Please turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 7. Revelation chapter 7 with our verse for this evening's message found in verse number 17. Verse number 17 of Revelation chapter 7, the word of God reads, for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them. and shall lead them into living fountains of waters. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." And our title for this evening's message is this, The Lamb Comforts His People. The Lamb Comforts His People. This text very much speaks of the end of time. If you follow the passage through chapter 7 of Revelation, you see many struggles and difficulties for the people of God. But you see at the end, there is wonderful, perfect, and everlasting comfort for believers in Christ, believers in the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. those who believe in that lamb that was slain for our sins, but also, as we see in the book of Revelation, victorious over death and over hell through that victory at the cross of Calvary. But while we do not experience the fullness of this verse yet, and we will as believers in the future, nonetheless, does not mean we do not experience any of it. We have foretastes of heaven to come, to be in the presence of the Lamb as we are here this evening and at every gathering of the public worship of God. Foretastes of heaven to come. Yes, not as good as the enjoyment we will have, but a foretaste nonetheless through His Spirit closer that we walk with God, the more we will have these foretastes of heaven. The more we love Christ and the more we shun sin, the more we will have these foretastes of heaven. The more we're grateful to Christ, the more we will have these foretastes of heaven. The more we're transformed by the Spirit of God and love the world to come, we'll have these foretastes of heaven. The more we love the word of God and shun the lies of the enemy, the more we will have these foretastes of heaven. There is comfort with the Lamb. But I want us to think as well as we think about this verse, it's strange in some ways, isn't it? In the world, with all the difficulties and all the things that can hurt us, we see it in chapter seven. It speaks of these winds, these four corners of the earth, and these four winds, that what did they do? They hurt. They hurt the earth, verse three. All these things that cause us harm. Now whether those are, some commentators say, false doctrines that spread throughout the earth at various periods of time, But we experience many different types of winds, don't we? Different types of trials, different types of hurts, different types of afflictions that face us all, where we need comfort. We need reassurance that God loves us and cares for us. Why is this lamb able to comfort his people? Because he's no ordinary lamb, is he? A lamb out in the field is completely defenseless. A lamb out in the field cannot help you. It's probably the weakest of all the creatures. However, the lamb of God is different. He's powerful. He brings us good food. And what's unique about him giving good food, it's himself. Shepherd wolf. A good shepherd will feed with other food, but he brings us himself. And as we think about, especially at Lord's table coming up next Sunday, Christ gives us himself. How do we eat? By faith. So as we think about these things, come, let us learn of Christ and the comfort that he gives to his people. Number one, the first comfort is the lamb reigns. The lamb reigns. The Lamb, though slain, the world may look and see a defeated Savior, but no, He's victorious through the cross, through His death, burial, and resurrection. And it says in the beginning of our verse, for the Lord, which is in the midst of the throne, for the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, the King is there among His throne. equal with the Father in heaven. If we turn to Revelation 5 and verse 6, it says, Revelation 5 and verse 6, And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. Verse 12 of that same chapter, Revelation 5, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. This lamb receives worship. Why? Because he's equal with the father. He rules and reigns. This is what's so unique about this lamb. You've never seen a lamb in the middle of a jungle and does he dominate over the lion or any other creature for that matter. No, the lamb is the meekest of all, isn't he? The most defenseless. However, That's how this lamb was victorious, through humbling himself even to the death of the cross. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 8, victorious over death and over hell, his power came through the fact that he died in the place of sinners such as you and I. in Isaiah 25 and verse 8. Isaiah chapter 25 and verse 8 shows us how this lamb is victorious. He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord will wipe away tears from off all faces, and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it. And why is this true? Because the lamb was slain. And because the lamb was slain, he's victorious over death, he swallows up death, so that you and I who believe in him, should we worry, really, about death hanging over us? He's taken that in our place. And he hasn't lost power. The devil hasn't snatched it from him. He reigns. In death, he is not defeated. The Lamb is in control. Another wonderful thing about this is as well, He's in control, not us. And you probably say, well, how is that comforting? Well, friends, we wouldn't be the best people, would we? To be in control of all the universe. He is most wise, most loving. And so in all his affairs with men, as he controls the wind and the waves and the seas and the storms of life, everything, who better to reign in the midst of the throne? Who better to have the seat of power? Him who is all wise, all powerful. