing speaks so powerfully as the expression of the heart’s delight in an object that is worthy. So it was now. The greatest of woman-born acknowledges the Savior with unaffected homage, and his own disciples that heard him speak follow Jesus. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). And so it ought to be. Not John, but Jesus is the center: a man, but also God, for none other could be such without detracting from the divine glory. Jesus maintains that glory, but this as man too. Wonderful truth! John was the servant of God’s purpose, and his mission was thus best executed when his disciples followed Jesus. He must be the one exclusive and attractive center for all that know Him, and John’s work was to prepare the way before Him. So here his ministry gathers to Jesus.
Where He Dwelt
But if in the Gospel of Matthew the Lord has a city (which we can name), if not a home, here in the Book of John it is unnoticed where He dwelt. The disciples heard His voice, came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day, but for others it is unnamed and unknown. We can understand that so it should be with One who was not only God in man on earth, but also wholly rejected of the world. And so it is with those that are His: “Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not” (1 John 3:1).
Nor does the work stop there or then. “One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, He said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone” (John 1:40-42). Deeply interesting are these glimpses at the first introduction to Jesus of those souls who, receiving Him, found life eternal in Him and were called afterward to be foundations of that building which would be God’s habitation in the Spirit. But all here concentrates in the person of Jesus, to whom Simon is brought by his brother, one of the first two whose souls were drawn to Him, however little they appreciated His glory. Yet was it a divine work, and Simon’s coming was answered with a knowledge of past and present and future that told out who and what He was, who now spoke to man on earth in grace.
The Acknowledged Center
Here the same principle reappears. Jesus, the image of the invisible God, the only perfect manifestation of God, is the acknowledged center beyond all rivalry. He was to die, as this Gospel relates (John 11), to gather in one the scattered children of God, as He will by-and-by gather all things in heaven and all things on earth under His headship (Eph. 1). But then His person could not but be the one center of attraction to everyone who saw by faith, as it was entitled to be for every creature. Only He was come not only to declare God and show us the Father in Himself the Son, but to take all on the ground of His death and resurrection, having perfectly glorified God in respect of the sin which had ruined all, and thereon to take His place in heaven, the glorified Head over all things to the church, His body on earth, as we know now. On this, however, as involving the revelation of God’s counsels and of the mystery hidden from ages and from generations, I do not enter, as it would carry us rather to the epistles of Paul, the vessel chosen for disclosing these heavenly wonders.
Our business now is with John, who lets us see the Lord on earth, a man but very God, and so drawing to Himself the hearts of all taught of God. Had He not been God, it would have been robbery not only from God but sometimes also from man. But not so: All the fullness dwelt in Him — dwelt in Him bodily. He was therefore from the beginning the divine center for saints on earth, as afterward, when He was the exalted Man, He became the center on high, to whom as Head the Spirit united them as members of His body. This last could not be till redemption made it possible according to grace, but on the basis of righteousness.
Gathered to Him
“The day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow Me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter” (John 1:44-45). It is an immense thing to be delivered by Jesus from one’s own will or from the attachment of the heart to the will of a man stronger than ourselves—an immense thing to know that we have found in Him, not the Messiah merely, but the center of all God’s revelations, plans and counsels, so that we are gathering with Him because we are gathering to Him. All else, whatever the plea or pretension, is but scattering, and therefore labor in vain.
But we need more and find more in Jesus, who deigns to be not only our center but our “way,” on earth indeed, but not of the world as He is not, for He is no less than the truth and the life. What a blessing in such a world! It is now a wilderness where is no way, but He is the way. Here are snares to seduce, there dangers to affright. Above them says the voice of Jesus, “Follow Me.” None other is safe. The best of His servants may err, as all have. But even were it not so, He says, “Follow Me.” Christian, hesitate no more. Follow Jesus. You will find a deeper and better fellowship with those that are His, but this by following Him whom they follow. Only look well to it that it be according to the Word, not your own thoughts and feelings. Search your motives according to the light where you walk. “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” But singleness is secured by looking to Jesus, not to ourselves or others. We have seen enough of ourselves when we have judged ourselves before God. Let us follow Jesus: To Him only and absolutely, a divine person on earth, it is due. It is the true dignity of a saint; it is the only security of him who has still to watch against the sin that is in him; it is the path of genuine humility and of real love. In this shall we be sure of the guidance of the Spirit who is here to glorify Him, taking of His and showing them to us.
