Good to see all of you. How about,
see if you can find this in your Bible, John chapter 1, Gospel
of John chapter 1. My purpose this morning in reference
to John 1 is to read the first 37 verses out of this gospel. And I may have to stop here and
there and add just a word or two, but I do want to finish
what I began this morning. And I'm very thankful that I
haven't lost any of my notes. The subject this morning comes
out of this same chapter at verse 29. It is, Behold the Lamb of
God. Behold the Lamb of God. These are the words of John the
Baptist, so recorded in the first chapter of John. Now before we
begin to read and speak, let us ask the Lord to help us, to
teach us, because no man can do this. You can read to your
blue in the face, and that doesn't make it to the heart. It's the
soul, it's the heart, it's spiritual hearing and spiritual seeing. And that element of truth is
totally lost on today's religion. It's just missing, it's not there.
You never hear about it. You just go through some outward
things and you're told that you're ready for heaven, but I have
a feeling if you don't know a great deal more than that, especially
when it comes to knowing and loving and trusting our Lord
Jesus Christ. Alright, let us pray. Lord, thank you for letting us
come together in this place this morning. We do not deserve this. Oh, how
privileged we are to find a place in all the religion
in the land of America, to find a place where the true gospel
is being proclaimed. Lord, this is certainly not our
doing. You yourself arranged this before
this world was ever made. You caused us to embrace a truth
that we had never heard before, but now we cherish it with all
of our mind and heart and strength and soul. Because it is but one
true gospel, this entire universe knows of no other. And let us rejoice in what you
have shown us and will show us this day in your Word. What glorious
things we're about to read. Oh my, how glorious indeed. Lord, we beg for your presence,
for your blessing. Teach us who the Lord Jesus is,
what He's already done and what He's now doing and what He will
do. We beg in His dear name. Amen. John chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and that Word is Christ, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God." Christ is God before He assumes His human nature. All things were made by Him. Who's Him? The Lord Jesus Christ
is our Maker. as well as our Redeemer. And
without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was
life. And the life was the light of
men. So that spells these words in
verse 4 about life. This is spiritual life. This is not dying with this fleshly
body and being brought back to life again. That's a different
matter. And the light shines in darkness,
and the darkness comprehends or understands it not. There
was a man sent from God whose name was John. Now there's a
lot of Johns. There's a lot of them now and
a lot of them then. The person that writes this gospel was the
apostle John. But this man they are speaking
about, in regard to this statement, there was a man sent from God
whose name was John. This is John the Baptist. And
we will see him for the first few chapters of this gospel of
John, and then he's beheaded. I won't try to give away what's
in front of us. I need to start back reading.
I don't want to stop this long again if I can help it. There
was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came
for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all men through
him might believe. He was not that light, John the
Baptist was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that
light. And when Christ approached where
John was baptizing in the wilderness, he said, that's the man, that's
Him. The God-man, Christ Jesus. He was not that light, but was
sent to bear witness of that light. That's what believers
are charged with to this day. That was the true light which
lights every man that comes into the world. Two ways to take that. One is that coming into the world
of believers, of people whom God has saved. Christ is the
light of the world. And every man that comes into
the world, he was in the world and the world was made by him,
and the world knew us not. He came unto his own. his own nationality, the Jews,
his own country, the country of Israel. He came unto his own. Now there's one more application
of that, if not more than one, but the other one is, before
God administers grace to our soul, we're in a different boat. We don't know God, we hate God,
we don't like what He says in His book, we don't like being
put in a corner with no other options, but that's simply how
it is. Verse 12 explains this abnormal
behavior on the part of human beings when they believe and
trust Christ and embrace Him. Verse 12, "...but as many as
received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name." Now how is it that
all these other people wouldn't believe, but here somebody is
said to be believing? A bunch of people are said to
be believing. To them that believe on His name. The sentence does not end there.
There is a colon. Now verse 13. Here's the difference
in the people in verse 12 and the ones in the previous verses
just before it. Which were born. Not of blood. We're not talking
about a natural birth. We're talking about a spiritual
birth. Who were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. But what about my free will?
You ain't got no free will. You ain't ever had. You better hope that God will
decide for you and make that application so powerful that
we find it to be absolutely irresistible. Who were born not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. People cannot
cannot cause anyone to become believers. It is an out-of-sight
miracle of grace in the soul of the sinner. Now verse 14,
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory. Speaking of Christ's glory, the
glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth. John, John the Baptist, bear
witness of Him, and cried, saying, This is He of whom I spoke. He that comes after me is preferred
before me. John was just a few months older
than the Lord Jesus in regard to Christ's human conception. He that comes after me is preferred
before me, for he was before me. And of his fullness have
all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given
by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, Christ, He has declared God."
