The Lamb of God
(2)
The Lamb on the
Throne
In the
first study
we considered some reasons as to why Jesus is referred to as the Lamb
of God. We now move our attention to those passages in the NT where
Jesus is specifically mentioned
as the Lamb. As noted in the first article, most references are found
in the book of Revelation, so we shall use that book as the basis of
our thoughts, and naturally we will draw in all the other references as
and when they are needed. We turn then to the fifth chapter
of
the
Revelation.
From the Old
to the
New
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And one of the
elders saith unto me, weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda,
the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the
seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of
the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders,
stood a Lamb as it had been slain, 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. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts
and
four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of
them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of
saints. And they sung a new song, saying, 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.
Rev.5:5-9
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Here we see the
first
mention in Revelation
as to Christ being the Lamb. We must note
that
this passage is a continuation of the previous chapter, which is also a
vision of the heavenly throne. On careful
examination we
see:
Ch.4
is a vision of
heaven from the OT perspective
Ch.5
is a
vision
of heaven from the NT perspective.
It is not the
purpose of
this study to look
at Ch.
4
in detail, but just to have a quick glance in
order to prepare us for our main topic. A causal reading of
this chapter alone will show that what John saw here was what the
OT saints would be familiar with. For example: a rainbow
around the
throne (Rev.4: 3
& Ezk.1: 28); four
beasts in the midst of the throne (Rev.4:6
& Ezk.1:5-14)
and as the cry ‘
Holy, holy,
holy…’ (Rev.4: 8 &
Isa.6: 2-3).
Since we
are being prepared for something new, we are
brought
back to familiar ground. As a final example let us look at
the
two songs; the song sung at the end of chapter
4 is
one of creation,
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Thou art worthy,
O
Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all
things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Rev. 4:11
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This would have been a familiar song to
John,
being
found throughout the OT., whereas in ch.5 we
have:
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And they sung a
new song, saying, 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.
Rev.5:9-10
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Here
the
song is one of
redemption,
creation is no longer in view but redemption is. In the
previous article we saw that Jesus is the one by whom we
have redemption. The emphasis changes, whilst Jesus
the creator is still a truth the focus of attention is now on
Jesus as the Redeemer. In these two chapters then
we
have two different perspectives of the scene in heaven.
Chapter
4 is the heavenly scene before Jesus died
at Calvary, Chapter
5 is
the scene after
Jesus had died and set at the Father's right hand.
The pivotal verse
being:
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.
..the Lion of the
tribe of Judah….
v5
|
Here we
are
brought back to
Jesus'
earthly roots. He was of Judah,
and the Lion
is a clear reference to the prophetic OT scriptures. (See
Gen.49: 9-10; Heb.7:
14;
Isa.11:
1,10.). This is still
part
of the OT scene, Jesus had been promised,
His earthly
lineage proclaimed and His Messianic nature
announced but
then...
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…in the midst of
the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain,…
v6
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The
declaration now is of
Jesus being
the Lamb having being slain. In John's Gospel we
have a similar order of things. In the first chapter we have
the talk of the coming Messiah, a Jewish
hope. (
Jn.1:19-27) But then Jesus appeared on the scene
and the
Baptist announces Him as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of
the world. (Jn.1:29).
Jesus had indeed come. The lamb
was seen! This is the one thing the religious leaders of Jesus' day
failed
to understand: they were looking for a Messiah, who would deliver them
from the Roman oppression, they did not envisage a suffering
Messiah.
Yet in God's plan Jesus had to come and be slain
for us.
In these verses in Revelation we see the following:
The Lamb
1.The
Lamb in
the midst of the throne
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In the previous
chapter
we read that the
elders
were round about the throne (Rev.4:4) and the four
beasts
were in the midst and round about the throne (Rev.4:6) Again
this shows that the OT scene is perfectly consistent with the
NT
revelation, for the four beasts are types of the Lord Jesus Christ;
they show the fourfold picture of
Jesus as seen in the four gospel accounts .
