Robed in Victory: Worshiping with the Redeemed - Revelation 7

Summary
Pastor David preaches on the multitude in white robes from Revelation, emphasizing how they stand before God's throne, not because of their own purity, but because the Lamb has made them worthy and victorious. He highlights that this salvation inspires loud, heartfelt worship, where humanity takes its rightful place in leading the heavenly liturgy.

Transcript
Good morning, Soli Church. Open your Bibles to the revelation of St. John, chapter seven this morning, revelation chapter seven. And for the next two weeks, we will be here in Revelation Chapter Seven. And this morning, we will be in verses nine through 12. And then next Lord's day, 13 through 17, a revelation chapter seven, beginning in verse nine, hear the word of God. (congregation speaking in the background) After this, I looked and behold, a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and before the lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne and to the lamb. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the ancient ones and the four living creatures. And they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever, amen. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated, let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we come to you and we would behold the lamb. (congregation speaking in the background) It's the only reason we're here this morning, Lord. We would see the lamb. We would behold the lamb with the eyes of faith. Show us the lamb in the scriptures. Show us the lamb at the table. Show us the lamb in our singing. We would see the lamb. We would sing of our salvation. We would be on with the business of worship. We would join from earth what we see in heaven this morning here. The white-robed palm branched priests before the throne of God. Lift our hearts, lift our eyes to this reality that is actually taking place behind the veil right now that we are joining. We would behold the lamb. Let us not leave without seeing him this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. And amen. From these ancient words, my Father, behold the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." These words spoken by Isaac and Abraham bleed and splatter and repeat on altars for thousands of years until the wild-haired baptizing prophet comes and speaks his own behold, answering the behold of Isaac. And John comes onto the scene and he says, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world as he points to Jesus." And as we come to the revelation of John during this paschal season, as we come and see in the revelation of John, persecution and tribulation and martyrdom and colored horses and sea beasts and horns and heads and prostitutes and cities and temples and dragons and devils and incense and eagles and trumpets and wormwoods and bowls and blood and a whole lot of numbers. All of which have their place. But they have their place for one reason only. So that we might behold the lamb who was slain. So that we might behold the lamb that John pointed to, that Abraham promised his son would come and that Isaac asked about. It is the lamb who is the central figure in the book of Revelation. Over 28 times in the book of Revelation, Jesus is referred to as the lamb. And you'd think that with all this other stuff that I just mentioned, earthquakes and wormwood and bowls and blood and angels and devils, that a little lamb would get lost and crushed in all this stuff. But not this lamb. Not this lamb. This lamb emerges from the midst of all this stuff as a lamb slain and just exactly what these churches needed. You see, these churches are facing a nightmare. This is not an easy season in the life of the church when John writes the Revelation. As a matter of fact, if you go back with me to Revelation chapter one, you will see exactly what it is that they are facing. In Revelation one and verse nine, John says this, "I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation." In the tribulation. And that's the tribulation with the definite article, the tribulation. Not a tribulation, but the tribulation. John right now is participating with them as he writes this letter to them in the great tribulation. They are facing the nightmare of the tribulation. And if you look over at chapter two and verse 10, it's highlighted even more to the church there. Chapter two and verse 10 says this, "Do not fear to the church of Smyrna. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested. And for 10 days, you will have tribulation. It's gonna happen. It's on you. The nightmare has come. Be faithful unto death." This is what it's gonna cost you. The tribulation that is coming upon these to whom John is writing is a tribulation in which they are actually facing the reality of martyrdom in their lives. Not something that they will hear about. Something that they will actually experience. Something that they are presently experiencing. So be faithful unto death, Jesus says, "And I will give you the crown of life," you say. And so these churches are facing a nightmare of tribulation and a nightmare of martyrdom. And is there an answer? Is there an answer to the nightmare? Is there an answer to the tribulation? Is there an answer to the death? And the answer is yes. And the answer is found in our passage. The answer to the nightmare, the answer to the tribulation, the answer to the martyrdom that they are facing is found in our passage. And so we begin by looking at verse nine. After this, John