Turn to the Gospel according
to John chapter 1. John chapter 1 and I'd like to
read verses 29 to 31. John 1 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. This is He of whom
I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me.
For 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."
Let's pray together. Our Father, how we thank you
again this morning for the glorious privilege and the honor to assemble
ourselves together in your blessed name, the name which is above
every name, the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And
we thank you that you've blessed us this week being able to behold
the indescribable mercy and compassion and keeping of Yourself for Your
people. Cause us this day, we pray, to
walk as we ought. Cause us to hear. Cause us to
see. Cause us to rejoice. Cause us
to be comforted. Through the hearing of Your precious
Word, that Word that is alive, sharper than any two-edged sword. Bless us today, we pray for Christ's
sake, Amen. In the book of Exodus, chapter
12, there is revealed, I won't read it for sake of time, you'll
know the passage I'm talking about. They are recorded by the
hand of Moses. The Spirit of God used the hand
of Moses. Isn't it amazing that God Almighty
actually uses men, women? Throughout His Scriptures, you
look and you see human beings. blessing people, humans. And the Spirit of God revealed
through the hand of Moses that which He required for the
preservation of His people. What it was, it was a lamb. God required the sacrifice of
a lamb. It was a lamb of substitution. It was a picture. It was a type. And in that type, in that lamb's
blood that was shed, we saw in picture, in type, that the shedding
of blood was to be the payment of guilt. It was a picture. You see, God Almighty is just. He is a just God. And sin must be dealt with. It has to be dealt with. Sin
is not swept under the rug Sin is not just looked away from
by God. God Almighty is just. Now, this lamb in the book of
Exodus was to be a lamb that was to be without spot, blemish,
male of the first year. Beautiful, beautiful picture
of our Lord and Savior. It was an emblem of Him who in
the fullness of time would come into this world and actually
redeem His people. He was going to pay. What is
owed, He would pay. And that Lamb back in Exodus
12 was to be slain His blood was going to be applied on the
two sides and on the top of the door on the very night that God
Almighty said, I will pass through. That's what the Scripture says.
It says the Lord passed through. I know we hear many people say,
well, the death angel came through. God said, I'm going to pass through.
It was the Lord. God Almighty. And on the night
of God's choosing, the Lord Himself passed through the land of Egypt
and He smote the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Every house. Every house. Every house. where there were
humans, every place where there were animals, the firstborn was
going to die. But where the blood was applied, Almighty God passed over that
household in mercy because He saw the blood of the Lamb. Someone was going to die. Sin
is sin. The soul that sinneth is going
to die. And Almighty God passed over
for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and that which He had
eternally purposed. Now, you have to understand,
the Lamb of God was actually shed in time. That's exactly right. God's Lamb
shed His blood in time, but Almighty God saw it from before the foundation
of the world. And the Father that eternally
saw the blood, saw the sacrifice, saw the substitution. He saw. And the Father was the first
one that ever trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, who first
trusted in Him. And trusting in His blessed Son,
the one in whom He was well pleased, God Himself. Here is God dealing
with God. God Himself saving His people. His people add nothing to redemption. Salvation is all of grace. It was God Almighty purposing, decreeing, choosing
that which God would do. Jonah the prophet said it perfectly
because it is the words that were put in his mouth by the
Spirit of God. Salvation is of the Lord. All of grace. God Almighty saw that blood,
and that blood was a picture of type of His blessed Son, the
One made sin for us. The Spirit of God says through
Paul that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
And God Himself said, when I see the blood, when I see that which
my Son has accomplished, when I see that blood shed for those
that I've everlastingly loved, I'll pass over you. Oh, the mercy
of God. The blood that answers even now. Even now. Oh, scars that are in heaven
right now. There are scars that are being
born right now in heaven. When the Lord Jesus Christ said
to Thomas, He said, Look at my hands. Take your finger and put it right
here. Take your hand and plunge it into my side. Those scars
that he bore while he was talking to Thomas, he bears right now.
That's the way he was after he was raised from the dead. And
he ascended into heaven right now. And that blood ever answers
when I see the blood. God Almighty has always seen
the blood. I've always loved you, He said. I've loved you
with an everlasting love. All that the Father chose in
Christ. That's what Ephesians 1-4 said.
He hath chosen us in Him before the foundations of the world.
Let God be true. Let every man be a liar. God,
God's Word, God's Word, God's Word. Heaven and earth is going
to fade away, but not my Word. Oh, may He give us heart, bow. Lord, as You say, as You say. I love just that one time I can
read of when Peter, the Lord came out and this, Peter's answer
answers for every believer. concerning God's Word. The Lord
walked up to him. He said, You caught any fish?
He said, Cast your net on the other side. Peter said, Well, we fished all night, you know.
We've been here all night long. But that's your Word. And they
said the nets were as they were. beginning to break. They pulled
a haul of fish in. Oh, it's Your Word. All that God the Father chose,
all that the Son redeemed, all that shall surely be regenerated
in quickening grace. God was going to send His Lamb.
