Let's go to John chapter 1. Book
of John chapter 1. Let's talk about the Lamb of
God this evening. No better subject to deal with
than our Lord in his capacity as the Lamb of God. As we have studied before in
beginning with the 19th verse, our Lord's forerunner has been
questioned by a delegation sent by the Sanhedrin in which John
the Baptist identifies himself as being the voice. He said,
I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness. I'm just a voice. And then the next day is when
John makes this memorable statement found in verse 29. The next day, John seeth Jesus. He said Jesus coming unto him
and said behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of
the world. Now we know there is a connection
between what he said on the previous day and what he has to say on
this day because if you look at verse 30, reading it carefully,
he says this is he of whom I said. When did he say this? Well, he
said it a couple of times before this. He said this back in verse
15, and this is a statement in verse 15, a general statement
of the ministry of John. It says, John bear witness of
him and cried saying, this was he of whom I spake, he that cometh
after me is preferred before me, and he was before me. But to these same, this Jewish
delegation, he says the same thing. He says the same thing. And if you'll back up, look with
me in verse 27. He says, he it is who coming
after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latchet I am
not worthy to unloose." And then the next day, the next day he
says to these people, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. This is the one of whom I spake
as it were yesterday. I said this to you yesterday,
that after me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he
was before me. He was before John in rank. He
was before John in dignity. He was before John in great power. He's before John in greatness.
He's before John in time. Before John ever existed, the
Son of God, the Lamb of God existed in old eternity. He is God of
very God. And so John simply says in verse
30, this is the one I told you about yesterday. I told you about
him yesterday. That after me cometh a man. A man. Oh, what a man. And he was a real man. In every sense of the word, he
was a man. Without sin? Absolutely. Because of him it said, Judas
said, I betrayed innocent blood. He's an innocent man, but he's
absolutely a man. He's flesh and blood and bones. He had body and soul. John said,
he's a man. There comes after me a man, a
real man, who is preferred before me. He was before me. Behold, the Lamb of God. Now the Jews were looking not
for a lamb, Because a lamb speaks of sacrifice. A lamb speaks of
an offering. A lamb speaks of blood that's
shed. The Israelites weren't looking
for a lamb. They're looking for a king. And
they're not looking for a sovereign ruler over them. They're looking
for a king who will overthrow all of their enemies, specifically
the Roman Empire. They're looking for someone,
the Jews were looking for someone who would run the Romans out
of town. They had no concern about and
they had no interest in the Lamb of God. And in setting forth
the Lamb of God, John was declaring to his hearers that Jesus of
Nazareth is the very sacrifice that God has sent into this world
for the removal of sin. And Jesus of Nazareth, He did
not come as a warrior king to overthrow Rome. He came as the
Lamb to die. And so to be the sacrifice for
sin. They would have readily received
him if he had entered into this world as the destroyer of Rome. If John had announced to them,
behold the destroyer of Rome, they would have said, wonderful,
we'll receive him. We're glad to have you. Welcome.
Welcome to our world. Now go overthrow our enemies.
But that wasn't the message. The message was, behold the Lamb
of God. Behold the only sacrifice for
sin. You'll notice he says, behold
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. There's
only one who can take away sin in this entire world. And it's this one John is directing
the attention of his heroes to. Behold the Lamb of God. You'll remember that this is
the second day of three days in the life of John the Baptist,
as we pointed out last week. On day one, John's message to
the delegation from Jerusalem was, He is here. Messiah is here. On day two, he shocked his hearers. By saying, Behold the Lamb of
God that taketh away the sin of the world. He identifies the
Messiah as being the Lamb of God. And then on the third day,
He again says, Behold the Lamb of God. And He says to His two
disciples, Follow Him. Therefore John stood before these
people. And he set forth that one that
all of the Old Testament offerings and sacrifices foreshadowed. He didn't say, behold your king. He didn't say, Behold the Triumphant
One who will conquer all of your earthly enemies. He didn't say,
Behold the Majestic One. He didn't say, Behold the Exalted
One. He didn't say, Behold the Ruler. He didn't say, Behold the Warrior. He didn't even say, Behold the
Anointed One. But He said, Behold the Lamb
of God. Behold the Lamb of God. And when
they thought of a lamb, they would think of that which is
weak and impotent. They would think of a lamb as
being that which is meek, as that which is an offering for
sin. But listen, in their minds, they didn't need an offering
for sin. They were righteous in and of themselves. They said,
we be not sinners. We have Moses. We believe the
writings of Moses. We abide by the law of Moses.
