Oh, I could sing that song over
and over and over and over again. Oh, I just love it. What a great
God we have. Turn, if you would, to John 1.
John 1. The name of the message tonight
is, Behold the Lamb. Behold the Lamb. John 1, verses
19, we'll read. All the way down to 37. And this is the record of John
when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask
him, Who art thou? And he confessed and denied,
but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then?
Art thou Elias? And he said, I am not. Art thou
that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said
they unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to
them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am
the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the
way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which
were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said
unto him, Why baptizes thou then, if thou not be the Christ, nor
Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I
baptize with water. but there standeth one among
you whom ye know not. He it is who coming after me
is preferred before me, whose shoelatch I am not worthy to
unloose." These things were done in Bethabara, beyond Jordan,
where John was baptizing. 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. And I knew him not, but that
he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I coming
Therefore, I come baptizing with water. Notice there, manifest
to Israel. Oh, he's manifested to his people,
spiritual Israel. And John bear record saying,
I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode
upon him. And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize
with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see
the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same as he which
baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and I saw, and bear
record that this is the Son of God. Again, the next day, John
stood and two of his disciples, and look at verse 36 again, the
second mention, and looking upon Jesus, now there it is, he looked
upon Christ. As he walked, he said, behold
the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him
speak, and they followed Jesus. The name of the message tonight
is, Behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God. Twice
in this passage, the Lord Jesus Christ is identified as the Lamb
of God. He's identified as the Lamb of
God. And notice the verbiage here, it's not a lamb, it's the
Lamb. the Lamb of God, singular, the
Lamb of God. He is the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God. Verse 36 says, And looking upon
Jesus as He walked, He saith, Behold, the Lamb of God. Behold,
the Lamb of God. Now Israel expected a Deliverer.
They expected that. the types and shadows in the
Old Testament. Turn, if you would, to Galatians
chapter 4. The types and shadows in the
Old Testament had prefigured Christ. And Moses and the prophets
spoke of Him. They predicted His coming. And
all through this book is pictured in type and shadow in the Old
Testament that God would provide the Deliverer for His people.
In the New Testament, He is identified as the Lamb of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who came to save His people from their sins. And
when the fullness of time was come, Galatians 4, let's turn
there. Galatians 4, look at verses 4
and 5. When the fullness of time was
come, when it was God's appointed time, the Lord Jesus Christ came
into the world. The Lamb of God appeared. Look
at this. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. But when the fullness of time
was come, and not a second before that, and not a second after
that, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his
son, made of a woman, made under the law, the Lamb of God. The
one who's identified in John 1, verse 36, the Lamb of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at John 1, verse 29. Again,
we see He's identified as the Lamb of God. John identifies
Him in our passage. The Lamb of God has come to take
away the sins of His people by the payment of His own precious
blood. John 1.29, the next day, John see Jesus coming in unto
him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the
sin of the world. His coming was predestinated
before the foundation of the world. Behold the Lamb of God
who was foreordained, foreordained before the foundation of the
world. foreordained to come." Turn,
if you would, to 1 Peter 1, 18-20. This is the Lamb of God predestinated. The Lamb of God predestinated.
Behold the Lamb of God. God's Lamb predestinated. 1 Peter 1, 18-20. The very One who was spoken of
is now here. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, there's the cost of the
redemption of his people, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
for his people. Now, this does away with folks
who say that God went into plan B when Adam fell. No, Christ
is the Lamb foreordained and before the foundation of the
world. Oh, behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God. Turn, if you would, to Genesis
3. So we see there, we saw in 1 Peter, God's Lamb predestinated, foreordained before the foundation
of the world. And now in Genesis 3, we see
the Lamb pictured. And we saw in John 1, the Lamb
identified, right? Look at Genesis 3. The Lamb pictured
in Adam and Eve being clothed by the death of another. They're
clothed to cover their nakedness. Look at Genesis 3.21. Unto Adam
also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins
and clothe them. Here we see the innocent dying
for the guilty. What a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ dying for his people. We are clothed in his righteousness
to cover the nakedness of our sin. And it was by the shed and
the blood, the innocent victim died to clothe Adam and Eve.
