Seeking the help of God and your
prayers, the words to which I would call your attention this morning
are found in that first chapter of the Gospel according to John,
the first chapter of John's Gospel and verse 29. The Gospel according to John,
chapter 1, verse 29. The next day, John seeth Jesus
coming unto him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. The next day, John seeth Jesus
coming unto him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. Here is this remarkable man,
John the Baptist, And we're told by the Lord Jesus in another
place that he was the greatest of all men that had ever been
born of a woman. He was a remarkable man even in his conception. We can read about how his birth
was prophesied of to his father Zacharias and his mother Elizabeth. And how when he was born he was
there in the backside of the desert hidden for those years
until he began to preach and to baptize in the river Jordan. And here is his remarkable testimony
to the Lord Jesus Christ. As he sees him coming to him,
he says, Behold the Lamb of God. We're told in the other Gospels
that there would have been great crowds around him at this time.
When John was baptizing, we're told in another place that Many
Jews and many of those who lived in that part of the world went
out unto him, into the wilderness to be baptised of him. No doubt
there would have been many who would have heard his exhortation
here, his encouragement, his commandment really. Look, he
says, behold, observe, take note, here is something important.
Here is something that he wants men and women to see. It seems from the words that
follow that this was perhaps the first time that Jesus had
made himself visible to John. We're told in the 31st verse,
and in the 33rd verse, John says, I knew him not. I knew him not. We know that they were relatives,
Mary and Elizabeth. We're told that they were cousins,
they were relatives. And so John and Jesus, humanly
speaking, would have been relatives in some way, but it seems that
they'd not come across each other, at least prior to this moment,
when John sees Jesus coming unto him. I knew him not, he says,
but then he says, the whole point of his ministry and the whole
point of his baptising was not to glorify himself, it was not
to glorify John. John was not looking to collect
followers and to make himself a great man. He was not looking
to build up his own reputation so that everyone would say, oh
look, John the Baptist, what an amazing figure. No, he says
the whole point of his baptising, the whole point of his message,
the whole point of his ministry was to point to Jesus Christ. I am come baptising with water,
he says, in order that he should be made manifest unto Israel. Why is John so anxious then for
those who were around him to behold the Lamb of God? Why does
he use this strong language? He doesn't just say, look, he
doesn't just say, well, look, here is Jesus, the Lamb of God.
No, he says, behold him, look at him, observe him. He sees
that here is something important. When John uses this word, behold,
clearly he's not just encouraging men and women to look at the
Lord Jesus Christ for a brief moment. He's not just saying,
well, here is the Lamb of God, take a quick look and then carry
on. He's encouraging them not just
to look at him in an outward way, but to recognise him for
who he is. He's encouraging them not just
to look at him as an ordinary man, but he's calling upon them
to acknowledge him as the Lamb of God, as someone unique, someone
altogether unlike all other men. Well, if John saw that as something
urgent and important in his day, surely it's equally urgent and
equally important in our own day. Behold the Lamb of God was the
exhortation of John. And that exhortation has been
the exhortation of the Church ever since the days of John.
As we trace back through the history of the Church, you can summarise the message
of the Church in these few words. Behold the Lamb of God, look
at Him. This is the ultimate point, surely,
of all preaching. Just as John the Baptist came
to testify of another and point to another and to speak of another.
So if we are to preach rightly, our object surely must be the
same. When we stand in a pulpit, we
don't stand here to speak of ourselves. If we're doing it
properly, we stand here to point to Him. Behold, the Lamb of God
which taketh away the sin of the world. No doubt there would have been
men and women of many different backgrounds and many different
circumstances. As people went out to him from
Jerusalem and from the surrounding areas, there would have been
a great diversity of people, wouldn't there? We know that
the scribes and the Pharisees came. We know that there were
publicans. And no doubt there was everybody
in between. But John doesn't hesitate to give the same exhortation
to all of these people. Behold the Lamb of God, he says,
whatever your background, whatever your situation in life, whatever
your circumstances, he recognizes this as the one thing that is
necessary for all men, for all women, to behold the Lamb of
God. The preacher, in a sense, has a very different job to the
doctor of medicine. You know that when you go to
the doctor and you have some problem with your body, you go
in and you sit down and the doctor will say, well, what seems to
be the problem? And he will ask you to describe your symptoms.