But John again says, the next day, behold the Lamb of God. Now when they heard of the Lamb
of God, their minds would have gone back to passages such as
Isaiah chapter 53. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. They didn't want one who would
be slaughtered. They wanted one who would slaughter. Who would slaughter all of their
enemies. Who would slaughter all of the
Romans. But no, don't preach to us one
who will be slaughtered. Don't preach to us one who will
suffer and bleed and die. We don't want him. We want a
warrior king. But John insisted, behold, The
Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God. You see,
these people did not know and they did not realize that they
needed the Lamb of God to take away their sins. Of course, they
believed that a combination of their own self-righteousness
and their own obedience in offering to God the animal sacrifices
was quite sufficient. But the animals could never take
away any sin. The blood of bulls and goats
could never remove any iniquities. They could only direct the minds
and the hearts of those who offered them to the sacrifice that would
finally and fully put away the sins of His people. They didn't
recognize their sinfulness. They didn't recognize they were
under divine judgment Because of their sins, therefore, they
weren't interested in the Lamb. They weren't interested in the
sacrifice. Do you know who is interested
in the sacrifice? Those who've been made aware
of their sin. Those who've been made aware
of their alienation from a holy God. Those who have learned by
the instruction of the Spirit of God that God in His holiness,
God in His righteousness, God in His purity cannot, cannot
and will not receive a sinner unto Himself with that sin being
borne by the sinner. It must be taken away by a suitable
substitute. They didn't believe that. They
didn't believe that. So John says, Behold the Lamb
of God. Now when the average Jewish family
wanted to worship the Lord in the burnt offering, a male lamb
was selected out of the flock. One without spot. One without
blemish. They chose a lamb to die for
their family. Our brother read to us from Exodus
chapter 12. pick a lamb, a male of the first
year, without spot and without blemish, to die, to die on the
behalf of the firstborn of the family. And the rest of the family
would feast on the roasted lamb. The apostle John wrote and said
concerning the Lamb of God, He's the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Now listen, God the Father, He
chose the lamb. He chose the land for all of
His firstborns, for all of His family. He chose the land that
would be slain before the foundation of the world. He chose the Lord
Jesus Christ who would Himself be the sacrifice for our sins
and then God chose us in Him. Just like an Israelite father
would choose that lamb for his family, God the Father chose
a lamb for His family. And it's the only lamb that could
ever put away the sins of God's family. The Lamb of God, Christ
Jesus Himself. You know, it's interesting as
you observe the progressive order followed by God in the teachings
of Holy Scripture concerning the lamb. In Genesis chapter
4 we find the lamb typified. He's typified in the firstling
of the flock that's killed by Abel in sacrifice. Listen to Hebrews chapter 11.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain. by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous, that he was justified, God testifying
of his gifts, and by it he being dead yet speaketh. Abel offered
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, a sacrifice of greater
superiority, a sacrifice of more greater quality. How do we know
that Abel was a righteous man? Because God said he was a righteous
man. You know when it says Abel is
a righteous man, you know what it means? He was justified. We
were talking about that back in the office a little bit, some
of us, about those saints of God being justified in the Old
Testament. Well, it's on record. God has
on record that Abel was a righteous man. And the word is he's justified. He's justified through the imputed
righteousness of the Lamb of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God declared him to be righteous. God said Abel is justified. Well, upon what basis was Abel
justified? By grace through the blood. Through
the blood of the suitable sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
the Lamb that Abel brought, Abel looked by faith through that
Lamb to see the Lamb of God who would later come into the world
and take care of his sin problem. Genesis chapter 4 then, we have
the Lamb typified. In Genesis chapter 22, we have
the Lamb prophesied. God said to Abraham, go take
your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and offer him
up as a burnt offering unto me. And we've talked about what that
means. And Abraham took Isaac. Abraham took Isaac toward Mount
Moriah. They got there and Isaac said,
my father, here's the wood and here's the fire. Where's the
lamb? And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide himself a lamb. No one could provide the lamb
but God. And no one could be the lamb
but God. No one could stand in the stead
of the guilty but God. But God can't die so He comes
into this world and He's typified as the Lamb. He comes into this
world the Son of Man, the only mediator. He comes into this
world as the Lamb of God to be slain. And by the shedding of
His blood, He will satisfy divine justice. God will provide, that's
what Abraham said, God will provide what God requires. And thank
God He does because we could never provide what God demands. But He did and He received what
He provided in the death of His Son and our sins are put away.
