Worthy Is the Lamb

Sing it, oh, wrapped in a manger on Christmas morning. Amen. See Him at the temple, talking to the elders who marveled at His wisdom. Amen. Jordan, where John was death in, saving all the sinners at the seaside. Walking to the fishermen, making them disciples. Amen. Marching on Jerusalem over palm branches. Pop in splendor. See Him in the garden. Praying for His Father. Sorrow. Save us.

That Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!” John 12, verse 12 to 13. The people were celebrating the arrival of a King. They spread their cloaks and palm branches on the road in front of Him. They shouted, “Hosanna, Hosanna!” In ancient times, these palm branches represented goodness and victory. Waving these branches and spreading them on the road was symbolic of the final victory. Today, these palm branches symbolize triumph and peace. We use the palm branches to help us to remember how Jesus conquered death in order to give us salvation.

After this, I looked. And there before me was a great multitude that no one could count. From every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Revelation 7, verse 9 to 10.

Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to You this morning praising You, Your name, and worshiping You. Lord, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. You are almighty and worthy of our worship. In Your holy name we pray. Amen.

Suns. It’s up a little bit this morning, so forgive. But we’re going to skip right ahead to the welcome and then circle back to the congregational and the offertory and then get into the cantata. So, Al, I’ll give it to you.

Well, first of all, thank you and welcome to Palm Sunday. As we remember that first day of what I think is the greatest single week in all of our Christian faith. That’s the week that changed everything. And we started with Palm Sunday. But let me just, first of all, just go through some announcements real quick. If you’re one of our guests this morning, we want to just, first of all, just say thank you. Thanks for coming and worshiping and spending this Sunday morning with us. We want you to feel like family. That’s pretty important to the Sauldam Baptist Church. On the edge of your bulletin is a little tear-off sheet. And if you wouldn’t mind just doing us a small favor and fill that out. And you can leave it on your seat or you can put it in the offering plate or on the way out. But we would love to maybe get in touch with you and talk with you.

Also, tonight’s going to be a great night. At 6 o’clock here tonight in the sanctuary, we’re going to show the Passion of Christ. It’s a movie done by Mel Gibson a number of years ago. It’s a pretty tough movie. So we’re going to have something for the children just because of the violence of the crucifixion. We’re going to have something for the children in Fellowship Hall. But let me encourage you to be part of this tonight. Because it’s just something where you just really get to understand exactly what Christ went through for me and for you. So that will be tonight here at the church, the Passion of the Christ at 6 o’clock.

And then Wednesday nights are getting exciting. We start eating at 5:30, which is Baptist life. It’s just kind of part of life. We’re going to have, I think, a baked potato bar. And then we’re going to continue our study of the Case for Easter, proving the resurrection. And we’ll continue that this Wednesday night. That starts at 5:30. The study starts at 6 o’clock. We’ve got stuff for the kids. So let me encourage you to be there. And then if you’ll just notice, one other little thing on the back. The business meeting will be April 19th, Wednesday night, April 19th. So put that on your calendar if you want to be part of that. And again, thank you for being here and just sharing worship. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer. Father, thank You. Thank You for You. Thank You for Sauldam Baptist Church and putting this community together right here on County Line Road in Ravenel. Thank You for the fact that we get to worship You and honor You. And our choir in just a few moments is going to just bring our sermon through song. And so thank You for that. Thanks for loving us before we could have ever even started to think about loving You. And so, Lord, right now we’re going to give this time to You. May it bring You honor and glory. And Lord, just change us as we do that. We ask this in the name above every name, the awesome name of Jesus. Amen.

It’s y’all’s turn. So we’re going to start by singing our congregational, which is 135, “Nothing But the Blood.” So if you stand, we’ll sing. Words are on your screen. Lord, I can wash away my sin. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Behold, I need but the blood of Jesus. Stay where you are.