Are you in any pain? Where is the pain? What kind
of pain is it? How long does it last? When did
you first have it? He will ask you many questions
about your symptoms. Why does he need to do that?
Well, it's because he needs to establish what the problem is.
It would be very irresponsible and very dangerous for the doctor
just to dispense some random drug and hope it would treat
the condition. No, he has to diagnose, he has
to understand the problem. Well, the preacher, as I say,
in some senses has an easier task. Because when we consider
men and women spiritually, there is only one problem. And that
is sin. And there is only one treatment,
and that is Christ. That's why John is able to say, Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. That is why John is able to say
it to all those who surrounded him. He knew that they were suffering
from the same disease, that disease of sin, and he knew that this
was the only treatment, the only antidote, the only solution to
the problem of sin, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world. As I say, this has been the message
of the Church right from the very beginning. You see it here
in John the Baptist. who comes to point to the Lamb
of God, to the Lord Jesus Christ and to speak of Him. If we turn
to the opening chapters of the Book of Acts, almost in every
chapter you will find the Church doing the same. Look at Peter
there on the day of Pentecost, surrounded again by a great multitude
of people from a variety of different backgrounds. We can read about
them in the 9th and 10th verses, Parthians and Medes and Elamites
and so on. All people from different parts
of the world. Jews and Proselytes, Cretes and Arabians. And Peter
stands up in the middle and speaks to them. And what does he speak
to them of? Again, he doesn't speak of himself. He doesn't try and exalt himself.
He doesn't say, well, I was one of the disciples. I was almost
one of Jesus' right-hand men. No, he says. You men of Israel,
at verse 22, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth. Again, it's him that he speaks
of. And as we go through that chapter, Jesus is there at the
very heart and the centre of his message. This Jesus, at verse
32, hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore,
at verse 36, therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly
that God has made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both
Lord and Christ. And as there were those who were
pricked in their hearts and said unto Peter and to the rest of
the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Again, Peter's
Words to them are very similar in message and substance to the
words of John the Baptist. Repent and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world, the name of Jesus
Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost. Again, look at Peter and John
in the next chapter. as they go up into the temple
together at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour, and here is that
certain man laying from his mother's womb, laid daily at the gate
of the temple. He sees Peter and John. He fixes
his eyes upon them, expecting to receive some money from them.
He was a beggar. But what does Peter say? Silver
and gold have I none. That's not what I've come to
give, he says. That's not the business that I'm in. I'm not
here to distribute silver and gold. but such as I have, give
I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Rise up and walk
again, he points to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. If we come together rightly when
we come up to the house of God, we don't come up just to hear
some good moral teaching. We don't come up to have a history
lesson. to have a lecture on history
and the church and the history of the church. These things are
important, of course, but they're not the primary reason for which
we gather. We don't come up to hear speculation
about the future, about what is going to happen. We don't come up to hear topical
comments on the political situation. We don't come up just to have
a temporary emotional experience that will last perhaps for a
few hours or days and then will pass away. If we come up rightly,
and if we worship rightly, the message that we want to hear,
the message that the preacher will desire to preach will be
the same message that John the Baptist came with, the same message
that Peter spoke on the day of Pentecost, the same message that
you see the church teaching throughout the Book
of Acts and throughout the history of the Church. And what is that
message? Well, again, it can be summarized
really in the words of John the Baptist in our text, Behold,
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. If we come together for any other
purpose, then really we're not coming together as the early
church did. We're not coming together for the same reason,
that they came together to hear of Him, to learn of Him, to come
to know Him. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. It's an exhortation which, as
I say, is suited not just to a certain class of people, not
just to those from a particular background or with a particular
upbringing or a particular nationality. It's an exhortation which is
suitable for all, regardless of their background and condition.
