GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH

REVELATION SERIES

"THE THRONE OF GOD AND OF THE LAMB"
Revelation 22:3-4

Don Fortner

Introduction:

I pray that the Spirit of God will enable me tonight to fill your hearts with sweet, precious, and glorious thoughts of heaven. May he take our eyes away from all the perishing things of clay, and fix them for the next hour upon "The Throne Of God And Of The Lamb." Perhaps it is too much to desire that we may ever have our minds fixed upon it, while we live in this body of flesh. But I pray that we might in this hour have our hearts lifted above the earth to behold "The Throne Of God and Of The Lamb."

Descend from heaven, Immortal Dove,
Stoop down and take us on thy wings,
And mount and bear us far above
The reach of these inferior things!
Beyond, beyond this lower sky,
Up where eternal ages roll,
Where solid pleasures never die,
And fruits immortal fest the soul.

Oh for a sight, a pleasing sight,
Of our Almighty Father's throne!
There sits our Savior crowned with light,
Clothed in a body like our own.
Adorning saints around Him stand,
And thrones and powers before Him fall;
The God shines gracious through the Man,
And sheds sweet glories on them all.

Oh what amazing joys they feel
While to their golden harps they sing,
And sit on every heavenly hill,
And spread the triumphs of their King!
When shall the day, dear Lord, appear
That I shall mount to dwell above,
And stand and bow amongst them there,
And view thy face, and sing, and love?
Isaac Watts

We must, for now, but see through a cloud darkly. But I pray that God will enable us truly to see "The Throne Of God And Of The Lamb," that we may worship him in this place tonight.

In our text the Apostle John is describing the glory, bliss, and beauty of heaven's eternal paradise. Read it with me – "And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads."

1. Wherever heaven is, whatever heaven is, in it "there shall be no more curse!" In the old paradise, the garden of Eden, there was a river and a tree of life. But the paradise of God, which we shall inherit in the new creation, is infinitely better than Eden, for in the paradise of God, "there shall be no more curse!"

2. "But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it." The name of the city of God is Jehovah-shammah, "the Lord is there!" God, in the trinity of his blessed Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, shall be there, upon the throne of glory. And the Lamb, the sin-atoning sacrifice, the Mediator, the Man Christ Jesus, shall be there upon the throne of glory. There is but one throne, for there is but one God. God and the Lamb are one (John 10:30; Col. 2:10).

3. "And his servants shall serve him." The highest most constant desire of God's servants is that we may serve him. And this shall be our delight in heaven's glory. In that blessed, eternal day we shall serve the Lord our God like the angels themselves perfectly and perpetually.

4. "And they shall see his face!" We shall see the face of the triune God, in all the fulness, majesty, and splendor of his brilliant glory, as we behold the face of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ!

5. "And his name shall be in their foreheads." In that blessed, eternal day of heavenly glory, every child of God shall be known to all the universe as one of God's elect. They shall all be owned of God, publicly owned, gloriously owned, delightfully owned, and eternally owned.

Do you see the glory that awaits us? Lift up the hands that hang down, strengthen those feeble knees, keep your eye upon the prize that awaits you, and run with patience the race that is set before you. Particularly, as you run your race, as you endure hardness here, as you suffer adversity here, as you fight and war with sin, satan, and the world, I encourage you to fix your eye of faith upon "The Throne Of God And Of The Lamb."

Proposition:

Nothing is more comforting and encouraging to God's people in this world than the realization of our Savior's mediatorial reign over all things.

Divisions:

I. First, I want us once again to Behold The Lamb of God.

We can never see and know God until we behold the Lamb of God. And we can never get a proper view of the throne of God until we behold the Lamb of God. So, in all things spiritual, the first order of business is to behold the Lamb of God. (John 1:29).

Before the world began God ordained that his dear Son would come into this world to die as an innocent victim, as a Lamb, for the atonement of his people's sins (Rev. 13:8; I Pet. 1:18-21). God has always had the Lamb before his eye. Everything he has ever done, is doing, or shall hereafter do, is done for the sake of the Lamb.

A. Throughout The Old Testament Scriptures, The Central Figure In The Revelation Of God Was The Lamb Of Sacrifice.

When John the Baptist pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," his disciples knew exactly what he was saying. He was saying, "Behold, the Redeemer of Whom God in the prophets spoke!"

B. The Lord Jesus Christ, As The Lamb Of God, Has Taken Away The Sin Of The World.

The sins of God's elect throughout the whole world were at one time imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he has effectually taken away their sins.

Note: The world here is the world of God's elect. Everybody in this world is redeemed, justified, and saved, for the Lamb of God took their sins away.

The Son of God has put our sins away by the sacrifice of himself (Heb. 9:26; I Pet. 2:24; 3:18; 4:1). He put our sins away by voluntarily suffering the wrath of God upon the altar of God, by the hand of God, for the people of God. "Behold, the Lamb of God!" Jesus Christ is the Lamb.

And he is the Lamb who is God!

C. To Behold The Lamb Of God Is To Trust The Lord Jesus Christ As The Lamb Of Atonement.

I have, to the best of my feeble ability, set before you the Lamb of God. Now I put him before you. He will be to you a savor of life unto life, or a savor of death unto death.

II. Secondly, I want you to Behold The Lamb Upon His Throne.

Our text speaks of "the throne of God and of the Lamb." There is but one throne. Yet it is equally and fully the throne of God and of the Lamb, because God and the Lamb are One. The Lord Jesus Christ sits upon the throne in heaven by lawful right, both as God and as the Lamb.

A. As God, Jesus Christ Always Sat Upon The Throne Of Universal Sovereignty, Dominion, And Power.

Jesus Christ is very God of very God, co-external, co-equal with the Father in all things. He possessed the glory of Divinity from eternity, before ever the earth was made - (John 1:1-3).

B. But Now, God Sits Upon His Throne In The Person Of The Sin-Atoning, Mediatorial Lamb, The God-Man, Jesus Christ.

By his obedience to God as our Mediator, by the merit of his blood as our sin-atoning Lamb, Jesus Christ has earned the right to rule the universe forever as a Man - (John 17:2; Rom. 14:9).

III. Now, in the last place, Behold The Throne Of God And Of The Lamb.

Though it is the throne of God, it is none the less the throne of the Lamb. And though it is the throne of the Lamb, it is none the less the throne of God. What does that mean?

Application:

Behold the Throne of God and of The Lamb!

Don Fortner, Pastor
Grace Baptist Church
Danville, Ky.

PREVIOUS ARTICLES

[Index Page] - [Top of page]

*