We're going to be in John 1 this
evening, but we're going to look at Luke 1 first. When we hear
about John the Baptist, a lot of people have heard about him.
How often we think of someone that ate locusts and honey, eating
grasshoppers and honey. He was dressed in camel's hair,
wasn't he? Isn't that our nature? It's the
first thing we think of when we think of John the Baptist.
What he ate and what he wore. Eat and drink, clothing, first
thing we think of it. I want to labor the conception,
the gestation, and all the events surrounding John so we can enter
in what he has to say about himself when he's asked. I thought, well,
maybe I should. Some may say I ought not. Luke
gets deep into teaching something about John. John the Baptist.
Ain't much written of him. The Lord gave Luke 54 verses
out of 80 in this chapter speaking of John. I think we ought to
pay attention. He put quite a bit of weight
on that. Preserved it for 2,000 years for us to read it. We ought
to pay attention. Luke begins speaking of John
the Baptist's parents, Zacharias, God's priest, his servant, he's
a servant of God, and Elizabeth, his wife. She's of good stock
at the house of Aaron. It begins in verse 6, Luke 1,
6. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the
commandments and ordinance of the Lord, blameless. That's Zacharias
and Elizabeth. And they didn't have any children.
They were stricken in years. They're getting very old. They're
past those times. But the Lord sent an angel. He
sent Gabriel next to that altar of incense. While Zacharias was
in the temple, he was lighting the incense, performing the duties
of a priest. He was doing what was put in
his hand to do, and all the people were outside praying and waiting
on him to come out. It says in verse 12, And when Zacharias
saw him, saw Gabriel, he was troubled, and fear fell upon
him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias, for
thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee
a son, and thou shalt call his name John. Verse 14. and thou shalt have joy with
gladness. And many shall rejoice at his
birth, for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and
shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. And he shall be
filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb, even
from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel
shall he turn unto the Lord their God, and he shall go before him
in the spirit and power of Elias, turn the hearts of the fathers
to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord." God's going to
use this child. You're going to have a baby.
It's going to be a boy. You're going to name him John, and the Lord's
going to use him mightily. Zacharias knew what that meant.
He was the Lord's priest, and he knew the scriptures. He knew
what Isaiah had to say. He knew what Malachi had to say about
this one coming. This is going to be him. Verse
18 says, And Zechariah said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know
this? For I am an old man, and my wife
is well stricken in years. How? How? And the angel answering said
unto him, I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God, and I
am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these glad tidings. I am here to tell you how. I
am here to tell you what the Lord gave me. And behold, thou
shalt be dumb and not able to speak until the day that these
things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words,
which shall be fulfilled in their season." And the people waited
for Zacharias and marveled that he tarried so long in the temple.
And when he came out, he could not speak to them. And they perceived
that he had seen a vision in the temple. For he beckoned unto
them, he waved his arms around, tried to talk to them, sign language
the best they could, hand and arm signals, and remained speechless. He was without a voice, but he
had a prophecy. Without a voice, carried inside
his heart a prophecy from the Lord. What's going to happen?
What would I do? What would you do? The Lord gave
you something to tell and He took away your ability to tell
it. Go home? Go out in the woods? Go fishing?
You continue serving the Lord in fear. Look in verse 23, And
it came to pass that as soon as the days of his ministration
were accomplished, he departed to his own house. He finished
the work the Lord put in his hand to do. Whether he could
speak or not, it didn't matter. Zacharias didn't matter. Lord's
people, His temple, service to the Lord is what mattered. When
Zacharias got home, Elizabeth conceived, but she hid herself
for five months. She was old, and she thought
the Lord was punishing her because He looked on her. She said, the
Lord's looked on me, He saw my thoughts, He saw my heart, and
He's gave this to me so I'll be a life and stock of this town.