Lion
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Jesus the Messiah
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Matthew
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Calf
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Jesus the Servant
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Mark
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Man
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Jesus the Son of
Man
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Luke
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Eagle
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Jesus the Son
of God
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John
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By
having
these positions the
beasts
show, in type, the pre-eminence and centrality of Christ. We must
remember that the tenor of OT prophecy and typology concerns the coming
of Jesus, it is He of whom the prophets spoke (Lk.24:44).
So
coming into the fifth chapter we see clearly that
Jesus the
Lamb is in the midst, He holds the central position. All attention is
focussed upon Him. One aspect of the Holy Spirit's
ministry
is to glorify Jesus (
Jn. 16:
11-15).
In Christian circles today there are many 'teachings' and
'ministries', some claiming this, some another; but the key question
is: does it
glorify Jesus? Do all these things that go on have Jesus at
the
centre?
Giving
thanks
unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light: Who
hath delivered us from the power of darkness,
and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his
blood, even
the forgiveness of sins: Who
is the image
of
the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are
in
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they
be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were
created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him
all things consist. And
he is
the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead; that in all things he might have the
pre-eminence.
Col.1: 12-18
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In the NT we frequently read that
Jesus is
in the
midst. For
example:
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For
where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.
Mtt.18:20
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Here
Jesus
is
talking about the believers gathering together. A
few
chapters earlier Jesus talks about building His Church ( Mtt.16:18) It
is
taken as read that in His Church Jesus is the
central figure,
it is He who has the pre-eminence and non other. This
twentieth verse has to be seen in its context, namely that
Jesus
is talking about forgiveness and reconciliation. The thought is:
Jesus cannot be in the midst of those gathered if there is no
forgiveness
and reconciliation: if there is no forgiveness then there is something
else in our midst, bad feelings for example, and so Jesus cannot be
central. One cannot stress too strongly the need of the brethren and
sisters to live in a constant spirit of forgiveness towards each other.
May we all learn to forgive as God has forgiven us (Eph.4: 31-32)
The parable of the servants in Mtt.18:21-35
is very revealing!
However
this passage
can refer to believers meeting outside of
the 'church' context. The common ground for Christian
fellowship is the life of Christ within, and so when we meet
it
is on that basis, so that we are meeting in His name
(I
Jn.1:3 ); when we visit other Christians we meet because of His life
and so are gathered together in His name. He is not confined to when the saints are
gathered
in a 'recognised' meeting!
And in the midst
of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man,
clothed
with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps
with a golden girdle.
Rev.
1:13
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A similar
picture
is given to us in Rev.1.
Except here the vision is that of Jesus in the midst of
the churches, rather than individuals. The seven candlesticks
(=lamp stands) are not to be thought of as the seven-branched
candlestick, but seven individual lampstands, each
representing one individual assembly. Thus we have a picture of our
Lord, who is walking in the midst of the local assemblies.
This
passage reminds
us of the High priest's duties in the Tabernacle. (Lev.24:1-4) there
the
High Priest had to order the lampstand,
keeping it lit continually by supplying the oil; so Jesus
takes
care of
the churches supplying the oil to keep them burning and
bringing
to
them the word that is so necessary, as we see Him do in the second
and third chapters of Revelation. When we meet as assemblies
let us be aware that Jesus is walking in the midst of
us
taking care, encouraging and if necessary rebuking us. But
please note it is Jesus we need to listen to. Take heed of what the
SPIRIT is saying.
There are other scriptures talking of Jesus being in the midst, but it
is left to the reader to study those for themselves.
Jesus
is the one who is in the
midst; it is He who should be the centre our lives
and
asssemblies
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2.The
Lamb
Slain
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…a
Lamb as it
had been slain
Rev.5:6
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How did John
know
that the lamb had
been
slain? There must have been marks on this lamb to suggest it.