And this is the record of John. This is John the Baptist's record.
When the Jews sent priests and Levites, from Jerusalem to ask
him, who are you? John is out in the wilderness
somewhere near the Jordan River baptizing people to a baptism
of repentance. And so these Jews send messengers
to those spies of theirs in that part of the country. And John confessed in verse 20, after having Heard this statement in verse
19 from those Jews that hated God and hated Christ and hated
John the Baptist. Who are you, they said. Who are
you? Perhaps you could say, they said,
who do you think you are? And they ask him. What then? Are you Elijah? He said, I'm not. Are you that
prophet? He answered, no. Then they said
to him again, who are you that we may give an answer to them
that sent us? What say you of yourself? He said, I am the voice of one
crying in the wilderness. I am the voice. Oh, what a voice that is in the
wilderness. Make straight the way of the
Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. And they which were sent, wonder
what religious party they belong to, were sent of the Pharisees. And that breed of false believer,
confessing to know God and don't know Him, In fact, they have
to doctor the Bible description of God
or they can't even pretend that they know Him or love Him. He said, I'm the voice, in verse
23, of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the
Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. And they which were sent were
of the Pharisees. And they asked him and said unto
him, Why do you baptize? Talking to John the Baptist.
If you be not that Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer, why do
you baptize? You neither claim to be Christ,
nor Elijah, nor that prophet. I don't know what prophet that
is and I don't know how to find out. Jesus answered them saying,
I baptize with water, John said that, I'm sorry, I baptize with
water, but there stands one among you whom you know not. He it is who coming after me
is preferred before me, whose shoes latched I am not worthy
to unloose." These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan
where John was baptizing. The next day John sees Jesus
coming unto him and said, Behold the Lamb of God. The one and
only Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. Now it's not the sin of all the
people on this globe. It is a whole world of people
who confess to be sinners from head to toe that make up this
body that is here referred to. What verse did I quit on? Yep, thank you so much. I've
got it written right here in front of me, but y'all just influenced
me the wrong way or something. I get to chasing these things
and I can't stop. Alright, verse 30. Just going
to read through 37. This is He of whom I said, After
me comes 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, and John
bear record, saying, I saw the Spirit. the Holy Spirit of God
descending 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, Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending
and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizes with the Holy
Spirit. And John said, And I saw and
bear record that this is the Son of God. Again the next day. Now look at this now. John is... It's not much more
time left on this earth before he's beheaded by Herod. The next day after John stood
and two of his disciples And looking upon Jesus as he walked,
John said to those two disciples, Behold the Lamb of God. And look what effect it had on
those two disciples. And the two disciples heard him
speak, And they followed Jesus. They heard John say, Behold the
Lamb of God. And they left off following John
and became the followers of Christ. And you will find in a list just
beyond in this chapter the number of disciples that become believers
by virtue of this wonderful revelation on the part of John the Baptist
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Alright, now let's see if we
can follow my outline. First thing about this, behold
the Lamb of God, is that this person is God's messenger. His name is John the Baptist,
and he must see Christ for himself before he can tell others of
who he is. Now, where and when and how and
why, I'm not sure how John learned all these things about the Lord
Jesus. I'm certain as I'm standing here
that God revealed it to him, but it is a wonder indeed that
he knew it with such precision and was able to testify to it
without putting it under a bunch of garbage so you don't ever
get to it. Preachers are geniuses at stuff
like that, just covering up the truth so you won't see it. In verse 34 of this same chapter, take the words of John the Baptist
in verse 34, and I saw and bear record that this is the Son of
God. Now that, my friend, should be
of interest to us, if we expect God to be at peace with us when
we leave this world, we'd better be able to say that we, like
John the Baptist, bear record that this man, this God-man,
Christ Jesus, is none other than the Son of God. He's the Son
of God, co-equal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
So, whether it is speaking of John or ourselves, we must see
Christ for ourselves. Now, the only time I'm going
to let you turn, well I can't keep you from turning otherwise,
but I'm going to try not to give you the scripture until I finish
reading it, but within the compass of the Gospel of John. Now that,
where is Miss Emma? I bet you she can keep up with
that pretty easily. And that chap right there, and
maybe there's some chaps over here, and what do you call girls
when you call chaps? I'm turning to John 6.40, chapter
6, verse 40. Here are the words of our Lord
Jesus, John 6.40. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which sees the Son and believes on
Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up at the
last day." Now you can't say it any plainer than that. It's not my work, it's the work
of Christ for me. It's the work of Christ upon
me and it's the work of Christ in me. What a glorious statement
indeed. Alright? We must then see Christ
for ourselves. Why? Because salvation is by
seeing and looking. Not physical sight, but spiritual
sight. These natural eyes cannot see
beyond the outward body of a person. But my goodness, when we find
out who Christ is, and we see who He really is, my goodness,
it is a time indeed. How about hanging on to John
a little bit more, and we go over to chapter 9. Now here we
have the man that was born blind. Now that blindness is the blindness
of all blindness. Mr. Hawker says there are not
even any eyes in his eye socket. He's totally blind from birth. He was born blind. And in John chapter 9, This man
comes to the Lord Jesus and begs to be healed of his blindness. And he's laying on a bed. And
our Lord healed him, told him to take up his bed and go to
his house. Well, the Pharisees stopped him.
