Turn with me, if you would, to
John, Gospel of John, chapter 1, beginning in verse 35. Again, the next day after John
stood. two of his disciples. You know, John, the Apostle John,
is writing, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, these words,
the Apostle John. He is talking about John the
Baptist. This is the record of John, John
the Baptist. record of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the next day. And you
know, there's nothing that's insignificant in scriptures. It's written. A lot of times
we read these words, and to our own ignorance, we read words,
and sometimes they just go right over our heads, you know. We
just read them. There's Scripture, we know that,
but we miss. But John the Apostle is writing
these words, and very probably, he's one of the two of the disciples that he's talking
about. John the Apostle, many times in Scripture, wouldn't
refer to himself. that disciple that Jesus loved,
that just had a spirit of humility about him. It wasn't false humility.
The Lord brought him down, taught him some things. More than likely,
he's one of these two disciples that's being spoken of right
here. The next day, you know, with
John the Apostle, something's getting ready to happen. John
the Baptist is getting ready to make a a statement in just
a second, but the next day, if John, the apostle John, truly
is one of those two apostles, what a day it was, made mention
the next day. Again, the next day, after John
stood, he was standing there looking
at the Lord Jesus Again, that's not insignificant. John the Baptist, the Lord, our
blessed Lord in this life, it was his cousin, born six months
in time before the Lord Jesus Christ, the forerunner, ordained
of Almighty God, the Lord Himself, John the Baptist, filled with
the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. Mary and Elizabeth came
in each other's presence, the two babies in each of their wombs. John the Baptist, the baby still
in his mama's womb, leaped in the presence of the Lord, the
forerunner, of our blessed Savior. He was a preacher, and he had,
I'm sure, some of the same things happen to him. As far as his
ministry was concerned, he was short. It wasn't very long. Preacher put in jail. His head was cut off because
he was truthful concerning our Lord. Religious leaders of his
day rejected his testimony. Great crowds heard him, but very
few truly were, by the Spirit of God, converted. As far as
men were concerned, very few. But what a man! The Lord Himself said no greater
man, born of woman, no greater man than the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you imagine? What an epitaph! It was Christ
Himself that said that. Those words are not insignificant,
regardless of what the results outwardly were. I know this for
a fact. The words that this man preached,
the Word of God, God's Word, accomplished exactly what God
sent it forth to accomplish. You know that. Whatever outwardly
was accomplished, it was not a shame to the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, also to the
Greek. John, it says, the next day,
the next day John stood. Here again, that's not insignificant. Those words put there would just
stop, just a second, just consider. Two of his disciples are just
standing there, standing with his disciples. You know, let all unnecessary
activity cease. Let everything stop. Now, I know, you do too, you
know how man by nature, you get a crowd, get a group of folks
fired up. We're going to have to get a
little excitement going, you know. Have to get a little pizzazz
and get the song services going. Get us, you know, some good upbeat
music. Something a little contemporary.
Something that'll appeal, you know. Have something for the
children. What y'all got for the children?
You know, that's a big deal. What John Dew just stood there. Moses. leading the children of
Israel, standing between the army of the Egyptians and the
Red Sea. What did he say? Exodus 14, 13 says, Fear ye not,
stand still and see. Just stand still. Just relax. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord, which he will show to you today. The Egyptians whom
you have seen today, you shall see them again. No more forever. Stand still. Just be still. Just
relax. I don't know. I don't know what
you're going through. I don't know the depth of what
you're going through, but stand still. Just relax. Ask Him, Lord, would you grant
me the grace to just relax? Stand still. Nothing more refreshing
more spiritually refreshing than to be, by God's Spirit, made
to just stand still. Just be stood. The next day,
John stood. This is what he said, looking
upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of Now, you know, that seems to
be such a simple message. He had just said that in verse
29. That's what he said. The next day, John seeth Jesus
coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. Just a very few verses later,
the next day, he stood with two of his disciples standing beside
him, and John said, Behold the Lamb of God. Why does that message seem so
simple and insignificant to the carnal mind? Well, turn to 1
Corinthians, chapter 2. 1 Corinthians, chapter 2, verse
4 and 5, Paul preaching to the church in Corinth, and he said,
My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God." What did he say, Ben? Behold the Lamb of God. Men say, are you going to stay
on that same message? all the time, is that all you're
going to preach? You're going to preach just concerning
Christ, preaching Christ and Him crucified? Yeah, by God's
grace. I'll say it right there. The
next day, he stood and he said, Behold the Lamb of God pointing
men to Christ. Here's your hope. Here's life. There's God's Lamb. Men say,
that's such a simple message, simple. Let me tell you how simple
it is. Almighty God, from all eternity,
eternal God, God Himself, indescribable, indescribable God. was made flesh. God Himself took
upon Himself flesh. A body was prepared for Him.
