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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 23

TITLE: THE LAMB

TEXT: REVELATION 5:6-8

INTRODUCTION: (1) THE THEME OF “THE LAMB” IS AN IMPORTANT ONE THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE.

* FROM THE SACRIFICE OF ABEL IN GENESIS 4:4 THROUGH THE INQUIRING QUESTIONS OF ISAAC, WHERE IS THE LAMB? IN GENESIS 22:7&8.

** TO THE EXPERIENCE OF THE PASSOVER NIGHT WHERE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WERE TO TAKE AN UNBLEMISHED LAMB AND KILL IT AT TWILIGHT IN EXODUS 12:2-6.

*** TO THE CLEAR STATEMENTS OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH IN ISAIAH 53:7 WHERE HE TALKED ABOUT THE SUFFERING SERVANT OF JEHOVAH, THE MESSIAH WHERE HE SAID (READ IT).

**** THIS THEN MOVES INTO THE N.T. WHERE JOHN THE BAPTIZER SAID WHEN HE SAW JESUS IN JOHN 1:29 (READ IT).

(2) AND THEN LATER JOHN WOULD SAY IN JOHN 1:36 – AND HE LOOKED AT JESUS AS HE WALKED, AND SAID, “BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD!”

* NOW BEYOND JOHN, THE ETHIOPIAN EUNICH WHO CAME TO SAVING FAITH IN CHRIST, IN ACTS 8:32 WAS READING ABOUT THE LAMB OF GOD WHERE IT SAYS: “NOW THE PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE WHICH HE WAS READING WAS THIS: “HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.”

** AND THEN IN I PETER 1:18&19, PETER WAS INSPIRED TO WRITE, (READ IT).

*** NOW FROM ALL OF THOSE SCRIPTURES, THE PRINCIPLE IS CLEAR, THAT IN PICTURE, IN PROMISE AND IN PROPHECY THE LAMB IS A CENTRAL THEME IN SCRIPTURE.

**** IN FACT THE ENGLISH WORD "LAMB” IS USED 104 TIMES IN THE NAU 1995.

(3) AND THIS THEME DOES NOT CHANGE IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

* FOR IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION THE WORD “LAMB” IS USED 31 TIMES IN THE NAU, 4 TIMES IN REVELATION CHAPTER 5.

** AND IN OUR TEXT TODAY, THE LAMB – THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS STANDING IN THE MIDST OF THE THRONE, IN THE MIDST OF THE 4 LIVING BEINGS, AND IN THE MIDST OF THE 24 ELDERS.

*** COMMUNICATING TO US THAT THE LAMB IS THE CENTRAL FIGURE OF THIS WONDERFUL SERVICE FROM THE THRONE OF GOD.

**** AND GET THIS, INSTEAD OF SEEING THE ANTICIPATED MIGHTY LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH, THE ALL-CONQUERING DAVIDIC KING, JOHN SAW A LAMB.

(4) FOR YOU SEE, THE LORD JESUS COULD NOT BE THE LION OF JUDGMENT OR THE KING OF GLORY THAT WE VIEWED IN OUR LAST STUDY IN REVELATION CHAPTER 5, UNLESS HE WAS FIRST THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD, LIT. THE SIN OF HIS PEOPLE, THE SIN OF HIS ELECT.

* BELOVED, BEFORE JESUS COULD BE THE LION, COMING IN GLORY AND SPLENDOR IN HIS 2’D COMING, THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, IN HIS FIRST COMING, IN HIS FIRST ADVENT HE WOULD HAVE TO BE BORN IN HUMILITY AND BE THE LAMB WHO WOULD DIE FOR SINNERS.

** BEFORE THE CROWN THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE A CROSS. BEFORE GLORY THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE HUMILITY. BEFORE EXALTATION THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE HUMILIATION.

*** AND OUR SAVIOR WHO IS THE LAMB, WOULD DO THAT FOR US, HE WAS SLAIN AND WOULD PURCHASE FOR GOD PEOPLE FROM EVERY RACE AND NATIONS, REVELATION 5:9.

**** AND IT’S THAT LAMB WHO IS THE THEME OF THE REST OF REVELATION CHAPTER 5.

5. AND SPECIFICALLY TODAY, WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT REVELATION 5:6-8 WHICH I’VE TITLED “THE LAMB.”

* AND UNDER THAT TITLE WE’LL LOOK AT 3 POINTS THAT FOCUS ON THE LAMB.