We
have already seen that Jesus died ONCE for all, but we now note that He
still bears the marks of Calvary in His body. After His
resurrection He showed His marks to His disciples. eg.
Jn.20:
24-29. The marks on Jesus speak of a past and finished
sacrifice.
Someone once remarked that the only work of man, which can be seen in
heaven, is the wounds in Jesus’ body. What a thought!
Despite all the [so
called] achievements of humanity in the end all it has to
show is
what it did to Jesus!
Let us consider the slain Lamb further. We have in Isa.53
one of the greatest prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who
hath believed
our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For
he
shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root
out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we
shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is
despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised,
and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried
our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, 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 every
one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us
all
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he
is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He
was
taken from prison 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 he made his
grave
with the
wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no
violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise
him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an
offering
for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the
pleasure
of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the
travail
of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my
righteous
servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore
will
I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil
with
the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was
numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors.
Isa.53:
1-12
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So that there
can
be no doubt of whom
this
chapter is speaking, when we turn to the N.T. we read in Acts
Ch.8, Philip meeting the
Ethiopian eunuch, who
is
reading Isa.
53.
The eunuch asks, “ Of whom speaketh the
prophet?” The narrative goes on to say:
Then
Philip
opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto
him Jesus.
Acts
8:35
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It
couldn’t be clearer than
that!
Jesus is the one of whom Isaiah prophesies, that ends all disputing; it
was Jesus who was made an offering for sin. As we consider
this
more we see that John the Baptist announced Jesus as the Lamb
of
God. He did so on two occasions.
The next
day John
seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world.
Jn .1:29
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The first
time was
when those
following
John were questioning him if he were the Messiah or not,
John’s reply
was in the negative, and then he pointed out Jesus as the
Lamb
who would take away the sin of the world. The true Messiah was to be
slain for sin, so that excluded the Baptist, for
that was not his calling! Although John was slain his death was a
martyr’s
one and in no way was it to take away sin; Jesus was the one, who was
to take away the sin of the world. This wasn’t the
Messiah the
Jews were expecting, no wonder they were confused, but they were still
blind even when it was pointed out to them.
The next time John said just “Behold the
Lamb” Jn.1: 36.
This time the proclamation
came AFTER the discussion of the Baptism of the Spirit. We can
learn that once Jesus had taken away the sins of the world, viz. after
His death, then people would be baptised in the Spirit. But it had
to be the Cross first, notice the order: cross, resurrection,
glorification, and then the sending of the Spirit. We have
the
same truth further on in John's gospel.
In
the last
day,
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man
thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth
on
me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of
living water.(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe
on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because
that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Jn.7:37-39
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We can take this one stage further:
And
all that
dwell
upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the
book
of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev.13:8
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This verse is
of
great interest in its
own
right; however for our present purpose it's the phrase the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, which we shall consider. Now
it is clear that Jesus was slain at one point in time at
Calvary
and it was there that Jesus was slain for the sin of the world. So
how do we understand Jesus being slain from the foundation of the
world?
The fact is that God had the answer to
sin BEFORE
sin entered the world! At the fall God
promised Jesus
see Gen.3:15.
The fall did
not catch God out by surprise,
He had the remedy before sin entered the world. This is a
great
mystery: in the eternal counsels of God,
even before
creation, He knew what would
happen and what
the cost to Himself would be to redeem mankind, yet He went
ahead
with creation and Jesus was the
Lamb, to be
slain
for the sin of the world. Thus it was in God's heart from the
foundation
of the world. He who knew no sin chose to become sin for us
and
did so from before creation, and so in the fullness of time Jesus came
made of a woman and was slain at Calvary; yet it
was ever
in His heart even from the foundation of the world. Blessed
truth!
Such is the love shown to us who do not deserve it;
what a
God we have!
Jesus
is the Lamb for sinners
slain, and the one slain
from before the foundation
of the world.
