Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. If you'd like to follow along,
I'm going to be at the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to
John, chapter one. John chapter one. I wanna read from verse 29 to
37, that's what I got here. The next day, John seeth Jesus,
this is John the Baptist, seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith,
behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, after
me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before
me. And I knew him not, but that
he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing
with water. And John bear record saying,
I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode
on him, upon him. And I knew him not, but he that
sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, unto whom
thou shalt see the spirit descending and remaining on him, the same
is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear
record that this is the Son of God. And again, the next day
after John stood and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus
as he walked, he saith, behold, the Lamb of God. And the two
disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. I'm just gonna stop right there. Those who preach the gospel of
Jesus Christ have one message, one message only. And that message
is that Jesus is the Christ. Look unto him, look unto him. John the Baptist cried what?
Behold the Lamb of God. And our message is exactly the
same. Hopefully. Look unto Christ. Behold the Lamb of God. That's
my title today, Paul. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
the Lamb of God. Verse 29, the next day John seeth
Jesus coming unto him and saith, behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. And then verse 36, and looking
upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, behold the Lamb of God. Now,
let's just be very, very clear from the beginning in case there's
any doubt anywhere with anybody. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. There is no other. He is the
Lamb of God. And Jesus Christ is the one who
took away all the sin that was taken away. All the sins that
were taken away, he's the one that took them. And there is
no forgiveness of sin in any other. including yourself or
your works. Behold the Lamb of God, the Lamb
of God. Excuse me. The scriptures say
plainly, he took our sins in his own body on the tree, on
the tree. You see, the Lord, it also says
this, the scripture says, the Lord laid on him the iniquity
of us all, of us all. Understand any place in the scripture
where it talks about sin being taken away, sin being forgiven,
it is always, always, always particular, particular. People like to make it out like
it's this broad thing. Jesus took away all the sins
of all the people in the world. And the scripture never states
that. It states the exact opposite.
He bore our sins in his own body on the tree. The Lord have laid
upon him the iniquity of us all. And you have to look at the context
to see who he's writing about. But he's writing about believers,
I'll tell you that right now. He's writing about the elect.
those who shall believe when God reveals himself to them.
The Lord made him to be sin, made him to be sin, what? Who
knew no sin. He had no sin of his own. Behold,
the Lamb of God. Oh, Jesus is the Christ and here's
the thing, Paul tells us later, Christ is our Passover. Now, if you remember back, you
don't have to turn there, but if you remember back to Exodus
12, there's a little progression there in Exodus chapter 12. In,
let me see, in verse three, it tells you to take a lamb. That's the instructions to Moses
from God, take a lamb, right? And then in the second, in verse
four, it tells you to count for the lamb the family in the household. So we went from a lamb to the
lamb. And then in verse five, he says
this. Your lamb, your lamb shall be
without blemish. So we went from a lamb, which
is good, which is good. Then we go to the Lamb, which
is glorious. But here it is, folks, he doesn't
stop there, he goes to your Lamb, your Lamb. And you know what
that is? That's grace, that's grace. The Lamb of God is also
your Lamb. The Passover, Christ is our Passover,
is your Lamb. When you heard the gospel of
your salvation, then you come to know that the lamb of God
is your lamb, your lamb. I like that, I do. Because you
understand, like I said, a lamb is great, the lamb is glorious,
but your lamb makes it personal to every single child of God. And if he's not your lamb, You
have no hope right now. If he's not your lamb, is this
Jesus, the Christ, the lamb of God, your lamb? That's the question. And here's the answer. Behold,
the lamb of God. I can call him my lamb. I can
call him that. Can you call him your lamb? If
you can, that's grace. That's grace, that's glorious.
Now, let's be clear. To behold the Lamb of God, you
must behold him as he is. Not as you want him to be. Not
as people say that he is. As he actually is. And for that,
we have this evidence right here in this book. In the scripture,
in the Bible, this is the sole authority of who Jesus Christ
is. And it's very clear, because
here's my point. Jesus Christ is never up to the
imagination of man. You understand? What think ye
of Christ better be based on this book. It better be in this
book. Well. So, who is this Lamb of
God? John tells us to behold the Lamb
of God. Well, I'm gonna go through some things. John chapter two
and verses 13 to 16. And maybe some people don't know
a lot about this, but here it is. John chapter two, I went
too far. John chapter two, verse 13. And the Jews' Passover was at
hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and found in the temple those
that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money
sitting. And when he had made a scourge
of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple and the
sheep and the oxen and poured out the changers' money and overthrew
the tables. And he said unto them that Saul
does take these things, hence make not my father's house a
house of merchandise. You remember that song Earl used
to quote every now and then? Sweet little Jesus, meek and
mild, look upon a little child. The same man went out and made
a whip when he saw what they were doing in his father's temple.