** NO. 1 THE REVELATION OF THE LAMB, V. 6; NO. 2 THE RESPONSE OF THE LAMB, V. 7; AND NO. 3 THE REVERENCE OF THE LAMB, V. 8.

*** AND WITH THAT OUTLINE AS A PATH TO FOLLOW, LOOK AT V. 6 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE REVELATION OF THE LAMB.

I. THE REVELATION OF THE LAMB, (READ V. 6)

A. NOW FOR THE THIRD TIME IN THIS CHAPTER, JOHN USES THE VERB “I SAW.”

* AND THESE TWO WORDS INTRODUCE TO US THE VARIOUS SCENES IN HEAVEN DESCRIBED IN THE CHAPTER AND STRESS JOHN’S STATUS AS AN EYEWITNESS.

** AND HERE THE SCENE CHANGES FROM THE LORDLY LION OF V. 5 TO A LITTLE LAMB IN V. 6.

*** AND BEFORE JOHN GIVES AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF THE LAMB, HE GIVES THE LOCATION OF THE LAMB.

**** AND WHERE THE LAMB IS AT IS IN BETWEEN THE THRONE WITH THE 4 LIVING CREATURES AND THE 24 ELDERS.

1. AND THIS LIT. MEANS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THRONE AREA, IN THE MIDST OF IT, IN THE CENTER OF IT. HE IS ENCIRCLED BY THE ELDERS AND THE 4 LIVING CREATURES.

* CHRIST IS IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL THAT IS GOING ON AT THIS TIME, HE BECOMES THE CENTRAL FIGURE, THE PREEMINENT PERSON OF THIS SCENE IN HEAVEN. (THE CENTRALITY OF CHRIST IS THE PICTURE, CHRIST BECOMES THE FOCAL POINT.)

** AND SPECIFICALLY JOHN SEES CHRIST AS “A LAMB STANDING.”

*** AND THE GREEK WORD FOR LAMB HERE DENOTES A LITTLE LAMB OR A PET LAMB.

**** AND THE IMAGERY DERIVES FROM THE PASSOVER WHERE JEWISH FAMILIES WERE REQUIRED TO KEEP THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB AS A HOUSEHOLD PET FOR 4 DAYS BEFORE SACRIFICING IT IN EXODUS 12:3-6.

2. AND HERE THE ULTIMATE PASSOVER LAMB, A LITTLE LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH WHO PURCHASED OUR SALVATION IS THE FOCAL POINT.

* NOW NOTICE JOHN COMMUNICATES SOME REMARKABLE FEATURES ABOUT THIS LAMB.

** NO. 1 HE’S STANDING. NOW THAT DOESN’T SEEM TO BE A THING TO NOTE, YET IT IS IF YOU CONSIDER THE NEXT DESCRIPTION ABOUT THIS LAMB, “AS IF SLAIN” OR “AS THOUGH IT HAD BEEN SLAIN.”

*** AND THE VERB “SLAIN” IS A SACRIFICIAL WORD WHICH LIT. MEANS TO SLAY, TO SLAUGHTER, TO BUTCHER, TO PUT TO DEATH BY VIOLENCE, TO BE MORTALLY WOUNDED.

**** AND THE PHRASE “AS IF SLAIN” DESCRIBES AN ANIMAL WITH THE MARK OF IT’S SLAUGHTER UPON IT.

3. IN FACT J. ALLEN IN HIS COMMENTARY ON REVELATION WRITES AND I QUOTE: “IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO TRANSLATE (THIS PHRASE) WITH IT’S THROAT CUT.”

* HE WENT ON TO SAY: “THE LXX (THE SEPTUAGINT, A GREEK TRANSLATION OF THE O.T.) USES THE SAME WORD IN ISAIAH 53:7. (READ IT).

** THE WORD POINTS TO THE WOUND LEFT BY THE KNIFE, THAT KNIFE-WOUND FAMILIAR TO ALL WHO HAD STOOD AT AN ISRAELITISH ALTAR AND SAW A LAMB DIE.” (UNQUOTE)

*** NOW WITH THAT IN MIND PONDER THIS. THE LAMB REVEALED IN REVELATION 5:6 THE LORD JESUS IS STANDING! THIS LAMB IS ALIVE! THE SACRIFICE IS OVER AND THE LAMB WHO DIED IS NOW ALIVE!

**** THIS IS THE LIVING LAMB, THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB WHO IN A SENSE HAD HIS THROAT SLIT BUT ROSE AGAIN FROM THAT.

