If you would turn with me this
morning to the Gospel of John chapter 1. John chapter 1. In the text before us this morning
we read the words of John the Baptist, who by the way was the
only man other than Christ himself that was prophesied of in the
Old Testament and lived in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus
himself said of John, among those that are born of women, there
is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. Now in verse
six, concerning John, we read, there was a man sent from God. whose name was John. We should
give this man an ear if for no other reason that he was sent
from God. Why did God send this man? Well,
verse seven tells us, the same came for a witness to bear witness
of the light, that's capital L, that's speaking of Christ,
that all men through him might believe. God sent John to bear
witness of Christ the light, the light of the world, that
light through which men and women might believe. Now there's no
salvation apart from believing in him. Verse 8 tells us that
he, that being John, was not that light, but was sent to bear
witness of that light, that light being Christ. That was the true
light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And
in verse six, the reference to all men, and in verse nine, the
reference to every man, and also the references here to the world,
and these verses mean all and every one of God's people, God's
elect in this world. We must always remember to compare
scripture with scripture. And I remind you of what the
Lord Jesus said in the gospel of John chapter 17, verse nine. He said, I pray for them. I pray
not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for
they are thine. So the all and every of the world
here are those that belong to God. Those that God gave to Christ
before the foundation of the world. And our Lord said this
of them, they are thine. They're thine. Look at verse 15, John bear witness
of him, that being the Lord Jesus Christ. And cried saying, this
was he of whom I speak. He that cometh after me is preferred
before me for he was before me. And this is talking about Christ's
eternal existence, his eternal deity. And we'll talk more about
that in a moment. Now this man, John, was not your
conventional preacher. He looked more like a wild man
than a prophet. He didn't wear a fine robe. He
was clothed with camel hair and a leather girdle. He didn't preach
in the temple. He preached in the wilderness. He didn't eat at the table under
a roof with the civilized. He ate locust. and wild honey
under the roof of God's sky. But oh, what a message he had. What a message he had. And that's
what I want us to look at for a few minutes this morning. John's
message is found all throughout this chapter, but especially
in verse 29, and that's my text. The next day, John seeth Jesus
coming unto him and saith, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. Now, let me ask you a question.
Do you see that you need for your sin to be taken away? It's a very simple question.
Do you see that you need your sin to be taken away? I find
it very interesting that the word sin in this verse is singular. I believe there's a reason for
that and we say it all the time. Sin is what we are, not just
what we do. Sin is a state of being. We are born into this world condemned
in sin because of the fallen Adam. And sin is our state of
being before God. We sin because we are sinners. The slave of sin is in bondage
to sinning. Now the consequence of Adam's
transgression has not just damaged us. Many preachers preach the
fall of man as though he just stumped his toe and walks with
a little limp. That couldn't be further from
the truth. Adam's fall has killed us spiritually. We're dead, the scripture says,
in trespasses and sins. Being in Christ, God not only
puts all our acts of sin away, all our sins, plural, known as
sins, transgressions, iniquities, all plural, being all our sins,
past, present, and future. And boy, isn't that a delight
to think of? All our sins put away, past,
present, and future. But the sinner that is found
in Christ, God gives them a new nature, or maybe better said,
they put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness. He makes them new creatures,
a new creation in Christ. And they are conformed to His
image. And the scripture says, presented
unto God, holy, unblameable. Oh, don't you like that word?