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. In the first place, we might
say it's a very suitable exhortation for those who are careless about
religious things. To those who perhaps may find
themselves in a church or a chapel week by week, and they might
come and they might sit and they might give the appearance of
listening. And I'm sure all of us, if we were brought up under
the sound of the gospel, if we were brought up in Christian
homes, Many of us, I'm sure, can look back to our childhood
when perhaps we sat in the house of God week by week and we may
have heard many hundreds and thousands of sermons, but our
hearts were not there, were they? We were not really interested
in what was going on. We didn't really listen. We had
no desire to listen or to understand what was being spoken of. And again, don't just suppose
that I'm talking about the unconverted. Even the Christian can fall into
this sleepy and apathetic spirit, where although they might be
found faithful in attending these services, their hearts are really
not engaged, their minds are elsewhere. Well, if we come up in that condition,
if you come up in that condition, there is only one thing that
we can say about you, and that is that you have never beheld
the Lamb of God. If we can come up careless and indifferent,
and we are not beholding the Lamb of God in the way that John
speaks of it here. If we can hear of Jesus Christ
and just shrug our shoulders and go on our way and be unaffected,
we haven't beheld him. We haven't realised that what
John says of him here is true. He is the Lamb of God. He is
the one which taketh away the sin of the world, and he is one
who was beheld. John saw him with his physical
eyes. Jesus Christ is not a figure of myth. He's not just a made-up character. He was really here. He was really
Omas, as a real man. Behold the Lamb of God, says
John. Look at him. Don't you see him? He walked
upon this earth. He was truly a man. You remember what Paul says when
he's speaking before King Agrippa. He talks about his background
and he talks about his conversion and he talks about his message.
But what does he say as he comes to the conclusion of his address
before the king? King Agrippa, he says, believest
thou the prophets, the king knoweth of these things, before whom
also I speak freely, for I am persuaded that none of these
things are hidden from him. For this thing, he says, was
not done in a corner. This thing was not done in a
corner. What does he mean? What he means is that the Lord
Jesus Christ, his miracles, his healings, how he raised from
the dead those that were dead, like Lazarus, and how he suffered,
and how he died. Paul says to the king, these
things were not done in a corner. You know these things happened,
King Agrippa. You've heard about it. Well, surely the same is
true of each one of us. We've heard about the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's indisputable that he was a real historical figure.
no less real than Julius Caesar or Winston Churchill or any of
the other great figures from history. Jesus Christ is their
preeminent above them all. There would never have been a
Christian church if there had not been a man called Jesus Christ. Behold the Lamb of God. Oh, if we come and we listen
and we are careless about these things, if we've never really
thought about what we're hearing, one thing is certain, we have
never beheld the Lamb of God in the way that John speaks of
it here. Behold the Lamb of God, he came
as a real man, one who was beheld with ordinary human eyes, walking
in an ordinary human body, suffering the same trials and difficulties
as we suffer. He was hungry. He was thirsty.
He was tired. He was upset. He wept at the
grave of Lazarus. He didn't just float along above
these things unaffected by them. No, he had to walk through them.
He was a sinless man, yes, but he was a man in a physical body
like ours. Behold the Lamb of God. But,
of course, we can't see him in the same way today, can we? When John says, Behold the Lamb
of God, and when the Church throughout the ages has said the same, we're
not to suppose that we're to imagine that we can see Him with
our physical eyes? What does Peter say in the opening
chapter of his first epistle as he writes to those scattered
believers? He says to them, speaking of
the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold
that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found
unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ,
whom having not seen, whom having not seen ye love." They'd not
seen him, these believers that Peter was writing to. They hadn't
seen him with their physical eyes. But they saw him in another way.
They saw him in the Word, they saw him by faith, and they loved
him. in whom, though now ye see him not yet believing, ye rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory. That's how the Lamb
of God is to be beheld today. We see him in the Word, we see
him by faith. Yes, we see him as a real historical
figure, but not just a historical figure, one who is risen, one
who is even now at the right hand of God. Behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." And look at
the message that he comes with. Islam of God, as he walked through
the world and as he spoke to men and women, he didn't come
preaching some general message of goodwill. He didn't just come
and say, well, you may be imperfect, but don't
be concerned about it. Just carry on in the way that
you've chosen and all will be well. Look at the way that he
speaks to these scribes and Pharisees. And it's a searching chapter,
a difficult chapter to read, isn't it? That 23rd chapter of
Matthew. These scribes and Pharisees, they were really the pinnacle
of the Jewish church, weren't they? They were the ones that
people would look up to. They were the religious people, the
righteous people, as they would have seen themselves and as many
others would have seen them. But time and time again Jesus
speaks to them in this way. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! Woe unto you, ye blind guides!