What a picture of Christ, the sinless sacrifice, dying for
sinners, and the believer being clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. Look at one chapter over, Genesis 4. We have the Lamb presented. Another
picture of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the foreshadowing
of Him. Look at Genesis 4, verses 3-5. And in the process of time it
came, In the process of time, it came to pass that Cain bought
of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord." See,
the fruit of his own labors, right? He didn't bring the proper
sacrifice. The proper sacrifice is a lamb.
And Abel, he also bought of the firstlings of his flock, and
of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto
Abel in his offering, because it pictured Christ, the Lamb
of God, who we saw identified in John chapter 1. But unto Cain
in his offering he had not respect, and Cain was very wroth, and
his countenance fell. God will not accept the works
of our hands for our redemption. It must be Christ. It must be
what he's done. It must be. Abel bought the proper
sacrifice and presented it to the Lord. Cain bought the works
of his hand and was rejected. What a warning for those who
trust in their own works and their own merit to get them to
heaven. God will only accept the perfect sacrifice, the Lord
Jesus Christ, sinless, spotless, who died for sinners, And here
before us we have pictured the substitutionary death of Christ
in the place of sinners. Behold the Lamb of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Behold the Lamb of God. Jesus
is God's Lamb. He is holy and free from blemish. No spot in Him. He's perfect
without sin. Turn, if you would, to Genesis
22. He is perfect and without sin, full of grace. His entire
nature is pure and spotless. An offering fit for God. An offering
fit for God. Perfect. Perfect. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
the Lamb of God. The Lord Jesus Christ. And next
in Genesis chapter 22 we see the Lamb provided. Look at this
in Genesis chapter 22 starting in verse 4. Then on the third
day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And
Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and
I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to
you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid
it upon Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand
and the knife, and they went both of them together. And Isaac
spake unto Abraham, his father, and said, my father, now he would
know what the proper sacrifice is. And he said, here am I, my son.
And he said, behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the
lamb for a burnt offering? He knew what the proper sacrifice
was. And Abraham said, and look at
this, oh, the lamb provided. And here this speaks of Christ.
And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb. Oh, what a foreshadowing of Christ. God will provide himself. God
in the flesh. the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ. God will provide Himself a Lamb
for a burnt offering, and He did in the room instead of His
people. He died on Calvary's cross. So
they went, both of them together, and they came to the place which
God told them And Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood
in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar
upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his
hand and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the
Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And
he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand
upon the lad. Neither do thou anything unto
him. For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou
hast not withheld thine only Son." What a foreshadowing there
again from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket.
by his horns, and Abraham went and took the ram and offered
him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son." Oh, the
Lord Jesus Christ died in the room in place, in the room instead
of his people. What a wonderful picture we have
here before us. God will provide Himself a lamb.