Unreprovable, above reproved, in God's sight. It doesn't much
matter how I view you. but it matters a great deal how
God views you. He takes away the believer's
state of sin. He takes away their guilt of
sin. They were dead in sin, and now
they are dead to sin. Not dead to sin's influence,
not dead to sin's presence, but dead to sin's penalty. dead to
the condemning power of sin, dead to sin's guilt, as I said,
dead to sin so that sin cannot rule over them. And being dead
to sin does not relate to the believer's character as long
as we are in these bodies of death. Our character is still
subject to sin and questionable to others. Being dead to sin
does not relate to our conduct or our actions. I believe the
Apostle Paul made that very clear in Romans chapter 7. Paul could
not not sin. And it's the same with us. By
nature, you and I cannot not sin. He said, O wretched man
that I am. He didn't say, O wretched man
I was. The believer's conduct and actions may change some,
but don't change much as long as they reside in these corruptible
bodies and flesh. Dead to sin relates to a believer's
state before God. The believer's sin debt is paid. They have the resurrection of
life. And that's what Paul told Timothy. He said, it's a faithful
saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with
him. And that's why John's message
is the message of God to all who know themselves to be sinners
and desire for their sin to be taken away. Now, again, let me
ask you, do you desire for your sin to be taken away? If so,
I have a message for you. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. Now there's nothing that you
and I can do to take away sin. There's nothing you and I can
do to change our standing before God. Can the Ethiopian change
the color of his skin? Can the leopard change its spots? Can you? Can you do good that
are accustomed to do evil? Well, the answer is a resounding
no. To have our sin taken away requires
the blood of the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of
the world. Nothing but the blood of Jesus
can wash us clean of our sin. Now, the Lamb of God is God the
Lamb. The Lamb of God is God the Lamb. The story of the Lamb of God
doesn't really have a beginning point. Before there was a world,
before there was a creation, Jesus Christ was the Lamb slain. God made the universe so that
the Lamb slain before time could be slain in time. Now I know
that can be confusing. But this was God's eternal purpose. After man sinned, God slew a
lamb. Its blood was shed, and the skin
of that lamb covered the naked bodies of the man and the woman. Adam and Eve. And that pictures
Christ, the Lamb slain, who covers the nakedness of the child of
God with His perfect righteousness. In Genesis chapter 4, we find
again the Lamb of God. As you know, Cain was a tiller
of the ground, but Abel was a keeper of sheep. And when Cain and Abel
brought their sacrifices unto the Lord, Cain brought the best
that his hands could offer. He was what we would call a master
gardener. He brought the best work of his
hands and God rejected him and his sacrifice. But Abel brought
a sacrificial lamb. He killed the lamb. He shed the
lamb's blood. He placed that lamb upon the
altar and offered it to God and God accepted it. God had respect
to it, the scripture says. Friends, without the shedding
of blood, there is no remission of sin. These things are taught
from the beginning of the scriptures. In Genesis chapter 22, you know
the story well. God told Abraham to take his
son, his only son, the son that he loved more than anything else
in life, his beloved son. Oh, do you see the picture there
already? And he told him to go to a specific mountain in the
land of Moriah to offer his son there as a burnt offering unto
the Lord. Can you imagine? You've waited
all your life for this son, and then God tells you to kill him
and sacrifice him unto God. So the scripture says, Adam being
obedient, he rose early in the morning with his son Isaac and
he saddled his ass and he took two of his young servants with
him. And on the third day of their
traveling, Abraham lifted up his eyes and he saw that place
that the Lord had told him of. And Abraham said this to the
two young men, He said, you stay here, and I and the lad, speaking
of Isaac, will go yonder and worship, and then he said this,
and come again to you. Now, I'm telling you, that proves
that Abraham knew that if he sacrificed his son unto God,
that God would raise him up, or he wouldn't have said that.
He knew that if he sacrificed his son or went to sacrifice
his son, that he'd either raise him up or he would provide a
substitute for him. So Abraham, a man of great faith,
he took the wood and he laid it upon Isaac. And every time
I read that, I think about how God laid the wood of the cross
upon his beloved son to carry. And with the fire in his hand,
along with the knife, Abraham and Isaac went both of them together
up that mountain. And what a picture we have of
God being in Christ, going together up Calvary's mountain. The son
going to be sacrificed for his father. And I said that deliberately. We'll talk about that in just
a moment. And the father going to sacrifice
him. What a picture. Wasn't Christ
going to be sacrificed for his people? No. He was going to be sacrificed
for his father in the place of his people. Two different things.
And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and I've pictured
this so many times. He said, my father, behold the
fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Where's the lamb? That's a question
we ought to ask every time we hear the gospel preached. Where's
the lamb? Show me the lamb. This was the
lamb that John the Baptist was speaking of. And Abraham said,
my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
So they went both of them together. That's the lamb that John's talking
about. And this is critical concerning
the matter of having our sin taken away. God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Jehovah Jireh, God will provide. God Almighty will provide himself
for a burnt offering. Now in the matter of salvation,
you and I don't have anything at all that God would accept.
Nothing. Our best is vanity. Man in his best state is altogether
vanity. That's what David said, and that's
so true. Matter of fact, you and I cannot
provide one thing that a holy God will accept. God is holy,
God is just. He cannot accept something that
comes from me and you. If you think that He can, then
as we discussed last week, your opinion of God is way too low,
and your opinion of man is way too high. You and I cannot provide
one thing, and here's the gospel in four words. God provides for
Himself. God provides for Himself. Everything
He requires, He provides. God will provide Himself a lamb
to take away the chosen sinner's sin. God is providing for Himself. Now let me say that again. And
you think about it, God is providing for himself. And in that sense,
if you belong to Christ, the blood of Christ was not shed
for you. It was shed for God. Now you
think about that. It was shed for God so that God
could do something for you. God is holy and just and He's
righteous and God will cease to be all these things if He
allowed sin to go unpunished. So in the sacrifice and in the
execution of the Lamb of God, God provides for Himself that
which He requires from us. And that's the beauty of the
Gospel. For God to save you and I, take
away our sin, make us holy, make us just, and make us righteous,
God had to first do something for himself. Isn't that right? You think about that. He had
to fulfill his perfect law. You and I couldn't fulfill it.
