Turn with me, if you would, to
the Gospel of John, Chapter 1. John, Chapter 1. While you're turning, let me
say that there are many passages of Scripture that are the sum
and the substance of the gospel message, and we have such a text
before us this morning. Thirteen words that give instruction
to sinners on how to be saved, and I might add, without lifting
a hand to do a single thing. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. Found in verse 29. The dissenter
who desires to be saved must look and believe, and if you
look, you will live. And Moses made a serpent of brass
and he put it upon a pole and it came to pass that if a serpent
had bitten any man, what a picture of the serpent of sin, when he
beheld the serpent of brass, when he looked to the serpent
of brass, he lived. Numbers 21.9. And to make the
gospel of God's grace even more amazing and more beautiful, is
the fact that it's God who gives chosen sinners the grace and
the ability to look and believe. My mother used to always say,
you've heard me say this, my mother had a lot of sayings. She always said, people want
a job that has all the work picked out of it. I suppose pretty much
everyone would like to have a job where you would do nothing and
just Get paid for it. Well, I don't have such a job
for you, but I do have such a gospel for you. There's nothing for
you to do. All the work's been picked out
of it. And the Lord Himself picked it out. He did the work. He's
done all the work for you. Just look and believe. Just look and live. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. I think about those who lay in
the wilderness. The poison of sin had permeated
their bloodstream. Those bitten by the fiery serpents
in the wilderness, they couldn't lift a hand to do a thing. Poison
had already taken effect. They could not raise a foot to
come to a doctor. They couldn't speak to ask for
help, but they could look. What must they look to? That
brazen serpent lifted high on the pole. Behold, the Lamb of
God. There's a lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, according to Revelation 13, eight. And
I want you to look at verse 29 again with me in its entirety.
The next day, John seeth, John the Baptist, seeth Jesus coming
unto him and he saith, behold the Lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world. Now, from this verse, we can
see first that salvation is not our coming to a preacher or to
a priest. Salvation is not our coming to
the front or to an altar. Salvation is not our coming at
all. Yes, we come to Christ. Salvation,
though, is Christ coming to us. And it's when we behold Him coming
that He makes us able and willing to come to Him. Our coming is never the cause
of salvation, it's the result of it. John the Baptist was the
last of the great prophets. He did what all the prophets
of God did. He bore witness to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's what preachers do
today when there's no longer prophets. But that's what preachers
do. They bear witness to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Acts 10.43 tells us, to Him,
Christ, give all the prophets witness that through His name,
whosoever believeth in Him shall receive the remission of sins. That word remission, that's a
wonderful word. Especially when it's used in
reference to sin. When it's said of someone who
has cancer that they are in remission, that's a wonderful thing. It
means that at that moment, the cancer is gone. The intensity
of the pain has ceased. It's in remission. The Greek
word for remission means freedom, pardon, forgiveness. Isn't that a beautiful word? When it comes to our sin, there's
freedom, pardon, and forgiveness. Mark tells us in his gospel narrative,
chapter one, verse four, John did baptize in the wilderness
and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. That's
the preacher of God's message. That's the Gospel message. Repentance
gives freedom. It gives pardon. It gives forgiveness,
remission for the believer's sin. And it comes only in trusting
Christ to put our sin away. Are you trusting in Christ to
put your sin away? John could have pointed to Christ
and very well said, Behold the great example He could have said,
behold the great moralist. He could have said, behold the
king of a new dispensation. Certainly the Lord was all those
things. Well, there's no greater example
of what a man or woman should be than Christ. There was never
and never will be a greater display of morality ever shown than what
our Lord's shown. And Christ was the Lord of lords
and the King of kings. But the knowledge of those things
alone will never save a sinner. John proclaimed the Lord Jesus
as one who had come into the world to be the sacrifice for
sin and the sin of his elect people. Behold the Lamb of God. Look and live. Not behold the great example
and be like Him. Not pattern yourself after His
great morality. Not even to bow to Him as your
King on earth. But behold the sacrifice for
sin. The One who can put your sin
away has put it away. Behold Him. Look to Him. John beholds and views the Lord
Jesus as the great propitiation for sin. That was God's message
to sinners. This was John's message in preaching.