Does this not picture Jesus Christ our Lord, who Abraham saw, right? By faith, afar off, he was looking
to Christ. All the Old Testament saints
were looking to Christ. The sacrifice of a son, the sacrifice
of a son, an only son, a well-beloved son, points right to Christ,
points right to Christ. Behold the Lamb of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And by His Father's own hands, Abraham stretched forth his hand
and took the knife to slay his son. Our Savior died before the
law and justice of God. What a picture. What a picture. And Isaac was the son of promise,
wasn't he? He is the Son of Promise. What a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He was promised and prophesied
that He would come. Behold the Lamb of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ. God will provide Himself a Lamb. And He did. The Lord Jesus Christ. God incarnate in the flesh. Oh, does it not bring that passage
alive when John says, Behold the Lamb of God. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Savior of His people. And this is the believer's hope,
isn't it? We who believe, this is our hope. Our hope's not in
ourselves. Our hope's in Christ, the Lamb
provided. The Lamb provided. Oh, and our
hopes are centered in Christ. There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners
plunge beneath that flood, what? Lose all their guilty stains,
all of them, by the precious blood of Christ. What a God. What a Redeemer. What a Savior
is our Lord Jesus Christ. He's magnificent. Turn, if you
would, to Exodus chapter 12. We read one verse there about
the Passover lamb. Exodus 12, verse 21, another
picture of Christ as the lamb is found in Exodus. And this
lamb, not any lamb could do. It had to be spotless. It had
to be perfect. Perfect and spotless with no
blemish at all. What a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The sinless sacrifice for sinners. For we who are sinners. He was perfect. Not a sin thought,
not a sin deed. Absolutely perfect. Sinless,
spotless, without blemish. Oh, behold the Lamb of God. Exodus
12, 21. Then Moses called for all the
elders of Israel and said unto them, draw out and take you a
lamb according to your families and kill the Passover. Oh, the Lamb must be slain. Must
be slain. The Lord Jesus Christ is pictured
here as the lamb killed for the Passover. And remember this,
the Israelites were safe under the blood. They were safe under
the blood, only under the blood. Believers are safe under the
blood of Christ. Safe. He's our ark of safety,
isn't he? Everyone who was in the ark was
safe. Everyone who's in Christ is safe. Oh, the Israelites were safe
under the blood of the Lamb. So those who are covered by the
blood of Christ are safe from God's justice and from God's
law because Christ bore the penalty of their sin in their place.
What a Redeemer. What a Redeemer. And we see the Lamb of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ, dying on the cross in the place of sinners. And He's God's Lamb. It is blood
He shed for the remission of the sins of His people. There
He is. Behold the Lamb of God. For He
hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God. What a Savior. What a magnificent Savior. He's
a Lamb. And as a Lamb, He's intended
to be a sacrificial victim. He was to die just for the unjust,
and He did. He did. The Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, makes an atonement for the sins of His people. What a mystery of mercy. When
you think about this, he paid the price for all the elect of
all the ages. If we sing that song, what wondrous
love is this? Oh, my soul. Oh, my soul. What amazing grace. No wonder
John Newton penned amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found, was blind, but now I see. Oh, what wondrous love. What
mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ was put
to death for the sins of his people. His death atoned for
the sins of his people. He is an all-sufficient sacrifice
all sufficient sacrifice, nothing lacking, all sufficient sacrifice
for sin and for the atonement and the transgressions of His
people. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God. He is
a Lamb who is all the believers' redemption by the shedding of
His precious blood. He is the Lamb who is all the
believers' hope by His death upon the cross. And He is the
Lamb who is all the believer's justification by His raising
from the grave for our justification. And He is the Lamb who is the
believer's life, because in Him is found eternal life. and will
be forever with Him. He is the Lamb. Behold the Lamb
of God. Behold the Lamb of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ. God Himself was to provide a
Lamb, and He did. The Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate
in the flesh. The Lamb prophesied is being
bought to the slaughter. Turn if you would. to Isaiah
53. We'll look at one verse there.
And then put your finger back in John 1. So we've seen Him pictured and
prophesied. He's prophesied as being bought
to the slaughter. Oh, what a Lamb. The perfect,
spotless, sinless Lamb of God. Oh, we like sheep, verse 6, have
gone astray. We turned, every one, to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is bought as a lamb to the
slaughter. And as a sheep before a shearer is a dumb, so he openeth
not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment, And who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. Notice that. Notice the verbiage
there. He was sinless. He was stricken for the transgression
of his elect, of God's people. And he made his grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death, because he had done no
violence, neither was there any deceit in his mouth. Oh, here
we see the Lamb being brought to the slaughter. The Lamb being
brought to the slaughter. And the Lamb is the man Christ
Jesus. This is prophesying about Christ.