W. Kelly (adapted)
The Lamb of God
The great truth that underlies the Gospel of John is the Godhead of that Man who was walking on the earth. I do not mean merely in its explicit statement of Him, but in that which implies it constantly. Thus His divine glory comes out in the most indirect ways and unexpected forms, for Jesus is nowhere more truly God than when a man.
He was indeed a man, but this was little or nothing in itself, unless He were God. Then, what truth, love and humiliation on His part! What infinite blessing to man, at least to the souls who believe! The Word became flesh, but He was the true God; hence it is that we find, whenever He speaks or acts, by whatever means the Spirit of God traces Him, Godhead is there behind the veil.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
John the Baptist’s testimony here has quite a different character, in itself and also in its effect on the soul, from what we find in the other Gospels. Where else does He speak of Him as the Lamb of God? The Messiah, the coming King, the perfect Servant engaged in the work of God, the woman’s Seed and Son of Man—these we find elsewhere. But here we have Him as the Lamb of God in a far more comprehensive relation than with the old and favored people. He is the Lamb of God who “taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Thus it is that He is presented in a universality of blessing through His work that could not be in anyone but a divine person. Certain it is that He is shown here habitually in this character. “This is the Son of God.”
Hence it is that in the Gospel of John it is not a question of the dispensations that disappear or succeed one another, but of what is vital and unchanging because it is divine. Hence too, therefore, it is when dispensations have passed away that the full meaning of such a word as this is realized. It is not particularly now nor in the age that follows, but in the eternal state that it will be manifest that He is the Lamb of God who “taketh away” (not our sins as believers but) sin in its totality. The expression does not really refer to that which we are found in and have been forgiven by faith in His blood, but to when the world shall be fully cleared of it all. Sin will be banished wholly from the universe. What a testimony to His glory, who by His work effects it all!
All Sin Taken Away
Some say or sing, “Christ is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.” But Christ is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin,” not the sins, “of the world.” One is a blessed truth; the other is a mistake. It enfeebles the peace of the believer and pillows unbelievers with hopes that work ruin to themselves, with dishonor to God and His Christ.
How full and refreshing the testimony of God — Christ as His Lamb taking away the sin of the world in due time—the same is He which baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:29,33)! They are the two works of the Lord Jesus, in the words of John the Baptist—His great earthly and His great heavenly work. We must not confound the bearing of our sins in His own body on the tree with taking away the sin of the world, as He will, making way for the new heavens and the new earth. When it is a question of sin-bearing, it is “our” sins (1 Peter 2); when it is a question of taking away, it is the world’s sin. This is the ultimate effect of His work. The Spirit looks onward by John in the full sense of what Christ was eventually to accomplish, an immense work in connection with His divine glory. He “appeared to put away sin” by the sacrifice of Himself. Hebrews 9 speaks of His purpose to put away sin. It is not the time when it was to be done, but the end for which He appeared. The work was effected on the cross, but the full results of the cross are not yet manifested.
W. Kelly (adapted)
The Lion and the Lamb
In Revelation 5:5-6, we have the Lord Jesus taking His rightful place as judge. “The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:22). The scroll of judgment is brought out, but none are found who are able to open the book, until “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David” comes forward.
It is a solemn thought on which to reflect that it is only by judgment that righteousness and peace can finally be brought to this world. Man has tried many times, down through the ages, to bring about lasting peace, only to find that, at best, the peace is transitory; soon strife and war break out again. It is only when “Thy judgments are in the earth” that “the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isa. 26:9).
“The Lion”
It is fitting that the Lord Jesus is here referred to as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” The lion is the symbol of strength, and it is mentioned in Proverbs 30:30 as “the strongest among beasts, which turneth not away for any.” It is described in Micah 5:8 as one who “both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.” The Lord Jesus is the only One who can execute judgment with strength and power, represented by the lion.