4. THE LAMB IS STANDING, HE’S ALIVE! THE MARKS OF HIS DEATH ARE VISIBLE BUT BECAUSE OF HIS RESURRECTION THEY ARE NOT DEBILITATING.

* AND THIS PICTURE BEFORE US CAN BE SUMMARIZED FROM REVELATION 1:17B&18 WHERE JESUS SAID TO JOHN: “I AM THE FIRST AND THE LAST, AND THE LIVING ONE, AND I WAS DEAD, AND BEHOLD, I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE, AND I HAVE THE KEYS OF DEATH AND HADES.”

** AND BELOVED THE LAMB OF REVELATION 5, THE LORD JESUS IS STANDING, BUT YOU CAN SEE BY THE MARKS, HE HAD BEEN SLAIN, BUT HE IS STILL STANDING. EVEN THOUGH SLAIN HE IS ERECT AND ALIVE IN THIS HEAVENLY SCENE.

*** BUT MOVING ON IN V. 6, NOTICE TWO MORE REMARKABLE FEATURES ABOUT THIS LAMB.

**** AND FIRST, HE HAS SEVEN HORNS.

5. AND IN IMAGERY DRAWN FROM THE ANIMAL WORLD, HORNS IN SCRIPTURE SYMBOLIZE STRENGTH AND POWER. (I SAMUEL 2:1, 10; II SAMUEL 22:3; PSALM 18:2; 75:10; 89:17, 24; JEREMIAH 48:25; MICAH 4:13)

* SO A HORN IN SCRIPTURE SPEAKS OF POWER, THE SOVEREIGNTY AND POWER TO RULE, AND IT COMMUNICATES STRENGTH, HIS SELF SACRIFICE LEADS TO POWER.

** BEYOND THAT, THE NUMBER 7 IS THE NUMBER OF PERFECTION WHICH SYMBOLIZES THE LAMB’S COMPLETE AND ABSOLUTE POWER AND STRENGTH.

*** NO. 2 THE LAMB IN JOHN’S VISION ALSO HAD SEVEN EYES DENOTING PERFECT OMNISCIENCE, THE ABILITY TO SEE EVERYTHING.

**** NOT ONLY IS HE OMNIPOTENT, ALL POWERFUL, HE IS OMNISCIENT, EVERYTHING IS IN HIS VIEW, READ PROVERBS 15:3, HEBREWS 4:13 (CONFRONTING AND FEARFUL.)

6. SO CHRIST IS OMNISCIENT, BUT GET THIS, THOSE EYES JOHN NOTED REPRESENT “THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD SENT OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH” IN THE LAST PART OF V. 6.

* AND AS WE STUDIED IN REVELATION 1:4 AND REVELATION 4:5, THE PHRASE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD DESCRIBE THE HOLY SPIRIT IN ALL HIS FULLNESS.

** AND THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS SENT OUT INTO THE WORLD BY CHRIST ON PENTECOST TO DO HIS MULTIPLE WORK OF CONVICTING, CONVINCING AND CONVERTING, GIFTING, SEALING, LEADING, TEACHING, BAPTIZING, ETC.

*** JESUS SAID IN JOHN 16:7 & 8 –

V. 7 – “BUT I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, IT IS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE THAT I GO AWAY; FOR IF I DO NOT GO AWAY, THE HELPER WILL NOT COME TO YOU; BUT IF I GO, I WILL SEND HIM TO YOU.”

(READ V. 8)

**** AND SOME WOULD SUGGEST THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT’S COMING INTO THE WORLD COMMUNICATES CHRIST’S OMNIPRESENCE AND THAT THESE 3 GREAT ATTRIBUTES OF CHRIST ARE COMMUNICATED IN V. 6, HIS OMNIPOTENCE, HIS OMNISCIENCE AND HIS OMNIPRESENCE.

7. AND WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A WONDERFUL REVELATION OF THE LAMB. THE REVEALING OF THE LAMB IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THRONE, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE JOHN SEES FILLED WITH TRUTH ABOUT THE DEITY OF CHRIST.

* AND THE NEXT TIME A MORMON OR A JEHOVAH’S WITNESS OR A CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST OR ANY PERSON WHO DENIES THE DEITY OF CHRIST IS TALKING TO YOU, TAKE THEM TO REVELATION 5 AND SHOW THEM THIS GREAT REVELATION OF THE LAMB.

** BUT THIS GREAT REVELATION OF CHRIST AS THE LAMB LEADS US TO OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE RESPONSE OF THE LAMB, LOOK AT V. 7 PLEASE.