He's punishing me for my sin. cause of my sin. The Lord chastened
her in her heart through this trial, but it was not punishment. That trial for Elizabeth was
not punishment. Our loving Heavenly Father chastens
His children. All of us parents ought to chasten
our children. Tell them what's right. Tell
them plainly. What about your feelings? I don't care about
your feelings. I'm here to tell you what's right. It's my job. The Lord chastens us,
but He does not punish them. Do you know that? Where's all
the punishment that I've ever had, that I deserved, that I
earned, I had coming, a beating I had coming? Where did it all
land? On my Savior. Now they'll be chastening, because
now I'm a son. Because He's bought me, they'll
be chastening. There'll be some spankings to start talking to
here and there. And Gabriel came to Mary six months after first
meeting with Zacharias, and he told her she was going to carry
the son of the highest, He was going to reign over the house
of Jacob forever, and there should be no end to his kingdom. The
same angel came to Mary. It says in verse 34, Luke 1,
34. Then said Mary unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? What Zachariah asked,
How? What Mary asked, How? How can
this be? Verse 35, An angel answered and
said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee. And the
power of the high shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God." You're going to need some proof for that, Mary. Nine
and a half, ten months is a long time to wait, isn't it? Verse
36, and behold, thy cousin, Elizabeth, you know her. You know she's
old. She's too old to have a baby. She hath also conceived a son
in her old age. And this is the sixth month with
her. She's six months along, who was
called barren. She wasn't able to have no children.
You know she's too old. And she's already six months
along. And He answered the question before the question arose. Verse
37, For with God nothing shall be impossible. Someone come and
told me that in my heart. I mean, I said it in my mouth
like so many did. They said it in their heart,
didn't they? Sarah, Mary, everyone else. That's impossible. That can't be. It's impossible.
For with God, nothing shall be impossible. How can a man be
saved? I'm barren. That's what it's
asking. How can a new life be put in me? I can't have no life
in me. Of myself, I can't do it. With man, it's impossible. Everything is impossible with
man. Breathing our next breath is
impossible with man. But with God, nothing is impossible.
Nothing. He's God. Two He is. Verse 38
says, said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord. I'm a humble servant. You're looking at a handmaid,
a servant. Be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed
from her. Where did Mary go when she received
this news? From Eve up to Mary, every woman
thought the Messiah is coming. Maybe this is it. She just got
told, Gabriel said, the Messiah's coming and He's in you now. The Holy Spirit's going to put
Him in you. He's going to be the Son of God. You're going
to carry Him. You're going to feed Him. You're
going to raise Him. Where'd she go? When she heard that she was
blessed to the Lord, that the Messiah, Jesus, the One who shall
save their people from their sins, He's on His way. He's on
His way. She ran to her believing family.
It says in verse 39, and Mary arose in those days and went
to the hill country with haste. With haste she ran to a city
of Judah and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted
Elizabeth. She honored the elder. That's
what she's supposed to do. And it came to pass that when
Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe, John the Baptist,
leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.
And she spake out with a loud voice, saying, Blessed art thou
among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence
is it to me? Why, I'm unworthy. Why is this
happening to me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me? For lo, as soon as the voice
of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe in my womb
leapt for joy. Isn't that the response of every
believer when we speak of our Lord? One to another. Something
in us. A new creation in us that we
had nothing to do with being there. We couldn't put in there.
It was impossible with us. It leaps for joy. Oh, what was
that? I felt something kicking. Was
that a hand or a foot? I don't know what that was. Something
leaps within us. It magnifies us and praises our
Lord who saved us, provides for us, rules for us, reigns for
us, preserves us. It leaps. It doesn't come out
most of the time, does it? It's on the inside. It leaps
on the inside. Well, John was born. And on the eighth day,
he was to be circumcised and a whole lot of friends and family
came by. While they come by, this is their
friend. Zacharias was their pastor. He
was the priest. He preached to them. Before,
the Lord made him dumb. They're family members. This
man was having their first child. They were so much in age. There
was going to be a circumcision, first born son. Zacharias still
couldn't speak, so everyone threw their two cents in, what the
name ought to be. And Elizabeth spoke up, she refused,
she didn't have the right to. And she said, no, we're going
to call him John. She said his name's going to be John. The
visitor said, no one in your family's named John. You can't be serious. We'll just name him after his
father. We'll name him Zacharias." And so they tried to motion to
Zacharias, made gestures to him. Verse 62 says, and they made
signs to his father how he would have him called. And he asked
for a writing tablet and wrote, because he couldn't speak, saying,
his name is John. A name horrible to all. This
priest, God's servant. He only declared what God had
said. That's what the Lord told him
through Gabriel. His name's going to be John. They said, Zacharias,
what do you want to name him? He said, his name is John. Not
it's going to be, it is. That's his name. Verse 64 says,
And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue was loosed. And
he spake ten months, first time, he spoke and praised God. Ten months. You think he had
anything on his plate he wanted to get off his chest? You think
he'd seen anything? I need to fix this. As soon as
the Lord loosens my tongue, boy, y'all gonna get it. I'm gonna
tell you. And everybody's whole family's
gathered around just hen-pecking him to death? Well, y'all, name
it after you. What do you think? Give us a thumbs up. Give us
a thumbs down. He praised God, didn't he? He didn't come out
with criticism. He didn't rebuke anybody when
he came out. When he was able to speak, he praised God. Elizabeth
was the one telling them to going against the social norms say
no his name's gonna be John that was John's the Baptist mom and
dad That's who raised him. That's the house. He grew up
in That's a blessing in Have a mommy and daddy at love the
Lord believe the Lord praise the Lord and raise her children
that way Verse 65 says, "...and fear came upon all that dwelt
round about them." They know He's been dumb for this whole
time. And all these sayings were noised
abroad throughout the hill country of Judea. Word spread fast to
all them other farmers. You know what just happened?
