If you would, please turn to
John, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, according to John chapter one. I'm gonna read two very familiar
pieces of scripture here, just two verses. John chapter one and 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. This is he of whom I said, after
me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before
me. I'm just gonna stop right there. As you might suspect, the subject
today is Jesus Christ. The objective of my sermon is
to preach Jesus Christ. But what I wanna speak to in
particular today, the title of this, Paul, is who takes away
the sin? Now the answer is both simple
and complex. I'll tell you the answer now,
it's Jesus Christ. But after listening to that sermon
of Henry's, Walter, which I listened to after I did this, I'm reminded that man's not too
concerned about sin. And Henry said it very well.
The reason men aren't concerned about sin is they don't think
too much about sin. They don't think it's that bad.
And the reason they don't think it's too bad or that it is bad
is because they have a small version of God. You think little
of sin when you think little of God. And that's the point. That's the point. He said that
Isaiah, when Isaiah saw the Lord, he saw him high and lifted up. But here's the next thing. What
did Isaiah say when he saw the Lord high and lifted up? Woe
is me. I'm a man of unclean lips. I'm
the one with the problem, not God. And if you ever get a glimpse
of God, a glimpse of Jesus Christ, you realize you're the one with
the problem. And that's what the world, that's
who the world has never seen and that's who's not being preached
today, it's true. Because man's not too concerned
with sin, but God is. God sent his son to take away
sin. Because here in this scripture,
who takes away sin, now realize it says which, but it means who.
Which is referring back to the Lamb of God, but he's already
said, I've seen Jesus. And he's the Lamb of God. So
who takes away the sin of the world, is not a question here,
it's a declaration. It's a declaration. But first
of all, John sees Jesus coming to him. That's a good day. You understand me? That's a good
day. That's the definition of a good
day. Any day and every day is a good
day when you see Jesus. And here's something more. Any
day when you see Jesus coming to you is a glorious day. It's a miraculous day. It's a
wondrous day because here's the fact. Jesus does not come to
everyone. We tell everyone to go to Christ.
We tell everyone to believe Christ. We tell everyone there's no hope
without Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ doesn't come
to everyone. But, oh happy day when he does
come. And he says these words, behold
the Lamb of God. Behold, see, gaze upon, in wonder
and awe, God manifests in the flesh. And if you have eyes to
see, see. Let's be clear, Jesus Christ
is the Lamb of God. There's no question, no debate,
no doubt, that's who John the Baptist was talking about and
John the Apostle recorded it. Now, it's another declaration. But first of all, I do want to
point out a few things on the negative side. You understand
Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. What's the negative part? Jesus
Christ is not the Lamb of man. Jesus Christ is not the Lamb
of the world. Jesus Christ is not the Lamb
of any church or any denomination. Can I say this? I think I will. Jesus Christ is not the Lamb
of true believers. He's the Lamb of God. He's the
Lamb from God. He's the Lamb sent by God. He's the Lamb of God. Let's be
clear. The covenant that was made was
made between the father and the son. It concerns us, but it wasn't
made with our participation. It wasn't made with our acknowledgement
even. It wasn't made with any consideration
by us. He's the lamb of God. And he
came to do the work of the father. So what does John the Baptist
mean by the Lamb of God? Well, guess what? You kinda gotta
go back to the Old Testament. Because John the Baptist was
a Jew. Jews were baptizing back then,
Mason, as John the Baptist was. But go back to the Passover,
the Passover, there was only one. The Jews were delivered
from the plague, of the death of the firstborn. That was called
a plague. And they were delivered from it. Now, the Jews' firstborn
was no cleaner, no better than the Egyptians' firstborn. There
was only one difference. And that was the blood of the
Passover lamb. And if you go back there and
read in Exodus 12, it's a glorious thing to read. You'll read, a
lamb, The lamb, and this is your lamb. And it's always in the
singular, even though thousands of lambs were slain on that day,
because there's only one lamb. That's what it was pointing to.