That holy thing conceived by the Holy Ghost. God Himself tabernacled
among men. God walked and you just touched
Him. Heard him speak, heard his voice,
heard words of life, eternal words. That's what Peter said.
He didn't say, Thou hast the words of life. He said, Thou
hast the words of eternal life. Behold, the Lamb of God. The Lamb of God. What does that
insinuate? Personal innocence? The Lamb.
Lamb without spot, without blemish. Sacrifice. Old Testament. Hundreds of years they've been
taking these animals, put them on an altar, cut its throat,
burn the flesh, take that blood, sprinkle it on the altar, on
the people. Once a year, a priest would come
in, and not without blood, and he'd take them and sprinkle at
mercy seats. Atonement. Appeasement. God is
satisfied. Here is God's satisfaction. The Lamb of God. God satisfied
in Him. God is satisfied. No other way. No other way. I'm the way. I'm
the truth. I'm the life. No man comes to
the Father but by Me. The only hope for humanity. The only hope for a sinner. The
Lamb of God. Simple? Yeah. Amazingly, mercifully
simple. Behold, the Lamb of God sets
forth satisfaction, substitute. Brother Scott talking about it.
My guilt to Him. Oh, I've heard that. I've heard
that all these years. God teach me that. My guilt laid
to Him. His righteousness, that righteousness
as He earned as a man in obedience to God's law, He walked perfectly. There was a man that walked perfectly
before God, obeyed Him in every word, every thought, every deed,
obeyed God's law, every jot and tittle of that law perfectly. I can't even imagine what I'm
saying. But I know it so. By faith, grasp
hold. Behold, the Lamb of God." The two disciples, verse 37,
heard Him speak, and they followed Jesus. Looking unto Him, looking upon
Jesus, that's what Hebrews 12, 1 and 2, looking unto Him, an
author, a finisher. Let us run with patience. That's almost when you think
about that phrase, you know, run with patience. I mean, you
think about running and you think about running with patience. By faith,
trusting, disrace, lay aside all these things, sin that does
so easily beset us, patience, looking unto Him. These two disciples,
they heard Him speak. They followed the Lord. I wonder
how many heard John preach. I wonder how many people heard.
I don't know. I know these two did. The Spirit of God recorded
that these two men... How many times did the wonder
of the blessed message of the Lamb fall on deaf ears. How many times did I hear it?
John had just said in verse 29, before, Behold the Lamb of God.
You read it. It is not recorded by God's Spirit. It's not recorded that anyone
heard or anyone responded. But in the 37th verse, after
he said, Behold the Lamb of God, these two men, two disciples,
heard him. These two men heard with a heart
made receptive by the Spirit of God, and they followed. Followed. I looked that word
up. Followed. It means to be in union with. Followed. Men follow in military. They follow a commander. Why? They trust him. They trust him. May not be. Maybe as far as militarily,
Maybe they don't like a lot of his characteristics, but they
follow him because he is the leader. These two followed him
because they loved him, they heard him, saw him, followed
Jesus. Followed him, going in the same
way with him. You never know who will hear. John preached the same message. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold,
the Lamb of God and the Spirit of God blessed it." Someone says
that was the message. That was the message. That it
might not appear to be in the power of men, but in the power
of Almighty God. This message that we set forth,
this Christ, who knows, maybe somebody hear Him today. There's
the answer. They asked to test. They heard
Him and they followed Him. They followed Him. They followed
Him. They heard John preach, and they
followed Christ. They heard with ears made to
hear. There's the Lamb of God, and
God took that message and taught it to them. That's the Lamb of
God. That's who I need. I need Him. That's the result
of true hearing. They followed Him. They heard. How can a man hear unless God
sends a message? John preached, they heard, and
they followed Christ. Then the Lord Jesus Christ turned
and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? And
they said unto him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted,
Master, where dwellest thou? He followed him. What is it to follow
Christ? What is it to follow Him? They
followed Him. Well, I know that the carnal
mind has got an answer for this thing of following Christ. And
here it is. I think it's stated best in Judges
21-25, "...in those days there was no king in Israel, and every
man did that which was right, in his own eyes. Leave a man to himself, and he'll
decide what it is to follow the Lord Jesus. He'll make up. He's
got a God that he creates in his mind. This is the way I say
you're supposed to do it. You're supposed to either speak
in tongues to do it, or you've got to be baptized to be saved,