Everybody knew it was man. Verse 66, "...and all they that
heard them laid them upon their hearts saying, what manner of
child shall this be?" And the hand of the Lord was with him.
Everyone in that hillside, all them farmers, they knew what
happened. It was laid to their hearts.
You will see something like that. You will hear something like
that. You ain't going to forget it. What about 20, 30 years go by?
You're going to remember it. Word went out. This wasn't unseen. This wasn't an unheard event.
It wasn't hidden in a closet. Word went out. And then Zacharias
prophesied down in verse 67. And his father, Zacharias, was
filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied, saying, Blessed be
the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his
people and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house
of his servant David. The Lord came to us. What a thought! God came to us. He redeemed us. We are His purchased possession. He owns us. Rightfully, He bought
us. And the horn of our salvation
is Christ, the Son of David. What are we going to blow? What
trumpet are we going to sound? His trumpet. Him. He's the one
who did it. Because of His death, His burial,
His resurrection, we walk for an eternity in holiness and righteousness
because of Him. Then he addresses that infant
son, John, while he's still prophesying. It says in verse 76, And thou,
child, shalt 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, how do we get them sins remissioned? Through the
tender mercies of our God, whereby the day spring from on high hath
visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, in
the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. You're going to preach a person. You're going to preach Christ. Verse 80, and the child grew
and waxed strong in spirit and was in the deserts until the
day of his showing unto Israel. He was in the desert until he
turned 30. He had to go stand before the Sanhedrin as we'll see if
he made the cut to be a priest or not. Now, that's just more
than a man that dressed a little different, isn't it? That's more
than just a man that ate a little different than the average person
did, isn't it? That's God's prophet, prophesied
over. Now if this were me, if I was
John the Baptist, this is a story that went around town. I had
these parents that raised me. Everything the Lord done for
me. How would I walk around town? How would I introduce myself?
How would I react when people offended me? I know how. I know me pretty good. If someone
questioned anything I did or anything I said, I'd say, do
you know who you're talking to? Do you know who I am? How dare
you ask me something? How dare you question me? I know
myself. Now turn over to John 1. John chapter 1. We'll pick up verse 19. John 1.19, and this is the record
of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to
ask him, who art thou? What would I have said? Boy,
I would have gave him a lip full. I would have said, you've got two or
three hours, sit down, I'm going to teach you something. And he confessed, verse 20, and
denied not. He didn't lie to them. He told
them the truth, but confessed I am not the Christ." And they
asked him, what then? Art thou Elias? He said, I am
not. And they said, art thou that
prophet? And he answered, no. The first
thing the Lord reveals in His children and His preachers and
makes them confess is, I am not. No. He is the great I am. I'm not. I'm not Elijah the prophet
that was prophesied to come to the earth again. I'm not that
prophet we read about in Deuteronomy 18. That's Christ the prophet,
capital P prophet. I'm none of those people. He
says in verse 22, Then said they unto him, Who art thou, that
we may give answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of
thyself? Well, now we know you ain't Elijah. We know you ain't the Christ.
We know you're not that prophet because they couldn't distinguish
between the Christ and the prophet. They were looking for a king
only, weren't they? They weren't looking for a prophet.
They'd be prophets themselves. We know you're not none of those,
so who are you? I'm going to tell you what John didn't say.