He had to satisfy his holy justice. You and I couldn't satisfy it.
He had to remain just in order to do both. And there's only
way, one way, just one, just one way that that can be accomplished.
And that is providing for himself a lamb for burnt offering. And
secondly, God will provide himself as the lamb. I think that's beautiful. God will provide himself as the
Lamb. And that's exactly what John
the Baptist was talking about when he said, behold the Lamb
of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. And every sinner
better be asking the same question that Isaac asked. Where's the
Lamb? Where's the Lamb? Every message
we hear, we better be asking that question, where is the Lamb?
You see, that's the foundation of Gospel preaching. Where is
the Lamb? We must preach how God can take
away sin. That's what a true sinner is
interested in. How can my sin be taken away?
If I cannot stand before God, Without a perfect righteousness,
how can that perfect righteousness be obtained? And here's how. Behold the Lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world. Now that word, behold, is really
a glorious word. It means to look, to see, to
regard, to notice. We see something that we think
to be amazing. What is usually the first word
out of our mouth? Look. Look. Do you see that? Years ago, I was at a high school
football game near Ashland, Kentucky with a business partner of mine. And during the game, a meteorite
shot across the sky. It seemed like a long time, but
I'm sure it was only three or four seconds. And I suppose my
friend and I both saw it at the same time because in unison we
said to one another, look! Did you see that? Behold the
Lamb of God! Do you see Him? He's the Lamb
of God. There is no other. Do you see
who He is? Do you see what He's done? Do
you remember when Paul wrote how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures? This is how Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures. Speaking of the Old Testament
Scriptures, that was the only Scriptures that they had. He
died for His people's sin according to the Scriptures, as we just
saw in Genesis chapter 3, and in Genesis chapter 4, and in
Genesis chapter 22. And it's also seen in Exodus
chapter 12. Go ahead and stick your marker
here, John, and turn there with me. Exodus chapter 12, if you
don't mind. The Passover lamb. We're studying
the plagues on Wednesday night. We finished the second plague. But the Passover land, this is
the tenth and the final plague. And it's the death of the firstborn. Egypt is, by the time this gets
around, Egypt's destroyed. I mean, there's not a whole lot
left of it. God said that the firstborn of
every beast and of every home would be killed. Even the house
of Israel, whom none of the other plagues had affected, even the
house of Israel would be subject to this plague with one big difference. Israel had a substitute. And that substitute was the Lamb
of God. Look at verse 1, Exodus chapter
12. And the Lord spake unto Moses
and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto
you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of
the year to you. Now, this event is so significant
that the calendar was changed because of it. This is when spiritual life begins. When someone is enabled to behold
the Lamb of God, friends, that's when real life begins. Verse
3, speaking unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth
day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb,
according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. And if the household be too little
for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house
take it according to the number of the souls. And every man according
to his eating shall make you count for the lamb, and your
lamb shall be without blemish. A male of the first year, and
you shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats, Now,
don't you already see this is Christ? This is picturing Christ.
This is speaking of the perfect Lamb of God who was without spot
and without blemish. This is speaking of Jesus Christ
who lived perfectly and righteously and holy before God all the days
of his life. He's without spot. He's without
blemish. He knew no sin. He couldn't do anything for me
if he had had a spot or a blemish. How do I know that? Because the
sacrifice that God accepts must be perfect to be accepted. Now, what was done with this
lamb? Look at verse six. And ye shall
keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the
whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall do what to this
lamb?" What does it say? Kill it. Kill it in the evening. Verse 7, And they shall take
of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts, and on the
upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. Upon
reading that, thought about what our Lord said in John chapter
six. He said, he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood
dwelleth in me and I in him. Now look down at verse 12. God
says, for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night
and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man
and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute
judgment. I am the Lord. And the blood,
that being the blood of the Lamb, shall be to you a token upon
the houses. where you are. And when I see
the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon
you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt." Now, this
blood was not an offer for you to accept or reject. I can hardly stand for someone
to preach Christ as an insurance policy to stay out of hell. God did not say, here, when you
see the blood, I'll pass over you. They couldn't see it. They
were in the house. God said, when I see the blood. He didn't
say, when I see your sorrow over sin. He didn't say, when I see
your attempt to improve your life, I'll pass over you. He didn't say, when I see your
faith, when I see your sincerity, I'll pass over you. God said,
when I see the blood, when I see the blood of the Lamb, I'll pass
over you. And the plague of sin shall not
be upon you. This is certain. Do you see that?