Substitution. Substitution. And then thirdly, in Exodus chapter
12, we have the lamb put to death and the blood applied. There
we see the lamb being so useful. Not only for acceptance, not
only for substitution, but also for survival. Because
the family fed upon the roasted lamb. Ah, the Passover land,
one of our favorite subjects to talk about. At midnight, death
traveled through Egypt. That is, God himself went through
with the sword of justice. Oh, the screams of horror that
arose throughout the land from Pharaoh's household down to the
household of the least maiden or servant in his kingdom. But
there were houses that God did not visit in death, that God
did not visit in wrath. There were houses that were marked
with blood, marked with blood, the side posts and over the top
of the door, marked with blood, What has secured the safety of
the firstborn within the walls of that house? The blood that
God appointed. The blood that God demanded. The father has taken the lamb
and he's killed it. And he's caught the blood in
a basin. And he goes outside the house
with a bunch of hyssop. And he begins to put the door
on the side post. You know, when you go to paint
the door, be kind of careful you don't spill any. I bet you
he applied that blood liberally, don't you? I'm going to get a
lot of blood right here, and a lot of blood right here, and
a lot of blood across the top. I want that door to be so well
marked that when God comes through, there is no mistake, this is
a blood marked house. You've already got death at this
house, oh Lord. The death of a suitable sacrifice
and substitute. The blood having been shed and
applied, the family goes in, they close the door, And they
have a feast. Roasted lamb. They have roasted
lamb. The family has a nice meal together. They are calm. They are confident. There is no crying inside the
house, unless it is the tears of joy, the tears of thanksgiving. You see, where the blood has
been shed, that means eternal safety. That's what the blood
shed means. There was deliverance and there
was joy. Where the blood has been shed,
there's safety, there's preservation, there's deliverance, there's
happiness. Brethren and sisters, I tell
you, we are perfectly safe if sheltered beneath and behind
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Under the blood of Jesus. That's
where we are. Under the blood of Jesus. Nothing
can harm us there. In fact, everything must bless
us. Everything must bless us if we
are under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The hymn writer
said, sprinkled the flesh with pardoning blood, I lay me down
to rest. As in the embraces of my God,
I lean on Jesus' breast. When you go tonight to bed, to
rest your weary body, Close your eyes. You're looking to Jesus
Christ who of God has made unto you wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. You can look forward to waking
up in the morning to another day full of God's mercies and
full of God's blessings and no harm shall ever come to you.
And tomorrow morning, if God's pleased to awaken you, and give
you a new day if He's pleased to maintain your life through
the night. You can go about your business
tomorrow without any fear because the blood's been shed. The blood's
been shed. We're marked by the blood of
God. The mark of saving grace. And we're safe, forever safe. Fourthly, in Isaiah chapter 53,
we have the Lamb personified. For the first time we learn that
the Lamb would be a man in Isaiah chapter 53. He was oppressed
and afflicted. Yet He openeth not His mouth.