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3.The
Lamb
with seven horns
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a
Lamb...having
seven horns
Rev.5:
6
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This slain
Lamb is
then seen to
have seven horns. The first thing to say is that it is unusual to
see a [Greek=young] Lamb with any horns let alone seven. But we are
in the realm of symbolism and as such we must seek to understand the
meaning of these symbols. To understand what horns represent we must
consider some other scriptures.
Daniel's
prophecies
give us an insight
into
the meaning of horns; there in his book Daniel has several visions of
the coming world powers; in those visions several animals are
mentioned and then God gives us the
interpretation,
it is the understanding of the horns that we need for this study.
Consider then the following passages.
And
of the ten horns that were in his
head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even
of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things,
whose look was more stout than his fellows.
Dan.
7:20
And the
ten horns out of
this
kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another
shall rise
after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and
he shall subdue three kings.
Dan.
7:24
Then I
lifted up
mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram
which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher
than the other, and the higher came up last.
Dan.8:3
And he
came
to the ram that had
two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him
in the fury of his power.
Dan.8:6
And I saw
him
come close
unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the
ram,
and brake his two horns: and there was no
power in the ram
to
stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon
him:
and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
Dan.8:7
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And Abraham lifted up his eyes,
and
looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns:
and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for
a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
Gen.22:13
God is
the
LORD, which
hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the
horns of the altar.
Ps.118:27
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We
see
from these
scriptures that
horns are used to represent kings, kingdoms and power. So in
prophetic symbolism horns are to be taken to mean this then; now let us
consider a few other scriptures.
These
are telling
verses, for they show that horns were
speaking of the power of the animal in question. In Gen. 22:13 we
read that THE RAM God provided was caught by his horns that is it was
rendered helpless and couldn’t escape the sacrifice. Note
that this
idea is also in Ps.118:
27.
Once the animal was
tied to the horns of the altar it was condemned to be sacrificed, it
was under the power of the altar so to speak!
Tying
this all up we see
that horns are symbolic of
power and of authority. The kingdoms in these scriptures are seen
to exercise their power by animals using horns. Invariably they
are seen to overcome and destroy those that stand in their path.
It is a good exercise for the reader to trace the use of the word horn
in the O.T. and see what else can be gleaned. So in John’s
vision the
Lamb having seven horns represents the power and authority of Jesus.
Let us consider what the N.T. says about this.
Firstly, we read in Matthew this:
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And
Jesus
came
and spake unto them, saying, "All power is given unto me in heaven and
in earth."
Mtt.28: 18
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This
is
what Jesus said
after His death and resurrection,
and shortly
before His ascension. The word power in this scripture can be rendered
‘ authority.’ Notice firstly that Jesus said it is
given to Him; He did
not usurp any position as Paul makes clear in Phil.2:1-11, but
was given to Him by the Father. Of course as creator all power belongs
to Him anyway, but here we are talking of Him as
the
mediator of the new Covenant, the
God-man. Consider in contrast Lucifer, who tried to usurp
power
and had to be cast out of heaven.
Isa.14:
12-15.
The authority given to Jesus
was
so that He
could grant
eternal life to those that believe on Him Jn.17:2
Then
again this authority is over heaven and earth. The devil is called the
prince of the power of the air Eph.2:2,
but also that the
prince of this world is judged, cast out and has nothing in
Jesus cf. Jn.12:31;
14:30; 16:11.
Secondly we see why;
And
having
spoiled [=stripped] principalities and powers, he made a shew of them
openly, triumphing over them in it.
Col.2:
15
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With
those horns, so to
speak, Jesus stripped the
enemy of their
power. This He did at the cross, not only were our sins dealt with, but
also the power of the enemy! And what is more Jesus made a
public
show of them! This verse uses military language. Spoiled,
as in
complete victory and subjection. Show openly, the
victory
parade to declare publicly the victory. Just think Jesus has all the
powers of Hell subdued, why do we need fear? Too many
believers
live in fear of the devil and his angels. Whilst he is allowed some
freedom, he is limited to what
he can do .
