Going back to John chapter 1, I titled the message, John's
Message. I hope that can be said of me
when I come up to the end of life that this was John's message
also to this John. John the Baptist and me and everyone
else that stands in the pulpit to preach the gospel here. We
only have one message. We only have one message. Joe
Terrell said something to me a couple of months ago. He and
I were talking on the phone. We were talking about the business
and how things are so hectic. He said, well, you know, we only
have one message and it never changes. He said, once you learn
the message, you just preach it. We just preach it. We preach it from different portions
of the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelations. But our message is Christ, the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, not of
the Jews only, but also people like you and me, Gentiles. Now, he says here in verse 29, John seeth Jesus coming unto
him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world." John did exactly what he was supposed to do, point out the Lamb of God to
his disciples. He fulfilled his mission. His only purpose, I heard Henry
say this some years ago, his only purpose for existing was
to preach Christ. The only purpose for anyone who
stands to preach the gospel is to preach the Lord Jesus Christ,
to point out, to cry out, behold the Lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world. But actually, if you take Christ
out of it, There's no reason for anything to exist. All things
were made by Him and for Him. There is nothing that exists
that was not made for Him and by Him. He's the Creator. The Lamb is the Creator. And when John saw him, he immediately,
immediately pointed out to the disciples standing there by him,
behold, there's God's Lamb. All those years the Passover
was offered, lambs were slain morning and evening, year after
year after year after year. And then one day, one day, The
appointed day, God's Lamb shows up. The one all that the other
lambs spoke of, there he is. He came on the scene. God incarnate. He walks up to John and he cries
out, Behold the Lamb of God. And he tells his purpose for
coming. Not just to show us how to live
or to straighten people up. He didn't, it says over in Isaiah,
he did not lift up his voice in the streets or cry in the
streets. He didn't come to argue and fuss
and fight with Pharisees. He came to redeem. Here's his
purpose for coming, to take away the sin of the world. There was
a multitude of sinners. That the Father chose and gave
Him to redeem. And to think that we are a part
of that? To think that I'm a part of that? That's astounding to
me. Astounding. That before creation,
the Father thought upon me. Was it David who said, Thy thoughts
to us cannot be reckoned up in order? He thought upon me, made
a covenant with His Son concerning me and you who believe. That to me is just astounding.
And then here He came in the flesh, incarnate to take away
the sin of the world. Take it away. Now, this is God's
Lamb. It's got to be the best. It's
the best. This is the only man who's ever walked on this earth
and knew no sin. Knew no sin. Fought no sin. Did no sin. Walked in a sinful world. Walked
among the ungodly. and knew no sin. The sinless
Lamb of God. This is God's Lamb. This is God's
Lamb, so you know He has to be perfect. And as God's Lamb, He's meek
and lowly. Approachable. You couldn't approach
those Pharisees. You and I couldn't approach those
Pharisees. They didn't want us in their sight, let alone standing
close to them. But this man, He receiveth sinners. He receiveth rebels, sinners,
wretches like you and I." And that made the Pharisees mad,
didn't it? That upset those Pharisees. They said, this man receiveth
sinners and he even sits down and he eats with them. Fellowships with them. I pray tonight that the Lord is pleased to fellowship with
us tonight, with this group of sinners. Meek and lowly, not high-minded
and haughty. Do you think of who God is? Do
you think of how great God is? Holy, infinite in knowledge,
infinite in understanding. infinite in wisdom, infinite
in glory. And yet, he'll walk up beside
of someone like me and sit down and have fellowship. Receive
a harlot, that adulterous woman. They cast her down at the feet
of God Almighty. That's not just a man. That's
the Almighty God. That's her creator. That's her
judge. That's also her redeemer, because
he did save her. They cast her down at his feet,
and they wanted to see how he would handle it. You know,
they would have enjoyed it if he would have took up stones
and stoned her. It's like you see people when
they're going to be executed, people are lying outside the
prison. Whole signs of just excited they're going to execute somebody. Not realizing that more than
likely they're going to be in the same hell those people just
got executed. That just astounds me. Those
Pharisees, those Pharisees, They perished. He said, you're
nothing but, he said, your father's a devil. Your father's a devil. He said, you're like white acephrics
decorated on the outside, but on the inside you're full of
dead men bones. Boy, I tell you what. and need of mercy will always
find a place in His presence. Always. That woman, that adulterous
woman, you know she was, they caught her red-handed. They caught
her in the act. And you know she had to believe that they
were going to stone her. The law said to stone her. There
was no sacrifice given for adultery. No sacrifice given for murder.