He didn't say, I'm the son of a priest. My mom is wonderful. He didn't say that, did he? He
didn't say, Malachi wrote about me, I am the one who is preparing
the way of the Lord. I'm preparing. I'm the one. He didn't say that, did he? He
didn't quote Malachi. I was filled with the Holy Spirit from inside
the womb. I've been saved from conception. He's the only one
that could ever say that. Of men. from the womb. He kicked it before
he ever breathed air. He rejoiced in the Lord. What
a thought. He didn't say I was circumcised
the eighth day. That was a big thing, wasn't
it? I've upheld the law from my youth. He didn't say my daddy
was a preacher. You've heard of him. You know
Zacharias, don't you? He didn't say that. He didn't
say of Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph's son, the carpenter. Everybody
knew him. I'm his cousin. He didn't say that. We're not
related. He didn't bring that up. I'm known all over the countryside. I'm an urban legend. I'm a man
of myth. You've heard that for 20, 30
years. That's me. He didn't say that, did he? No
true servant, and that's an apostle, a prophet, a preacher, a child
of God. None of his servants of God draws
attention to themselves. Just like John told us, he must
increase, but I must decrease. Christ must have preeminence.
Nothing's changed. What did John say? We know what
he didn't say. What did he say? He said in verse
23, he said, I am the voice, the voice of one, crying in the
wilderness. Then he cried. Make straight
the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. John was
just a voice of one. There was no titles. You think
he earned a title? Would we recognize him and give
him a title? He didn't want one. He was a servant of God. He wasn't
Dr. John, was he? He wasn't Reverend
John. When I typed Reverend in Word,
I typed it lowercase, and Word auto-corrected and made it capitalized.
A computer puts a lot of emphasis on a preacher's title. What nonsense. He just said he's
a voice. A voice, this great one. I'd like to listen to him preach.
He preaches to us sometimes. A voice. What's a voice? A voice
is heard, but it ain't seen. You can't see a voice. You can
hear a voice, but you can't see it. What a wonderful thing, not
to draw attention to ourselves, to our pedigrees, to our knowledge,
our walk in this world, but to proclaim Christ the Word. Just
a voice. And it's in the wilderness. It's
in the world, isn't it? This world is not my home. My
citizenship is above. I just happen to be here because
the Lord is pleased to put me here. I'm not concerned with
the things of this world. And I'm just a voice. I want
no recognition. And I don't want no claim to
this world. This man is preaching to them
in such short sentences. Who would have the nerve to come
up and ask him such a question? Who would be so threatened by
this man out in the wilderness to come bother him? He's out
there by the river, by a little hut, a ferry house. He ain't
a threat to nobody in the city, is he? They heard of him, didn't
they? Word got around. He probably looked like a homeless
man down there by that ferry crossing. We'd walk by, probably
swerved around not to get close to him. Get on the ferry and
go home. It says in verse 24, And they which were sent were
of the Pharisees. Theologians, wise men, people
of the seminary, taught well. They still don't grasp who John
is, but they know he's not Elijah or the Christ. So by man's natural
opinion, by their education, he's below them. They got to
jump on him now. They don't have to be respectful
of this man. We know who you ain't. That's all we need to
know. Look at verse 25. And they asked him and said unto
him, Why baptize thou then? If thou be not that Christ, nor
Elias, neither that prophet. They challenged his authority
as the first thing they did. Now we got the beat on you. We
know who you ain't. What authority do you have to
be doing what you're doing? They raged against the Lord's anointed
like we saw in Psalm 2 the other day. We didn't ordain you. We didn't come down and lay our
hands on you. We didn't authorize this. We didn't send you out
here to preach to people and to baptize to people. What are
you doing that for? Why are you doing that? You didn't
go through us. What made you think that was
okay? That's what they were asking. Verse 26, and John answered them
saying, I baptize with water and only water. It's just water
is all I baptize with. But there standeth one among
you. whom ye know not." Think how wise them men were. Think
how many books they read. You think they read some books?
They read a whole mess of books, didn't they? And he said, you
don't know him. Why are you here? Why are you doing this? You don't
know God. That's why I'm here. God sent
me. They asked John about baptism,
didn't they? Why do you do this if you aren't someone important?"