II. THE RESPONSE OF THE LAMB, (READ V. 7)

A. NOW IN V. 2, A STRONG ANGEL CRIED OUT WITH A LOUD VOICE, “WHO IS WORTHY TO OPEN THE BOOK AND BREAK IT’S SEALS?”

* AND THE WORTHY ONE, THE LAMB, STEPS FORWARD IN V. 7 TO TAKE THE BOOK, THE SCROLLS, WHICH IS IN ESSENCE THE TITLE DEED TO THE EARTH.

** AND HERE THE LAMB WILL TAKE WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY HIS. FOR ONLY ONE INDIVIDUAL HAS THE RIGHT, THE POWER, AND THE AUTHORITY TO RULE THE EARTH, THE LAMB, THE LORD JESUS, NOT SATAN, THE USURPER UP TO THIS TIME, THE GOD OF THIS WORLD.

*** AND ONLY CHRIST IS WORTHY TO TAKE THIS SCROLL OUT OF THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER AND AUTHORITY FROM HIS FATHER WHO IS SEATED ON THE THRONE.

**** ONLY CHRIST IS DESERVING, ONLY CHRIST HAS THE RIGHT AND WHAT GIVES HIM THE RIGHT?

1. WELL IN V. 5, HE IS THE ONE WHO OVERCAME. AS THE LAMB HE TRIUMPHED, HE PREVAILED, HE HAD THE VICTORY THROUGH THE CROSS WHERE IN HIS DEATH, THE ONE WHO WAS SLAIN, DEFEATED SIN AND IS THE ONE STANDING ALIVE THROUGH HIS VICTORIOUS RESURRECTION.

* THE LAMB OF GOD TAKES AWAY, NOT POTENTIALLY, BUT ACTUALLY THE SINS OF HIS PEOPLE THROUGH HIS SACRIFICIAL DEATH ON THE CROSS AND THROUGH HIS RESURRECTION HE CONQUERED DEATH.

** AND THROUGH HIS DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION HE DEFEATED ALL THE FORCES OF HELL, AND THAT’S ENOUGH TO MAKE A PRESBYTERIAN SHOUT!

*** CHRIST RESPONDS TO TAKE THE SCROLL. AND THIS ACT, THE TENSE OF THE WORD “TOOK” HAS BEEN CALLED BY GRAMMARIAN A. F. JOHNSTON, A “DRAMATIC PERFECT” AND EXPLAINED AS “HE WENT UP AND TOOK IT AND NOW HAS IT.” (UNQUOTE)

**** AND THE IMPLICATION IS THAT THE ONCE-SLAIN LAMB IS NOW AUTHORIZED BY THE THRONE TO RECLAIM THE ALIENATED INHERITANCE.

3. THE USURPER SATAN IS ABOUT TO BE DISPOSED. AND WHEN THIS SCROLL HAS BEEN OPENED AND THE SYMBOLIC PICTURE HAS BEEN TRANSLATED INTO REALITY, THE EARTH WILL BE FREE FROM SATAN AND THE PROGRAM OF GOD WILL BE COMPLETE.

* SO CONSUMMATING THE REVELATION OF HIS PERSON AND AUTHORITY IN V. 6 AS THE LAMB, IS THE DECLARATION OF V. 7, THAT THE LAMB TAKES THE BOOK OUT OF THE RIGHT HAND OF THE ONE SITTING UPON THE THRONE, WHO IS CLEARLY GOD THE FATHER.

** AND THAT’S THE PICTURE WE HAVE IN V. 7 WHICH LEADS US TO OUR FINAL POINT TODAY IN V. 8, THE REVERENCE OF OR TO THE LAMB, LOOK AT V. 8 PLEASE.

III. THE REVERENCE, (READ V. 8)

A. NOW AT THE MOMENT WHEN THE LAMB TAKES THE SCROLL, THE 4 LIVING CREATURES AND THE 24 ELDERS PROSTRATE THEMSELVES BEFORE THE LAMB IN REVERENCE AND WORSHIP.

* AND AGAIN I REMIND YOU WHEN WE SEE GOD IN WHO HE IS IN HIS EXALTED BEING, CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES, THE PROPER RESPONSE IS WORSHIP, ADORATION, REVERENCE, HOMAGE AND AWE.

** AND LET ME SAY THE DEITY OF CHRIST THAT HE IS GOD IS COMMUNICATED HERE AGAIN. FOR CHRIST DOESN’T SAY LIKE THE ANGELS DID IN REVELATION 19:10 AND REVELATION 22:8, GET UP, WORSHIP GOD, FOR HE IS GOD!