He is also from the tribe of Judah, for Judah was the royal tribe, and one of the characteristics attributed to Judah is that of being “a young lion” (JND trans.), whose hand will be upon the neck of his enemies. Surely the Lord is the One referred to here, for He is also “the Root of David,” as the One whom David could address as Lord (Psa. 110:1). David was a mighty warrior who is not recorded as ever having lost a battle, but his Root is the Lord Jesus Himself. He will appear, not only to judge this world, but also on behalf of His earthly people Israel.
When John had seen the Lord Jesus in chapter 1, he saw One whose appearance and demeanor denoted power and majesty, and so much so that John “fell at His feet as dead” (Rev. 1:17). Thus, when he was privileged to look upon the One who was able to open the book, he might well have expected to see the appearance of the lion displayed. But instead, he sees “a Lamb as it had been slain” (Rev. 5:6). It is true that the Lamb had “seven horns and seven eyes,” which speak, respectively, of perfect strength and perfect intelligence to carry out judgment. But the lamb is the symbol of weakness and submission, not of power. However, the Lord Jesus appearing as “a Lamb as it had been slain” is very instructive for us. In His character as the Lion, He is able to take the book; in His character as the Lamb that has been slain, He is worthy to do so. It is the Lord Jesus who has entered into death and who has defeated Satan, the world and death. It is because He suffered for sin that He has acquired both the right and the power to execute judgment. Another has put it very well:
“The One that prevails as the Lion is the One who first suffered as the Lamb. His power to overcome in opening the book is that He has overcome by going into death. As the Lamb slain He overcame sin and death and the devil. Having overcome as the suffering Lamb, He has acquired the power to overcome every enemy as the mighty Lion.”
The Sacrificial Lamb
Again, here is a most important truth. Our blessed Lord and Savior had the power as God to exercise judgment, but (we speak with all reverence) He could not “take away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) or “bring in everlasting righteousness” (Dan. 9:24) unless He went to Calvary’s cross. The question of sin must be settled before a holy God; for this reason, “once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:26). Because of all this, He is “worthy to take the book,” and thus He appears as “a Lamb as it had been slain.”
The judgment of sin will eventually be finished and sin forever put away from God’s presence. At that time His character of “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” will no longer be needed. But He will forever appear as “the Lamb of God,” and His wounds will forever remind us that He suffered, not only for us, but to put away sin from this entire universe. Those wounds will draw out our eternal praise.
W. J. Prost
The Worthiness of the Lamb
Rich and blessed as are the associations in the mind of every saint of God connected with Christ’s title of “the Lamb,” it may be questioned whether that which stamps it, in the mind of heaven, with its peculiar significance has, so fully as it ought, its place and bearing in the soul. The emphatic exclamation of the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God!” indicates the grace of Him who bears this name and marks His title to the adoring worship of our hearts. But this title, as borne by the same blessed One, on high, unfolded in the Book of Revelation, brings us associated with other glories and other scenes than those that met the holy musings of John, when he gazed on the blessed Jesus walking by the banks of Jordan.
This title is almost exclusively connected with the Book of Revelation, which may be called the book of “the rights of the Lamb.” This title, on its first occurrence in the book, causes heaven, earth and all redeemed creation to be roused to praise, “saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing” (Rev. 5:12). He alone is to become the center of universal praise.
Vindication of the Lamb
There is, doubtless, a marked difference in the presentation of “the Lamb slain” in this book and in his presentation by the same title in John 1:29,36, the only other place in Scripture in which, as a title, it occurs. In the Revelation, the “Lamb slain” is not presented so much as God’s provision of love to meet a sinner’s need, but as He is shown, by His rejection and suffering on earth, to be entitled to hold universal power. We are called to contemplate the righteous claims of this suffering and rejected victim, as recognized on high. It is true that the cross abides still in all its wondrous mystery of love, but we have in this book the lifting up of a curtain, showing things beyond the Spirit’s direct testimony in the church. First, Jesus is shown in the position of rebuke of the church’s decadence as His witness in the world. And then, in the prophetic part, it is not so much the Spirit down here testifying of Christ, as seen on high. Rather, the spirit of prophecy tells of the progress of things here on earth in connection with heavenly counsels, which result in the vindication of the claims of “the Lamb.” It is the blessed accomplishment, in power, of that word in Philippians, “He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:8-11). It is the reward of Christ’s perfect obedience to the Father’s will. Therefore it is throughout that Christ as “the Lamb,” in the midst of the throne, is in connection with the earth and creation, rather than directly with the church.