We’re going to flip a few pages over to 138 if you’re in your hymnal, or just keep looking up and sing “At Calvary.” So this will be our offertory. I was free. Supply to me liberty. For liberty. Stay standing.

All right. So now it’s time for our Easter cantata. So this cantata this year is called “Worthy Is the Lamb.” It is all about, obviously, the story of the crucifixion and Jesus dying on the cross and all of that story. So some of the songs you’ll know. Some are new. Some are mixed in that are old. So if you know it and want to sing along, you’re welcome to join us. Otherwise, please listen as we share the story of the crucifixion.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven.

Jesus had come to earth on a mission ordained from the world’s beginning. He had emptied Himself of His glory and lived as a servant. He had healed the sick, embraced the outcast, and taught all who would listen. Now the time had come to lay down His life. It was the beginning of Passover, and as word of His arrival in Jerusalem spread, a spontaneous celebration began. His last week was filled with confrontation with those who would destroy Him, tenderness for those who would grieve for Him, compassion for those who would fail Him, and sorrow for even the one who would betray Him. Jesus knew how He would die. He understood why. He showed us with every word, every gesture, every interaction, what it would take to save us. He was worthy to [inaudible] His blood between our sins.

So first of all, it is finished. Jesus took His last breath. After His death, a rich man named Joseph found the courage to ask Pilate for the Lord’s body. It seemed as if His story had come to a tragic end. But heaven had another plan. On Sunday, tragedy was replaced by victory. Sorrow turned into celebration. Lament gave way to hallelujah. And the song of praise that began at the empty tomb is still our song today.

His holiness, our need; His compassion, our hopelessness; and His salvation. This is why we sing, why we bow, why we surrender our lives. For Jesus alone is worthy, and we will worship Him while we live on this earth, until He returns. We’ll tell His story and declare our devotion and love for Him to the world.

Kind of wrap things up sermon. I think our choir preparation and all. You know where, you know, the title of the title is called “Worthy Is the Lamb.” You know where that comes from in Scripture, don’t you? It comes from Revelation chapter 5, where it comes from. You know, John, when he wrote the book of Revelation, is taken to a place he probably never even dreamed of being taken to. He’s taken up to heaven, and he just sees things that he is trying his best to describe to us. And in chapter 4 and chapter 5, he comes into the—think about this now—he comes into the throne room of heaven. Can you imagine what that must have been like? I mean, and he sees, all of a sudden, he sees Jesus in a whole different perspective. Three and a half years he walked with Jesus on the planet, saw Him do some great miracles. Then he saw Jesus in another perspective when he looked up on the cross, and he sees Him die upon that cross. You’ll see some of that tonight when He comes to the movie The Passion. And then He saw Him resurrected for 40 days, but He doesn’t see Him, really, until He sees Him in heaven. And when I think about those words, worthy is the Lamb. I mean, that’s amazing to me. John in chapter 5 talks about being in the throne room, and he looks at the throne, and he sees what he says of the lion, the lion of Judah. Well, the lion is always, you know, he’s the king of the animals, and he’s the one that, when you see the lion, it represents strength and power. Then he says it’s like the lion turns into a lamb. Not just a lamb, but the Bible says a Lamb that was slain. I want you to get that picture for just a moment. He doesn’t see that a lamb in Hebrew culture represents goodness. And so when he sees the Lamb on the throne, he sees the ultimate goodness of God, which is unbelievable to me. And I just want to read that to you. Let me just read Revelation 5. I’m just going to start at the verse above, verse 12, where it talks about that. And then just down to 13, it says, Then I looked, And then the four living creatures kept saying, Amen. You know what Amen stands for in Hebrew? It is so. That’s what it means. It’s the truth. It is so. Can you imagine millions and millions of angels looking at the Lamb that was slain, and saying, Worthy is the Lamb. You know what the Bible says? Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is what? Lord. The reason He’s worthy is because He was slain.

