FOLLOWING THE LAMB
Jim T Brown
Revelation 14: 1: 1, 4 from “these”
1 Peter 2: 21-25
The scripture in Revelation clearly looks forward to a day to come, and what travail and suffering will intervene in the interim period after the assembly has gone to be with the Lord Jesus. So here we have the Lamb standing upon Mount Zion and, with Him, this august, dignified company, having the name of the Lamb and the name of His Father written upon their foreheads. What an accolade for the persecution and anguish through which these saints will surely pass. How blessed the compensation for them to stand, in the enjoyment of such sovereign mercy, beside the Lamb of God. What thoughts will doubtless fill their hearts, as they follow the Lamb and learn from Him of what He endured in His pathway of sorrow here. He might tell them of His rejection and how the nation had treated Him with scorn, and shame, and spitting. He might speak to them of Gethsemane where, in unparalleled sorrow and intensity of grief, He committed Himself irrevocably to His God and Father’s will. They would learn of Golgotha, where He was crucified and shed His precious blood. He would tell them that, as part of His awful sufferings in these three hours of the forsaking, He bore the special wrath due to Israel on account of a broken law. Israel could not uphold the law but the Lord Jesus, in His grace, vicariously bore the curse of that broken law. These persons are bought from the earth and from men as first-fruits to God and to the Lamb. The precious blood is the basis for it all. What a harvest there will be for God by and by. What there will be for the divine heart from the assembly in particular but then, too, from such as this company. The Lord Jesus is, of course, the great Sheaf of the First-fruits, the mighty Victor in resurrection, waved before Jehovah. How glorious He is!.
But when we come to the scripture in Peter’s epistle, we have a fresh view of the sufferings of Jesus, not only what He suffered but the manner in which He endured them. How affecting that He suffered “for you”, for each of us, and left us a Model that we should follow in His steps. Our brother has referred to John's gospel and the Baptist could say as he looked at Him, “Behold the Lamb of God”, John 1: 36. It was as if His every step brought forth the spontaneous admiration of John, his heart welling up in praise and adoration as he witnessed the walk of Jesus. We are, of course, to follow Him, as He Himself says, “Follow thou me” (John 21: 22), but following in His steps would have us ponder the detail of that peerless pathway, devoted to His Father’s will - these three and a half years of incomparable service, setting Himself for the blessing of mankind and for the alleviation of suffering humanity. Think of how many steps He would have taken in these three and a half years as He traversed the terrain of Palestine, each step suffused with love as He responded to the needs of men, His affections touched by their sorrows, grieved at the awful effects that sin had had on mankind, and bringing solace to the afflicted. Then contemplate His steps as He went out from Jerusalem, bearing His cross, each step drawing Him nearer to Golgotha, where He would endure in perfection and holy obedience the awfulness of the forsaking.
And then we have described these beautiful traits of a Man in perfection. He “did no sin”; “and in Him sin is not.” 1 John 3: 5. Because of His sinless perfection and absolute holiness, He could be - and was - made sin for us; of no other man could that be said. So it goes on, “neither was guile found in his mouth”. Whatever He did was with infinitely pure intent. The Lord Jesus sent out the twelve to be “guileless as the doves” Matt 10: 16. What a challenge for us all, that there should be no ulterior motive in our actions. The Lord saw that feature in Nathanael as he came towards Him, saying: “Behold, one truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile”, John 1: 47. Wonderful commendation! But then, these steps of true perfection continue: “who, when reviled, reviled not again; when suffering, threatened not”. There was no retaliation with Jesus but He meekly He accepted the cruellest and most offensive things that men in their depravity could bring against Him. Sometimes, in instinctive retort to a jibe or taunt or in relation to something to which we take exception, we can make a kind of threat or implied threat. By contrast, the Lord Jesus in such circumstances, did not threaten, “but gave himself over into the hands of him who judges righteously”. He had full confidence in God: “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”, Gen 18: 25.
Then this ineffable statement, which will thrill the ransomed host throughout eternity: “who himself bore our sins in his body on the tree”. There were the physical sufferings, which He endured at the hands of men, the base acts of callous men, as they covered up His face, buffeted Him and struck Him with the palms of their hands. But more awful still was what it meant for Him to bear our sins in His body on the tree. No mortal could measure the intensity and deep holy feelings which were His, when the Saviour bore the sins of the myriads of the redeemed in that precious body, as Jehovah “laid upon him the iniquity of us all”, Isa 53: 6. The wonderful outcome is that our sins having been met, we can “live to righteousness”. That would mean cherishing and upholding God’s rights, His rights in testimony, and the principles of the fellowship, which have come down to us at tremendous cost.
Then we have these affecting words, “by whose stripes ye have been healed”. What a contemplation! These were divine stripes, laid upon Jesus by God Himself. Jeremiah asks, “Is there no balm in Gilead … Why then is there no dressing applied for the healing of the daughter of my people?”, chap 8: 22. Thank God there is a healing balm available from Jesus tonight: no balm in Gilead, but balm from Jesus to satisfy the most urgent need of every heart. How many sorrows there are, how many troubles and disappointments beset so many hearts in so many ways, but there is healing grace available in the Saviour’s presence to soothe the most rugged, the most poignant difficulty. How one feels it, when all seems lost, all seems too difficult, troubles appear overwhelming: then the gentle touch of the precious Saviour is available to soothe us and to give us peace.
Then it goes on to say: “For ye were going astray as sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls”. We have all gone astray at some point but there is a certain joy in returning, as the prodigal of old, and how very wonderful that is. We return to the good Shepherd, who has laid down His life for the sheep, that is, for you and for me. John in his gospel says, “the sheep hear his voice, and they follow him”, chap 10: 3. This company in Revelation in their day “follow the Lamb wheresover it goes”. What a Guide and Shepherd He is for us now. It is a time is of suffering, as this scripture in Peter brings out, and indeed the assembly is a suffering vessel. Reference has been made to the brazen or copper altar; its utensils were of copper. Paul speaks about filling up “that which is behind of the tribulations of Christ in my flesh, for his body, which is the assembly”, Col 1: 24. That, of course, refers in a particular way to Paul himself, but that little reference to the utensils of copper, as related to the copper altar, might just suggest that there is a place for every lover of the Lord Jesus to take their place participatively in the testimonial sufferings, which belong to this current period,.
Well, what an example for us is provided by this company, standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion, great pinnacle of sovereign mercy, faithful in adversity, but what blessed reward for their sufferings. May we be encouraged, in our own circumstances, by heaven’s recompense for this suffering company.
Edinburgh
12th December 2023