Be
sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh
about, seeking whom he may devour:
I
Pet.5:8
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Notice in the
scripture above the
devil can
only devour by permission, the story of Job makes this
abundantly clear: satan could only touch Job when the Lord
gave
him permission and then it was very much restricted. ( Job 1-2).
Let us rest in Jesus and trust Him who has subdued our enemies, and not
look to the devil as if he were the lord of the situation!
Jesus
is Lord, it is He who has
all power and authority
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4.The
Lamb with seven
eyes
…….a
Lamb….
having …… seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits
of God sent forth
into all the earth.
Rev.5:
6
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We are told
that
the seven eyes are
the
seven spirits of God; but is this symbolic or literal? Since
the whole passage is symbolic it would be strange to consider
it as being literal at this stage. So we are left with the question:
what does it mean? The eyes of Jesus are mentioned in Rev.1:
14. there they are described as a flame of fire. We can
conclude
that these seven eyes symbolise the Holy Spirit. Seven in
scripture speaks of completeness. Also in the second and third chapters
of
Revelation we have seven churches and at the end of each message we
read: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith
unto
the churches; He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith
unto the churches; The Lord Jesus by His Spirit watches over
His
churches .He, the Holy Spirit is sent from Jesus into the whole earth.
This agrees with the teaching of Jesus Himself in the gospels.
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Nevertheless
I
tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go
not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will
send him unto you. And when he is come, he
will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment:
Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because
I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the
prince
of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye
cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth,
is
come,
he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of (=from)
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will
shew
you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive
of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the
Father
hath are mine: therefore said I that he shall take of mine, and shall
shew it unto you
Jn.16:
11-15
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Here Jesus tells us explicitly that after He
has gone away (i.e. is glorified) HE will send the Holy Spirit.
And that He will do three things:
4.1 He will reprove (=convict) the
world of
sin, righteousness and judgement.
We see here three points: firstly the
Spirit
will convict
the
world of sin. The reason is not because of any great wicked
act, as
men see it, but rather because they don't believe on Jesus.
Now
this is interesting, for the biggest sin, it would appear,
is not to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, He will
convict the world of righteousness. This is
because Jesus has
gone back to the Father. This may seem difficult to understand, but if
we remember that righteousness means doing that which is right; by
going back to the Father we see that the Father Himself has
accepted
the work that Jesus did on the earth in general and at the cross in
particular; Jesus fulfilled all righteousness, that is evrything He did
was the
right thing to have done and His return to the Father is an open
declaration that God Himself has acknowledged this fact. So
the
Holy Spirit
has come to convict the world of the righteousness of Jesus
Christ.
Finally The Spirit will reprove the world of
judgement because
Satan himself is judged; the world system is under
the devil's sway and as such if he is judged so is everyone who is
under
his power. The point of all this conviction, of course, is so that all
may repent and come into the salvation of God.
4.2 He will guide us into all truth
This is particularly interesting in light of
what
Jesus said
a short
time before in the fourteenth chapter.
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...I
am the way,
the truth and the life....
Jn.14:6
|
The
Holy Spirit guides us to the truth, that is
Jesus! He will not speak from Himself, but only that which He has
heard; just as Jesus only spoke of those things He heard from His
Father. Earlier on in John's gospel we read Jesus as saying :
..ye
shall know
the
truth and the truth shall make you free....If the Son shall make you
free,
ye shall be free indeeed.
Jn.8:
32-36
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Indeed the Son
makes us
free for He is the
truth, and it is the Holy Spirit who guides us to Jesus. He
has
been sent by Lamb to guide us to Him.
4.3 He shall glorify Jesus
Finally the Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus. This
He
does, we
are told,
by recieving from Jesus and showing it
unto us. Since what Jesus has is from the Father when He shows us the
things of Jesus He is showing us what Jesus has received from
the
Father. so ultimately the Holy Spirit reveals to us those things which
are of the Father. In doing so Jesus is glorified, for all that
was
ever in Jesus' heart was to show forththe Father.