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 8, Hebrews chapter 1, And verse number 8, the Word of God reads, but unto the Son he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of thy righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. And Hebrews chapter 1 is very much pointing out the superiority of Christ, the Son of God, above the angels, the most impressive of all created beings. And you see here, referenced of Christ, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of thy righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. How can knowing this comfort or this truth comfort the believer? Well, when we try to do everything in our own strength, what happens? We come to the end of that. limited strength very, very quickly. And we despair, don't we? When we can't do all the things that were on our list. In fact, we probably don't even come close to it. But rest assured, dear friends, the salvation of God through this lamb is infallible. It cannot fail because of the power of the lamb. Such an amazingly beautiful picture. Gentle, powerful, submits to his Father. He's slayed in the place of sinners. He loves us. Now, in the midst of our walk, what can often happen? We can doubt. We can have many doubts. I'm thinking, am I the only person who has doubts? No, there's actually quite a few doubts mentioned in scripture. Even John the Baptist, the greatest of all the Old Testament prophets, had doubts. And doubts can cause us to be much in distress. One example, Matthew chapter 11, verse three, Matthew chapter 11. And verse number three, he's in prison at this time. And when you see much of the Old Testament promises of the Messiah, OK, the Messiah has come. I'm in prison. That's unexpected. And so he asks him, and saith unto him, art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? After all, he preached at this point. quoting from Isaiah, pointing toward that this was the Messiah. And then he, in prison, says, are thou he that should come, or do we look for another? What does Jesus do? He tells him of his power. In verses four and five, Jesus answered and said unto them, go and show John again these things. which ye do hear and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, and the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me." He sends comfort. Look at the power. Look at the strength and might. This is true God and true man, the Lord Jesus Christ. himself. See, so often we can forget. We can see all evidences of the scriptures and all sorts of other things. And yet in our walk, we can forget and need reminding of the power of God. And so when we think about the table of the Lord, he reminds us of his closeness to us. See, the table of the Lord is the touch, the sight, the smell. And he says, to you, the believer, of his closeness to you. He's not distant. He reigns with wisdom. This brings us on to our second point here this evening, the lamb replenishes. The lamb replenishes. We're creatures and it doesn't take long for us to run out of fuel. We depend on something outside of ourselves because we're creatures. God is different from us. We depend upon him, not the other way around. God provides for our needs. It says in our text, for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them. This word feed could also be translated shepherd them. You see, in shepherding his people, he's feeding his people. In Psalm 23 and verse one, Psalm 23 and verse number one, What's very sad about this is this psalm is so often quoted by people who don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're not saved, and they take comfort from this. This is for believers. But in Psalm 23, in verse number one, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I shall not want. Why? Because God provides for my needs. Not for my wants, necessarily, but for what we truly need. He gives us what we need to complete our task, to end our journey. In Psalm 34, Psalm 34 and verse 10, the young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Now, we will experience this in its fullness only in eternity. You can see it in the previous verse. In verse 16, they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. But the Lord still provides for our needs here and now. We see it at the end of Matthew chapter 6. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. And all these things, these temporal things that they worry about, the clothing, food, all sorts of things, shall be added unto you. What you need, dear friends, will be provided. It doesn't mean life will be easy, because that would not be most beneficial for you. But you will have what you need at that moment. God provides. He will shepherd you. He will feed you. And this word, to shepherd, it's very much There's a broad meaning of it. It can mean to feed, to tend to the flock, to keep, or to, indeed, it can even be used of rulers. In the Old Testament, shepherding could be also referred to rulers as well. It's feeding and much more strengthening and encouraging. But a major part of shepherding is good food. Good food, and again, you see it in Psalm 23. Psalm 23, verses 2 and 3. Psalm 23, in verses 2 and 3, it says, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, pastures of tender grass. You see, without the Lord, without His Word, what do we have? Think of physical food. If you don't have physical food, what happens to you eventually? You die. You'll starve. Even at the temptation of the Lord by Satan, Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. We depend far more upon the word of God than bread. In the ancient world, without bread, he did not live very long. And under shepherds, pastors are to feed the sheep. Consider the words of Jesus to Peter in John 21. John 21, verse 15. John 21, and verse number 15, so then they had dined. Jesus saith unto Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, feed my lambs. Food, and the most important food you will ever receive is the word of God. The Lord's table, the food that is Christ is set before you. Physical food will only do you so good for so long. You need eternal food. You need the greatest food of all. Him who says in John 6, 35, that he is the bread of life. So friends, are you weary here this evening in your journey towards your heavenly home? There are times in our walk We wonder if we can take the next step. We feel, at times in our walk, so to speak, like throwing in the towel. That's why we need strengthening and replenishing, so that we can keep going. If you're going on a very long journey, just say the journey's like 12 hours, do you drive all the way? I'm just gonna keep going. You probably don't, you probably stop every two to three hours and get some food, walk around a little bit, and then it makes the next few hours a lot more pleasant, don't they? You need food, and Christ is that food, Christ is that replenishing, and that comfort is at the table for the believer in Jesus Christ. Our third point here this evening is this, the Lamb redirects. The Lamb redirects. And this is really when we go astray in our text. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, shall lead them. Why do we need to be led? If we go our own way, what happens? All we, like sheep, have gone astray. You see it. If sheep, if you're around the country, and you see sheep left to themselves long enough, they will go different directions, and they will most likely get into trouble, get stuck in a fence, fall into a ditch. Sheep have an amazing ability to get into trouble. However, When the shepherd comes and they hear the voice of the shepherd, they run. They run toward his voice because they know, oh, there's good things. They want to follow his direction because they were struggling to find food. Now, I know when we think of shepherding in this part of the world, it's a bit hard to imagine that. There's grass everywhere. But this is in a part of the world where it's wilderness everywhere. It's very hard to find grass. Hard to find what it says in Psalm 23. Green pastures. We have green pastures everywhere here, but that's not like that in every part of the world. So if we go our own way, what do we find? Dust and ashes. Things that are vastly inferior to the good food that the Lord provides. And we have a hunger for that, so we want to go His direction. Because there are times in our walk we can remind it. We may fall back into our old ways a little bit, and we remind and think, you know what? No. I must listen to the Lord. His way is far wiser than mine. I have seen by experience where that path leads, and it's not good. Redirects us, leads us in a direction. Remember once, There was a program on farming. And in that program, there was a man. He knew very little about shepherding and sheep. And he thought, well, do I really need a collie to herd the sheep? And he thought it'd be clever to get a drone and to direct the sheep in the right direction. It seemed to work for a period of time. After a while, the sheep got very frustrated, and they started jumping the fence. I was pretty surprised by that reaction. Sheep need to be led in a very gentle and wise manner, and the Lord does that. You see, the way he'd been leading with the drone overhead, and I can't remember the noise it was making, but it agitated them. It didn't bring comfort at all. And so they didn't want to be around this drone at all, and they wanted to get away as fast as possible. cannot force sheep. They need to be wooed, drawn lovingly to see the good food. Sheep love their shepherd. They find comfort there, or they won't come. They won't come. And we need to find comfort with the shepherd. We need to find relief. We need to find joy. with Him. We need to find delight with Him, because otherwise what will happen? We'll try other ways. That's the danger, isn't it? When we don't find comfort with the Lord, we'll go in a different direction. Imagine if you were traveling in a foreign country and you were traveling through the jungle. Somebody's told you that there was venomous snakes all the way through there. And somebody offered to guide you through a safe