Ye fools and blind! Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
Again and again. He speaks faithfully, he speaks
honestly to these men. These men that, humanly speaking,
They could have been very helpful to him if he'd wanted to build
an earthly kingdom, couldn't they? If he could have gained
their support. No doubt he could have become
a great king, a great leader over the Jews. But that's not
the purpose of his coming. He's come to take away the sin
of the world, the Lamb of God, as John says. And he speaks to
them faithfully, and he speaks to them of sin. He comes to deal with the problem
of sin. Well, if we don't recognize the problem of sin, or if we
think it's a problem that affects only other people and not people
like us, well, we haven't beheld the Lamb of God as John has.
We haven't seen him as the one that takes away the sin of the
world. He came to speak faithfully.
He came to speak of sin. Behold Him in His life. Behold
Him in His suffering. Behold Him in His death. Why
is He doing this? Why is He going through those things? Why is
He allowing Himself to be arrested by the Jews and handed over to
the Romans and mocked by the soldiers and nailed upon the
cross and laid in the tomb? It's because He's taking away
the sin of the world. If we have seen this, if we have
understood this, this is the only thing that will stop us
thinking lightly of sin. If we look at our sins and think,
well, yes, perhaps I'm imperfect, but I'm not so bad as other people.
Or if we look at our sins and we say to ourselves, well, of
course, I've done things that are wrong, but doesn't everybody?
Well, we've not seen the Lamb of God. We've not seen Him taking
away the sin of the world. We've not seen what it cost Him,
what He had to suffer, what He had to endure. If you see these things, it will
change your view of sin forever. If you are given to behold the
Lamb of God, in those last few hours of his earthly life, the
things that he passed through, the darkness that he went through,
as he cried upon the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? You will not be able to see that
and think lightly of sin. It's an impossibility. So the man, the woman, the child
that thinks lightly of sin, one thing is certain, they have never
seen the Lamb of God. They have never beheld Him. They
have never come to understand the purpose of His coming, to
take away the sin of the world. The next day John seeth Jesus
coming unto him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. It's an exhortation that we need
if we are ever found in that careless and in that condition where we
excuse our sins and think lightly of them. And it's an exhortation in the
second place for those who perhaps are not quite careless. Those who look into their own
hearts and think, well, and see that something has changed, that
they want something that they see in Jesus Christ. Perhaps
they look back over their lives and they think, well, yes, there
was a time when I heard of him and I didn't really listen, I
didn't really care. I had no interest in him. But perhaps now they say, well,
something has changed. Now I see an attraction in him,
but perhaps they have to say, and perhaps you have to say,
there is so much lacking. I seem to lack so much understanding.
I seem to lack faith. I seem to lack love. I seem to
lack zeal. I seem to be so careless and
half-hearted about these things and unstable. What's the antidote? What's the treatment? It's the
same treatment. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world. Isn't this what the hymn writer
put so well in that 804th hymn, as he speaks of the lambs of
Christ's fold and the weaklings in faith? These feeble desires he speaks
of, those wishes so weak. Tis Jesus inspires and bids you
still seek. His Spirit will cherish the life
he first gave. You never shall perish if Jesus
can save. He's the lamb of God. What do
we think of when we think of a lamb? Well, a lamb is not an
aggressive animal, is it? A lamb is not an animal that
we would be afraid of. If we were to meet a lamb in
the street, we wouldn't turn around and run away. It's not
like meeting a lion or a tiger or some other fierce animal like
that. He's the lamb of God. See him in his life here below.
How does he treat those who come unto him? Do we ever find him
saying to someone, well, you do have a great need, but you
must come back when you have more faith, or you must come
back when you have more love, or you must come back when you
understand more. Don't come to me in this half-hearted condition.
We never see him doing that. Didn't he say himself, all that
the Father giveth me shall come unto me, and him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out. He doesn't want your qualifications.
