Go with me, if you would, back
to John chapter one. John chapter one. I want to show you something.
That is beautiful, beautiful to me. And then after that, we
are going to see something beautiful. Beautiful to me. And then I want
to finish this message with something that is absolutely beautiful.
Let's read our text, which is verses 35 to 39. John 1, 35 to
39. Again, the next day after, John
stood in two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he
walked, He saith, Behold the Lamb of
God. And the two disciples heard him
speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them
following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto
him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where
dwellest thou? He saith unto them, come and
see. They came and saw where he dwelt
and abode with him that day, for it was about the 10th hour.
Now the first thing that I'd like for us to see is in verses
35 to 37. And then the second thing that
I'd like for us to dwell on is in verses 38 and 39. And then the last thing that
I want us to enter into is in verse 39. These are the divisions
that we're going to look at. Here's the first thing. Verse
35 says, Again the next day after, John stood and two of his disciples,
and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the
Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him
speak, and they followed Jesus. There was one thing for certain
that God revealed to and convinced Israel of, the nation of Israel. There was one thing for certain
that he revealed to them and he convinced them of. They needed
a lamb. They had to have a lamb. They knew that. Israel knew that. Every generation, and I am begging
the Lord to make this relevant to us now. Every generation,
here we sit in our generations. Every generation was told of
their sin against God. Other nations were not told that. Other nations were not stressed
that. That was not pressed upon other
nations. But every generation in God's
chosen people, they were told of their sin against God, and
they were told what was the only remedy for that sin. There's a great problem, and
there's one remedy. They had to have a lamb. They
had to have a lamb. Turn with me over to Exodus chapter
12. Exodus chapter 12 verse 1 says, 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. Speak ye 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 in 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. Every man according
to his eating shall make your count for the lamb." That means
nobody could be left out. Nobody could not partake of this
lamb, account for every soul, every soul. Verse 5 says, your
lamb shall be without blemish. No spot. No spot. It cannot be a lamb that has
any error, no blemish in him. Verse 5 says it must be a male
of the first year, first begotten of its father. First year. He goes on to say, you shall
take it out from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall
keep it up until the 14th day of the same month, and the whole
assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the
evening. And if you have the center margin,
you see that that means between the two evenings. They shall
kill it between the two evenings. In order for you to live, this
perfect lamb must be slain. Tell every generation. Tell every
soul. Verse 7 says, And they shall
take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and
on the upper door post of the house, wherein they shall eat
it. This blood must be on the inside
and the outside. This blood must be seen, this
must be the first, this must be the last, this must be the
only thing that is seen when judgment comes to your door,
the blood of this lamb. Verse 8 says, and they shall
eat the flesh in that night. They are not to look at it, Only
look at it. Just look at it. They are not
to just analyze it. They are not to just have conversation
about it. They are not to just debate it. They are not to just tell each
other this is the only remedy for sin and then turn around
and walk away. God said they are to eat it. They are to eat it. They are to lay hold of it. Mind,
body, soul. They are to become one with it. They must become actually united
with it. They must feed on it. They must
be nourished by it. They must be strengthened by
it. It must be their only source of hope and life. Verse 8 says,
They shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire. The only
way this lamb will profit them at all is if it is roast with
fire. It must endure the fire. Verse 8 says, Roast with fire
and unleavened bread. Leaven puffs up. Everything about this sacrifice
must be humbled. Everything about it. Everything
must be brought down before God. Roast with fire and unleavened
bread and with bitter herbs shall they eat it. The gall of bitterness
must be tasted. The fire, the humility, the bitterness,
all of it must come upon that lamb. It must all be mingled
with that lamb. Verse 9 says, eat not of it raw. Don't lay hold of a lamb that
has not endured the fire. Do not. Verse 9 says, nor sodden at all
with water. Don't add anything to water down
or soften the fire that it must endure. but roast with fire his head
with his legs and with the pertinence thereof. And you shall let nothing
of it remain until the morning. And that which remaineth of it
until the morning you shall burn with fire. And thus shall you
eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, your
staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's
Passover. I love that. He said, this is
how I want you to eat it. I want you to be clothed. I want
your shoes on your feet, tied and ready. I want you to have
your staff in your hand and you eat it quick. Eat it quickly. This is the Lord's Passover.