passage. He said, no, no, I'll go my own way. How long would you last? You need a guide. There are many dangers along this road. And you say, well, I'm saved. God has rescued me. What else do I have to think about? If you're trusting in Jesus Christ, well, that's very, very true. Nothing can take away your salvation if you're trusting in Jesus Christ. But there are many pitfalls. There are many landmines along the way that you can fall into. if you don't seek that comfort in going in the direction that the Lamb of God wants you to go in. This brings us on to our fourth point here this evening. The Lamb refreshes. The Lamb refreshes. This world is a wilderness. You see it in the Old Testament. They've been delivered from spiritual Egypt. brought out from that bondage of slavery to Pharaoh. But life isn't all easy, is it? And because the wilderness, the desert, life is a bit difficult, they start thinking, well, remember the leeks? Remember the vegetables? Remember all the good things about Egypt? Some of them wanted to go back. But there's freedom nonetheless. Now, in a desert, there's not much water, is there? And that's this world. We need refreshment. And look what it says here. For the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto what? Living fountains of waters, living fountains of waters. That doesn't sound so amazing, perhaps, in this part of the world where it rains so much, but in that part of the world, it's the difference between life and death. This world is a wilderness. This world is a culture of death. This world, but for the grace of God, none would do anything but worship in this culture of death. If we look at Jeremiah 17 and verse 13. Jeremiah 17 and verse 13. O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters. the fountain of living waters. So if we embrace Christ by faith, if we embrace the lamb who comforts by faith, he is the fountain of living waters. If you have gone through a wilderness, I wonder if you've ever seen those survival stories, and people who are stuck in a desert for days and weeks maybe, and what do they have to do? They have to find water. It's a desperate search. And there's nowhere else to find that water but in those brief moments, those oases, those parts where there is water. In our world, there is much desert. There's much of a culture of death. We see it all around us, our nation. We have turned from the Lord. with abortion, suicide, all these things, these horrors we're inflicting upon children in the name of rights and trans ideology and all sorts of other things, and the cruelty that we've inflicted upon a generation. But if you're alive in the midst of a wilderness, though it is difficult, what will you want? What will you crave for? Water. If you're in the middle of the wilderness, he said, would you like water? And you say, no, no interest in water whatsoever. What does it mean? Something's deeply wrong. But if you have life, you thirst for water, don't you? In Psalm 42 and verse 1, Psalm 42 and verse number 1, as the heart panteth After the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. There's a... Again, we often have much water in the world, but you haven't had water for a long time. how much that urge of thirst is caused by the Lord opening your heart. And you see, as we said, this world is a wilderness. And in many wildernesses, there's animals of prey that seek to do us harm along the way. And we need refreshment. We need help. The Lamb gently and kindly brings you to this fountain. He brings you there. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, the life. There's no life without Jesus Christ. That brings comfort. Think of, and the Bible uses this picture as well, babies, comfort that they seek for. They're very, they're desperate for comfort. We see it in 1 Peter 2, in verses 2 and 3. 1 Peter 2, in verses 2 and 3. "'As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, "'that ye may grow thereby, "'if ye have so tasted that the Lord is gracious.'" And when is a baby at their most comfortable? Full belly. When I say this is this, when we seek refreshment from the Lord, do we just seek a small sip? When we're along that wilderness and you find that water and you find those opportunities to drink, do you drink deeply? And you say, well, when are these opportunities available to me? Well, every Lord's Day is a wonderful blessing and an opportunity to drink deeply from the fountain of living waters, to learn of Him who is that fountain. Your morning devotions, an opportunity to drink deeply. Family devotions, another opportunity to drink deeply. You see, along the wilderness, you don't know if you're gonna find water again for a long time. So you drink as deeply as you possibly can, and perhaps if you've got any containers, you fill them up as well, and you bring as much with you as possible. Perhaps you memorize some scripture, and you hide it in your heart, and you bring that water, that refreshment with you. meditating upon it day and night. Perhaps those things you're doing, your jobs, that remind you of the scriptures, of that refreshment. Perhaps you're fixing the door on the front of your house. And you think, well, how can I be thinking about scriptures? Well, who is the door? Who is the way by which we may enter in? Can we go in any other way