A number of months ago, I heard a guy describe what Jesus had to endure. It makes an impact. I wrote it down. See, we just think of the physical beating of the cross, but it was more than that. This is how much Jesus loved you. So when you can sit there and go, well, you’re God, and you could go through all that. Lord, You don’t know what I’ve gone through. Let me just share some things. Number one, He knew it was coming. How do you feel when you know something bad’s about to happen to you? How do you react? See, Jesus knew it was coming. One of His best friends betrayed Him. How do you feel after somebody that you care about, that you love, that you’ve entrusted, that you poured yourself into, betrays you? He didn’t just know it was coming. He had somebody that He cared about that betrayed Him. And then His own people turned against Him. The people He’s there to save turn against Him. He had to face a tyrant that doubted truth. Remember, Pilate said, really, what’s truth? He was a victim of the Roman Empire. But here’s the kicker. He was innocent. He was completely innocent. And everybody knew it. A criminal was chosen to be released instead of Him. And they knew this guy was a criminal. Think about it now. We hadn’t even gotten to the cross yet. And He’s having to take all this. The other thing is, He was young. He was 33. 33. And He had never done anything wrong. All He ever did was try to help somebody. Shame. It was public. There was no trial. Except mock trials. It was quick. It was like a cowboy lynch mob. Dead in front of His mom. Brings us to a place. That’s how much He loved us.

My question to you is this. I mean, we saw the choir saying how much He loved us. The Bible’s pretty clear how much He loved us. The angels in heaven tell you how worthy He is. See, my question to you is this. How much do you love Jesus? Really? Serious. Do you love Him more than your family? I mean, that’s a big question. Do you love Jesus more than your family? Do you love Jesus more than your spouse? Do you love Jesus more than your job? How about, do you love Jesus more than your future? Friends? How about what you want? Do you love Jesus more than that? He loves you more than that. So that’s the question this morning. He’s worthy because of the sacrifice. In being slain, He opened the way for worldwide redemption. The angels declared His worth. He’s not only the lion of Judah, but He’s the Lamb that was slain. We’re going to sing a song in just a moment. I think it’s what, I’d rather have Jesus. The question is, is that true? If you’re a Christian. If you’re Not a Christian, I’d love to talk with you. Because I want to tell you, if Jesus loves you that much, then He went to a cross for you. Or maybe just this morning, you have to decide what our choir sang about, which was, I want to put Jesus first. I want Jesus to run my life. And as you sing, I’d rather have Jesus. And I want to talk to you about singing. Just sing. It’s not about your voice. No, you’re not in the choir. They did an awesome job this morning. But I want you to just to worship Him like those angels worshipped Him. Sing, I’d rather have Jesus.

Let’s stand. Don, if you’ll come. 5:50 or words on your screen. Again, 6 o’clock tonight, showing The Passion of the Christ. I’m telling you, it’s sometimes a little tough to watch. But boy, it gets me in the pre-Easter. See how much my Jesus loved me. So I’ll encourage you to be here for that. That’ll be at 6 o’clock Wednesday night again. And then next Sunday morning, we’re going to have sunrise service at 7 o’clock in the old church next door. And that’ll include Lord’s Supper. So that’ll be a special service. And then I think we’ve got some things here. Some continental breakfast or something. And then we’ll have Sunday school and service at 10 and 11.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for Palm Sunday. Choir again, thank you for just using your talents and gifts. Donnie, thanks for leading them. Appreciate you, bud. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer as we’re dismissed.

Father, I often say that we may be the only Jesus someone ever sees. That’s true. It’s hard to believe in a country like this that there are folks out there that don’t know much about Jesus. If we can just act a little bit like You, maybe they will want to know more. Lord, give us an opportunity this week to share not only what You can do for them, but what You have already done for us. Thanks for being a God that loves us. God who came in our form and then died for us. Wow. It’s amazing. So again, Father, guide us, direct us until we come back to this place again. And let us lift You up because, again, You are worthy. And all God’s people said, amen. You’re dismissed.