And the Lord sent a man. to announce that Lamb. That is
what verse 6 says of John 1. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. And at the appointed time, the
one, that is, John the Baptist who was filled with the Holy
Ghost from his mother's womb. That is an amazing thought. But
it is absolutely so. God says so. Filled with the
Holy Ghost. from his mother's womb, one whose
calling it was to bear witness of the Lamb the next day. That's
what verse 29 says. That is, the next day following
John's meeting with those Pharisees. Remember when he talked to them?
Are you this? Are you that? No, don't know.
I'm just a voice. That's the next day. John seeth
Jesus coming unto him. And John with recollection, full
recollection, filled with the Holy Ghost. I don't doubt one second reflecting
back on the words of our Holy Spirit, our God, on the words
of Moses, the Lamb, the Lamb, God's Lamb, that Lamb that was
slain. Oh, and those sacrifices over
and over, picturing, picturing, picturing. And he saw, the Scripture
says, Jesus coming to him. And the Spirit of God told him, that's Him. And John
said, Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the
world. There was nothing in Him, the Scripture says. There was
no beauty in Him that we should behold Him. He didn't walk with
a kind of a halo around. He wasn't little angels flying
around him. He wasn't, you know. God taught him. And I'll tell
you this, that's how we know him today by faith. How do you
know? How do you know? How do you know
that this God right here that we're preaching, how do you know
that He's God? Because His Spirit bears witness
with our spirit. This is Him. The next day, behold
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Boy, you know, I see the scapegoat. Remember that? Leviticus 17,
I think. Two goats brought to the priest.
One of them, the priest put his hands on one. That one right
there is going to die. There's a picture of Christ,
our substitute. That other goat. Hands put on
him. They took him away. There he
is, taking away the sins. Where did he go? Into the wilderness. Where did he go? They're gone.
Where did he go? They're behind the Father's back. Where did they go? Cast into
the sea. Where did they go? They're gone. They're gone. God's Lamb. This is the Lamb
of God's own providing. Isaac said to Abraham, he says,
Father, I've got the wood, got the fire. Where's the Lamb? My son. God will provide Himself
a Lamb. Oh, how that thrills my heart
to think. He's not looking to me. He's
not looking to my obedience. He's not looking to my will. He's not looking to my works. He said, when I see the blood,
when I see the Lamb, when I see Him, when I see Him, I'll pass
over you. Not when I see you. Oh, may God
Almighty keep us from looking to ourselves. May God Almighty
keep us from looking to our ability. This is the Lamb. This is Him.
This is the Lamb without spot. This is the willing Lamb. He
was oppressed, afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. He brought
as a Lamb to the slaughter as a sheep before her shearers is
dumb, silent. He opened not His mouth. Why?
This is why He came. This is why He came. Here He
is, the redemption of His people, the Father's will before the
foundation of the world, all that the Father has given Him.
Here He is as the federal head. He's not in this world in human
nature, in the flesh. He's not here for Himself. He's here for those that He's
everlastingly loved. He's walking as the representative. He was made flesh for them, for
us, the elect, God's chosen. His meat, this is what I feed
on, this is what I desire, this is what I long for, is to do
the will of Him that sent me. Here's God's sacrifice. In him
is life. In him is life. Not in you, not in me, in him. And that lamb right there, his
sacrifice is sufficient for the salvation of all God's elect.
This is he that taketh away the sin of the world. Isaiah said, Surely he hath borne
our griefs, carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. When he went to that cross, bearing the sins of all that
the Father had ever given him, he said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. Let me ask you something. What really happened at Calvary? What really happened? Some say,
well, it was merely a legal thing. It didn't really, they say, have
Anything to do with him personally. Just like. They say when that
priest laid his hand on that lamb. When that. Priest laid his hand on that
lamb, they said, well, it was just that. It was it was merely
it was a legal thing. It was legal thing. See, he wasn't. He wasn't affected any more than
that lamb was affected. Now let me tell you something.
Here is the fact of the matter. He himself is holy, harmless,
guiltless, perfect. There is the Lamb of God, perfect,
perfect. In Him, no guile, based totally
on His absolute obedience to the Father. As the man, God the
man, there's the Son of Man, and that man, God Almighty, the
God-man, he was perfect in his obedience. As God the Son, he's
absolutely holy in his essence as God. But I'll tell you this,
he's holy in his essence as a man. Perfect, perfect, perfect. What happened? What happened
at Calvary? When it says in Isaiah 53, verse
11, He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied
by his knowledge, shall my righteous servant justify many, for he
shall bear their iniquities. He shall bear their iniquities.
Someone says, well, actually what happens was the Father just
kind of placed them right here. Didn't affect Him at all. Didn't
have any effect on Him really. He was just going to bear the
guilt. He was bearing the guilt. The word bear. The word bear. He shall bear
their iniquities. The word bear there means pregnant. He shall bear their iniquities.
Now, let me ask you something, you who are mothers. When you
bore your child for nine months, was it merely a legal thing with
you? I mean, this really doesn't have anything to do with me.