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
shall be to you for 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. God's chosen people were told the truth. We have sinned
against God. Every generation heard it. The
parents told the children, children we've sinned against God. We
are sinners against God. God is not pleased with us. God is not pleased with our conduct. He's not pleased with what goes
on in this mind. He's not pleased with what goes
on in this heart. We have sinned against God and
we can't make it right. We can't fix it. We cannot undo
it. We cannot do good deeds to outweigh
bad deeds. Blood must be shed. A lamb must
be slain. The wages of sin is death. And God said, when I see that
blood, I'll be appeased. I'll be satisfied. What God was
saying through Moses was, my lamb is coming. My lamb is coming,
my spotless only begotten. The one whose blood shall be
shed. The one who will humble himself. The one who will bear, take to
himself, taste the bitterness, taste the sin of my people. The one who will endure the fire
and endure the wrath and the punishment for them. He's coming.
He's coming. Every generation after, with
every physical lamb that was slain, they all said, they all
declared, God's lamb is coming. David cried, purge me with hyssop. That's the hyssop they dipped
in that blood and they sprinkled it on the mercy seat. He said,
purge me with hyssop. God's lamb is coming. Isaiah
cried, the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. All
that God has given to him. God's lamb is coming. John the Baptist was standing
there one day. And he's standing there with
two disciples. that listened to him preach and learned from
him. That's what a disciple is. It's
somebody who sits and listens to someone as they teach them. And they were learning from John,
looking to John, walking with John, following John. And they're
standing there one day and here comes the Lord of Glory. And John had already said once,
behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.
And now they're watching him as he walks. They're watching
the Lord as he's walking by. And John is just studying him. And John looks at those two disciples
and he points at the Lord and says, he's the one. Follow him. Follow him. He is here. And John's message was effectual
to their heart. This is my message. He's the
one. Follow him. Go after him. John told them, leave me, go
after him. That message was effectual to
their hearts and they took off after him. A true God-called
preacher only wants one thing. He wants men and women to follow
Christ. I want you to follow Christ.
I don't want you to follow anything else. I don't want you to follow
anything else. We have responsibilities in this
life, but do not let them steer you away from following Christ. By nature you would think that
John would be sad for them to leave him. But that was the joy of his heart. That was the thrill of his heart.
To see them not look to him and run after Christ. Now let's go back to our text
and see what happened. John 1. Verse 38 says, Then Jesus turned
and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? Right now, that question needs
to be brought to every heart in this room. What seek ye? What seek ye? What is your true
heart's desire before God? What are we here for? What are
we here for? Right here. What are we here
for? What do we come for? Look at John chapter 2 verse
23. It says, Now when he was in Jerusalem
at the Passover in the feast day, many believed in his name
when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit
Himself unto them, because He knew all men, and needed not
that any should testify of man, for He knew what was in man."
He knew what was in their heart. They heard that people were getting
health, wealth, and happiness following Him. And that's what they wanted.
That's what they sought. Look at John chapter 6, verse
26. Jesus answered them and said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me not because you saw
the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and were
filled. You just wanted free food. That's
why you're following me. He looked at those two disciples
that had been pointed to him. John pointed these two men to
the Lord, and he looked at them that had been pointed to him
and were coming to him. steadfastly beholding Him, and
He looked them right in the eyes and He said, What seek ye? What seek ye? What seek ye? Do we have any
idea how good and kind it is that the God of heaven would
ask sinners, What do you want? What seek ye? David said, as the heart panteth
after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee. Oh God. I seek you. I seek you. Let me ask you a
question. What seek you? Back in chapter one, verse 38
says, Then Jesus turned and saw them
following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto
him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where
dwellest thou? What seek ye? Where dwellest
thou? Where do you abide? We want to
be with you. We want to abide with you. We
want to shut everything else and have private communion with
you. Lord, we want to speak with you.
We want you to speak with us. He said, if you seek me, you'll
find me when you search for me with all your heart. If you seek
me, You'll find me when you search for me with all your heart."