Heaven and Earth Recognize Him
In the fifth chapter this worthiness of the Lamb is proclaimed, and nothing, in accomplishment, can go beyond this. Heaven, earth and all redeemed creation recognize the full claims of Christ’s mediatorial glory, as the “Lamb that was slain.” We are brought to the point “when He shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power,” and when He shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father. “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” (Rev. 5:13).
In the challenge which brings the Lamb upon the scene, there is the question: “Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?” But “no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.” But there is one, and one only, found to accept this challenge. “And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four living ones, 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. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne” (Rev. 5:6-7). In redemption Christ has obtained a title to be the whole creation’s Lord, as well as the church’s blessed Head. As the suffering, meek and unresisting victim, heaven accords to Him the title to universal power and praise. The tribute of the universe must be paid alone to Him, who to the death asserted the glory of God in a world of evil, and who, in the administration of the affluence of His power and glory, will turn every stream of creature-good back to the Creator’s praise.
Those Who Honor Him
Happy is it for the saint to rest in the love and grace of Him who is in the midst of the throne, and happier still, in seeking now to uphold the honor of His name, to count on His power alone, who has the “seven horns and the seven eyes,” for how surely is His power and grace directed to sustain the heart that counts on His goodness in seeking, in a world of evil, to do His will. Soon that power, which now secretly sustains, controls and overrules amid the confusion of Satan’s power, will be openly displayed. And how soon will this bright scene of glory burst upon our anticipations!
His Enemies
But there is another side of the picture. When divine power shall vindicate the claims of earth’s rejected victim, what dismay will fill the hearts of those who despise His name and will at last be found in martial array to resist His claims. “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings” (Rev. 17:14). But before this hour arrives, what a picture of the world’s dismay does the Lamb’s opening of the sixth seal present! “The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Rev. 6:15-17).
No More Curse
The song of heaven is, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain” (Rev. 5:6-13), and the Book of Revelation is full of references to both the power and glory of the One who is called the Lamb. And finally, there is to be no more curse, because the throne of God and of the Lamb are to be there (Rev. 22:3-5). These are but brief notices of the wondrous character and claims of Him who in heaven is seen as “the Lamb.” A suffering victim here on earth, He is about to be brought forth in full investiture of heaven’s glory; there will be no place for any that refuse to bow in homage to His name.
The Marriage of the Lamb
While the main subject of this book is the presentation and enforcement of the claims of Christ to universal homage and power as the suffering Lamb, there is that which gleams forth, as it were incidentally, in the vindication of His glory. Far away from the scene of conflict and before the Lamb comes forth sitting on “the white horse,” there is seen in the peaceful courts of heaven “the marriage of the Lamb,” and, it is added, “His wife hath made herself ready”! His glory cannot be asserted without us with Him in the scene. That “we may be glorified together” is the word of Scripture! The joy must begin on high before the glory is displayed below. From heaven the Lamb comes forth to redeem the inheritance and to take possession of His glory, and “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4).
How this teaches the heart of one who knows the espousal of the church to Christ; how little it has to do with all the busy aims of men; how little reason it has to covet the world’s wisdom, power or glory, while another lord and prince is owned! It is not the earth in the power of redemption yet and yielding its willing homage to the Lamb, but it is the world which made the Lamb a suffering victim and still retains its opposition to His claims.