Let's look at John 1, 29 and 36 again. He's identified. The one prophesied by Isaiah
is identified as the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at this. Again,
back to our text. Verse 29, the next day John see
it, Jesus coming unto him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God. Behold the One who Isaiah spoke
of, which taketh away the sin of the world. And then look at
John 1.36. He's identified again. And looking upon Jesus as He
walked, He said, Behold the Lamb of God. Oh, the Lamb identified. God's Lamb. God's Lamb. God's Lamb. Turn back to 1 Peter
1.18. I know we've been there already
tonight, but let's look at that again and we'll see the Lamb
crucified. The very one spoken of in John
1.29-36. The Lamb crucified. Oh, what a mighty Lamb. He dies
in the room instead of His people. He pays it all. Look at 1 Peter
1.18-21 in light of what we read in John 1. and what we saw prophesied in
Isaiah 53. Look at 1 Peter 1, 18 and 21. For as much as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb, behold the
Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God, as of
a lamb without blemish and without spot. He's perfect. He's spotless. He's sinless. And then it says,
who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you, who by Him do
believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead and gave Him
glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. The Lamb crucified. It is finished. Wondrous words. Purchased with the precious blood
of Christ. Look at verse 19 again in 1 Peter
1.19 there. But with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He is the Lamb
of God, beloved. He is the Lamb of God. Behold
the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the sacrifice to
satisfy God's justice for chosen sinners. He is God's Son. He did the Father's will. He
is the One by which all believers are sanctified and redeemed by
the offering of Himself. The Lamb of God. by the offering
of himself before God for the sins of his people. And he did
it willingly. He knew exactly what he was doing.
He was on a mission to redeem his people from their sins. If
he hadn't have redeemed us, we'd never be redeemed. Everyone would
perish in their sins. But oh, behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God. The Lamb is God. The eternal
God from eternity becomes a man. God becomes a man. God with us. God in our place. God atoning
for our sins and dying upon the cross. God putting away our sins
by the sacrifice of Himself. It is finished. Oh, the mystery of mysteries
and wonders of wonders, as one commentator said, the death of
Christ. Sinner, friend, behold the Lamb
of God. Behold the Lamb of God. Look
and be saved. Isaiah 45, 22 says this. Look unto me and be saved. All
the ends of the earth, for I am God. Jesus Christ was God incarnate
in the flesh. And there is none else. O beloved
of God, let us fix our eyes. Let us fix our minds upon Christ. And let us keep our eyes and
minds fixed upon Him. Let us look daily to Him who
is the object of our faith. Let us look daily to Him who
is the one who redeemed us by His own precious blood. And life
comes by looking to Christ. Peace comes by looking to Christ.
Joy comes by looking to Christ. And only in Christ is there pardon
for all of our sins. All of them. Even the ones we
don't know, we do. It's incredible. It's incredible. Behold the Lamb of God. Look
and live. Look unto me and be ye saved.
All the ends of the earth. For I am God and there is none
else. Notice what it says. Let's turn
there actually. Isaiah 45, 22. We'll just quickly look at that
though. It just struck me again what
John says, behold the Lamb of God, right? And in Genesis we
saw God will provide Himself a Lamb. Look at this text in
Isaiah 45, 22. And keep in mind that Scripture
declared God will provide Himself a Lamb, that John identified
the Lamb as Christ, but look at this. We see declared here
that Christ is God. Look unto me and be ye saved.
How are we saved? Isaiah 45, 22, how are we saved? By looking to Christ, right?