And when God said to Moses, when I see the blood, I will pass
over you. That's what John the Baptist
is referring to as the lamb of God. whose blood, which means it's
life is gone, it's death and it's blood, and his body, she
had to eat the body, and his body meant life to those Jews. And the lack of it, the lack
of that lamb meant death to the Egyptians. That's what John the Baptist
is talking about, the Lamb of God. This one, Christ our Passover,
is what Paul called him. Because every firstborn deserved
to die. The Jews did not deserve grace,
but God granted them mercy and grace as he willed. As he willed. That's what he
does. I'll be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious. I'll be merciful, I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. Also look back at that burnt
offering, which was a lamb, a lamb. The continual burnt offering,
there was a lamb offered in the morning and a lamb offered in
the evening. Now it doesn't specifically state it, But I have a tendency
to believe, now this does say it's Joe, not the scripture,
but I do believe this. It was the first sacrifice offered
every morning. It was the last sacrifice offered
every evening. And that burnt offering was completely
and totally offered to who? To God. To God. The body and the blood of that
lamb was totally and completely offered to God. And what does
John the Baptist say? Behold, the lamb of God. Now you go to Leviticus and it
will tell you. If you offer a burnt offering,
guess what it says? It all goes to God, body and
blood, but says, it shall be an atonement for you. It shall
be. You know why? Because it's the
burnt offering offered to God. It's an atonement for you. But
that is between the Lamb and God. I love that. This burnt offering, which is
for God, Well, in Leviticus one and four, he put it this way,
and he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering,
and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. This is talking about a personally
offered burnt offering. You understand? The burnt offering is always
particular. Then John the Baptist tells us, What the Lamb of God does. What the Lamb of God does. Which
taketh away the sin of the world. Don't get hung up on that word
world, I'll get to it later. A lot of people do. Oh, this
is, you know, I'm not gonna get into it right now. But this is the part of the verse
that caught my attention. It struck me here really hard.
Walter, I've passed over it many times. I mean, I've had it quoted
to me by preachers, and I've had it read to me. I've read it. But you understand,
sometimes our familiarity with the scripture can be a handicap.
We have a tendency to read right over something, and we should
be paying attention to every word. And we're not. I'm guilty
of this. I'll blame you guys too, but
I'm guilty of this. But here's the point. The Lamb of God takes
away the sin of the world. This is another thing where it's
one of the things that gets you in your head. This is what the
world doesn't understand. He takes it away. They think,
okay, You know he's God, and God forgives
you. No, no. Not just for no reason. The only reason God can forgive
you is if the Lamb of God has taken away your sin. Your sin. And that's a far greater
undertaking than the world has any idea of, and I mean the religious
world. Baptists or whoever. You cannot escape your sin. But the Lamb of God can take
it away. That's what John the Baptist
is saying. That's what the Lamb of God came for. A man, the man, God manifests in
the flesh. was taking away the sins of the
world when John saw him coming to him. This is what our Lord
Jesus Christ came to do. The angel told Joseph, call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. God manifests in the flesh, takes
away sin. What's that mean? What do men think? Well, it doesn't
matter what men think. But what does God say? Because
men have a real bad tendency to refer to this like it's nothing
or it's like a magic trick. You believe and God will give
you grace. You believe and your sins are gone. They better have
been gone when Jesus was here. Or they'll never be gone at all.
He's the one that takes away sin. You don't help him, you don't hinder him. Thank God
for that. Thank God for both of them because
I'm no help. And if I was involved, I would
have been a hindrance. But thank God he left me out
of it totally, and he left all of you out of it. He's the one
that takes away the sin of the world, and we have absolutely
nothing to do with this. And you can take that any way
you want. I take it as grace. I take it as mercy. I take it
as compassion. You understand, sin is not reversed,
it's taken away. Sin is not exchanged, it's taken
away. It's not, I mean, you can't,
and this is a big theory of the world, you can't have a good
act take the place of a bad act. You can't have a good work take
the place of a sin. A, you ain't got no good works.
And B, God doesn't want your works. He's looking for the works
of his son. That's what he sent him here
for. And here's the other thing. Sin
is not a magic trick to be made to disappear. It's got to be
taken away. It's got to be taken away because
sin will not disappear. Sin has to be paid for. Sin has to be punished. Paul read it this morning, 1
John 3 and 5. And ye know, it's one of them things ye know. You
know, you're supposed to know this. That he was manifested
to take away our sins. and in him is no sin. That's why he was made known.