or you've got to be a member of this church. If you're not
a member of that particular denomination, man will do what seems right
in his own eyes. They followed Christ. What He
asked them and what they said revealed what it is to follow
Him. The Lord Jesus Christ turned,
saw them following, saith unto them, What seek ye? What are you looking for? What
do you want? What's your desire? What's your
motive? Now, I'm going to just ask you
right now. What seek ye? Now, you know whatever one of
us do well to ask ourselves this right now. What is my desire? Why am I here? Why am I here? Well, I kind of
grew up in this church. Mom and Daddy went here. I've
always been here. I like, you know, I like the
preacher. I like, you know, I like the folks here. My family's here. I like, you know. Why are you
here? What seek you? What's your purpose? Well, the
scripture reveals that there were some that followed him because
he fed them. Took five loaves, two little
fish, blessed them, break them, gave them to the people. And
after everybody ate, five thousand men plus the women and children,
a lot of folks to feed with five loaves, two fish. Twelve baskets
were picked up in fragments after everybody ate. The next day,
the Lord had gone across the sea, and a big crowd followed
Him. And He told them, He says, The
reason you followed Me is because I fed you. That's the reason you're
here. Some had followed Him because
it was a popular thing to do. It's respectable. Respectable
from other people. Respectable looks good on your
name. I've read obituaries. I read an obituary. It's amazing
to me how quickly somebody's life is, you know, reduced to
just a little column about that long, about, you know, that big,
if you're, you know, really somebody. There's a member of so-and-so
church, you know, deacon, you know, survived by, you know,
these people from this church, and he said, looks good, popular. What do you seek? What seek ye? The Lord turned and saw them
follow, and said unto them, What seek ye? And they said unto him,
Rabbi, Master, where dwellest thou? And you think, Now that's... He asked them, What do you want? What seek ye? And their answer
was, Where dwellest thou? That was the question? That was
the answer to his question? Where dwellest thou? Well, the
problem is that we may be putting the emphasis on the wrong word.
See, immediately our mind goes to the word dwellest. That's
not what they ask. Where dwellest thou? Or where
are you going to be? David said, if I make my bed
in hell, He's there. Every heart has an object, has an object, a desire. If the
heart has not Christ, His honor, His person, His glory, as its
object, then something else is. come unto me, all ye that labor
heavy labor, I'll give you rest." I, that's what Christ said, I
am the way. Not religion, not this denomination,
being inside this building, I'm thankful that God gave us a place
to meet. But we've met here to hear Him. Where two or three are gathered
in my name, I am in the midst of you." Oh, if these eyes could
see as the eyes of Elisha's servants. Do you remember that? On that
mountain, Elisha's servants saw all those Assyrians surrounding
them. They came to Elisha and said, they got us surrounded. Elijah prayed and said, Lord,
would you open his eyes that he could see? And the Lord opened
his eyes, and there was chariots of fire surrounding those. The prophet told him, he said,
they that be with us are more than they that be with him. Oh, there's the presence. I can't
enter into the depth of that. He said, where two or three gather
in my name, I'm in the midst of you personally. Can you say,
When these men asked him, he said, What seek ye, master? Where dwellest thou? Wherever you're going, that's
where we want to go. Whether it was a cave, whether
it was a little house, whatever it was, wherever you're going,
wherever you go, that's where we want to go. Can you say, at
least in measure, as the heart, the deer, panteth after the water
brook So paneth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth
for God, for the living God. Where dwellest thou? It's not where, it's who. Lord, where are you? I asked
you a minute ago, why are you here? What's your reason for
being here? Why are you not somewhere else?
Can you say? from a heart made sensitive by
God's Spirit. This is where I believe God has
raised up His Word. This is where Christ has been
preached. Years and years, God has blessed
the message of the Gospel. I want to hear of Him. Is that the reason? I want to
hear of Him. The Lord's Word dwelleth there. Lord, where are you preached?
What do you want? What seek ye? Lord, I want to be where Your
Word is set forth, with Christ. I want to be where Christ is
preached. I want to be with Your people. I want to be with those
that You have everlastingly loved. I want to be numbered with them.
I want to be where they are. That is what Moses did. He wanted
to be with the people of God. He numbered himself with them.