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is done. So He openeth not His
mouth. There was no resistance. Why
not? Because He volunteered, this
Lamb of God, He volunteered to lay down His life as the substitute
for His people, as the sin offering unto God. He volunteered to do
this before the world began. In fact, before there was ever
a sinner, there was already an appointed Savior, and a ready
Savior, and an anxious Savior. A Savior who's ready to save
His people. And He came into this world,
and in due time, He laid down His life to save His people from
their sins. He's glad to do it, thankful
to do it, honored to do it. Bless His name. He's the successful
Savior. who volunteered to save us. I
know He was appointed in the covenant of grace, in that great
covenant of mercy. He was appointed by the Father
when the Father gave to Him a people more numerous than the sands
of the seashore or the stars in the sky. And God said, these
are yours. I give them to you. You must
live and die. You must bleed for them. You
must suffer for them in order to satisfy our law which demands
the penalty of death for sin. And Christ Jesus, though He was
called upon to do the work, He willingly, He willingly stepped
out of eternity into time. And He said, Lo, I come to do
Thy will, O God. What will of God? His redemptive
will. His redemptive will. There was
no reluctance. There was no hesitation. There
was only willingness. Because He loved us as the Father
loved us. Greater love hath no man than
this. A man lay down his life for his
friends. His friends. He came willingly. Then in John
chapter 1, As we're studying now, he's the lamb identified.
Now we learn who he is. We learn who He is and here's
instructions for everybody. Behold the Lamb of God. Here's instructions for, here's
a command for those who know Him not. Behold the Lamb of God. Look on Him. See. Concentrate
on Him. Focus on Him. This is the Lamb
you need. It's the only Lamb who can take
your sin away. And He did it by the substitutionary
death of Himself at the cross. He's the lamb you need. He's
the lamb God's people need. Just like the Israelites on that
night, that Passover night, they ate the roasted lamb. We feed
on Jesus Christ. Would you be stronger spiritually? Would you be nourished? Would
you be enriched spiritually? Feed on Jesus Christ. Or to put it this way, behold
the Lamb of God. You see, this is the command
that everybody needs. There's not another command that
we need. Look to the Lamb of God. You
say, but how am I to live the Christian life? Look to the Lamb
of God. Look to the Lamb of God. Look
to how did He live? What did He do? See how He loved. See how He forgave. See how He
was meek. See how He was merciful. Look
to the Lamb of God for everything. That's simple command, but we
don't much follow it, do we? Oh, God help me to look to Him
more fully. To focus on Him more wholly. Behold the Lamb of God. He's identified. And I tell you,
follow Him. Follow Him. Look over at the
book of Revelation chapter 14. Revelation chapter 14. One of these days I'll bring
you a series of messages on the book of Revelation. And I'll
make my wife happy because she's asked me if I would preach through
the book of Revelation again. I've done it before and she said,
wants me to preach through it again. And as God leads in His
time, I will. But oh, in the book of Revelation,
Oh, how the Lamb stands first and foremost. He's always in the spotlight.
The Lamb. Look at Revelation chapter 14.
And I looked. John said, John the Apostle now.
And it's just one revelation. It's not revelations. It's revelation. It's the revelation of Jesus
Christ the Lord. And I looked and lo! Lo, a lamb
stood on the Mount Zion. That's His church. He's the head
of the church. With Him, here they are. Here's
His church. A hundred and forty and four
thousand. Here's a perfect number. That's
symbolic of His church. They're having His Father's name
written in their foreheads. The gospel is in our minds and
in our hearts. And I heard a voice from heaven
as the voice of many waters. and as the voice of a great thunder.
And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. And
they sung, as it were, a new song. As it were, it's really
an old song, but they've been singing it a long time. But every
time they sing it, it's like they're singing a brand new song.