He doesn't want you to come to Him boasting of your love and
your understanding and your faith. He doesn't say, come to Me with
your understanding and I will bless you. He doesn't say, come
to Me with your faith and I will bless you. He doesn't say, come
to Me with your love and I will bless you. No, He says, come
to Me as you are and I will bless you with understanding and with
love and with faith. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. If we're still in that condition
where we're trying to qualify ourselves to come to Him and
thinking to ourselves, well, I would like to come, but I must
first of all increase my own faith and come to a greater understanding. We haven't beheld the Lamb of
God. We haven't seen Him as John saw Him. He doesn't come to reward men
and women because of their faith, because of their love. He comes
to give it to them. Or if you have a desire after
Him, it doesn't matter how weak it is. He's the Lamb of God. He comes
to give. He comes to give everything that
you need. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
of the world. Then again, in the third place,
think of those who perhaps have to come with a tremendous and
deep conviction of sin. Those who realize how far off
they are from Him, how far they have fallen from the standard
that God requires in His Word. Those who look at the law of
God and see they have not complied even with the first and greatest
commandments, let alone all the others. And perhaps they look at him
and perhaps you look at him and you say, well, yes, I see him
as a saviour, but surely not a saviour for such great sinners
as me. We could understand it, couldn't
we, if we'd seen the dying thief. And it's a remarkable faith that
we see in that man, isn't it? Both of the thieves initially
were reviling him and speaking badly of him, but then suddenly
one is changed. And he looks at the Lord Jesus
and he says, there's a perfect man. We indeed justly, we receive
the just dessert of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing
amiss. And he looks at Jesus and he
says, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus doesn't say, well,
yes, I am dying for sinners, but not such terrible sinners
as you are. No, he says, verily I say unto
you, this day you will be with me in paradise. If we have to come and we are
under such a deep conviction of sin that we look at the Lord
Jesus Christ and we say, well, I can't come to him in this terrible
state. I must make some amends, I must
improve myself, I must stop falling into these same terrible sins
before I can appear before Him. What's the antidote to that condition?
It's the same antidote. It's the same treatment. It's
the same medicine. The same medicine that John prescribes
here. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. This is the very problem that
he came to deal with. that sin that perhaps you feel
so deeply convicted under. It's exactly the problem that
Jesus Christ came into the world to address, the problem of sin. You read the words of Jesus to
Nicodemus there in the third chapter of this book. God sent
not his son into the world to condemn the world. He didn't
come down to judge the world in that sense. He didn't come
down to say, well, look, you're all terrible sinners and there's
no hope for any one of you. God sent not his Son into the
world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might
be saved, because he is the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world. To take away the sins of the
world, not just the Jews. Not just those historical people
who were so uniquely united to God in that old covenant that
we see there set before us in the opening chapters, in the
opening books of the Old Testament. No, no, this Lamb of God came
to take away the sins of the world. That's why we can read in the
book of the Revelation of John's great vision of heaven. And what
does he see? He doesn't see a group of people
in heaven who have all been good and faithful Jews. He doesn't see people who are
all from the same country, who have all had the same upbringing,
all from the same background. He doesn't see a congregation
which is made up of good, traditional, gospel-standard strict Baptists.
No, he says, after this I be held. and lo a great multitude
which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and
people, and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, and cried
with a loud voice saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb. All nations, all kindreds, all
peoples, all tongues, because He is the Lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world, We read about the lambs that
were offered under the Old Testament sacrifices, didn't we? There
in the Book of Exodus, in chapter 29, we read about those lambs.
Moses was commanded that every day there would be two lambs
offered upon the altar, one lamb in the morning, one lamb in the
evening. And we read of the sweet savour,
an offering made by fire unto the Lord. an acceptable sacrifice. Well, surely if those Old Testament
lambs were acceptable to God, the Lamb of God Himself is even
more so. He taketh away the sin of the
world. Here is an acceptable sacrifice for sin. So the man, the woman, the child
that is deeply convicted by sin, just as those Jews were that
Peter spoke to on the day of Pentecost, They need to be pointed in the
same direction that John points us in here. Behold, the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, which taketh
away the sin of the world. He came to deal with the problem
of sin. Again, we have it in that 977th
hymn, don't we? as we just sang it together. The hymn writer speaks of those
deep wounds which sin has made. And what does she go on to say? Really, in essence, it's the
very same message that John the Baptist came with. Look up, O
fainting soul, and live. There is a great physician here.