Stone her. Dead. And he forgave her. He forgave her. They all left one by one, and
the Lord said, does any man condemn you? She said, no. Looked around. They're all gone. You know, when the children of God stand
before Him in glory, is there anyone to condemn you? You can
look around. And there's nobody there. No
one there to condemn, nor neither do I. And He set her free, meek
and lowly. Then He speaks of His sacrificial
character. He calls Him the Lamb of God.
The Jews knew what that meant. They knew what the Lamb meant.
They knew what the Lamb was for. They knew that the Lamb was for
sacrificing. They knew what that Passover
Lamb was all about. And so when John points him out, he points
him out in his sacrificial character. There's God's Lamb. He did not
point him out first as the King of Glory, as the Lord. He pointed him out first as the
Lamb of God. God's Lamb. And he pointed out
his sufficiency. With taketh away the sin of the
world. No other Lamb did that. All those thousands and thousands
of lambs didn't take away not even a white lion, if there is
such a thing. They didn't take away anything. But
this Lamb, God's Lamb, taketh away the sin of the world. I mean, they're gone. My sins, your sins, the sins
of everyone who believed the gospel that he brings to faith
are gone. They don't even exist anymore.
Now, you and I know of them. We remember them. We repent of
them. But he put them away. That's beyond what we can comprehend.
I know it is. I know it is. But it's so. And he says, this is he, this
is the one of whom I said, after me cometh a man which is preferred
before me. He has preeminence over me. He
far excels me because he was before me. He sets forth here the eternal
existence of the Lamb of God. He is the eternal, divine Son
of the living God. That's who He is. He's more than
just a man from Nazareth. He's God. You read through the scriptures
and you read what God created the heavens and the earth. You
read through the scriptures what desolations He hath made in the
earth. He's speaking of this one. This is the one. This is the one. And John says,
I knew him not. I didn't know him. I was not
acquainted with him. But that he should be made manifest
to Israel. Therefore, I come baptizing with
water. You see, the Pharisee said, well,
if you're not that Christ, if you're not the prophet, why are
you baptizing? Here's why I'm baptizing. Well,
first of all, God commanded it. He says here that he might be
made manifest in Israel. They had no excuse. They had
no excuse. My, the signs and stuff they
were given, they had no excuse. But John's
also saying here, I knew him not, and he says this
a couple, three times, we didn't get together and scheme this
up. We didn't get together and hatch
this and then, you know, try to pull something over on the
people. He said, I didn't know him. I knew him not until I saw
him walking there. And then the Spirit of God said,
that's the Lamb. There he is. There's the Lamb
of God. When he saw him for the first time, for the first time
when he saw him, he knew him. That's God's Lamb. And I'll tell you this, when
God gives life to a sinner, when you hear the gospel, you say,
that's it. That's the Lamb. That's the Lamb. Behold the Lamb of God. And when
God gives you ears to hear and eyes to see and a gospel's priest,
you say, that's it. I see Him. I see God's Lamb. When John saw Him for the first
time, the first thing he said, Behold, there's God's Lamb. When God saves a sinner, that's
what happens. For the first time, that sinner
is able to behold God's Lamb. Do you believe Jesus Christ is God's
Lamb? Do you believe that with all your heart? God gave that to you. God gave
it to you. He said, I knew him not. We didn't
get together and scheme this up, as some might suppose. The
first time I saw him, and I recognized him. This is God's Lamb. Now John baptized in the River
of Jordan, which means river of death. which is what they acknowledge
as sinners who deserve death. When we baptize now, we are confessing. We're confessing Christ, and
that is the way to confess Christ. Coming up to an altar or in front
of the church, that's not the way to confess Christ. The way,
the biblical way to confess Christ is baptism. You're identifying
with his death, burial, and resurrection. You're identifying with him and
you're identifying with his people. And John Bear Records say, we
have a witness to this, a credible witness. I saw the Spirit descending
from heaven like a dove and it abode upon him. He saw the Spirit
of God coming down in the form of a dove and it lit upon the
shoulder of our Lord. And it did not fly away. It didn't
visit. This was not a visitation. It
abode upon him. He had the Spirit without measure. You see, he's the one who baptizes,
as John tells us later, with the Holy Spirit. John baptized
with water. And that's all I can do. If you
want to submit to believers' baptism, I'd baptize you in water. This one, God's Lamb baptize
you with the Spirit. Born of the Spirit of God. And that which is born of the
Spirit is Spirit. And John says, I bear record
to this. I saw this with my own eyes.