These three things then are what the Holy Sprit does do now in this
present age of grace. He dwells in our hearts and witnesses
to
the truth, He also speaks and glorifies Jesus, hereby we can discern
truth from error. (I
Jn. 2:26
– 27;
4:1 – 3) In our pilgrimage on earth
there are many who come
with
strange doctrines, Jesus has sent the Spirit so that we may know what
is true and keep close to Him. The acid test is simply; does it speak
of and glorify Jesus?
Jesus
sends
forth the Holy Spirit,
who
convicts the world and guides us to Jesus
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5.
The
Lamb who holds the future
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And
I saw in the
right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on
the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel
proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to
loose the seals thereof? And no man in
heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the
book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no
man
was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look
thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not:
behold,
the Lion of
the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book,
and to loose the seven seals thereof.
Rev.5:1-5
And
I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I
heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying,
Come and see.
Rev.6:1
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Finally, we
conclude by looking at the
start of the chapter! The vision of the lamb on the throne is
prefaced by a cry as to who is worthy to open the sealed
book.
Now this book, as we know, contained prophecies concerning the future. (Ch.6v1
onwards) yet only the Lamb was worthy to
open it and reveal the future. Note the emphasis: that no one in
heaven was worthy; so no angel or any other created heavenly
being can reveal the future; no one in earth, that
is no man
or woman, can foretell the future either. This verse goes
even further no being under the earth can do so
either, so
no devil, demon nor even the devil himself cannot reveal the future. (I
Cor. 2:7 – 8). These groups of beings were not even
worthy
to look on it either!
Understanding this is so important, for to believe otherwise
can
bring bondage. We know that around us there are those who claim to
foretell the future, whatever name they
give themselves: psycics, clairvoyants etc. They may claim
that
they can tell your future, or whatever but scripture makes it plain
they CANNOT. By believing them people put themselves under bondage to
these persons, or the demon if one is controlling
or
working
through them.
The question that naturally arises from this
is: how can some people forecast some events correctly?
Well if they don’t have the power to prophesy then there is
only one plausible explanation. If enough people predict
what’s going
to happen, by studying human nature for example, then by
the law of probability someone, somewhere will get something correct
at sometime or other; and it is these occasional lucky guesses that
people dwell on, not the myriads of false guesses; these lucky guesses
are not 100% correct either, which is God’s standard of a
prophet.
The devil, being ubiquitous, knows human nature very well
indeed so he passes on his guesses to mediums; this is why it
is
dangerous,
for then people listening and believing them are in effect listening to
the devil. There is another point that should also be considered: supposing
the devil can accurately forecast the future, because he is a liar (Jn.8:
44) who could trust what he said anyway?
True prophecy is revelation from God and is always correct;
there is no guesswork at all. Only the Lord holds the future!
Let
us keep true to Him and not be worried by those that seemingly foretell
the future, they are to be ignored and not be allowed to trouble the
true child of God. Let us rest in the Lamb, who alone holds the future.
No one else is worthy.
Jesus
who
holds the future, our
lives are in His hands and no one else's.
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6.Summary
In
this
article then we
have
seen that Jesus is :
- The one
in midst of the
throne.
- The one
that was
slain.
- The one
unto whom
all power in heaven and
earth is given.
- The one who
sends
the Holy Spirit.
- The one who holds the future.
Quite
a
comprehensive list! Let us acknowledge that
Jesus
is the Lord and that He is exalted on high. To hear some Christians
talk one would think that the devil was in charge! Whilst Satan has
some
freedom it is very very limited and he certainly doesn't
decide
what happens to us. The truth is that Jesus is the one who is
the
pre-eminent one and our lives are in His hands. Let us
keep
our
hearts fixed on Him, and look to Him alone no
other.
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