See in his heavenly smiles appear such ease as nature cannot give. See in the Saviour's precious
blood, life, health and bliss abundant flow. It is only this
dear sacred flood can ease thy pain and heal thy woe, because
he is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." John points to him, the hymn
writers point to him, Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. It's a suitable exhortation to
those who are careless, to those who feel themselves far off,
to those deeply convicted of sin. It's equally an appropriate
prescription to those who are struggling in the Christian life. Those perhaps who have come to
Him and believed upon Him and are found in that narrow way,
but they're finding it difficult. And perhaps they look at the
standard that is set out in the Word of God as to what a Christian
ought to be. And they look at themselves and
they see such a great difference. And perhaps they're tempted to
say, well, there's almost no point continuing. This pathway
is too difficult. This calling that I'm called
to is too hard for me. Perhaps they're almost tempted
to say it doesn't seem fair. I'm called to pass through this
difficult pathway in this world where there's so much opposition
and so many temptations. What are we to do if we find
ourselves in that situation? We're to do exactly what John
exhorts us to do here. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
the Lamb of God. Look at His life. Look at what
he passed through, look at what he suffered, and if you still
feel your life is more too difficult and unfairly hard, then look
at him again and again. Surely that's why the epistle
to the Hebrews speaks in the way that it does in that well-known
twelfth chapter. Let us lay aside every weight.
Every weight is as if there's many weights. and the sin which
doth so easily beset us. And let us run with patience
the race that is set before us. How are we to do it? Looking
unto Jesus. Beholding the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross. We can say it in just such a
few words, can't we? Endured the cross. But do we
really understand what's involved in those few words? We really
understand what it cost him to endure the cross. Who for the
joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame
when he's set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For
consider him, consider him that endured such contradiction of
sins against himself. Lest you be wearied and faint
in your minds, if we're wearied and faint in our minds in the
Christian life. The epistle to the Hebrews prescribes
exactly the same medicine that John prescribes. Behold the Lamb
of God. Consider Him. Look unto Jesus.
Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. You see in the margin where we
have taketh away, it could equally be translated as beareth. The
picture that we have is of a man carrying a burden. This is what
he came to do. He didn't come to have an easy
life. He didn't come to be ministered unto, to collect followers in
order that he might be rich and famous. I'm going to sing in a few moments
in our closing hymn in 572. The hymn writer puts these words
into the mouth of God, as it were. Behold Him now, the Father
cries. Ye mourning souls, lift up your
eyes and view your Saviour dear. In Him my soul delighteth well.
My great commands He shall fulfil and banish all your fear. You
tried, you tempted sinners. Look to my elect who undertook
to ransom you with blood." Again, just a few words, ransom you
with blood, but there's a great deal that's involved in that
ransoming, isn't there? There's a great deal that's involved
in this taking away the sin of the world. It wasn't easy for
him. It wasn't the work of just a few moments. He had to live
for 33 years. He had to pass through a depth
of suffering that no man has ever seen before, and no man
has ever seen sin. to take away, to bear away the
sin of the world. See what he suffered, see what
he endured. His way, says the hymn writer,
was much darker and rougher than mine. Did Christ my Lord suffer? And shall I repine? Shall I complain?
Shall I turn back? Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. Well, there's many other situations
that we might come into. in our spiritual lives. We come
to times when we are tempted. What are we to do? Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. We come
to times when we are anxious and uncertain about the future.
What are we to do? Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. When we're spiritually depressed,
miserable and unhappy, what are we to do? Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Look at him, and even for the
Christian who is on his deathbed, who is in his last moments, what
is he to do? Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. There's nothing else worth looking
at, nothing else worth beholding, is there, ultimately? Many things
that we might look at in this life, and they might take our
attention for a time, But what do they do for us in the long
term, as it were? Ultimately, there's only one
thing worth looking at. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. There's two contrasts, aren't
there, in what John says here? And again, consider what we read
in the Book of Exodus concerning those lambs that were offered
continually day by day upon the altar there in the tabernacle.
What kind of lambs were they? Well, God tells Moses, doesn't
he, that he's to take a lamb. They're to take a lamb in the
morning, they're to take a lamb in the evening, they're to offer
it upon the altar, to make an offering in the morning, to make
an offering in the evening. They really were lambs of men,
weren't they? They were lambs that men had
provided. They had to bring them to the tabernacle. Every day
they had to identify two lambs and bring them up to the tabernacle
to be sacrificed. 365 days a year. They were lambs of men, but this,
says John, is the lamb of God. This is the lamb that God has
provided. Surely that's what Abraham was
looking forward to as he went up the mountain with Isaac, commanded
to offer his son And as they go up the mountain, Isaac turns
to his father, he says, well, we've got the wood, here's the
fire, but where's the lamb? God will provide himself a lamb.
And here he is. Here is the prophecy fulfilled.