He said, I'll give you the sincere desire of your heart. They said, where dwellest thou? Lord, where dwellest thou? Verse
39, he saith unto them, come and see. That's the desire of your heart,
come and see. Come and dine. Lord, we would love to have a
private audience with you. Would you just take a minute
and talk with us? Would you just speak to us? Verse 40 tells us
that one of these two men was Andrew, Peter's brother. It says
one of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother. And it's believed by every commentator
that I read, and it's believed by me, that the other one was
John, the writer of this gospel. It can be very easily confused
that when you hear the gospel of John, you think John the Baptist,
but John the Baptist didn't write this. The apostle John wrote
this. And he was constantly not referring
to himself. Never did he mention his own
name in this book. He would say things like, the
disciple whom the Lord loved. So, most likely, the two disciples
are Andrew and John. Verse 39, He said unto them,
Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt,
and abode with him that day." Now, the scripture says he had
no place to lay his head. Meaning he had no place to call
his own. But he had to lay his head somewhere,
he was a man. And wherever that private place for the moment
was, he brought Andrew and John to that place and he entertained
them for the rest of the afternoon. Now, can you imagine? Can you imagine God entertaining you coming into
his? Can you imagine? Are you hungry? Would you like a piece of fish? Would you like a glass of wine? No, sir. We just want you to speak to
us. Lord, we just want you to talk
to us. We have so many questions in our heart. We've searched everywhere for
the answers. We found none of them. So, Lord,
we're coming to you. I can see Andrew taking this
moment to say, if you had a moment with If the man who you were
looking to pointed you and said, that's the Lamb of God. That's the anointed one. That's. The Christ. What would you want
to ask him? What would you take that moment
to ask him, Lord, do you love me? Are you my God? Are you my God? Did you come for me? I believe
you came to save sinners. Did you come for me? Am I one
of yours? Lord, can I follow you? I have a sin problem. Lord, I'm
here and I have a sin problem. Is there any hope for a remedy? Lord, is there any hope for a
remedy? I wonder what the Lord said to
him. Whatever he said, verse 41 says,
Andrew went running out of that place. Verse 41 says, He first
findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found
the Messiah, which is being interpreted the Christ. Whatever he said
to him, Andrew went in bearing his heart He had the afternoon
to sit with God and whatever God said to him Andrew ran and
found his brother crying We have found the Christ we found the
Savior of sinners Peter you know how we were talking about the
fact that I'm a sinner and you're a sinner We found Andrew and
I found the Savior of sinners John and I rather found the Savior
of sinners He said to me, come and see. And my dear brother, I'm now
saying to you, come and see. Come and see. Is not this the
Christ? Is not this the anointed of God? God's remedy for sin. Now how beautiful is it that
God's Spirit made John the Baptist's message effectual to these men. There is nothing more precious
than when God makes his message effectual to the heart of a sinner.
That's the most precious thing I know on this earth. When the
message goes out to a hard sinner and God in mercy makes it effectual
to the heart. That heart believes it, that
heart bows to it, that heart loves it. John cried, behold
Him, seek Him, follow Him. They went running. And how beautiful is it that
the Lord gave them the desire of their heart. He entered in
to a personal communion with Him. He answered their questions,
spoke peace to their heart. Our Lord will do that for every
sinner who comes to him seeking one thing, where dwellest thou? Lord, can I please enter into
communion with you? Can I please have a moment with
you? Now there's one more final thought
that I want to finish this message with. Here is the perfection
of the scripture. And this is the glory of the
gospel. I just adore this. I decided to title this message,
It Was About the Tenth Hour. We could have titled it, Behold
the Lamb, They Followed Him, What Seekest Thou? Come and See. But I decided to title it, It
Was About the Tenth Hour. And the reason is because of
something I read in John Gill's commentary. This blessed my heart
so much. The Passover was a sacrifice
feast that was held once a year. There were other sacrifice feasts
that the Lord ordained throughout the year. But we read in Hebrews chapter
10 that the priest offered daily sacrifices. And if you'll turn with me to
Numbers chapter 28. Numbers 28. Verse 1 says, And the Lord spake
unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, and say unto
them, My offering and my bread for my sacrifice is made by fire. For a sweet savor unto me shall
you observe to offer unto me in their due season. And thou
shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire, which
you shall offer unto the Lord. two lambs of the first year without
spot day by day. Every day for a continual burnt
offering. Every day for a continual burnt
offering. Verse 4 says, the one lamb shalt
thou offer in the morning And the other lamb shalt thou offer
at even. And the margin says between the
two evenings. Early afternoon and late afternoon.