says, "I looked." And so this is something that John sees. Doesn't hear it. He's actually able to witness it. He's actually able to see it with his own eyes. This rebirth of images that is here for him to behold. God unfolds it for him so he can witness it with his eyes. And what he sees is astounding. And he wants those who are in the seven churches to be able to see this as well. Because five of the seven churches are receiving severe persecution right now for their faithfulness to witness to Jesus Christ. And these are not huge churches. These are small churches. These are struggling churches. And the Babylon that they are in, the mouth of the beast that they are in is huge. And it looks like they could simply be stepped on at any moment. And they need to see behind the veil. They need to see the greater reality of what is actually waiting for them and what is true. That the Babylon that is before them is a pseudo kingdom. It's a pseudo kingdom. It's not the reality. It tries to wear the crown. And it tries to wear the, have the horns. It tries to make a presentation that it is the true city, but it's not. It's faux in every way. It's fake in every way. It's cotton candy with an edge in every way. But it is not the real thing. But there is a victory for God's people that is real. And John wants these fledgling churches to see what is true for them if they will be faithful unto death. What the lamb who was slain has waiting for them as he carries them through, being faithful during the season of tribulation. And so John sees this. And the first thing that would encourage them is this. And behold, a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. The first thing that they see is that Abraham's covenant has been fulfilled. It's beautiful. It's glorious. God has been faithful. And God's promise that through Abraham, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. All the families of the earth would be blessed. That Abraham would have as many children as there are stars in sand. Here they are. Here they are. Here are the peoples from every tribe, people, language and every nation. The Great Commission has been a success. And here they are. And so these fledgling churches can look behind the veil and see that what they are participating in now that looks like it's going to be crushed. What they are participating in now that looks so small and so weak and so inferior. And there's no way that it can make it. And there's no way that it can be victorious. When they get a chance to peer behind the veil, what they see is that it is a enormous church triumphant. That it is truly a triumphant and victorious church that Christ's church has been and will be victorious. And God's covenant with Abraham will be fulfilled. They might be small now, but they will not be small. They will be mighty. They will be mighty when it all comes around. You see, and there's this glorious answer. And then the second thing we see is that we have this Elijah anxiety answered, right? Remember Elijah, what was me? I'm the only one on the earth that's faithful. Nobody but me, Eor, right? Eor Elijah, right? But what does God say? Oh, Elijah, I got 7,000 tucked away over here. I just haven't told you about, right? Well, these little churches in the church militant can be facing that issue. What was me? Here we are, Asia Minor. Nobody knows us. Nobody cares about us. We're just over here doing our thing. And guess what? Here's what they see. A great multitude that no one can number. Isn't that beautiful? Here's the beautiful. Guess what? We can count in this room. We can count the people in this room. But if God were to pull back the veil, we can't count the people in that room. And those are our people. And that's the church triumphant. And so we can't have the Elijah complex, okay? We can't run around as the church militant on earth saying, "Whoa, is us," because we think we have the smaller numbers, all right? We are a part of the church militant that will be part of the church militant and the church triumphant. And that church triumphant has a people that no one can number. And this is the reality. So our numbers are greater than we know, you see. So we don't have to live that way. We don't have to live with the poverty we think we have to live with because we know what is true. God will fulfill Abraham's covenant. God will fulfill the Great Commission. And the church is gonna be filled with so many people that we can't even number it. And so that encourages us who are on this side of things knowing that that will be true when it's all said and done. Regardless of what our eyes can see here, this is what John's eyes can see there. Amen? Let's get on. Next, what we see is that this is a priestly crew. I've already heard a little bit about that this morning in our service. John says, "After this, I looked in behold the great multitude that no one could number. From every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. And they are standing." Now this is shocking. This is shocking because of where they're at. They're standing, watch this, before the throne and before the lamb. They are in the holy of holies in heaven. They are in the heart of the universe. And they are standing there. It's incredible to consider of all of the postures that you would think you are before the throne of God. You are before the lamb slain of God. Consider all of the bodily positions you could consider. Is standing even in the top 10? Isn't face down the first 10? And not even looking up, right? But