He immediately turns the conversation to Christ. Baptism's not the
point. John, do you sprinkle or do you
immerse? Christ! That's the point. Baptism ain't the point. Christ
is the point. What an example. What an encouragement
that is to me. That was for me. I got a letter
in the mail inviting me to some class or something about how
Daniel handled stress and criticism and how that applies to our modern
world. Non-stress. Criticism. I want to see Christ. We would yet see Jesus, wouldn't
we? This is some man standing here
speaking to these. Our Master said in Matthew 11, "...barely
I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath
not risen a greater than John the Baptist." What made him so
great? They ask him, why are you here, John? Because men and
women don't know Christ. He had no other purpose of being
there. You don't know Him. I'm here to tell you about Him.
He's among you. He's in the world. And the world
knew Him not. You didn't perceive Him. You
didn't figure Him out. You can't. That's why I'm telling you. He
came unto His own and they didn't receive Him either, didn't they?
His own received Him not. The worst thing that could happen
to a person, and my heart mourns. My heart's tore apart because
I know people. It hurts. The worst thing that could happen
to a person in my mind or anybody else's mind is to have Christ
in their midst and not listen to them. not hear from Him and
not know Him. To sit underneath the sound of
the Gospel and throw it away. You'd be better off in Sodom
and Gomorrah. You'd be better off if you was
never born, have some rocks tied around you and throw off in the
ocean. To sit underneath the preaching of the Gospel and not
care. And you'd better listen. Because
this Holy One of Israel, it's the Holy God in a human body. That's who He declares to. Look
here at verse 27. He it is who coming after me is preferred
before me, whose shoes, latchet, I'm not unworthy to unloose. That's true humility. The One
that's coming, I ain't even worth getting down and taking His shoes
off. I ain't worth untying His shoes. That's true humility. Only grace can produce true humility,
and grace always produces true humility. I'm not worthy to untie
his shoes. Not worthy. That's the true cry
of every child of God. I'm not worthy. Everyone nowadays,
we're trying to build themselves up. Make ourselves feel good. Make other people feel good about
themselves, isn't it? Feel good religion. God must
make you feel bad about yourself. That'd do you good. If He saves a wretched sinner,
we're going to be made to know what we are. We're going to read
the Scriptures and it says, there's none good, no, not one. There's
none that seek after Him. And we're going to be brought
to read and declare that God's true and every man's a liar.
That's right. That's me. I didn't seek Him. He came to
me. I didn't know Him. He revealed Himself in me. I labored that that John said
that He was coming after me. In verse
27, when Mary went to Elizabeth, she gave Elizabeth a salutation,
didn't she? Why? Elizabeth's old. Mary's
young. She was respecting her elders.
John was six months older than our Lord. That's a big deal in
other cultures. I saw some folks from another
nation one time, a boy said something or took a fork or something at
a table. I don't know what happened. He turned around and I smacked
the taste out of him. And I said, what did he do that
for? He said, oh, he's the elder. He can do anything he wants to
him. He's younger than him. That's a big thing in this time here,
too, even in John's age. At that time, John took his age,
his birthright, and threw it away. I'm older than he is by
six months. That gives him a lot of entitlement,
doesn't it? That doesn't matter. Do you think they're shocked
by that? David wrote, the Lord said to my Lord, set thou upon
my right hand. That was our Lord's final challenge
by the Pharisees, what they come to ask him. They come picking
at him one more time, and he answered them, and he said, what
think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? And they said,
well, he's the son of David. And he saith unto him, How then
doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, Thee, Lord, said
unto my Lord, Sit thou in my right hand, so I will make thine
enemies the footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he
his son?" David's born generations beforehand. This is a big deal.
And no man was able to answer him a word. They couldn't figure
that out. David was humbled by the grace
of God. That's why David could say that,
and these men had never experienced grace. They didn't know what
grace was. They hadn't been made humble. Still up on our high
horses. Neither does any man from that
day forth ask him any more questions." That was the last thing he said
to them. Last question they asked. It says here in verse 28, these
things were done in Beth-Aborah, beyond Jordan, where John was
baptizing. Beth-Aborah is a ferry house, where the ferry crossed
the Jordan, it docked there. People get their tickets and
things. That's a passage house. That's where we pass from darkness
to light. right before the Jordan, where Christ is preached, not
man, where Christ is preached, not feelings, where Christ is
preached, not works, where He's preached, there's going to be
a change. There's going to be a passage. Something's going
to happen. You're either going to cross
that river or drown. Whatever the Lord sees fit to
do, there's going to be a change. There's going to be a passage.