He saw the Holy Spirit descend from heaven and abide on his
shoulders. And he said, this is the one. This is the one. This is the Christ. This is the
Lamb of God. The Lamb of God has come. He's
here. And he says again in verse 33,
and I knew him not. No, we didn't get together to
make this up. I knew him not, but he just sent me to baptize
with water. The same said to me, whether
it was in a vision or audibly, I don't know. But he said to
me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining
on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost." He has the power to do that.
I don't have the power to baptize anybody with the Holy Ghost. He does. When he gives life to
a sinner, he gives that sinner his spirit. The Holy Spirit now
dwells in that center. God is in you. God the Holy Spirit. You have God the Father, God
the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And He dwells in His people by
His Spirit. After the Scripture says you're
the temple of God, God dwells in you. That's hard to comprehend,
isn't it? Sit around and think about it
sometimes. God dwelling in me? The God of all creation? The
God of eternity? Almighty God dwelling in me?
Now? Absolutely. If you're saved,
He is. If you're saved, God's in you. That's the reason we were told
not to defile the body, because the Holy Spirit dwells in you. Defile the temple of God. He
dwells in you. Don't do it. And then John says in verse 34,
And I saw him bear record, This is the Son of God. Did he look like it at that time? I'm sure he didn't. I'm sure
that all those who were were not born of God would be extremely
disappointed when they saw him. It says in Isaiah 53, there was
no beauty that we should desire in him. He was not this tall,
dark, handsome, just debonair looking man walking in the room. Those Pharisees were disappointed
when they saw him. You've got to be kidding. This
is the Messiah? This poor man? This carpenter's
son? They were disappointed. There's
no way this could be the Son of God. If you go picture the Son of
God, what would your imagination...
Well, first of all, it'd get carried away with you, but you'd
imagine this just this enormous person, just glorious. That's why we'll see Him when
He comes a second time as a King of kings and Lord of lords. And His eyes are like a flame
of fire. But when He came the first time,
He came to that meek, lowly land to be sacrificed. That's what
He came. That's how He came. And John said, I bear record
that this is the Son of God. Again in verse 35, 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. There's one thing I want to make
note of here. John's message never changed. From one day to the next, the
message did not change. He said, Behold the Lamb of God,
and the next day he saw him again, and he said the same thing. Behold
the Lamb of God. His message from one day to the
next did not change. He preached the deity of Christ.
He preached the sacrificial character of Christ, and it never changed.
And that's our business. That's my business standing here
preaching to you week after week. It's to preach Christ from Genesis
to Revelation. Whether it be Christ the High
Priest, Christ the Lamb, Christ the King, Christ our Lord, Christ
the Creator, it's Him. He's the message. He's the message. And when the two disciples believe
John, They believed the message. What did they do? They left John and followed him.
They're like, John, thank God for you. Thank God for you. We're going to go with him. That's where I want you to be.
John, we thank God for you, but we're going to go with him. They
followed him. And that's the way it is. That's
the way it is. Because I tell you, the Lord
will bring messengers in and out of our lives. Someday I won't
be here. But we're just going to keep
on following Him, aren't we? When I'm not here and someone else
is here, you keep on following Him. He's the one we follow. That's what the disciples of
John, they left Him and followed Christ. What an example John is to us,
to us who preach, especially to us who preach. He didn't try
to get a recognition. He said, I'm just a voice. I'm
just a voice in the wilderness crying, make the path straight.
Make the way of the Lord straight. That's who I am. That's all I
am. Follow him. He's the Lamb of God. He's the
one you and I need." And the two disciples heard him
speak, and they followed Jesus. I don't think it would be anything
to make a gospel preacher happier than seeing the people following
the Lord Jesus, following him. They heard the message and believed
and proved it by following him. Disciples follow their master.
You cannot call yourself a disciple if you don't follow the master.
If you do not sit under his teaching, if you do not sit at his feet,
if you do not learn of him, you're not a disciple. You're not a
disciple. A disciple is a student. It's
one who sits and learns at the master's feet. And there comes a time. Every
sinner whom the Lord saves must follow the Savior. They follow
Him wherever He leads. I imagine John stopped and he
got their attention. I can just see him getting their
attention. He says, there's the one I'm
telling you about. That's the one I've been telling you about. And there's all of them just
standing there looking at Him. And they see Him for who He is.