Present Testimony (adapted)
Self-Emptiness
We have, in the person of John the Baptist, a fine example of one who entered, in some degree, into the real meaning of self-emptiness. The Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who art thou? What sayest thou of thyself?” What was his reply? A self-emptied one. He said he was just “a voice.” This was taking his true place. “A voice” had not much to glory in. He did not say, “I am one crying in the wilderness.” No; he was merely “the voice of one.” He had no ambition to be anything more. This was self-emptiness. And, observe the result. He found his engrossing object in Christ. “Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:35-36). What was all this, but the fullness of God waiting on an empty vessel! John was nothing; Christ was all; hence, when John’s disciples left his side to follow Jesus, we may feel assured that no murmuring word, no accent of disappointed ambition or wounded pride escaped his lips. There is no envy or jealousy in a self-emptied heart. There is nothing touchy, nothing tenacious, about one who has learned to take his true place. Had John been seeking his own things, he might have complained when he saw himself abandoned, but when a man has found his satisfying object in “the Lamb of God,” he does not care much about losing a few disciples.
He Must Increase – I Must Decrease
We have a further exhibition of the Baptist’s self-emptied spirit in the third chapter of John. “They came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all come to Him” (John 3:26). Here was a communication quite calculated to draw out the envy and jealousy of the poor human heart. But mark the reply, the noble reply, of the Baptist: “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. ... He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all; he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all” (John 3:27,30-31). Precious testimony this! A testimony to his own utter nothingness and Christ’s fullness, glory and peerless excellence! “A voice” was “nothing”; Christ was “above all.”
At Leisure From Self
Oh! for a self-emptied spirit — “a heart at leisure from itself” — a mind delivered from all anxiety about one’s own things! May we be more thoroughly delivered from self in all its detestable windings and workings! Then could the Master use us, own us and bless us. Hearken to His testimony to John — the one who said of himself that he was nothing but a voice. “Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matt. 11:11). How much better to hear this from the Master than from the servant! John said, “I am a voice.” Christ said he was the greatest of prophets. Simon Magus gave out that “himself was some great one” (Acts 8:9). Such is the way of the world — the manner of man. John the Baptist, the greatest of prophets, gave out that himself was nothing — that Christ was “above all.” What a contrast!
May we be kept lowly and self-emptied and be continually filled with Christ. This is true blessedness. May the language of our hearts and the distinct utterance of our lives ever be, “Behold the Lamb of God.”
C. H. Mackintosh (adapted)
Two Last-Minute Visits
One day I was visiting in the hospital with a dear sister who was just about home. She could not speak above a whisper, and as I walked in, she, of course, could not sing. Instead she began to say with just a faint whisper, “So dear, so very dear to God, I cannot dearer be; the love wherewith He loves His Son, such is His love to me.” And then she whispered, “Brother, please sing that at my funeral.” Sure enough, in a matter of hours, she was with the Lord. But I will not forget the joy of that expression and the look on her face as she whispered those words. I walked out of her room and down the hall into the room of another. He also knew the Lord Jesus as his Savior. He also was at the very gate of eternity, but he had no joy whatever. No joy whatever. He had spent his life amassing idols, and he had plenty of them. He was a wealthy man. He was going to leave much behind him. Did I say “much”? He was going to leave everything behind him. Sad to say, the things that he had labored for he was about to leave behind. Now he knew where he was going. And I believe without any doubt in my soul that that dear man is with Christ.
As I compared those two last-minute visits, for they were both gone in such a short time, I thought of such verses as these. “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:36). Oh beloved friends, without enlarging upon it, I want to repeat it with all my heart. May the result of your spending time with God’s Word be that you and I, young and old, may have before us the Person, the unchanging Person of our Lord Jesus Christ! His heart is so full of love toward you and me — a personal love. Remember a verse like this, “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine” (Isa. 43:1). Does that do anything to your heart? If you heard the Lord Jesus speak those very words in your ear, “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine,” what would it do to you? Would there be some response? I want to tell you something. If you do not feel some response, then please do not try to pretend any longer that you are a Christian.
A. C. Hayhoe
The Contemplation of Jesus
There, with adoring hearts and unhindered spirits, shall we find ourselves surrounding the Lamb of God, who has loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and we shall behold, not only the glory of God in the face of Jesus as we never saw it before, but ourselves changed actually into the same image and still able to look and wonder and forget ourselves, as we learn the infinite depths of the Father’s delight in the Son.