They said, you're violating the Sabbath. You can't do this. Can you fathom that? Religion
is about outward traits, outward works, outward this, that, and
the other. But I'm telling you, if life
is not within us, we'll perish. has to go to the pool of Siloam
in order to wash the clay from his eyes that our Lord put there. And he came back seeing. So he's
been before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Court. They've interrogated
him some three times, as well as his parents. And now they
said, we just kick you out. So he's no longer a Jew in their
sight and cannot come to the temple or the tabernacle. Well
boy, that's the best thing that could be done. There's plenty of places, in
fact including this one many years ago, that that's what was
true here. It's just dead people trying
to act like live people. This man It's interesting how
he talks to the Sanhedrin. He doesn't back down, he doesn't
get scared and trembly or anything. He just tells them exactly how
it is. And so the Lord Jesus finds him shortly thereafter,
after they release him. And in verses of the same chapter,
John 9, look at verses 35, 36, 37, 38. We've read these, I know, a hundred
times and no telling how many more than that. Let's start at 35. Jesus heard
that they had cast him out of the Jewish religion. And when
He had found him, He said unto him, Do you believe on the Son
of God? Now remember, this man's been cured
by Christ. of blindness. Do you believe on the Son of
God? He answered and said, Who is
He, Lord, that I might believe on Him? You know what the stock answer
today would be in most places, and then too, I'm sure. Oh sure,
I know Him. And He's standing right there
face to face with him. Who is He, Lord, that I might
believe on Him? And Jesus said unto him, You
have both seen Him, and it is He that talks with you. And this
man immediately said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him. And Jesus
said, For judgment I have come into this world, that they which
see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind. And Jesus said unto them, if
you were blind, you would have no sin. But now you say we see,
therefore your sin remains. We must own up to what this book
tells us about ourselves. We're lost, dead, blind, helpless,
hopeless sinners from head to toe, every last one of us. We've become to see our own unworthiness. And then verses 35 through 37,
which was a part of our original reading in John chapter 1, so
we'll go back to John 1. 35 through 37. Again, the next day, after John
stood and two of his disciples, looking upon Jesus as He walked,
He said, Behold, the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard
John the Baptist speak, and they followed the Lord Jesus. Followed Him. Followed Him. Creatures and believers, no matter how many people they
may speak to in regard to their souls, and may indeed find that
they have been instruments of God in the salvation of some
people, Yet, they do not expect recognition and honor, as we
plainly saw in that statement, verses 35, 36, and 37, in regard
to John the Baptist. The next thing we're called to,
we'll take your Bible now, let's turn to Chapter 3 in John. In verse 30. Here's John the Baptist words
again. Speaking of Christ, He must increase,
but I must decrease. And that is a rule of thumb that
follows the believer from the time of his conversion till the
time he goes to glory. Christ must increase, but I must
decrease. How about chapter 5, verse 44? Ah, let's start at verse 40,
so that you'll understand better how to apply verse 44. John 5, verse 40. These are the
words of our Lord Jesus, and you will not come to me that
you might have life. You simply will not come to me
that you might have life. No wonder David records, inspired
of God, in Psalm 110, I believe it is, Your people, Thy people
shall be willing, when? In the day of His power, the
power of Christ upon our souls. So in this statement that we're
looking at, Verse 44, how can you believe who receive honor
one of another and seek not the honor that comes from God only? What a wonder indeed. Now the second thing in regard
to John chapter 1, this time it's verse 29. which we have
already covered but I need to go back and speak of some other
things relative to it. Verse 29 It's another one of those statements
where John the Baptist said, the next day John sees Jesus
coming unto him and says, behold the Lamb of God which takes away
the sin of the world. And here in regard to this statement, This lamb that John the Baptist
preached, the message that he declared, is that Christ is the
one and only sacrifice. Do you remember when the children
of Israel were imprisoned in Egypt, made slaves to work for
Pharaoh and whomever he pleased? The night before they left Egypt,
Every family, every household among the Jews had the Passover
meal and it was the sacrifice of an animal, a lamb, the lamb
slain in the purpose of God before this world was ever, ever made. So the message to preach is,
behold the Lamb, and that Lamb is the only sacrifice for sinners. In Genesis chapter 4, it is Abel's
sacrifice. Although his brother was enraged
that God accepted Abel's sacrifice, and pretty shortly thereafter