It's our message today in preaching. Repent, John said, for the kingdom
of God is at hand. John was a boy's crying and a
woman's. What was he crying? Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Bring forth fruit, meat, or fit for repentance. John knew what
every true servant and preacher of God knows. Nothing can be
done for sin apart from the Lord Jesus Christ's substitution,
sacrifice, and propitiation for sin. No other way to be saved. He is the way, the truth, and
the life, and no man cometh to the Father but by Him. The Lord Jesus must be pointed
out to sinners as the only sacrifice for sin that God will accept.
And since God only accepts perfection, our sacrifice and our substitute
must be just that, perfect, perfectly holy, righteous, above reproof,
unblameable, unreprovable in God's sight. And that's why John
said, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of
the world. Jesus Christ must be, absolutely
must be, the subject of all our preaching. If sinners are to
be saved from their sin, Jesus Christ must be our message. We
must point to Him and Him alone. Thou shalt call His name Jesus. Savior. God is salvation. That's what the name Jesus means.
For He shall save His people. From what? From their sin. From their sin. Matthew 121.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. Acts 4.12. Now what hope of being
saved is there apart from the only one who can save from sin? Every believer sees what John
saw. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. Only He can take away
sin. Friends, I mean to be redundant.
I mean to be repetitive. And there are two things very
significant when we consider the ministry of John. First,
he was a man sent of God. Secondly, he had the message
of God. In verse 6 we read, there was a man sent from God whose
name was John. John was a true messenger because
it was the true God that sent him. And God revealed to John
who Jesus Christ was. In verse 34, John said, and I
saw and bear record that this is the Son of God. My, my. That's not talking about physical
sight. That's talking about spiritual sight. There were many people
who saw the Lord Jesus physically that never knew Him spiritually. There was many that knew Him
as a man, but didn't know Him as the God-man. They didn't know
Him as the Lamb of God, the Son of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world. John saw who Jesus Christ was,
and he'd bear record of that wondrous truth. He's the Son
of God. He's the Lamb of God. And that's
what a true witness bears witness of. The Lord Jesus Christ and
who He is and what He did, He put away His people's sin. And secondly, a true messenger
of God bears witness of what Christ did. What did He do? He
did what He still does. He puts away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. Now does He put away all the
sin of all the people in the world? It says, which taketh
away the sin of the world. No. No, it doesn't mean that.
He takes away all manner of sin that's in the world. Every type
of sin that was ever done in the world. Every kind of sin
by all sorts of men in the world. From every race in all places
of the world, He puts away sin. You know, men and women have
been taught all their lives that God loves everybody in the world
and that Christ died for everyone in the world. And unless God
divinely intervenes and teaches them different, they'll never
be untaught. The blood of God will wash away all the sin of
all the elect throughout all time, those in the world that
it was shed for. To say otherwise is absolutely
ridiculous. To say that Christ shed His blood
for someone that can still be lost because of their lack of
will and their lack of doing is a bare-faced lie. It's not
what Scripture teaches. It's not what the Bible supports.
If you love somebody, you'll pray for them, right? You love
your children, you love a family member, you pray for them. But
the Lord Jesus said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world. But for them, who? Those which
Thou hast given Me, those that the Father gave Him. He said,
for they are Thine. They belong to You. You gave
them to Me. They belong to You. Those whom
Christ didn't pray for did not belong to God in a saving way. He didn't pray for them. They
belonged to Him as their Creator, yes. But they didn't belong to
Him as their children. And the Lord even told the Pharisees,
you are of your father the devil. Because of what the Baptist said
in verse 31. Now look at it. When he said,
and I knew him not. You know, many believe that John
and the Lord Jesus didn't know one another. Well, I find that
very difficult to believe. They were family members. Mary
and John's mother Elizabeth were cousins after the angel appeared
to Mary, telling her that both she and Elizabeth were with child,
Mary went to see her cousin, you remember that? Before John
and the Lord were born. And both of these mothers knew
that God had given them special sons. And you just know that
their families got together along with their boys. They were only
six months apart in age. And when John says that he didn't
know the Lord, I believe that he's talking about not knowing
the Lord as the sin bearer. Not knowing the Lord as the Lamb
of God. You see, that's got to be revealed.