these are standing before the throne. Well, why are they standing? Because standing is what priests do when they're inside the holy of holies engaged in priestly service. Priests don't sit when they're engaged in priestly service. They stand when they're in priestly service. And so they're at the heart of all things of the universe. And they are welcome to stand before the very throne of God and before the lamb because they are gonna render a certain kind of priestly service in that very room there that we're gonna see next week. You'll all have to come back because it's in the next part of the passage that explains the service that they render. But it's amazing to consider the fact that they are actually standing there in service to the Lord and not simply flat out on their faces, not looking up at all or on their knees or running for the door, right? They're actually welcome inside the holiest place in the universe, the actual immediate throne presence of God. You say, well, how in the world could they actually be welcome in there? It's because the clothes they're wearing. They're welcome in there because of the clothes that they're wearing. Look at what it says. And that's very important. They are standing before the throne and before the lamb doing priestly service which we'll look at next week. Clothed in white robes. Clothed in white robes. There will be a little bit more of this next week too because the next week's passage tells us how the robes got white. This week just tells us that they are themselves white which means somehow all of this multitude which no one can number that comes from all the tribes, peoples and languages of the earth, every nation are all standing before the throne and before the lamb. And they're all wearing white robes of purity. White robes of exuberant childlike lightness before the Lord. But here's the thing you have to remember. They didn't, God did not, this is really important. They're not there in white robes because the Lord went and scoured the earth looking to see all of those He could find in white robes. In white robes. Because if the Lord were to go and look and scour to see all of those He could find in white robes that would then be have access to this room to do this priestly work. Not only would it not be a number that no one can number, it would simply be a no one. Because when God would look out to scour the earth to see anybody who has the purity to be in His presence, the white robe to be in His presence, He wouldn't be able to find anyone, let alone you. Because all you would have to offer Him is dirty garments and tattered garments. So they're not there because they were found in white garments. They're not there because they were found in white robes, you see, something had to happen to them because when they were found, they were found unwelcome in this place, not ready for this place without access to this place at all. They, something had to happen to them. Now I sent this out this morning to a few of you from the Sacred Head Now Wounded book because I think it perfectly sets for us what we're talking about here. Peter Vermigli, who's one of the 16th century reformers said this, listen, nobody when he first enters his reign takes a thief or a companion. Hear that? Nobody when he first enters his reign takes a thief or a companion. Christ did just that, listen, and did not contaminate paradise. But rather made it honored that it had such a Lord who could purify thieves and prostitutes instantly so that they were suitable for the kingdom of heaven. Isn't that beautiful? Let me read that again. Christ did just that and did not contaminate paradise. On your own and on my own, we would contaminate this room. We would not be welcome in this room. But Christ has done such a thing that he purifies thieves and prostitutes instantly and makes us suitable for this, you see. These are here, this innumerable number are here because they've been purified by the one who made them suitable to be in this very place serving the Lord here. That's why they have white robes. Not because he found them that way, but because the Savior found them not that way and purified them and made them suitable to be in this place. It's the Lamb alone. The Lamb alone and His salvation makes us suitable to be in the presence of the Lord before His throne. And the Lamb alone is the one who gives us the white robe so that we can be here. When we not only have white robes, there's also palm branches here. They have palm branches in their hands and palm branches are a sign of victory. Cicero said that a great conqueror is a man of many palms. When they were waiting for a king to come home, they would wait for him with palms. And during the inter-testamental period when Israel went in and the temple, when they recovered it and captured it and were cleansing it during the Maccabean Revolt, they went in with palms. And of course we have Palm Sunday when Jesus rode in on the beast of burden and they cried out Hosanna. And this is also connected to the Feast of Boots in the Old Testament. All of it, all of the symbolism here with the palm branches is a symbolism of victory. The palm branches are symbols of victory. So we have this group of people here who are wearing white robes because they were sinners, waving palm branches of victory because they lost. Explain that. (congregation laughing) You're a mess, but he made you clean. You died and were martyred, but you're victorious. How does that work? The lamb, the lamb who was slain. The