*** AND HERE THE 24 ELDERS AND THE 4 LIVING CREATURES OFFER THE SAME WORSHIP TO CHRIST AS THEY DID TO THE FATHER IN REVELATION 4:10, WHICH AGAIN OFFERS CONVINCING PROOF OF CHRIST’S DEITY, SINCE ONLY GOD IS TO BE WORSHIPPED.

**** BUT NOTICE AS WE GO BACK TO V. 8, THE 24 ELDERS ARE DESCRIBED AS “HAVING EACH ONE A HARP AND GOLDEN BOWLS FULL OF INCENSE WHICH ARE THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS.”

1. AND THE GRAMMAR HERE IS MOST READILY TAKEN AS LIMITING THE HARP AND BOWLS TO THE ELDERS ONLY, HAVING REFERENCE TO THE ELDERS ONLY IN THE GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE ACCORDING TO MOST SCHOLARS.

* AND SPECIFICALLY HARPS WERE FREQUENTLY ASSOCIATED IN THE OUT. WITH WORSHIP WHERE THERE ARE SEVERAL REFERENCES TO HARPS IN II SAMUEL 6:5; I CHRONICLES 15:16, 20, 28; 16:5; II CHRONICLES 5:12; 29:25; PSALM 33:2; 71:22; 92:1-4 AND 144:9.

** A HARP WAS AN INSTRUMENT OF WORSHIP IN THE O.T. SOME SUGGEST IT WOULD BE BETTER TRANSLATED LYRE.

*** NOW IN ADDITION TO THE HARPS OR LYRES, THE ELDERS WERE ALSO HOLDING GOLDEN BOWLS OF INCENSE.

**** AND THESE WIDE-MOUTHED BOWLS WERE USED IN THE O.T. TABERNACLE AND TEMPLE, WHERE THEY WERE CONNECTED WITH THE ALTAR.

2. AND THESE BOWLS SYMBOLIZED THE PRIESTLY WORK OF INTERCESSION FOR THE PEOPLE IN O.T. TIMES.

* AND THE SCRIPTURE ELSEWHERE ASSOCIATES THE BURNING OF INCENSE WITH THE PRAYER OF THE SAINTS IN PSALM 141:2 WHERE IT SAY: “MAY MY PRAYER BE COUNTED AS INCENSE BEFORE YOU; THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS AS THE EVENING OFFERING.”

** AND THEN IN THE N.T. WE HAVE THIS CONNECTION IN LUKE 1:9&10 WHERE IT SAYS:

V. 9 – “ACCORDING TO THE CUSTOM OF THE PRIESTLY OFFICE, HE WAS CHOSEN BY LOT TO ENTER THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD AND BURN INCENSE.”

V. 10 – “AND THE WHOLE MULTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE WERE IN PRAYER OUTSIDE AT THE HOUR OF THE INCENSE OFFERING.”

*** AND WE ALSO HAVE THIS PICTURE OF PRAYER AND INCENSE CONNECTED IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION IN REVELATION 8:3&4 WHERE IT SAYS:

V. 3 – “ANOTHER ANGEL CAME AND STOOD AT THE ALTAR, HOLDING A GOLDEN CENSER; AND MUCH INCENSE WAS GIVEN TO HIM, SO THAT HE MIGHT ADD IT TO THE PRAYERS OF ALL THE SAINTS ON THE GOLDEN ALTAR WHICH WAS BEFORE THE THRONE.”

V. 4 – “AND THE SMOKE OF THE INCENSE, WITH THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS, WENT UP BEFORE GOD OUT OF THE ANGEL’S HAND.”

**** SO INCENSE BEING THE SYMBOL OF PRAYER IS USED IN SCRIPTURE AS IT IS AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 5:8.

3. THE INCENSE SPECIFICALLY IN THESE BOWLS REPRESENTS THE PRAYERS OF BELIEVERS THROUGH THE AGES THAT GOD’S PROPHESIED AND PROMISED REDEMPTION OF THE EARTH MIGHT COME, THY KINGDOM COME IN MATTHEW 6:9.

* AND TAKEN TOGETHER WE HAVE WORSHIP AND PRAYER HERE IN V. 8.

** AND NOTE THAT THE ELDERS ARE NOT MEDIATING PRAYERS HERE, NOR ARE THEY PRAYED TO, THEY HAD NO PART IN ANSWERING THOSE PRAYERS.