This temple was to be a place of worship. They turned it into
a livestock market. They turned it into a flea market.
They turned it into a place of merchandise. They were selling
animals. Now, don't get me wrong, I know
some people traveled to get to Jerusalem to go to the temple.
You understand, it would not be unheard of for them to buy
a goat or a dove or a sheep to have to offer. But you don't
do it in the temple. You do it outside. And that's
what Christ did. But Christ was so upset by this,
he actually made a scourge, a whip, and drove them out of the temple. That's not exactly what you would
call meek and mild. But I can tell you this. It was
entirely and completely the right thing to do because our Lord
Jesus Christ did it, our did it. Here, behold the Lamb of
God. Behold the Lamb of God. I had
a man tell me one time years ago that he had never heard of
this. Now, he also had told me when
he was a young man, he was studying to be a preacher. but he had
never heard of this account until he saw it on a TV show of all
things. Because he asked me about it the next day. I didn't watch
the show. But he asked me about it, he said, hey, is that in
the Bible where Jesus made a whip and run the people out of the
temple? I said, yeah, it's in there. Yeah. So some big study
to be a preacher when you were young. But anyhow, I never knew
that. I said, sorry, it's been in there
the whole time. As a matter of fact, it's still
there. but people don't talk about it. People don't preach
it. You understand? He did tell that woman at the
well, you worship you know not what. And here's the thing, he
could have said it of a lot more people than he did. The Lord of glory, the maker
of heaven and earth, the Lamb of God drove these people out
of the temple. What'd it say? He cleared out
the marketplace they had put in the temple. And here's the
thing. What I want to tell you, if you
don't know this account, behold the Lamb of God. This is him. This is him. Just as much as
when he fed the 5,000, this is Jesus Christ. This is the Lamb
of God driving those people. Hear the words of the Lord Jesus
Christ. in Matthew chapter 12, verse
34. Matthew 12 and verse 34. Here
it is. O generation of vipers, how can
ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the
heart, the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure
of the heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of
the evil treasure bringeth forth, what? Evil things, evil things. Oh my. These words were spoken
by the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God, Jesus
Christ, to the most religious people on earth at that time.
These words were spoken to the Pharisees, the Jewish Pharisees. A good man speaks out of the
good treasure of his heart, and an evil man out of the evil treasure
brings forth evil things. And what'd he say? What? How can ye, being evil, speak
good things? And then he told them, you can't,
you can't. And he called them a bunch of
poisonous, deadly snakes. Oh my. He called them a generation
of poisonous, killing snakes. How do snakes kill? With their
fangs, with their mouths. They bite and people die. And how can you, being evil,
speak good things? You can't. If the blind lead
the blind, they're both gonna end up in the ditch. They weren't
aiming for the ditch, they did not want to be in the ditch,
but that's where they're going, why? Because those that are evil,
out of an evil heart, bring forth evil things. And it's the way
it is. He called them evil. Understand
I don't know that anybody's ever preached that outside of grace
preachers that Jesus Christ called some people evil to their face
Because don't you know God is love He loves everybody Except
for those he don't But they don't want to bring that part up he
called people evil and you know why he called him evil and because
they were evil. What do I say to that? Behold
the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God. He said
other things to other men. Let's see, Matthew 23, verse
13. Matthew 23, verse 13, oh yeah. But woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven
against men, for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer
ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye devour widows' houses and
for a pretense make long prayer. Therefore, ye shall receive the
greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte,
and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of
hell than yourselves. Here it is. Woe unto you, ye
blind guides, which say, whosoever shall swear by the temple, it's
nothing, but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple,
he's a debtor. Ye fools and blind for whether
is greater the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold. I'm
not gonna go on any farther. Don't need to. Behold the Lamb
of God. You understand, he knows you
are a hypocrite. He knows what and who is in the
hearts of every man. He knows if you have an honest
and good heart, because if you have an honest and good heart,
he gave it to you. He gave it to you. And he knows
if you don't. And it is written. And Jesus,
knowing their thoughts. Jesus knew their thoughts. Jesus
knew their thoughts. But he, knowing their thoughts,
answered them. You understand, some of these
people asked him a question and he answered the question that
they weren't asking. And it drove them crazy and it
made them mad and they wanted to kill him. What'd he say to that? Behold
the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God. He knowing
their thoughts. I don't know if I told you all
this or not. I think I told you, Paul. It might have been afterward.