Some couldn't see Him. Standing in front of them, they
couldn't see who He is. But they did, and they followed
Him. And Jesus turned, and He saw
them following, and He said unto them, He asked them a question. Boy, this is a question that
we all need to take to heart. What seek ye? What are you after? Why are you following me? They said to him, Rabbi, Master,
which is being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou? Where do you dwell? Our Lord never turned away a
seeking sinner. You can mark that down. He never
has and He never will. But He asked them, what seek
ye? He's going to test their motives and their purpose. Why are you following Me? You
see, there were some who followed Him Loaves and the fishes. He told them, he said, I know
why you follow me. You got a free lunch out of it.
Loaves and the fishes. Some follow him because of the
miracles they saw. But some follow him because they
need him. They need him. The patient needs
the physician. And they said, where dwelleth
thou? They didn't ask him this out of curiosity. They really
wanted to be with him. They wanted to be with him. They
wanted to have fellowship with him, like that Shulamite woman
in Song of Solomon. Have you seen him whom my soul
loveth? If you see him, tell him I love
him. Tell him I'm lovesick. Ever been lovesick? Oh, you've
ruined your day. You can't get anything done.
Really, can you? You can't get anything done.
Lovesick. Falling in love with somebody.
That's all you think about. They said, where do I go, Sal?
We want to go where you are. We want to go where you live.
You want to go where he lives? They were after the blessed sore
instead of the blessed fiends. The big difference. He said unto them, come and see. Come with me. That's why he said
to them, come with me. Come and see where I dwell. He didn't take them to a mansion,
did he? He didn't take them to the king's palace. Not at that
time. They're there now. But they weren't after that.
They were not after a mansion. They were after him. They were
after him. He said, come and see. He knew
their hearts, and he didn't disappoint them. Come on with me. Come with me. Come unto me, all
you that labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. That
is a promise. If I can find somebody that's
laboring and heavy laden under sin and the burden of sin, I've
got a message. Behold the Lamb of God which
takes away the sin of the world. Come and see. Come unto me, he said. Oh, you
heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Come and drink of the water of
life. Oh, come and see. One day we're going to come and see,
I should say go and see, where he dwells at the Father's right
hand. Now by faith we look and see, but someday faith will give
way to sight. It will give way to sight. Sometimes when I really think
about it, we always think we're going to live to be 80 or 90
or whatever. We always think we're going to
live to be old. There's nothing that says I'm going to live to
be tomorrow or to see tomorrow at all. And there's times that
I sit and I think, you know, by this time tomorrow I could
be before the Lord. I could be in His presence. I'm
always in His presence. You know what I mean. We could
leave this world that fast and we're there. It's over with.
This is over with. And we really get to see where
He dwells. Come see where I dwell. In the Holy of Holies. The Father's
right hand? They came and saw where He dwelt, and they're still with Him. They
are still with Him. If we ever see where He dwells,
if we ever really get a sight of where He dwells, leaving this
won't be such a problem. And it says here, they came and
saw where he dwelt and abode with him. They sat down and had
fellowship with him. My, what that must have been
like to sit down right there and to speak face to face with
the Lord of glory. And to hear him speak, to hear
grace fall from his lips. What that had to be like. They left all and followed Him. And like Enoch, they eventually
followed Him right into glory. And you know that's where it
ends. We follow Him now by faith and one day we'll follow Him
right into glory where He is now. Come see where I dwell, come see where I dwell, where
there's no more sin, no more sorrow, righteousness, holiness,
peace, joy that you and I cannot fully experience in this life,
in this flesh. But to experience that when all
sin is gone, unbelievable. And it was about
four o'clock in the evening. It was about the 10th hour of
the day. Late in the evening with them. But time didn't matter. Time
didn't matter. It was about the 10th hour of
the day. But you know, there'll be a day
when that won't be an hour. We won't have to worry. You're
always doing this. I am. I'm always doing this at
work. It's almost 4.30, time to go home. I told Vicki I'd
be back at 6 o'clock. There'll be a day. We won't be looking at the clock. It won't be the 10th hour of
the day or late in the evening. It'll be forever. Be forever. You ever enjoy something?
Have you ever really enjoyed something? As you just wish it
just wouldn't end. The day would just keep on going.
Or you could just freeze time. That's what it'll be. That's
exactly what it'll be. Unbelievable joy. But the first
thing, the first thing that must be
done is behold the Lamb of God. which taketh away the sin of
the world. Look to Him. Believe on Him. Follow Him.