Something's going to happen. Then John wields his two-edged
sword. Several say his ministry only lasted about six months.
And what he's about to say quickly led to his beheading by Herod.
I can imagine that. Verse 29, Then the next day John
seeth Jesus coming unto him. Those other ones are still there.
And saith, Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin
of the world. They were looking for a king
riding into town on a white horse with a great army. They weren't
looking for a lamb. They were looking for a mighty
prophet. Somebody like them in their minds. He might be just
a little bit better than me. Not the Savior priest that we
have. The Lord Jesus Christ is God's spotless Lamb. That's who
He is. The Lamb He provided. And what
God provides, He always accepts. I'll read these to you. You can
look them up later if you want to. The Lamb was typified. In Genesis
4, for Abel, he also brought the firstlings of his flock and
the father of, and the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his
offering. He respected the offering. I
first mentioned that lamb offering was a respected lamb. That's
how it was typified. Then it was prophesied in Genesis
22. And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb
for a born offering. He's going to provide it. He
will provide himself. that lamb slain and the blood
applied there in Exodus 12. The lamb shall be without blemish
a male of the first year. He shall take it out of the sheep
or from the goats, and he shall keep it up until the fourteenth
day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation
of Israel shall kill it in the evening." Did we crucify Him? You ever
cry that out? Crucify Him. I want nothing to do with Him.
Did you put him up there? God says concerning this land,
the whole assembly of the congregation, that great congregation of Israel
is going to kill it and eat it. And they shall take the blood
and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post
of the house wherein they shall eat. And when the Lord passes
by and He sees that blood, not your blood, not red paint, the
blood of the land, that typified land, that prophesied land, when
He sees it applied, He'll pass over you. What a washing in the
blood. What a thought. And then the
Lamb was personified so we don't get these things mixed up and
we say, well, you're just reading too deep into things. Isaiah
prophesied in Isaiah 53, Oh, we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way. The Lord hath laid upon
him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before his shears is done, so he openeth
not his mouth." Willingly, the Almighty God took it. The wrath. God turned from God for His people. Those under the blood put in
Him before time. In that Lamb's Book of Life,
that's who He did it for. A lamb's identified. Who is this?
All from Genesis and Exodus and Isaiah. Who's this lamb? John
just told us. Behold the Lamb of God. This
one with the history we can read off of Luke. From the mother's
womb. You think he knows? I think he
knows more than I do. And you know what he knew? What
did he tell them? You don't know God. There he is. Behold the
Lamb of God. And we see the Lamb glorified
in Resolation 5. Every creature which is in heaven and on earth
and under the earth and such are in the sea and all that are
in them, heard I saying, blessing and honor and glory and power
be unto Him that sitteth on the throne and unto the Lamb forever
and ever. That One, our Savior, the One
who saved sinners, the One who shed His blood for His people,
successfully, He didn't try, forever and ever, glory is going
to be to His name. Here's where John really just
gave it to them, which taketh away the sin of the world. He
told that to Pharisees. People stand on this and say,
oh, it's anybody in the world. No, who is he talking to? What's
the context of it? These high-minded Pharisees down
there, they think they're the child of God because of their
birthright. They didn't say there's a nobody, there's just a voice.
He said, God's going to save some Gentiles. He's going to
take their sin away. Oh, what an insult. God's going
to save Gentiles too. You put in the place of that
word world right there anything you hate, anything I hate, baby
killers. God's going to save some baby
killers too. Some abortionists. Politicians. You can pick either
side. Whatever side you're against,
God saves some of them too. Rich folks, the big mean evil
rich folks. God save some of them, a bunch
of them. Kings, harlots, poor people, drug users, drags of
society. Kids, pull your purse close.
Kids, you get on the other side of me. God save them too. I ask myself, do I put away all
my experience? Do I put away all my birth, all
my pedigree, all the rumors of greatness that people have heard?
The books that I've been written about have been written with
me in them. Do I put all that stuff away
and do I declare I'm the world? I'm a heathen. I say to every sinner, behold
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Whosoever. That doesn't leave anybody out,
does it? May God be pleased for us to forsake ourselves and everything
about us and behold Him. Look to Him. Well, if we do,
He did it. If you look to Him, He gave you
a neck to look up. If you look to Him, He gave you
the eyes to see Him. What a magnificent thing it'd be to see Him.