That's got to be revealed to John. It's got to be revealed
to you. And it's got to be revealed to
me. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. And no doubt that John
had admired the Lord Jesus' character while growing up. No doubt that
all who knew Jesus of Nazareth as a boy and as a young adult
knew there was something special about Him. Why, even when He
went into the temple at the age of 12, the elders and the chief
priests, they were astonished at His understanding and His
answers. Astonished. I believe that it
was apparent to John that there was something spiritual and special
about the Lord Jesus. I think that he shrewdly suspected
that Jesus was the Son of the Most High. But as a true witness
and voice of God, John did not bear witness to his own surmises,
even if they were correct. He dare not trust his own speculations
or unguided judgments of the Lord Jesus. No, but he waited
upon the divine revelation of God. John the Baptist waited
upon the word of the Lord. And many preachers have and still
teach things that spring from their own imaginations. I look
on sermon audio sometimes to find a message by one of the
pastors that we know, and I see some of the most unbelievable
titles to sermons. My, my. springing from men's
own imaginations. But the true servant of God gets
His message straight from the Holy Spirit, and they proclaim
with boldness, Thus saith the Lord. You see, Tom, that's all
that matters. What does the Lord say? Not what
I think. Not what I surmise. Not what
I believe. But what does the Lord say? Thus
saith the Lord. And I know for a fact that true
preachers of the Gospel, and I know a few, struggle greatly
with the awesome responsibility of speaking for the Lord. One
of their greatest fears and concerns is that they might misrepresent
the Scriptures that they preach. I once preached a false gospel.
And I still shudder to think that I may have led someone astray.
My, this is serious business. No wonder Paul said, woe unto
me if I preach not the gospel. Not if I just preach, but if
I don't preach the truth, if I don't preach the gospel. Paul
had once preached another gospel, which is not another. Now, when
the Lord came to be baptized of John, In the Jordan River,
John, knowing something of the Lord's impeccable character,
said, I have need to be baptized of thee. Remember that? But even
then, John did not know the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb and
Son of God. But when John plunged the Lord
Jesus into the waters of Jordan, he saw the heavens open, and
he heard and he saw a dove descend, and land upon the Lord Jesus,
and he heard the voice of God saying, this is my beloved Son
in whom I'm well pleased. And he knew Him then. And afterwards,
he didn't say, behold, I think He's the Lamb of God. I'm pretty
sure that He's taken away all the sin of the world. That's
not what he said, is it? John boldly cried, behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. See for
yourselves. The Father has given me the sign.
Look at verse 30. This is he of whom I said, after
me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before
me. John was born before the Lord
Jesus was physically, but spiritually, He's the Lamb of God slain from
the foundation of the world. John said, He's before me. He
was prepared before me. He was before me. And I knew
Him not. but that he should be made manifest
to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water." And John
bear record saying, I saw the spirit from heaven like a dove
and it abode upon him. And I knew him not, but he that
sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, now look,
upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining
on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost."
This is God. This is God in the flesh. This
is the Son of God. This is the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. Verse 35, and again, the next
day after John stood, and two of his disciples, and looking
unto Jesus as he walked, he saith, behold, the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him
speak, and they followed Jesus. And I've read that verse many
times, and I just automatically assumed, I guess, that that was
speaking of the Lord's future disciples. That's not who it's
talking about. This is just amazing. These were two of John's disciples. John's office was to point out
the Messiah. That's what he was called to
do. And when that was done, these
two disciples left at once their master and teacher, John, and
they followed the long-expected Messiah. What a lesson for us
here. This shows that John was sincere,
that he was not desirous of forming a party or of building up a church
of his own or a following of his own. John was willing that
all who had been attracted to him by his ministry should become
followers of Christ. Why, he said, I must decrease
And He must increase. His disciples came to Him one
day and said, man, this Jesus is baptizing a lot more folks.