It's just merely a legal thing. This child will be a it'll be
a legal birth. It's just kind of a sort of on
paper birth certificate. Really? No. You bore that child. He shall
bear their iniquities. The word is gravid. Look it up. It means one thing. It means
pregnant. Now, we're talking about something
that is so holy and so blessed and so indescribably so. As Brother Scott told me one
day, he said, you always want to be respectful. We never want
to say anything that is disrespectful concerning our Lord being made
sin. That's what it said. He was made
sin. And there's times that I've tried
to speak on that, and I have to take a breath in trying to
be careful not to say anything that's disrespectful, him being
made sin. But let me ask you something.
What are you by nature? What are you by nature? What
am I by nature? You say, well, we're sin, sinners. What's it going to take for God
Almighty to put away your guilt? He's going to have to be made
what you are. If He Himself was not made sin,
if He Himself did not bear our iniquities, then God killed an
innocent man and the Father forsook Him. Now, I do take a breath
in anxious carefulness to not say anything disrespectful, but
as Brother Scott told me, don't you ever take away the glory
of what God Almighty did in the redemption of His people. This
is God's Lamb. He was made sin. That's the Lamb of God. This
is He that taketh away the sin of the world. This is he, John
said, verse 30, of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is
preferred before me, for he was before me. John had already said
that before. He said, I said that before. He cometh after me because he was born
six months after me in this life, but he said this is the eternal
God. He's preferred before me. And
I knew him not, verse 31, but that he should be made manifest
to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing
with water." I knew him not. I knew him not. Elizabeth was John's mama. Mary
was the virgin conceived of the Holy Ghost. This virgin that bore, just like
you and I were born and came into this world, she gave birth
to the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Lamb. They were six months difference
in their pregnancy. And they were cousins. John 1, verse 36, And behold,
thy cousin Elizabeth, She hath also conceived a son in her old
age." And this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. So the Scripture bears out, well,
number one, just based on John saying, he said, I knew him not.
I never met him personally. We didn't grow up together. A lot of relatives in this congregation
here. Cousins, brothers and sisters. You grew up together. You saw
your cousin. Neil, all you guys and gals. John said, I knew him not. I was his cousin, but I never
met him. Let me just show you this in
closing. Luke 1. This is where John the Baptist
grew up, Luke 1.76. And thou, child, Luke 1.76, shall
be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before
the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of
salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins,
through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from
on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of
peace, and the child grew, that is, John the Baptist, and waxed
strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his
showing unto Israel." John the Baptist, he grew up in the desert. Our Lord, the Scripture says
in Luke 2, 39-40, and when they had performed all things according
to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee. to their
own city Nazareth. And the child grew and waxed
strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God
was upon him." So the Scripture tells where they both grew up.
You say, well, how do you know they didn't meet? The Spirit of God said through
John. I knew him not. I never met him. I didn't have any personal, physical
correspondence with him. But that he should be made manifest
to Israel, this is the way that the Spirit of God decreed that
I would announce him through baptism. Now here John relates
the purpose of baptism. It was to make manifest the Lord
Jesus Christ. John, you remember, was the son
of Zacharias. He was a priest and therefore
John's Levite. And John was doing just exactly
what the law does to God's elect. It points him to Christ. It shows
him their need of Christ because nobody can deal with the law
of God and obey God. You don't want to deal with God's
law outside of Christ. John baptized in Jordan, the
river of death. What did John's baptism signify? What's the difference between
John's baptism and believers' baptism? John's baptism was a
baptism called a baptism of repentance. That is, that death is deserved. by every sinner. That's what
it, you know. Brother Henry Mahan made this
statement. John's baptism differs from believer's baptism in that
the believer is not confessing that death is his due. Brother Henry said that's what
John's baptism did. John's baptism was a confession
of death that's due to me. But believer's baptism It shows
forth the fact that we died in Christ, that we've died to sin,
and we've died with Him. One of them said, ìThis is what
you deserve.î The other one said, ìHe put away my guilt, and I
confess Him and trust Him.î Paul said, ìI'm crucified with Christ,
nevertheless I live.î Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live not by my faith. The life that
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God
as my substitute, the man, Christ Jesus, his faith, his faithfulness. His obedience, the one in whom
God was well pleased. The life that I now live in the
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and
gave Himself for me. Our faith that is given, and
it is given unto us to believe. This is what we believe. We believe
that His faith, His honor, His obedience, that is our life. He is our life. He obeyed God. Paul wasn't there. He said, I'm crucified with Christ.
Paul wasn't there. He wasn't present. Scripture
does not bear out that Paul was present on the day of the Lord's
actual crucifixion. But I will tell you this, as
a member of the body of Christ, as a member of the church of
God's bride, Paul and every one of God's elect, was in Christ. He was in Christ. The Lord there,
boy, what a great mystery. Here is all of God's elect in
Him, obeying as He obeyed, walking as He walked, dying as He died,
buried when He was buried, raised when He was raised, ascended
when He ascended, And in the eternal purpose and
will and glory of almighty God, we're seated with him right now
in the heavenlies, glorified right now. You said that doesn't
make sense. Well, humanly speaking, I can
understand that. But I'll tell you this, there's
a glorious revelation there of being found in him. And in time,
we're going to actually behold. the manifestation of what Almighty
God says is right now. May the Lord be blessed and honored,
and may we be comforted for Christ's sake. Amen.