Behold the Lamb of God. Jesus spoke of Abraham, didn't
he? Abraham saw my day and was glad. He saw what was coming. So many thousands of years later,
again, Isaiah saw it, didn't he? He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is done, so he openeth
not his mouth. When was it fulfilled? It was
fulfilled here, as John sees Jesus coming unto him. Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. There
is the first contrast, those Old Testament lambs. They were
lambs of men, lambs that men had to provide. but here is the
lamb that God has provided. Then again you think of the effect
of those sacrifices that were made under the Old Testament.
And we read those promises that God made to Moses. This shall
be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord
where I will meet you to speak there unto thee and there I will
meet with the children of Israel. and I will dwell among the children
of Israel, and I will be their God. And they shall know that
I am the Lord their God." Those sacrifices, they were for the
Israelites. They were a particular, a special
people. They offered the sacrifices.
They were promised God's presence and blessing. But this Lamb is
the Lamb that taketh away the sin, not just of the Israelites.
not just of the Jewish nation. He taketh away the sin of the
world. And we all understand, I'm sure, what the word world
means in this context. We're not to suppose that John
is saying that Jesus has come to take away the sin of all men
and women who have ever lived at all times in any place. just
as we have in the third chapter of John's gospel and when in
the well-known words of John 3.16 we have, God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten son. He's talking about God's
creation, isn't he? In a general sense, all the sins
of the world that were ever taken away were taken away by this
Lamb of God. There's no one else who's ever taken any of them
away. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. Well, it's important, isn't it,
that we understand what the word world means. But sometimes surely we can get
distracted by that and we can miss what John says previously. He's talking about taking away
sin. Surely this is the vital thing. This is the important
thing. This is the wonderful thing about this Lamb of God.
He came to take away sin. He came to do away with it. He
came to bear it away. He came to address that problem.
Not just for the Jews, but for Jews and Gentiles. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
Him before His incarnation. Don't you see Him as you go through
the books of the Old Testament? As one person of that mysterious
trinity. Don't you see him there in the
opening chapters of the Gospels, as he's brought forth by Mary
and laid in the manger? Just an ordinary baby, apparently.
A young child, seen by the shepherds, seen by the wise men, seen by
Simeon in the temple. Behold him there, behold him
growing up. as a toddler, as a child, growing
up into a young man. In his parents' house, see him
in the temple, refuting the doctors of the law as they asked him
questions and as he answered them. See him teaching among
the people, healing, feeding, raising from the dead, giving
sight to the blind and opening the ears of the deaf. Behold
the Lamb of God. See Him suffering at the hands
of the Romans, at the hands of the Jews. See Him dying upon
the cross. See Him rising again. See Him
ascending. What was it that the angels said to the apostles as
they looked up there as He ascended up into the clouds? You men of
Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus
which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like
manner as ye have seen Him go. This same Jesus whatever situation we're in,
whether we've seen him before or not, whether we understand
much of his word or very little. Surely this is the vital thing,
this is what we really need, this is that one thing needful,
that one thing needful that Mary chose and that Martha didn't. As she sat at his feet and learnt
of him, She saw him as the Lamb of God
which taketh away the sin of the world. More important than
all the other responsibilities that she had. The one thing needful. The Lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world, which deals with the main problem of
men and women. That problem that really is at
the root of all our problems. He comes to deal with it, take
away, to bear away the sin of the world. That's why the hymn
writer in hymn 571 speaks of the servant of the Lord. And
again, look at the language and the similarity between the hymn
and between what John the Baptist says here, Behold, with wandering
eyes, the servant of the Lord. On wings of love he flies, his
counsels to unfold. He comes, he comes with truth
and grace, and Zion shall behold his face. He speaks of him as
the believer's head, husband, friend, saviour, God, way, life,
end, shepherd, king, high priest, counsellor, prophet, day's man.
He says on him depend before him fall. Behold him as your
all in all. Have you beheld Him in that way?
Have you seen Him in those ways that the hymn writer speaks of
Him as? Not just an ordinary man. Not
just an ordinary man like men and women that we see around
us in our own day. That's not what John is speaking
of. No, he says, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world. Well, may God grant that we by
His grace might see what John saw, come to understand what
he understood, and be given to behold the Lamb
of God which taketh away the sin of the world, not just once.
Not just once in a lifetime, not just one day in seven. How
we need to have Him ever set before us, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, and beholding the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Amen.