Our business is way down. And He said, He must increase,
I must decrease. The object of a true minister
of the Gospel should not be to build themselves up of their
own interest to extend their own fame, it should be to point
men to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. Preachers, however popular or
successful, should be willing that their followers look to
Christ rather than to them. And the conduct of these disciples
of John the Baptist show us that we should forsake all and follow
Christ when he's pointed out to us. When he's revealed to
us as Christ, the son of the living God, the Lamb, which taketh
away the sin of the world. And we shouldn't delay, but we
should leave at once our old teachers and guides and companions
and follow the Lamb of God. Are you following the Lamb of
God? Our Lord said that in John chapter 10, verse 27. My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. If any man serve me, let him
follow me. And where I am, there shall also
my servant be. If any man serve me, him will
my father honor. John 12, 26. Now, John begins this statement
of 13 words with that word, behold. We looked at that last Sunday. And when a man cries behold,
he sees something. He sees something with clearness. And he desires for you to see
it too. Behold! Behold! What? The Lamb of God. No, who? Behold
the Lamb of God. Do you see what John is saying?
He's saying this is the Lamb of God. This is God's Lamb. John
remembered that the Lord had slew an animal, no doubt a lamb
in my mind, and clothed Adam and Eve covering their nakedness.
It's the Lord Jesus Christ that covers our nakedness. He's that
robe of righteousness that you and I desperately need. John
remembered that Abel brought a lamb without spot or blemish. John remembered that Abel sacrificed
that lamb before God as a sin offering. John remembered the
Paschal Lamb slain on the night when Israel went up out of Egypt.
When each man smeared that blood on the doorpost and lintel of
his door, And with that blood, God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. John remembered that. John remembered
Abraham taking Isaac up to Mount Moriah to offer him, according
to the command of God, as a sin offering. He remembered what
Isaac said. Father, behold the fire and the
wood, but where's the lamb for burnt offering? And Abraham said,
my son, God will provide himself as a lamb for burnt offering.
God provides for himself a lamb and God provides himself as the
lamb. It's God whom we've offended,
and God must be just in order to justify, and this is how He
is. God provides Himself as the Lamb. There's no other way for us to
be justified. He's a just God and a Savior.
Only God could satisfy justice and justify me. John remembered
the Lamb spoken of by Isaiah. He's brought as a Lamb to the
slaughter. John said, this is He of whom
the prophets faith. Behold, the Lamb of God. He was
saying something here. In light of all the Old Testament
types and pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ, John is saying,
He's here. He's come. Here He is. Do you see Him? Have you beheld
Him? That Lamb is now standing before
John, and John tells all, behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. And it's as if John's eyes looked
ahead to the future, ahead in time. And he saw that lamb in
the midst of the throne as it had been slain. And he heard
that song sung unto him, Behold the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb
that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing. You see, under the old covenant,
if a man sinned, he said to himself, I must go and find a lamb. That's the only sacrifice I have
is an offering of sin. That was his lamb, which he brought
for his own trespasses. He either went out into his own
flock and got a lamb, or he went to his neighbor and he bought
a lamb. And is it not amazing that the One whom all our sin
is against..." Now hear me, this is very important. It's amazing
that the One whom we have sinned against, God Almighty, is the
very One that has provided that sacrifice of sin for us. The Father took His choice one,
His only one, His only begotten Son, our Lamb, our sacrifice,
and He delivered Him up for us. We don't have to look for one.
He found us. Who was it that sacrificed the
Lamb of God? Who was it that bruised Him?