That's why he came here, manifesting. God manifests in the flesh, came
to take away our sins. That's grace, that's grace. Now if you wanna know how he
takes away sin, The answer is used in this word here. In the
Greek, the definition means to bear, to bear as a burden,
to lift away, to carry. Now this is a fact. Our sin had
to go, but I can't bear it. I can't bear it away. I can't
lift it up and I sure can't carry it anywhere other than inside
myself. Our sin had to go but it didn't
just disappear. Isaiah 53 and verses four through
seven. Surely he hath borne our griefs. and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray
and we've turned everyone to his own way and the Lord, the
Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, 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 her shears
is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. Behold, the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world. He bore it. He bore it. I'm gonna say it in the past
tense, because it's already happened. John the Baptist is saying it
in the present tense, because it was going on. He's borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
And the chastisement of our peace was upon him. Paul wrote it this
way. Y'all know this. Second Corinthians
521. For he hath made him to be sin. But he didn't stop there. For us. When he laid it on us
all. He's made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. How? He took away the sin of
the world. Peter wrote it this way. First
Peter two and verse 24. Who? Who? Jesus Christ. His own self bear our sins. in his own body, on the tree,
that we being not sinless, but dead to sin, should live unto
righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed. How? He took away the sin of the world. Yes, he has taken our sins from
us. He took them upon himself and
he bore them on the cross and died the death that we should
have died, that we earned. Understand, we earned death.
The penalty for sin is death. And Jesus Christ died our death
on that cross and he took away our sins from us. But here's the thing. That's
gracious and that's glorious, but it ain't the whole story.
He has taken away our sins from God. He's the lamb of God. He has
taken away the sin of the world. And he's not only took it from
us, he's took it from God. Now ain't that grace? Because
that's where it needs to be away from. Taking it away from us
was a bonus. If you can keep God from seeing
it, you've done something. That's not something I can do.
You understand, I might be able to fool you, I can't fool my
wife anymore, she knows me too well. But here's the thing, you
ain't never fooling God. Hebrews 10, verses 14 to 17. Well, I'll tell you what, before
that, Romans 11. Let me look at that. Because I want to see
this first. Romans 11 and verse 27. Get to the right page here. Well, it's verse 26. And so,
all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, there shall come
out of Zion the deliverer. and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto
them, when I shall take away their sins. There's no, on our part, there's
no way we can become anything in God's sight with our sins
on us. But we are complete in Jesus
Christ. He has taken away our sins. Now look at Hebrews chapter 10
verses 14 to 17. Ah, I got that marked. Hebrews chapter 10, 14 to 17.
For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost is a witness
to us that he's perfected us forever with that one sacrifice. For after that he had said before,
this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and in
their minds will I write them. And their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. Now I know you remember some
of your sins. God knew them all. But God's not gonna remember
your sins anymore. Why? Because Jesus Christ, the
Lamb of God, has taken away the sin of the world. He not only took them from us,
he took them out of God's sight. and he's not gonna remember him
anymore. You understand, they didn't just disappear, no. The
father laid him on the son and the son bore the punishment,
the pain, the penalty of death. Substitutionary sacrifice. He died with our sins on him. Bare him in his own body on the
tree. Our sins have been punished. They didn't disappear, they were
paid for. You understand, we're not just
forgiven, we're redeemed. We are redeemed. And here, we're
reconciled to God. By who? By the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. That's the reconciliation. It's
between him and God. We get the benefit, but we didn't
have nothing to do with it. He took away the sins of the
world. Let's see. He also had said this in Hebrews
eight, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and
their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Where's that come from? That
comes from Jeremiah. That's the prophecy of Jeremiah, Jeremiah
31, 31. You can read it there. You understand? This has been
the plan all along. This has been the purpose of
God from the beginning. The Lamb was coming. And now
John the Baptist says, the Lamb's here. The Lamb's here. And he says he's taking away,
because John says it in the present tense, John the Baptist says
it in the present tense, he's taking away the sins of the world.
And I'm here to tell you right now, we can say it in the past
tense, because he took away the sin of the world. It wasn't reversed, it wasn't
exchanged, it was paid. He paid it in his own body on
the tree, and cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. And our
Lord was cursed by the Father, but it's for our benefit, for
the benefit of his people. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. The Lamb of God has borne our
sins away from God, and through his redemption, he has reconciled
us to God. And of course our message is
now, be ye reconciled to God. Quit fighting. If you see Christ coming to you,
don't fight him. He'll beat you anyway. Serious, he had to beat me down.