Oh, the certainty of the Gospel. I will pass over you that shall
not be upon you. The blood of the Lamb of God.
That's what God's looking for. And that's the only thing that
satisfies a just and holy God. The blood of the Lamb of God. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's, He's the only hope that any of us have. Christ died
for our sin according to the scriptures. How about Isaiah
53 7? You don't have to turn there,
one verse. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth and he is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter. And as a sheep before her shearers
is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. Now when the Lord Jesus
stood before His accusers, you remember when He stood before
Pilate? He didn't say anything. He opened not His mouth. What
does this silence say to you and I, the sinners that we are?
Now, I won't speak for you, but I do know pretty well that we're
all carved out of the same lump. I know this much. When somebody
accuses me of something that I'm not guilty of, I'm going
to open my mouth. I just can't help it. The first
words out of my mouth is, oh, I didn't do that. I didn't do
that. There's been a time or two I've
said that when I did do it. Are you saying you're a liar,
Brother David? Sadly, yes, by nature we all
are, aren't we? Why did the Son of God open not
His mouth? Have you ever thought about that?
He's standing in the place of a chosen sinner. He was guilty
as charged. Standing in my place, He was
guilty as charged. As my substitute and my sacrifice,
the Lamb of God, the Son of God was guilty and He deserved to
die." How could you say that? We've been talking about His
sinlessness. We've been talking about Him
being without spot and blemish. We've been talking about His
perfect righteousness, His holiness, His perfection. How could you
say such a thing? How could you say that he deserved
to die? Because it's true. It's true. If the Lamb of God takes away
your sin, it's because it was put upon Him and He stood before
God guilty of your sin. If the Lamb of God has taken
away our sins, where did they go? I'll tell you where they
went. He bore them. He bore them in His own body
on the tree. And when He took our sins upon
Himself, He became guilty for those sins. And on the cross,
it was not the innocent being punished, it was the guilty.
And that's why Christ did not answer His accusers. Now you
know when Paul said, for I determined not to know anything among you
save or except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I wonder if you
and I have made that our determination. Oh, I search my heart on this
so often. Do, like Paul, are we really
interested in anything else? Jesus Christ and Him crucified
is the Lamb slain. The Apostle Paul had one subject
when he preached. Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
John the Baptist had one subject. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. Oh God help us to have one subject. I hope that that can be said
of me when I'm When I'm done and finished, He had but one
subject, Christ and Him crucified. The Lamb slain before the foundation
of the world. Look back in our text in John
and I'll finish. John 1 and again verse 29. The next day John seeth Jesus
coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin." And that word sin there means offense. Listen
to me. You've offended God. You've offended
God. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. We've offended God. He taketh away the offense of
his people in the world. Verse 30. John said, this is
he of whom I said, after me cometh a man which is preferred before
me, for he was before me. This is no mere man. This was
the God-man. And John said, he was preferred
before me, for he was before me. And I know you know the story. John the Baptist, the cousin
of the Lord Jesus, was about three months older, I think,
than the Lord Jesus. But he's not speaking here in
a chronological sense. He's not talking about him being
before Him physically, naturally speaking. When John says that
Christ was preferred in relation to him, all this relates to the
glory of God when Christ had before the world ever was, was
the Lamb slain. This refers to the glory He had
before He came into the world to fulfill the office of Redeemer. Look at verse 32, And John bare
record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a
dove, and it abode upon Him. Look at verse 34, John said,
And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God. This is God the Son. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God,
and Jesus Christ is God the Lamb. Never forget that our sin, and
now listen, if you don't hear anything else, hear this. Never
forget that our sin is so horrific and so offensive to our thrice
holy God that it took God's blood. The Lamb of God, who is God the
Lamb, it took His blood to take away our sin. Verse 35, and again
the next day, after John stood, and two of his disciples, and
looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, behold, the Lamb of
God. Same message, isn't it? Same
message. And look at this, verse 37. And the two disciples heard him
speak, and they followed Jesus. Now this morning I have attempted
to the best of my weak and feeble ability to encourage you to behold
the Lamb of God. Look and live. That's my encouragement
to you. Look to Jesus Christ and live. Behold the Lamb of God. And if
you've heard me, then you'll follow Christ. You'll follow
Him. He's the Lamb of God. He's the
only one that can take away your sin. Do you remember what Peter
said when the Lord Jesus said, you leave me also? He said, where
else will we go? Friends, where else would we
go? He has the words to eternal life. Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away your sin. Oh, may God enable us to follow
Him all the days of our life. And if we do, we'll dwell in
the house of the Lord forever. May God be pleased to make it
so.