he killed his brother and became a vagabond forever. Abraham in
Genesis 22. God commanded him to go up into
this mountain, take his son with him, and sacrifice him to God. This is in Genesis 18, maybe
something like that. And Abraham was about to put
the knife in his son's body when that angelic messenger, you know,
stopped him. He learned the meaning of substitution
because caught in a thicket right near that altar was a ram caught
with his horns and the angel told Abraham, there's the sacrifice. There's the sacrifice. Let's
see, he called Jehovah at that point Jehovah Jireh, J-I-R-E-H. And even Moses himself is said
in our Bibles to declare this same truth. Here's what the Lord said to
Moses. I can't tell you that, you might
try to turn. 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 in regard
to the Israelites, and the blood shall be to you for a token upon
the house. where you are, and when I see
the blood, I will pass over you." When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. Preacher, I can't have a religion
that has anything to do with blood. I can't have a religion
that's used animals for sacrifice. Then you don't know who the God
of this Bible is. You take that up with Him and
you might find out you don't even know Him, let alone love
Him. And the same is true of me. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. And the plague shall not be upon
you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. And then we come in regard to this Lamb of God,
All other lambs except Christ and Him crucified are but pictures
and types of the real atonement on the cross of Calvary through
the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. All other lambs
are but types and pictures. This Lamb of God has a decided
purpose Oh, that last scripture was Exodus
12, 12-13, and this one is found in the Revelation, and that's
as far as I'll go. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship
Him. And that Him is not Christ. whose names are not written in
the Lamb's Book of Life. But if our name is in the Lamb's
Book of Life, we certainly, we certainly must worship the Son
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-Man Christ Jesus. in regard to His purpose, His
person, I'm sorry, on the cross. And then, after He was raised
from the dead and spent some short period of time in this
world, He ascended to glory. And that's where He is right
now. And it's been how long? Almost 2,000 years ago, roughly. And He's still there. He intercedes for His people.
He gives them what they need. He keeps us safe. Just every kind of wonderful
blessing. He is called the Lamb who takes
away the sin of the world. Not the whole wide world, but
the world of condemned sinners and who know themselves to be
sinners. This Lamb who takes away the
sin of the world. His message demands action. This word, behold, is a pretty
interesting word. Very interesting, in fact. Isaiah put it this way, oh by
the way, the other one was Revelation 13, 8, and this one is, I'll
get to it in a moment. Look unto me and be you saved,
all the ends of the earth. Why? Because I'm God and there's
none else. There's only one God in three
persons. Not four persons, three persons. I am God and there is none else. So this Lamb takes away the sin
of a whole world of poor sinners. His message demanded action. We are saved by looking to Christ. Here it is from Isaiah. Look
unto Me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth, for I
am God, and there is none else, none else beside Me." People who truly have some knowledge
of what we have come to believe in regard to God's grace and
mercy in Christ and salvation and a number of other things. They think we've gone off our
rocker. Well, if it is, I'm sure glad to be there. Tickled to death. If you would be saved, what does
this book say? Behold, the Lord Jesus Christ,
behold Him. You won't find Him trying to
not allow you to see Himself. I assure you of that. If we would
be saved, we must indeed believe and trust the precious Lord Jesus
Christ. Behold Christ, if you would be
holy. Hebrews says, follow peace with
all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Now these are statements that
just box us up on both ends. The Word of God says in the book
of Hebrews, follow peace with all men and holiness, without
which no man shall see the Lord." And then we come, not only in
this matter of holiness, but the matter of assurance. The
very next verse goes on to say, follow peace with all men and
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. We are then urged, looking diligently,
lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness
spring up trouble you and thereby many be defiled. Then I have
but one more statement. I'm doing pretty well, aren't
I? We are to behold Christ if we
expect to be resurrected in His likeness. Psalm 17 verse 15,
As for me, I will behold your face. This is David speaking.
As for me, I will behold your face. In righteousness I shall
be satisfied when I awake with your likeness. Now David had this expectation,
and it is enshrined in Scripture. You'd find those statements in
Psalm 17 and verse 15. Alright, that's probably enough.