By looking to Christ. Look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God. Christ is God. This is prophesied about Him,
and there is none else. There's no other Savior. There's no other God. He is the one true God, and He's
become a man. He dies in the room instead of
His people. And only in Christ is there pardon
for all our sins. Oh, that God would give grace
and that sinners would trust in His blood alone for the present, complete, and
everlasting pardon of all our sins. We who are sinners have been
redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and it is our prayer that
God would give eyes to other sinners to see Christ. Ears to hear and eyes to see. Ye sinners, seek his face, whose
wrath you cannot bear. Fly to the shelter of his cross
and find salvation there. Ye sinners, seek his face, whose
wrath ye cannot bear. Fly to the shelter of his cross,
and find salvation there. Those of us who are saved, that's
all we do. We've found salvation. We've
found salvation in the shelter of the cross of Christ, in his
redeeming precious blood. Behold the Lamb of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Next, we have the Lamb of God
preached and proclaimed. Look at 1 Corinthians 1, verses
23 and 24. We preach and proclaim the Lamb
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only Savior of sinners.
We do not preach ourselves, but we preach Christ, the One who
can save sinners. We point you to the Lord Jesus
Christ, the sinless One, the sinless one who died for sinners,
the all-sufficient sacrifice, the perfect, spotless Lamb of
God. 1 Corinthians 1, 23 and 24, but
we preach Christ crucified. We preach Christ crucified. He
died on the cross to redeem His people from their sins. Unto
the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God and the wisdom of God." What a wonderful Savior. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
the Lamb of God. He is the object of our faith. He is the object of saving faith. In the Old Testament, they were
instructed to offer a lamb, and the lamb was to be offered in
the morning and evening. And in the Old Testament, the
sacrifices were types and shadows pointing to Christ. And John
points to the substance. John points to the substance.
Behold the Lamb of God. Those were types and shadows.
Now he points to the substance, the One who is the Lamb of God.
The One who is the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And think
of this. No soul has ever been saved without
Christ. No soul has ever been saved without
Christ. Salvation is only in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere else. Nowhere else. Turn, if you would, to Acts 8
and behold the Lamb of God. Acts 8. And then put your finger in Revelation
7, if you would. Acts 8. Starting in verse 34, and we'll
read the 38th. Behold the Lamb of God. Acts 8, verse 34, And the eunuch
answered Philip and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet
this? Of himself or some other man? Now he's reading the book
of Isaiah. And Philip opened his mouth and began the same
Scripture and preached unto him Jesus. Now remember, all they
had was the Old Testament. He's preaching Christ. He's preaching
Christ. He's preaching the Lamb of God. Then Philip opened his mouth
and began the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus.
And as they went on their way, they came to a certain water,
and the eunuch said, See, here is water. What doth hinder me
to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He confesses Christ. And he commanded the chariot
to stand still, and they went down both into the water, both
Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. The Lamb of God preached, preached. Behold, the Lamb of God. And
lastly, we see the Lamb in heaven. glorified and magnified and praised. Turn, if you would, to Revelation
7. And we'll also look in chapter 5. So put your finger just a
couple chapters back, too. Revelation 7. And we're closed
with these portions. The Lamb of God in heaven, glorified,
magnified and praised. Look at Revelation 7, verses
9 and 10. After this I beheld, and lo,
a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and people, and tongues. What is it going to
be like? Oh my. Stood before the throne and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes. They're clothed in the
righteousness of Christ, every single one of them. white robes,
the righteousness of Christ, and palms in their hands, and
cried with a loud voice, saying, Oh, they're praising God. Salvation
to our God, which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb.
Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne and unto the
Lamb. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
the Lamb of God. They were given the Lamb of God
all glory, all honor, and all praise. And this is Jesus Christ
our Lord. Now let's look at Revelation
chapter 5. Two verses there. Revelation chapter 5, verses
11 and 12. And I beheld and 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 thousands. saying with a loud voice, worthy
is the Lamb. Oh, He's worthy. He's worthy.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. We see
the Lamb in heaven glorified, magnified, and praised. What
a great God. Behold the Lamb. Behold the Lamb
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And may God grant you faith to
look to the Lamb of God, to look to the Lamb of God, the only
Savior of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ. This lamb is so perfect, it's
so wonderful. Therefore, there's got to be
power in the blood. So let's sing tonight number 198. There's
power in the blood.