Food for the Flock
The Removal of Sin
“Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This statement is very little appreciated in its fullness. Atonement or forgiveness through the knowledge of the blood shed on Calvary is not here the point. From the fall downwards, sin had been upon the whole system of this world. And whenever the world or anything connected with it came before the divine mind, sin was the first thought; Adam and Eve, to whom it had all been entrusted, had rebelled against God and sold themselves and creation under sin. Now it is the redemption of this system as a whole which is referred to here. Some will here, in time of the redemption, prize and rejoice in forgiveness; others may hear of the blood of God’s Son and trample it under foot. But the system, as a whole, is claimed by God, and quite apart from the believer’s joy in forgiveness, the system will be set free from sin. The wicked will be cast out of it into the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels. The world will be set free; there will be “a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). The Lamb once slain, alive again upon the throne, though sin may yet remain in detail, is the guarantee of this. And the scope of redemption is seen in this: The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head. Now this is the work the Lamb of God had to do—to introduce the world to God in another connection than as of sin being upon it, and eventually to remove every mark of sin from it.
Present Testimony
Behold the Lamb of God
Having thus unveiled Christ’s coming exaltation and glory, John the Baptist again presents Him as the Lamb of God. “Again the next day after John stood, and two of His disciples, and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:35-36). In the former passage it was Christ in His sacrificial character — the meek and gentle victim — offering Himself for the sin of the world; in this it is the display of what He is in Himself that excites the wondering admiration of His forerunner. Looking upon Jesus as He walked, his heart is filled with adoring praise, and he says, “Behold the Lamb of God”; behold Himself, the beauty of His ways, the perfectness of His walk, the unfolding of a divine-human life, which was in itself a full and perfect moral presentation of God to man. It was indeed an object that might rivet the gaze of all beholders. For that lowly Man, whom John thus designated, was the only One on earth who fully answered the desires of the heart of God, the only One on whom He could look, and in whom He could rest with complacency and delight. John therefore was in the current of God’s own thoughts when he pointed his disciples to this beauteous Lamb of God.
This, at the same time, helps us to understand the significance of this second cry of the Baptist. John himself was arrested as he looked upon Jesus as he walked; and in utter forgetfulness of self, knowing that his lesser light must fade away and be extinguished by this heavenly luminary, he desires that his own disciples should be occupied with the object that had drawn forth and absorbed his affections. He had first proclaimed Him as the sacrifice for sin; for we can never know the Person of Christ until the question of sin has been settled, and then he pointed Him out to his disciples as the object for their hearts, as the One who was entitled, in virtue of His sacrifice and what it accomplished, to claim their allegiance and affections. And very blessed is it for us all when the claims of Christ are fully acknowledged. Under the pressure of our sin and guilt we are all willing, or rather often driven, to seek relief through His blood; but our danger is, when the relief is obtained, of forgetting that He who has borne our sins in His own body on the tree, has by that very fact the right to all that we have and are. The right? Most surely the right! But how it evidences the feebleness of our conceptions of what He is, and what He has done, when we have to argue and enforce it. Who would speak of a mother having the right to the love of her child? In like manner to speak of Christ having the right to our love, is only to prove the hardness of our hearts. To behold Him as the One who has taken away our sin should be enough to bind us forever to His service, to keep us at His feet as His willing servants, to melt our hearts to gratitude and praise.
E. Dennett (adapted)
The Victory of the Lamb
“If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12).
I go from grief and sighing, the valley and the clod,
To join the chosen people in the palaces of God—
There sounds no cry of battle amidst the shadowing palms,
But the mighty song of victory and glorious golden psalms.
The army of the conquerors, a palm in every hand,
In robes of state and splendor, in rest eternal stand;
Those marriage robes of glory, the righteousness of God—
He bought them for His people with His most precious blood.
The Lamb of God has saved them from hell’s deep sea of fire—
The Lamb of God adorns them in spotless white attire;
The Lamb of God presents them as kings in crowns of light—
As priests in God’s own temple to serve Him day and night.
Salvation, strength and wisdom to Him whose works and ways
Are wonderful and glorious—eternal is His praise;
The Lamb who died and lives, alive forevermore;
The Savior who redeemed us, forever we adore.
J. Heerman, 1647