*** THEY ARE WORSHIPPING GOD AND HAVE GOLDEN BOWLS FULL OF INCENSE WHICH REPRESENT THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS, POSSIBLY THE TRIBULATION SAINTS.

**** BUT BE REMINDED OF THE TRUTH IN I TIMOTHY 2:5, (READ IT).

4. AND BELOVED OUR MEDIATOR, OUR GO BETWEEN, OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST IS CHRIST ALONE, NOT ANY SAINTS OR ANGELS, CHRIST ALONE, THE LAMB.

AND AS I WRAP UP THIS TEXT TODAY: (1) IN APPLICATION, ONLY CHRIST THE LAMB IS WORTHY OF OUR WORSHIP, OUR PRAISE AND PRAYERS.

* GOD ALONE IS TO BE WORSHIPPED AND PRAYED TO.

** AND CERTAINLY AS WE SEE CHRIST AS A LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN SHOULD BE A MOTIVATION TO WORSHIP HIM.

*** AND BECAUSE HE IS THE LAMB WHO DIED, WE ARE ENABLED THROUGH HIM TO COME TO THE THRONE OF GRACE AS WE COME TO OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.

**** AND PRAISE AND PETITION ARE WHAT I WANT TO EMPHASIZE HERE IN PRAYER.

(2) AND WHAT I’M SAYING IS COME TO THE FATHER, THROUGH THE SON AND BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO WORSHIP HIM BEFORE YOU EVER ASK ANYTHING OF HIM.

* PRAISE HIM FOR WHO HE IS, PRAISE HIM FOR HIS ATTRIBUTES, HIS HOLY CHARACTER, PRAISE HIM FOR HIS SOVEREIGN GRACE, HIS GREAT LOVE, HIS WONDERFUL MERCY, HIS PATIENCE, HIS FAITHFULNESS, HIS IMMUTABILITY THAT HE DOES NOT CHANGE.

** PRAISE HIM THAT HE IS LONG SUFFERING, PRAISE HIM THAT HE IS GOOD AND CANNOT BE OTHERWISE.

*** AND THANK HIM FOR SO GREAT A SALVATION, AND FOR ALL THE BLESSINGS WHICH HE HAS FREELY BESTOWED ON US.

**** THANK HIM THAT HE DOESN’T GIVE US WHAT WE DESERVE, BUT MORE THAN WE DESERVE, FOR THE PSALMIST SAID IN PSALM 130:3&4:

V. 3 - “IF YOU, O LORD, SHOULD MARK INIQUITIES, O LORD, WHO COULD STAND?”

V. 4 – “BUT THERE IS FORGIVENESS WITH YOU, THAT YOU MAY BE FEARED.”

(3) AND BELOVED, IS PRAISE SWELLING UP IN YOUR HEART AS YOU THINK OF THESE TRUTHS? AS SWEET INCENSE, MAY THEY AS PRAYER BE OFFERED IN WORSHIP TO OUR GREAT LORD, LAMB AND LION.

* AND THIS IS A PART OF WORSHIP THAT WE NEGLECT AT TIMES AS WE FOCUS ON THE WORD AND SINGING WHICH IS GOOD, BUT DON’T NEGLECT WORSHIP IN PRAYER.

** BUT LAST OF ALL, AS WE FOCUS IN APPLICATION OF PRAYER AS INCENSE THAT IS SWEET TO OUR LORD.

*** REMEMBER TO COME IN WORSHIP FIRST, BUT ALSO BRINGING YOUR BURDENS AND CARE TO HIM.

(4) AND IT APPEARS THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF BURDENS AND CARES AND HEARTACHES IN OUR BODY AT THIS TIME.

* SO BE REMINDED IN PRAYER WHAT TO DO WITH THEM. BE REMINDED OF HEBREWS 4:15&16 (READ THEM).

** BE REMINDED OF PSALM 46:1 AND PSALMS 62:8 (READ THEM).

*** BE REMINDED OF PSALM 50:15 AND PSALM 55:22 (READ THEM)

(5) BE REMINDED OF PHILIPPIANS 4:6&7 AND I PETER 5:7 (READ THEM).

* BELOVED, BE REMINDED THAT OUR GOD IS GREAT, IS ON THE THRONE AND IN THE PERSON OF THE SON, HE IS IN THE MIDST, THE CENTER OF THE THRONE AND HE IS NOT ONLY A LION, BUT A LITTLE LAMB SLAIN, BUT STANDING.

** PRAISE BE TO GOD FOR “THE LAMB.”