Isn't that the way the gospel is? This is an old, old story
to us, but every time we hear it, it's new. It's fresh. It's full of life. It's invigorating
to the people of God. They sung, as it were, a new
song before the throne. Where are they singing this?
Not out in the world, but before the throne. And before the four
beasts, the preachers and the elders, the representatives of
the Old Testament and the New Testament. And no man could learn
that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand which
were redeemed from the earth. Only God's people know this song.
Only the elect know this song. Only the redeemed know this song.
Only those that are washed from their sins in the blood of the
Lamb know this song. Well, who are these? Verse 4.
These are they which were not defiled with women, with the
harlots, the harlots of false religion. For they are virgins,
in Jesus Christ they are pure. They are as pure as the new fallen
snow. These are they which, watch it,
follow the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth. I tell you, this is
about God's people. They're followers. They're followers. Follow the Lamb. My sheep hear
my voice and I know them and they follow me. We follow Him. We follow Him. He went into the
waters of baptism. We follow Him. I follow Him down
in the water. You did too, haven't you? And
we follow Him through our lives, seeking to do His revealed will
and following Him. And one day we'll follow Him
all the way into glory. Because He's there, we're going
to follow Him there too. We follow the Lamb wherever He
goes. These were redeemed from among men. He didn't redeem all
men, but He redeemed the people from men, being the firstfruits
unto God, and to the Lamb, those who redeemed their firstfruits
to the Lamb. We follow Him. He leads, we follow. That's what a sheep does. Sheep
follows. And then I'll tell you this,
behold the Lamb of God in living the life of triumph. Look at Revelation chapter 12.
And I told you in the book of Revelation There's a great emphasis
on the Son of God being the Lamb. Revelation chapter 12. Look at
verse 7. Revelation 12, 7. And there was
war in heaven. Michael. Who is that? Michael. That's Christ Jesus. His name means, Michael means
one who is God. Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon, and the dragon fought in his angels and prevailed
not. Lucifer fought in his angels
and prevailed not, neither was their place found anymore in
heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent
called the devil. When was he cast out? Listen
to this reference, let me read it to you. Let me read it to
you. You don't have to turn back here.
I'm here already. John chapter 12 verse 31. Now
is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. Now John is taking us to the
cross. John always takes us to the cross. Every writer of Scripture takes
us to the cross. This is where the victory was
won. This is where the battle was won. This is where the war
was accomplished. So he says, the great dragon,
verse 9, was cast out at the cross. At the cross. That old serpent called the devil
and Satan which deceiveth the whole world and he was cast out
into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. And I
heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is salvation. And now has come salvation and
strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ. For the accuser of our brethren
is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
And they overcame Him by the blood of the Lamb." John keeps
the blood ever in front of us. All those offerings we studied
in the Old Testament, back in the book of Leviticus. As we
went through those offerings, with the exception of the meat
offering, or the meal offering, the food offering, all the rest
of them were blood sacrifices. Blood, blood, blood. That's always
kept in front of us. And you get to the last book
of the Bible and guess what? It's still blood. It's blood. That's the issue. The shedding
of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission. There's no putting away of sin. And here John tells us that those
who overcome, overcome by the blood of the Lamb, by the Word
of their testimony, the Word that they believe, the Word of
God. And they love not their lives
unto death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens,
in them that dwell in them. Rejoice, because Christ has triumphed
over evil. He has triumphed over sin. But
now, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because you see, though
Satan has been defeated at the cross, his rage has not been
diminished. And he's going after the church.
But we're more than conquerors through the Lamb. Through the
Lamb of God. In Revelation chapter 5, go back
to Revelation 5, we see the Lamb magnified by the hosts of heaven.