after service one day. I may have said, here it is. Debbie was watching a TV show,
it was around Easter time, okay, and it was about the life of
Jesus. And they were dramatizing some of the events in the Gospels. And then
they would talk to people in between these scenes that they
did. And there was a fella that came on after one of these scenes,
and I really got tickled, it stuck with me, okay? Because
this guy said, you know, or do you know, that the Gospels were
written by, well, excuse me, wait a minute. This man said
the Gospels were written like the Pharisees were the bad guys. And I still looked at Deb, of
course, and told her, well, or maybe it could be that the Pharisees
were the bad guys. But no, it was just written like
they were the bad guys, you know? Here's the thing. Jesus Christ
said so. These scribes, these Pharisees,
they were hypocrites. Jesus Christ spoke truthfully
always. He spoke truly, verily, verily. They were fakers. They were actors. That's what a hypocrite means.
The word hypocrite was used for the word actor in a play. They
were fakers. He said it in one place. This
people, he was quoting the Old Testament, I know. These people
honor me with their lips, but what? Their hearts are far from
me. That's a hypocrite, and that's
what these people were, and that's why Jesus Christ called them
a hypocrite. They were, here's the word, dishonest. Maybe even to themselves. You
understand, never underestimate the power of self-deception.
You can think you're right and be wrong just as bad as you think
you're right. And these men, they were dishonest.
But here it is right here. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
the Lamb of God. He sees the thoughts and intents
of the hearts of every man. Here's another one. It's in Matthew
26, 53. Let me see. This is the words of Jesus
Christ when they came to pick him up after Judas had betrayed
him. And he's telling his disciples,
well, 52. Then said Jesus unto him, put
up again thy sword into its place, for all that take the sword shall
perish with the sword. But here, verse 53. Thinkest
thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently
give me more than 12 legions of angels? They did not take Jesus Christ
against his will. They did not. They did not. He told his disciples, if I wanted
to, I could stop this right now. Right now. What? With a word. That's all it took. When they
came to him and they said, we're looking for Jesus, and he said,
I am. And they all fell back down on the ground. It's not
that they went back. No, it's that they fell back
on the ground. He had the power then. They were taking him by
wicked hands to be crucified and slain. But it was according
to, what? According to God. The determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God the Father and Jesus Christ. They meant it for evil. God meant
it for good. What? Behold the Lamb of God. You know, I could stop this right
now. I could pray to my father. He'd send 12 legions of angels.
But I'm not gonna do it. Because for this cause came I
unto this world. This cause came I into this world
as a man. And this is the way I'm going
to go out. And they meant it for evil. But
God meant it for good. God meant it for good. The man
Jesus of Nazareth was God and is God. And by him all things
consist. And by him all things consisted
while he was walking on this planet. Oh, I like that. And by him all things were made
that were made. What? They were made by him and
they were made for him. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
the Lamb of God. I like that. Angels move at his
command. But here's the other part of
that. Angels don't move at his command. Oh, I like that, I do. He was and he is God manifest
in the flesh. and his word is the word of God. Why? Because he is the Lamb of
God. Because the Lamb of God is God. Behold the Lamb of God. Now,
those three or four incidents there, those events I talked
about, I know some people might consider them mean. But as far
as all the truth that I just read out of the scriptures and
what I've said about it, I hope, it's all good. It's all good. All things happen together for
good to them that love God. And everything in here, driving
out the money changers and all that. Some people might consider
some of that stuff mean, calling people a bunch of snakes, woeing
unto them and calling them hypocrites. They might consider it mean,
But Jesus Christ said it, and it's good. That's what it is,
it's good. Because just because people consider
it mean, all that means is that people are wrong, and they are. I understand men may consider
these things to be mean, but I do wanna tell you some things
that some people might consider nice. But they're not nice, they're
just good, they're just good. Think about this. There are two
people, let me see, two people in the scriptures whom Jesus
Christ himself said they had great faith. And here's the thing,
very strange thing. Both of them were Gentiles. First
one was the Canaanite woman. Now this is a woman who came
to Christ on behalf of her daughter. Her daughter was vexed with a
devil. And Jesus ignored her at first. And he told her, when
he did speak to her, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel. That's what he told her. But
then, this woman didn't stop. This woman came and worshiped
him. That's what it says in the scripture.
This woman came and worshiped who? The Lamb of God, Jesus the
Christ. And he told her then, it's not
meat to give the children's bread unto the dogs. And then she said
it, truth, Lord. He said it, it was true. It was
true. She said, truth, Lord, yet the
dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the master's table. What do you say then? Great is
thy fame.