lamb is the only one, that's why. The lamb is what makes the difference. Because of the lamb and the lamb alone, that is why there is victory. So these guys, they didn't skirt suffering. They didn't skirt tribulation. They didn't skirt death. The issue is simply this. They're suffering, tribulation and death ended in victory. It ended in victory because of the lamb who brought them here. Because the lamb is the undoing of death. The lamb undid death with his own death by conquering it with his resurrection. You see, so they are waving palm branches as those who were martyred in the tribulation. If you look at the previous verses in chapter six, it's unbelievable. It's incredible to consider that these things that we think can actually get us, can't get us because of the lamb. They actually turn around and become the very means and ways of victory for God's people because of the lamb who has overcome them. Do you realize that there's nothing? There is nothing in this world that can ultimately get at you or to you that will not be transfigured for your glory and victory in the next life. It's all, it's all working there because of the lamb. It's amazing. It's incredible. And what's also amazing and incredible is that up to this point, this white-robed palm branch standing priesthood, you'll notice they initiate this stage in heaven's worship. Right next, in the next verse, they're the ones who cry out with a loud voice and begin the singing. They begin the worship. But what I want you guys to see is that this is the first time this happens in the book of Revelation. Up to this point, for all of the first six chapters, all of the singing and all of the worship has been done by angels. No humanity has done any worship yet. It's all been angelic. All of the four living creatures, the ancient ones, the 24 ancient ones, angels, all of the names of those, they are all referred to the angelic host. But no children of Adam. Have ever yet in heaven stepped forward and actually led the liturgy like we were supposed to. You see, this is, you gotta, well, what's so important about that? What's important about that is this, okay? We were created by God, okay? To lead the world. We were created by God to lead angels, to judge angels, to lead the entire world, to be God's representatives. But guess what? We sinned. And so we were put under the tutorial of angels for the entire old covenant period. Angels ran the show up until Jesus came. And then Jesus came and he was made for a little while lower than the angels. But now he's crowned with glory and honor. And because Jesus has gone and he's crowned with glory and honor, he's taken us with him and he's moved us into our rightful place now. And for the first time in the book of Revelation, we see the heavenly choir, the heavenly choir of man move into the forefront and actually begin to show their leadership for the first time we lead in the liturgy. It's absolutely amazing. We finally take our place out in front and the angels step back and respond to us. So we lead with the first song here in this liturgy and then the angels respond with their song for the first time in the book of Revelation. And it's absolutely spectacular and amazing. Now that also means, and we can talk about this after church, I'll take emails, I hate to break your heart. I told my wife, this is why we don't learn our theology from our hymns. That means the group throwing their crowns in the Revelation 4, it's not you. You're not throwing your crowns down someday. It's the angels who are throwing their crowns down. What? I don't get thrown on. No, the hymn is wrong. The Bible is right, okay? That's the angels throwing their crowns down. Why? Because it's a transfer of authority. They're turning their authority over to the Lamb who's gonna turn that authority over to us. It's a transfer of administration, okay? And so that follows the method. You were like, well, I really wanted to throw my crown down. False humility never pays. What if Jesus really wants to give you a crown? What if you were created for glory? What if you were created for glory? What if he wants to give you a crown of life? The best thing to do is say thank you and wear it. And then you'd have a discussion with me later on about whether or not I'm right about Revelation 4. And here we go, all right. But anyways, in two tinnitus is what was it say? Be faithful to death and I will give you the crown of life. Okay, all that's fun. Revelation is so great and I love to create controversy with it. Either way, in this passage, the church initiates the worship and the angels respond. We know that's the case. And so as we move on to verse 11, solely, I'm coming for you, all right? All you who are visitors here, you're off the hook for like the next 10 minutes, okay? But solely you're not. So in verse 11, when we see this choir burst out, the choir is not shy. The choir is not shy. In other words, there is no mumble ramma here. No mumble ramma. Look at what it says. They have palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice. Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. Church, listen, the book of Revelation is a liturgical book. It is a worship book. And here's what you find in the book of Revelation. It is simply this. You find loud worship. You find corporate amens and you find silence. What you don't find is mumble ramma. All right, so in chapter five and verses 11 and 12, you get this, then I looked and this is angels. And around the throne and the living creatures and the ancients, what do I hear? The voices of many angels, thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, okay? It's loud voice. So you have loudness among the angels. And in our verse, you have loudness among the choir of men. They let it go. Cry out loud voice, okay? Secondly, there are corporate amens. Verse 14, the angels have a corporate amen. And the four living creatures said amen. In our verse 712, there's a double amen, amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power might be to our God forever and ever. Amen, okay? There are punctuated amens. There are crying out and loud voices. And then there is silence. Chapter 8 verse 1, when the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour. What you don't get is to mumble in His presence. So we gotta stop mumbling around this place. Thank you, can I get a double amen? (congregation laughing) Right, so our singing needs to elevate. Elevate needs to move towards loudness. Needs to move towards crying out a little bit more. There needs to be more consideration of our amen participations because it's all over the liturgy of the book of Revelation. And silence is good. But guess what? It can't be forced. So this is, it can't be forced. The reason why this choir cries out with a loud voice, double amens, and is not given the mumble ramma, is because their theme has their heart. That's why. So this is not something I can force or I want to force pastorally from the top down. But their theme has their heart. And they actually introduce the theme here, the human choir does, the Adamic choir introduces a theme that up to this point has not yet been a theme in Revelation. And it makes sense that the children of Adam introduce this because they're the ones who experience it. Up to this point in time, we have not seen the word salvation in the book of Revelation. This is the first time. The first time we see the word salvation in the book of Revelation is right here. And it's in a song. Sung by men and women in the choir, loudly cried out. Why? Because their salvation means something to them. Their salvation is a theme that wells up inside of them and causes them to cry out loudly and offer this song, you say. And so it's not something that's forced. It's something that their salvation, it wells up from it. The theme has to, it creates this, right? The salvation owns, their salvation owns them. They know who they've been saved by and they know what they've been saved from. And so that does not admit of Bumble Ramma. You don't mumble when you've been saved from sin, death and the devil. And you don't mumble when you've been before the lamb or when you are before the lamb. You just don't. And so again, it's not a forced thing. It's just when you've been before, even when you're before the lamb, you just sing. And you're singing a salvation. And so it's wonderful here because the angels could never introduce salvation because they don't get salvation. Angels don't get saved. They're either sinful and done or not sinful. And the angels don't receive salvation. So they don't know what it is like to be saved. So they can sing about men being ransom like they did in chapter five, but they can't sing about being saved personally, like here. And so here, this choir explodes with praise. Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb. And notice what's being celebrated here. It is salvation. It is being rescued by the lamb and it never tires. And you'll notice what he says here. "Salvation belongs to our God." That's unique phrasing. Salvation belongs to our God is unique phrasing. And what that means is, is that when God promises to save us, this is important. When God promises to save us, he's putting his reputation on the line. You understand that? If he promises to save and he doesn't save, he's not faithful. And if he's not faithful, he's not God. So salvation belongs to our God means when God, when God covenants to save and God promises to save, he either saves and keeps his promise in his word and he's God. Because salvation belongs to our God or he doesn't and he's a false God. You see. So God puts his own reputation on the line as God when he saves or doesn't save. Well, this God saves. And so his reputation is vindicated in the salvation of what? All of these innumerable people. You see. He's vindicated in his faithfulness to his covenant promise to Abraham. Salvation belongs to our God and to the lamb. That's how we get saved is through the lamb. You see. But you'll notice it's all of God. It's all of God. We have no part in it. We are simply the recipients of everything that God has covenanted and everything that the lamb has done for us. We simply receive from God everything. You see. Salvation belongs to our God and to the lamb. That's that. And when that's true and you know that in your heart and that owns you, you got to sing it. It comes out in the song. It's coming out in the song here. It's coming out in the song here. And then of course the response then is the angels say, wait a minute, we got to get in on this too. So they respond to the initiation of the Adamic choir. Now they respond and the angels get in on it. Verse 11 says that all the angels were standing around the throne and around the ancient ones and the four living creatures. And they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God. So they get in on it too. Okay, they get in there, but they fall on their faces. But I want you guys to notice what happens. They fall on their faces and they offer a doxology. A doxology that is very similar to the one that they offered in chapter five. They offer a doxology in chapter five. You can look at it with me. It's in chapter five and verse 12. So the doxology in chapter five and verse 12 says worthy is the lamb who was slain. And then it says, no, actually it's 13, we're after 13. Is it 12, two, bless, bless, bless. It's, let me count it, one, two, three. No, it's 12. Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might in honor and glory and blessing. It's a seven-fold doxology. So the angels lift that doxology up. Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might honor, glory and blessing. Here, the same group of angelic hosts are going to respond to the Adamic choirs, salvation belongs to the Lord. And they're gonna offer a very similar blessing. Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever, amen. So it's very similar, but I want you to see it actually is expulsive. It's expansive. Now that the tables have turned and now that the angels are being led by men, their doxology actually explodes even more. And I'll show you how this works. In chapter five and verse 12, there's a seven-fold doxology. And that seven-fold doxology has one definite article. So it would read like this. If you had it in the Greek, it would read worthy as the lamb who was slain to receive the power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. Okay. Come to chapter seven and verse 12, some things change. Number one, wealth is dropped and thanksgiving is added. So there's a switch of words for whatever reason. Secondly, there's no amen in five-twelve, but now in seven-twelve, there's a double amen. Now we've amped it up. Okay. We've doubly blessed this with an amen at the beginning of the doxology and an amen at the end of the doxology. Okay. And then if you remember in five-twelve, we have one definite article. And I wish they would do this in the English. I never know why they don't. But in the Greek, in the Greek of seven-twelve, there's a definite article before each one of the blessings. So listen, here's how it would read. Amen. Right? Blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the might be to our God forever and ever amen. So not only does in seven-twelve, do we double amen it, we also add the definite article before each one of the doxological blessings that we offer to God. And so what's happening is, is that this doxology intensifies and it expands and they're down on their faces, you see. There's been a transformation and a change even in the angelic response to the throne and to the Lamb whites because they've led by men finally rightly, you see. The Adam in Christ has taken his place and now things are the way they're supposed to be. And so the angels actually amp up their worship. It's absolutely incredible. It's absolutely amazing. And so all of this is this glorious worship that's taking place on the Lord's day. Right now when we're gathered, this is what's actually happening. We joined this on Sundays when we gather together. This is what's happening. We're gonna see a little bit more of that next week when we come together. But the issue at hand is this. As we gather together to worship on the Lord's day, joining this worship that's here, this is the pattern for us. Now we are not the pattern for that. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And so we look to the heavenly worship so that we might learn from the heavenly worship how to worship on the earth. And the lamb is the center. The lamb will always be the center. When we come to church on Sunday, it is to behold the lamb. It is to behold the lamb. It is to see the lamb. It is to worship the lamb. It is to feast on the lamb. It is to receive from the lamb. It is all about the lamb. It will always be about the lamb. It will never be about a man. It will never be about a preacher. It will never, it will always be about the lamb. And you are in what? In Christ, you are wearing the same robe that these are wearing. You are wearing the white robe because you're justified in Christ. And so you're clean and you're pure in Christ because what Christ has done for you. And so this is us on earth. This is them in heaven. We are the church militant. They are the church triumphant. So I just ask you, is not the lamb worthy of more than lukewarm spit? (baby crying) I think he's worthy of our utmost for his highest. I think the lamb is worthy of our utmost for his highest. Not because we have to do that to earn, but because salvation belongs to our goddesses on the throne into the lamb. And he's about to feed us with that salvation. And he's about to show us the washing of that salvation. He is the lamb who is worthy. And I pray that we are people who are not ashamed of a slain lamb, but that we are willing to bear the marks of following and worshiping a slain lamb. Let us pray. Lord Jesus, thank you for this passage. Thank you that salvation belongs to you. Thank you that you have made us a part of this mighty church. Thank you that you are victorious, both over sin, death, the devil, and that you are going to be victorious in history. And that no matter what size our churches are, we are a part of something that is guaranteed to see the end and to see it won. So help us to be faithful now, to lift our loud voices up, and to be unashamedly singing as a victorious church, a victorious people who know, who know the lamb has won. Give us hearts to follow you all the way through. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.