Who was it that put Him to grief? Who caused him to cry, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? God did. Jesus Christ is
the Lamb of God. He's the Lamb that God always
accepts. When you come to God, when you
bring Christ with you, you've brought God the only acceptable
sacrifice, and He will accept it. Every time. Dwell on the blessed truth that
the sin of His people was actually laid on Christ. Your sin, if
you trust in Him as the sin bearers, the Lamb of God, which takes
away the sin of the world, your sin is gone. It's gone. Dwell on that for a bit. Neither
angels nor men can stand under the load of sin. It is to sink
men into the lowest hell. But when the sin of God's chosen
people was laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God,
He bore it, and He sweat as it were great drops of blood in
Gethsemane's garden. And as He hung on the tree and
that blood fell from His body to the ground, your sin was put
away. He was exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death. But the sin which was laid on
Christ didn't remain there. No, He took it away. It remains
no more. And if Christ is your Lamb, you
need not ask, well, where is my sin? Well, the sacrifice of
Christ as the Lamb of God has made an end of sin. And He's
brought in an everlasting righteousness. Dwell on that. This is a gospel worth believing.
This is a gospel worth living for and worth dying for. He taketh
away the sin of the world. Our Lamb's atoning sacrifice,
though offered once, it's perpetual in its effect. It never gives out. It just keeps
coming and coming and coming. Mercy. His mercy endures forever. No other in all the world can
take away sin but the Lamb of God. There's no sin that He cannot
take away. There's no other sin bearer.
There's no other atonement. There's no other satisfaction.
No purgatory can avail to take sin away. I don't care how long
you'd stay there. No eternal suffering in hell
can pay the debt of sin. No bitterness or regret can take
sin away. Only the Lamb of God can take
sin away. Behold, the Lamb of God. Look to Him and Him alone, which
taketh away the sin of the world. Now, a lamb in the Scriptures
always signifies a sacrifice. But the blood of an animal whether
a lamb, bull, goat, can never take away sin. It cannot atone
for the sin of a man, not an animal sacrifice. All the lambs
of the Old Testament were but pictures and types of the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb of God. That's why we study the
Old Testament Scriptures, to see Christ. Every time a lamb
was brought to the altar, it was saying, there's one coming.
Christ is coming. The Messiah is coming. He will
suffer. He'll shed His blood and He'll
die. And beloved, we have a lamb. It's provided for us. He's provided
for us. We don't point men to Bethlehem's
manger. A lot of times at Christmas folks
do. Oh, there's the baby Jesus. That baby Jesus in the manger
didn't save anyone. Just knowing that won't save
you. We don't point men and women to the cross. We point repentant
sinners to the Christ of the cross. We point sinners to the
Lamb that was slain on the cross. effectiveness in the cross itself. It's just a piece of wood. It
was an instrument used by men to crucify the Lord of glory.
The mercy and grace of God is in the one who hung upon the
cross. Men are not saved by reading
about the Lamb. I was reading an article written
by a devout man of religion, and this is what he said. I couldn't
believe it. He said, God's grace and mercy are earned, not given
to you. He said, I'm studying to show
myself approved so I can accept more blessings. People tell on
themselves, don't they? And then he went on to say, I'm
on my 2,737th day of reading my Bible every morning. And I'm
not sure what Bible that man's reading. But it's not this one. Not this one. My Bible declares
that we're saved by grace through faith. And that's not of ourselves.
It's the gift of God. Isn't that what your Bible says?
Not of works lest any man should boast. And if you're boasting,
which he was, which he was, 2,737 days of reading his Bible, If you're boasting in what you're
doing or what you've done, then you've not truly experienced
the grace of God. The grace of God and the gospel
of Christ is the power unto salvation, and it comes only one way. How? By beholding the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world. Are you looking to
Christ? Are you beholding Him? Well, if so, It is well with
your soul. Oh, may God be pleased to make
it so for His glory, our good, and for Christ's sake. Amen.