Revelation chapter 5, you know this passage. John back in verse
4, he saw heaven open. The first thing he caught his
eye was the throne and him that sat upon it. And the one who
sat upon it, he had a book. He had a book. It was written
within and without and sealed with seven seals. That book is
the book of God's predestination. That book is the book of all
of God's eternal decrees. And John saw it, it's sealed,
it's closed. And a voice rang out, who's worthy
to come and take the book? and opened the book and loosed
the seven seals thereof. In other words, who is worthy
to take the book of God's predestination, of God's eternal degrees, the
book that has within it every single thing that will ever happen
to man or angel or beast and everything else? Who's going
to execute the counsel of God? And nobody was worthy. And there
was weeping. Will God's eternal purposes go
unfulfilled? That which God has written in
the book of His eternal counsel? Will these things fall by the
wayside? Will the Word of God fall by
the wayside? And John said, I looked, and
one step forward to take that book out of the hand of Him that
sat upon the throne, and lo, t'was the Lamb It was the Lamb. The Lamb of God. The Lion of
the tribe of Judah. He's a Lion and He's the Lamb.
And when He took that book, that means He's worthy. He's worthy
to loose the seven seals and open up the decrees of God and
bring them all to pass. You see, everything that's happening
today, This is way beyond our understanding. But everything
good and bad, everything pleasant and everything painful, everything
is the execution of what God has ordained before the world
began. And you know who is bringing
it all to pass? The Lamb. All those things in your life
for your children and your grandchildren and your husband or your wife,
all those things that are happening, things that have happening, they
were all written in the book. And the one who brought them
all to pass was King Jesus and He got to the throne by way of
a bloody tree. Because He shed His blood to
His death to redeem His people. And when He took that book, All
of heaven broke out in shouting and singing. Look here with me.
Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5. Look at
verse 8. When He had taken the book, the
four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before
the Lamb. He stilled the Lamb, the Lamb
of God. Every one of them having hearts
and golden vials full of odors. What are they? The prayers of
the saints. And they sung a new song saying, Thou art worthy
to take the book and to open the seals thereof. Why is He
worthy? For Thou hast slain and has redeemed
us under God by Thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation. He didn't redeem everybody from
every kindred, tongue and people and nation, but He redeemed the
people out of them. This is His elect. "...and has
made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on
the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and
the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten
thousand, and thousands of saying, saying with a loud voice." Here
He is again. Worthy is the Lamb! Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain! His death is always kept before
us. Don't you ever forget about His
death. Don't you ever be unmindful of
His blood. What did it take to save us,
to redeem us, to wash our sins away? The blood of the Lamb of
God. Amen. These writers of Scripture,
they keep it right in front of us. And you'll see it unless
you're blind. Unless you're blind, then God
has to give you sight. I was slain to receive. Worthy
is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every
creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth
and such as 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 upon the throne and unto the Lamb. forever and ever."
And the four beasts said, Amen. We're with you. We're in agreement. And the four and twenty elders
fell down and worshipped Him that liveth forever and ever.
And this Lamb, let me give you one more reference and I'll quit.
Go over to the end of the book. Look at Revelation, first of
all, chapter 21. And verse 23, talking about the
city that we're going to dwell in someday. Revelation 21-22, and I saw no
temple there, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the
temple of it. And the city had no need of the
sun. We're not going to need the sunshine
anymore. We are not going to need the moon to shine in it,
for the glory of God did lighten it. The Lamb is the light. The Lamb is the light. Then it
says, In verse 27, and there shall in no wise enter into it
to this city anything that defile it, neither whatsoever worketh
abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written in
the Lamb's book of life. That book of life in which our
names are written? Well, it's the Lamb's book. It's
the Lamb's book of life. Now, chapter 22. He showed me
a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeded out
of the throne of God and of the Lamb. He keeps before us the
Lamb of God. And I'll tell you, here's my
message to you tonight. If you're lost, if you're saved, if you're righteous before God,
if right now you're still in unbelief, If you're a child of
God who needs guidance, you need direction, here's the message. Behold the Lamb of God. That's all the message we've
got in it. Boy, I tell you, that's some kind of message right there.
Behold the Lamb of God. Well, let's sing a closing song.
And it is...