Where dwellest thou? The acid test is that a believer
wants to be where his master is, where his master is honored,
where his master is talked about with respect. The Spirit of God
never described where the Lord Jesus Christ actually went. What difference does it make?
Wherever He was is where they wanted to be. If he's given me
the honor of his presence, I'm a blessed man. Come and see."
That's what he said. Lord, where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and
see. Scripture says they came, and
they saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day about
the tenth hour. Come and see. The Lord said to Noah, Come thou
and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I found righteous
before me in this generation. Come. Isaiah 118, Come now, let us
reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they'll be like wool. Come. Come. And with that command,
Almighty God by His irresistible grace, draws a man to Him, and
a man comes willingly, willingly. He wants to come. He wants to
come. Made willing in the day of His
power, God Almighty draws Him. Oh, everyone that thirsteth. Anybody thirsty? Thirsty for
Christ? Thirsty? For the water of life,
come ye to the waters, ye that have no money." No excuse. No money? Come you buy. I don't
have any money. Come. Come. Eat. Come. Buy wine and milk. How? Without money, without price.
Come. By faith it's given to you. Faith. Gift of God. The Spirit and the Bride say,
Come, let him that hears say, Come, let him that is of thirst
come, whosoever will, whosoever will. Let him come, take of the
water of life freely. Oh, what a compassionate invitation. Somebody says, I don't like that
word, invitation. Well, call it what you want to.
Call it whatever you want to. The Lord Jesus Christ saith unto
them, verse 39, That's who he said to them. Who did he say
it to? Anybody else? Them in particular. He says he calls his sheep out.
I call my sheep. That's who I'm going to call.
I call my sheep. I didn't come to call all men. I didn't come without, you know,
any distinction whatsoever. Oh, men are commanded to come,
and those that don't come will answer. No one is going to say
to the Lord, Oh, I wasn't invited. The Scripture says, The Spirit
and the bride say, Come, let him that heareth say, Come, let
him that is athirst come. Is anybody hearing? Anybody thirsty
after Christ? Anybody hungry? I think about
that day, the last day of the Feast, the Lord Jesus Christ
stood and said, If any man thirsts, I just imagine how many folks
are standing around. What do you think? Anybody thirst? Are you thirsty? He wasn't talking to you. But
if a man's thirsty or hungry, he's been made so by the Spirit
of God, by the power of Almighty God, and that man realizes, I'm
thirsty. I've got to have him. And I'm
telling you, have you ever been so thirsty that you just thought
for just a while, if I don't get a drink of water, I think
I'm going to go nuts. I've been so thirsty and I start
imagining a water fountain. This is how I figure it, my simple
mind. I remember a water fountain back when I was in school. And
man, I turned that fountain on. And it didn't come out real fast,
you know, blow it in your face. It was just it just came over
just enough. And there was a big stream of
it and it was cold. And I'm telling you, I'd turn
that water faucet on and I'd come down and I'd start to drink.
And while I was drinking, I was thinking to myself, this has
got to be the most refreshing. This is the coolest. It wasn't
blowing all over my face. It wasn't so close that I couldn't
get my mouth down to that little you know, metal thing like that,
just up above, just perfect. And I could just drink it. Oh,
it was so good. I'd start thinking about that
water. Man, I'd get thirsty. To this day, I think about that
water fountain. Man, when I get thirsty, I think,
oh, my. David, when he was in live battle,
Philistines on one side, and he said this, oh, that I might
drink the well of Bethlehem. Oh, the coolness, that picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If I could drink of Him. Come
and see. They came. They saw where He
dwelt and abode with Him. And it was about the tenth hour. Well, I've got some more notes,
but I think it's time. I'm going to just stop right
there. We'll just pick up, Lord willing,
next time. Our Father, how thankful that
we can have just a time to come and, Lord, hear of you, to look
to behold of the wonder of your blessed grace, that you would
grant a heart for us to truly behold the Lamb of God. How we
pray that you would bless this word to our hearts. We pray,
Lord, that Christ be honored. in the message. Give us ears
to hear, heart to rejoice. Hide that word within our heart. Pray for, Lord, these places
where you've raised up your gospel. Give men and women a heart to
hear that gospel. Blessed, we pray, those pastors,
those preachers that you've given a message and a burden to preach
that gospel, to set forth the glory of the Lord Jesus. We pray,
Lord, that You would bless in these days. We pray now that
You would keep us as we leave. We pray that You would remind
us, Father, of that which we have heard. For Christ's sake,
amen.