The Jews had a 12-hour day. Six o'clock in the morning to
12 noon was the morning. 12 noon to 6 p.m. was the evening. Three o'clock
divided the two evenings. The early evening, early afternoon,
late afternoon. John Gill said the daily evening
sacrifice was slain at eight and a half hours. Killed. Slain. At eight and a half hours into
the day, 2.30. And it was offered at nine. and a half hours into the day,
3.30. Or he said, between the ninth
and tenth hours of the day. John the Baptist was standing
there, preaching to these disciples, two left standing with him. They're
looking to John for spiritual guidance. Knowing in their hearts
what sinners they are, John knows they know what sinners they are.
They're wondering how God's law was going to be kept. John knew
it was about the 10th hour, four o'clock, almost four o'clock,
3.30. He knew that these disciples
were getting anxious, knowing they need a sacrifice. We need a sacrifice. Knowing
that they had to offer something to God to appease their conscience, atone for their sin. And at about
the 10th hour, he looked at those two men and he said, there's
your lamb. You need a lamb right now. You
need a lamb right now. Are you worried about the law?
Are you worried about the law? Are you worried about breaking
the law? You know what the law says. An evening sacrifice needs
to be made right now. There's your lamb. Go after him. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. He told those men, he is all
you need. He is all you need. All you need to fulfill the commandment. All you need to appease the wrath. All you need to appease your
conscience. He is all you need. All you need. If you need a sacrifice
right now, behold the Lamb. Christ our Lamb slain. When we partake of these elements,
this is what we're saying. He is all I need. That's what we're saying. When
we eat it, when we eat it, we unite with it, we join with it,
we lay hold of it. Crying, He is all I need. I behold
Him. I come to Him. I follow Him. I need to be with Him where He
is. That's what this is saying. I
need to be with Him where He is. I need communion with Him
in His life and in His death. He's all that I have to offer
before God on behalf of my sin. He's all I have. He's all I have. He's all I need. I partake of
Him. If that's what we seek, if we
seek Him, then let's confess that, taking His table. All right, Brother Jared, you
and Brother David, come. Out of my bondage, sorrow and
night, Jesus, I come. Jesus, I come into Thy freedom,
gladness, and light. Jesus, I come to Thee out of
my sickness into Thy health. Out of my want and into thy will
Out of my sin and into thyself Jesus, I come to thee Out of my shameful failure and
loss, Jesus I come, Jesus I come. Into the glorious gain of the
cross, Jesus, I come to Thee. Out of earth's sorrows into Thy
bonds Out of life's storms and into thy calm, Out of distress
to jubilant song, Jesus, I come to thee. Out of unrest and arrogant pride
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come Into Thy blessed will to abide
Jesus, I come to Thee Out of myself to dwell in thy
love Out of despair into raptures above Upward on aeon wings like
a dove Jesus, I come to thee Out of the fear and dread of
the tomb Jesus I come, Jesus I come Into the joy and light
of thy home Jesus I come to thee Out of the depths of ruin untold
Into the peace of thy sheltering fold Ever thy glorious face to
behold Jesus, I come to thee Let's all stand together. Brother Bob Coffey, would you
lead us in prayer for our Lord's blood and body? Amen. The Apostle Paul said,
I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you,
that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed,
took bread, and when he had given thanks, he break it and said,
take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you, this do in
remembrance of me. Brother Tony, would you lead
us in prayer? After the same manner also he
took the cup when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament
in my blood. This do ye as oft as you drink
it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till
he come. Now turn with me, if you would,
to 249.