And Henry's right about that too. No man receives Jesus until
he's beat him down. Until you've seen your sin a
little bit of what he bore. Because our Lord came to save
sinners. And how'd he do it? He took away
their sin. But he's got to remind you of
your sin, actually teach you of your sin, because you don't
know anything about it until he shows you. And Jesus Christ, the Lamb of
God, has done this for all of his people. He has saved his
people from their sin. Out of every kindred, nation,
tribe, tongue, under heaven. See, behold this Lamb, who taketh
away the sins of the world. Any other lamb's not gonna do
you any good. You understand? This ain't a lamb that made anything
possible. This is a lamb who did it. You
understand? John says he was taking away
the sins of the world. I'm telling you this, he took
away the sins of the world. Now, I've said it earlier, don't
get hung up on the word world, okay? Because it's the word cosmos,
and that means world, universe, the whole thing. He's the Lamb
of God that takes away the sins of the world. Now, what did John the Baptist mean
by this? You remember, this is John the Baptist. He's a Jew,
he's talking to Jews. because that's who he's surrounded
by. And you understand, he said, this is the Lamb of God who come
to take away the sins of not just the Jews only. This is the
same thing our Lord said in John 3, 15. And 16, for God so loved the
world, or so God loved the world. You understand? Salvation is
not of the Jew only, the Jewish religion. All Israel shall be
saved. But all are not of Israel, but
in Israel. You can take that however you
want to, too. You understand, we're grafted into their tree. That's what it says. You know
who wrote that? Paul, a Hebrew of Hebrews at
one time. This is the same statement Jesus
Christ made in John chapter three. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son. What did he give his son for?
To take away the sin of the world. Jew and Gentile, bond or free,
rich or poor, male or female, it doesn't matter. What John is saying here is this
is the only lamb there is for this world. And it's not just for the Jewish
people only. There's only one lamb. And it's
the lamb of God who took away every sin of this world that's
going to be taken away. Every sin in this world that's
going to be taken away, well, that was going to be taken away
has been taken away. Because he is crucified only
once. In Jesus Christ, there is only
one punishment for sin. It was his death and not ours. There is no other lamb. What did John say then? This
is he of whom I said. After me cometh a man which is
preferred before me for he was before me. This is he and there
is no other. And this is he. He's preferred
before me because he was before me. This is God manifest in the
flesh. come to take away the sins of
the world, and he did. Jesus took away the sin of all
his people. The Lamb of God, the Son of God,
took our sin away from us and away from the Father. And he
has reconciled us to God in himself, and he did it by himself. Sin has been taken away as far
as the east is from the west. And sin has been punished by
God in the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. And here's the thing. Those whose
sins he has taken away cannot be punished for that sin. How can you say that? Well, I
can say that because the scripture says Our God is a just God and
a savior. And guess what? This is the only
way he can be a just God and a savior. Sin's got to be punished. And
sin was punished in Jesus Christ. And guess what? He took away
the sin of the world. He has given to us says it eternal
life Now it's not eternal if you can lose it Sorry, that's
not the definition of the word eternal if people have problems
with that people have problems with that and I can't help the
lack of comprehension in man. I can barely help sometimes my
own lack of comprehension. But here's the thing. If our
Lord was punished for that sin, we will never be punished for
that sin. Because what's it say? He took
it away. It is gone. It didn't just disappear, but
it is gone. Praise God it's gone. Praise
Christ it's gone. So what are we supposed to do?
Well rejoicing is good. Thank God for his glorious grace.
Praise his holy name. He has taken away sin. And I, I have to deal with my flesh
now. But thank God he's given us his
spirit. You understand, the world's religion wants to
tell you that once you believe, once you're saved, everything
gets so much better. And in some way it does. But
you understand, in some ways it gets worse. Because there
starts to be a battle in you that you never had before. You don't want to sin. You understand
there are people say, well, if you believe Jesus gives you eternal
life, I just sin as much as I want. And I still remember Henry Mahan's
answer from 30 years ago. And it's still true today. I
sin more than I want now. I didn't used to sin more than
I wanted. Not so much. But now I do. Because there's
good in me. Not of myself, but of His Spirit. And He has taken away my sin.
I don't have to bear the death of it. The Lord, our God, Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God, is my Savior. I said the Lord, Jesus Christ,
is my Savior. He's the one who has taken away
the sin of the world. He bore it in his own body on
the tree, and God remembers my sin no more. That's a blessing. Heavenly Father,
I'm thankful again for this time and this place. Gathering together in your name,
be with Walter as he comes to preach your word. Thank you,
Lord, for your glorious grace and mercy and compassion upon
us that you've given us through your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ,
in whose name we pray, amen.