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 is 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 bare 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? It 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 so
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. 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. 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 did it say? He cleared out
the marketplace they had put in the temple. And here's the
thing, what I wanna 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 did 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. You 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 wanna bring that
part up. He called people evil. And you know why he called them
evil? 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 you 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 it. 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
he wrote, 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's 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. Some people might consider some
of that stuff mean, calling people a bunch of snakes. Woe 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'd he say then? Great is
thy faith, and your daughter's healed. That was a Canaanite
woman. I like that. Now, he knew her
faith was great because he's the one that gives faith. And
it's his faith, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of faith. Behold the Lamb of God. That
woman's daughter was healed that very hour. The second Gentile
person who he said great faith was a Roman centurion, and that's
in Luke 7. I'm not gonna turn there. But
he sent his servants to Jesus Christ to ask him to heal another
one of his servants who was very dear to him, that that servant
would be healed. What did Christ say about this
man? He told him. I tell people to
go and they go. I tell people to come and they
come. I say do and they do. And you are the Lord. If you
say it, it'll happen. And he told that man, I have
not found so great a faith, no, not in Israel. This was a Roman
centurion and Jesus Christ made that servant whole that time,
at that time. And what I say to you is, that's
him. Behold the Lamb of God. What he says happens. The Samaritan
woman at the well in a whole Samaritan town, which a lot of
people seem to gloss over, that's in John four. Jesus Christ must
needs go through Samaria. Why? To meet this woman at the
well and to be in that town. He met a woman of Samaria, a
woman had been married five times, and he told her this and more,
and Jesus told this woman, this is the one, you worship, you
know not what. What you worship, you don't know. Then he told this woman who was
now living with a man, not her husband, and this is one of the
most glorious things in the scripture, he told this Samaritan woman
at the well that he was the Messiah. He said, I'm he, I'm he. We'll understand this when Messiah
comes. And she was right, because Messiah
had come and was sitting right beside her on the well. Ah, I
like that. He was the Messiah. The disciples
marveled that he even spoke to this woman, a Samaritan woman.
And because of the saying of this woman, that woman went off
and told the town what he had told her. Come and see this man
who told me everything I ever did. Who knew me, inside and
out, and still talked to me. You understand? And still talked
to me. And then they came, and some
believed because of what she said, that they heard that she
said. But then these people came from
this town, and they heard the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him because
of the saying of this woman, but here it is, and he tarried
there two days, two days. And many more believed, why?
Because of his own words. What happened? Well, I can tell
you this. These people in that Samaritan
town, these Samaritans, beheld the Lamb of God. And they heard
the Lamb of God. And they believed. They believed. Last was this woman with an issue
of blood for 12 years. It's in Mark 5. She touched the
hem of his garment. And she was healed. She was healed. Hadn't spoken a word to Jesus
Christ. But she heard he was there and she sought him out.
And she found him and she said, if I just touch the hem of his
garment, I'll be healed. And that's what she did. And
she was healed. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
the Lamb of God. Oh, I like that. She sought him
because he knew her. Here's the thing, a woman with
an issue of blood is not even supposed to be in town. You're
not supposed to be around people. You're supposed to separate yourself.
She had this issue of blood for 12 years. And Christ healed her. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
the Lamb of God. Now, We look to him. Which says, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of faith. We're not looking to the faith,
we're looking to him. Looking unto Jesus. Look, look
and live. We look to him who is the end
of the law for righteousness. to everyone that believes. Oh, I like that. Behold the Lamb
of God. We look to him for our life,
eternal life. We look to him for his wisdom
and his righteousness and his sanctification and his redemption,
Paul. We look to him. Oh, we preach his message and he
is our message. And the purpose of the message
is to point people to Jesus Christ. And our message is to look to
Christ for all of your salvation. Behold the Lamb of God, behold
the Lamb of God. Don't look to anyone or anything
else. You know, considering I know
it's a strange thing to say, but considering percentages,
I can just about say to anyone, and be truthful about it, you
don't know who Jesus Christ is. Because most people do not. Few
there be that find it, the straight gate and the narrow way. Few
there be that find it. Behold the Lamb of God, behold
him as he is. Whether he's clearing out the
temple with a whip, or he's healing a woman with an issue of blood,
it's the same man. Whether he's saying, ye generation
of vipers, or he's saying, come unto me, all you that labor and
are heavy laven, and I will give you rest. Behold the Lamb of
God. Oh my. Whether he's talking to
a Samaritan woman at the well, or calling Pharisees and scribes
hypocrites. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
him as he is. He is the redeemer and the giver
of life and the giver of faith and the giver of peace and the
giver of righteousness and the justifier from all sin and the
perfect sacrifice and offering to the Father above. Behold the
Lamb of God. There is salvation in no other. And there is all salvation in
him, in him. The one at whom, at his name,
every knee shall bow. Of things in heaven, of things
in earth, and of things under the earth. Because Jesus Christ
is all of this and more that we don't even know. Oh, he's more than we can know.
Well, we say, behold the Lamb of God. I do have a song here. This is from Joseph Hart. It's
from Romans 3, verse 24. It's got written beside it, free
grace. So I like that part anyway already.
Ye children of God, by faith in his Son, redeemed by his blood,
and with him made one. This union with wonder and rapture
be seen, which nothing can sunder without or within. This pardon,
this peace, which none can destroy, this treasure of grace, this
heavenly joy, the worthless may crave it, it always comes free. The vilest may have it, "'was
given to me. "'Tis not for good deeds, good
tempers nor frames, "'from grace it proceeds, and all is the Lamb's. "'No goodness, no fitness expects
he from us. "'This I can well witness, for
none could be worse.'" Sick sinner, expect no balm but Christ's blood. Thine own works reject the bad
and the good. None ever miscarry that on him
rely, though filthy as Mary, Manasseh, or I. I like that. So what can I say to you? Behold
the Lamb of God. I want you to know who he is.
I want you to believe him as he is. And I want you to rejoice in
Christ Jesus, because he is the Lamb of God. He is. Our Heavenly Father, thank you,
Lord, for this time and this place. Thank you, Lord, for allowing
us to gather together. We are your church. You're assembled
saints here in this place. and those listening streaming
online or by recording. However, television, internet,
your word is what we want to hear. Your word is what we want
to preach. Your son is in whom we rejoice. Thank you, Lord, for all you've
given us. Be with Paul as he comes to speak. Be with Walter
as he speaks in other places. Lord, be with us as we go forth.
In Christ's name we pray, amen.