but by that door? The Lord Jesus Christ himself. So we can think about these things and find refreshment throughout the day. Our fifth and our final point here this evening is this, the lamb relieves. The lamb relieves. So the lamb reigns, replenishes, redirects, refreshes, and finally number five, relieves. Why do we need relief? Well, because of pain. Again, we remind ourselves this passage is at the end of time when all tears shall be wiped away. All pain will be gone. All torment, why? Because sin will be gone. Sin will be dealt with fully. There'll be a new heavens and a new earth and righteousness will dwell upon this new heavens and new earth. There'll be no more tears. In Revelation 21 and verse four, Revelation 21 in verse 4, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And the wonderful thing is, they're not coming back. Ever thought about that? There's going to come a day when pain and suffering in this new earth will be gone. Never. to return. And there's many things that we can suffer. It can be physical pain, mental pain, spiritual torment, temptations you face in the flesh. But there'll come a time when there's no more sin upon the earth. Relieved from what at the end of time? The presence of sin, the torment of sin. Those things, those harmful winds, it speaks about at the beginning of the chapter, that harm the earth. It says in verse three, saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees. But as we come to the table, let us consider the comfort, the relief that we get. Four tastes of heaven, the enjoyments of heaven, to come. You see, so often we can think, well, I don't need comfort, but I know people who do need comfort. And you can probably think of other people who need comfort. And you can probably think, oh, I hope that they get comfort from this. What about you? See, so often we can think we're so strong in our own strength until the Lord brings us to the end of ourselves and shows us how frail we all are, all of us. It doesn't matter who we are. They saw the doubts of John the Baptist earlier, but do you see the frailty of Elijah? They're men of like passions, such as we are. We can't just keep going in our own strength. We do need relief. Because there'll come a point where the pain is so intense that you won't be able to keep going. And so you do need comfort. Now, in the midst of tribulations, and this chapter deals with this, in verse 14 it says, they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes, But great tribulation in this world, great suffering in this world, what does it do with heaven and the world to come? It makes it so much sweeter. The bitterness of this world makes the sweetness of the world to come even more pronounced. I wonder, dear friends, if you've ever noticed this. There are things, not necessarily sinful of themselves, but things you used to enjoy years ago You don't nearly have as much enjoyment out of, and the things of heaven grab your attention far more than they used to, even a few years ago. You see, it's in those moments of comfort, These promises become even more sweet to us. In Matthew, Henry said this, the way to heaven is through many tribulations, but tribulation, how great so ever, shall not separate us from the love of God. Tribulation makes heaven more welcome and more glorious. You see that? Tribulation makes heaven more welcome and more glorious. We can't completely avoid pain, can we? And if we seek to avoid pain, and that's our only goal in life, we won't be faithful to the Lord. We don't court pain, we don't seek after pain, but we're willing to suffer for the cause of Christ if so needs be. But when we do face those pains and those wounds and those difficulties, be comforted with this, and God shall wipe away all tears. God shall wipe away all tears. God will do the comforting. Because what distresses you this day, you need help. You need healing balm. If you walk barefoot a mile or two, your feet will be sore, and perhaps you have to put something on them to heal them. Well, so we are as we go on that journey toward our heavenly home. We need help. You need help for your wounds, and you need comfort that you'll be strengthened. As we conclude, the table of the Lord does not replace Christ. It's not, well, there's Christ, and then there's this extrovert. In the table of the Lord, we get more of Christ. It's not a different Christ. But there's more of Christ. There's the closeness of Christ. There's the intimacy of Christ. He's reminding us of how close He is and how He's given us Himself and how He loves you. He wishes to comfort you, but it's only for those who've been forgiven. Comfort should never be for the person who's not been forgiven. You're a sinner. I am a sinner. But we must not stop there. We need forgiveness. We need to be washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. This Lamb was slain. And with His life, He feeds a number that cannot be counted. And He feeds all who will come to Him. He comforts all who will come to Him. And one day in its fullness, He will wipe away every single last one of your tears. And you, the believer in Jesus Christ, will do nothing but enjoy Him forever. The eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, the things which God has prepared for us, who believe and love in Him. Amen.